Page 35

Cassandra is clearly up to her neck in this but there is no way she’s the mastermind.

“Fuck.” This whole thing is giving me a headache.

I need to get these things to Sugar’s team to analyze, but that’s easier said than done right now. I don’t even have a safe space to check it all over. Too many prying eyes and too many questions I’m not ready to answer.

The worst thing is knowing I can’t even exonerate anyone I have all these crazy mixed-up feelings for. The truth is, it could be someone I know, someone I’m praying is innocent. Nobody wants to believe that the people they care about are capable of this. And if they are, I’ll have to kill them. And I would. Nobody who peddles in flesh can be allowed to live, but it would leave a scar that might never heal. Not because I trusted them, but because I trusted myself. If I don’t have that anymore, I might as well give up because, in this line of work, instincts are everything.

This is why they tell you not to form attachments when you’re on a job.

Think. Where can I go?

I pause and chew my lip, already knowing this is a stupid idea, but I don’t have a choice.

I pull my cell phone out and dial a number I’ve been ignoring up until now.

“Everly?” a deep, sleepy voice answers.

“Yeah, Griff, it’s me. I think we need to talk. Can you come get me?”

“Where are you?”

“Willow Creek Academy.”

He’s silent for a minute, his breathing the only thing I can hear until he grunts.

“Be there in an hour. Take the woods behind the main building. There is a small trail. Just follow it out. There are no cameras or security.”

“Snuck in a time or two, huh?” I joke, but he ignores me.

“One hour, Everly.”

He hangs up, and I sigh. One more thread unravels, making my grip on my life slip.

Griffen Young was a means to an end. He was my way in. I needed to investigate his father and rip the sick fuck from his throne. Only someone beat me to it, and my role there wasn’t needed anymore.

Instead of explaining, I left. I packed up my meager things and went back to my life.

I can’t say I never thought about him afterward. Oh, I tried not to, but my mind often wandered back to the boy with the dimples. Griffen was the first chink in my armor. I just didn’t know how deep that wound ran until hearing his voice right now.