“Same. Bye.” I quickly hit end call and slid the phone in my pocket before going inside.
The next day, Carly was on my case the second she saw me.
“You have to go to prom,” she declared, impassioned. “It’s a rite of passage. We’re seniors. We can’t not go.”
I gave her a look, not in the least bit convinced. “I don’t have a date. I don’t have money for a dress. And last, but not least, I have ZERO desire to go to prom. I wouldn’t even walk at graduation if Mom wasn’t making me.”
By the determined look on Carly’s face, I was not convincing her any more than she was convincing me.
“We can find you a date.” I gave her a disbelieving look. In the short two months I had ‘dated’ Jake/Tristan, and people had quickly learned to avoid me, especially after Ripper got ripped a new one by Jake. “Ok, so there’s still some leftover concern about Tristan, but we can overcome that,” Carly chirped positively.
“Yeah, I don’t want to go with some random guy,” I told her, my mouth a flat line of irritation.
“You can go stag, and wear one of my dresses,” Carly said eagerly, believing she had found a chink in my defenses. Her words caused me to stop and laugh.
“Carly, I love you. I do. But there is no way in hell anything of yours will fit me.” I gave her my patented ‘You know better’ look, the one my mom despised. From the ferocious frown on Carly’s face, she did too.
“You’re being a Negative Nelly!” she fussed, throwing a foot stomp in for good measure. I arched an eyebrow at the display, singularly unimpressed.
“No, I’m being realistic. And honest. I don’t want to go and you can’t make me.” I stuck my tongue out for good measure before sliding into homeroom. I caught a glimpse of her shocked wide eyes before she was gone.
I sort of felt bad, but at the same time I didn’t want to go. School dances have never been my thing, and she knew it. Now, if Jake were still here, it might be different, even though I knew the likelihood of him attending a second prom was low. It occurred to me I didn’t know if he even went to prom the first time around. I sent a text asking him before class started. It was odd how much intimate information I knew about him, but at the same time there were so many things I didn’t know. I could find out a wealth of information about him from a single question, but it all depended on the question.
I got his reply as I walked to gym.
“Yes, I went to prom ... why?”
“A question I didn’t have an answer to,” I replied.
“We can’t have that.” His reply caused a ridiculous smile to spread across my face.
I placed my phone in my locker as I changed. Carly attempted to give me the silent treatment, but that only lasted until we got into the gym.
“Noooo. Why can’t they just let us chill for the rest of the semester?” She groaned at the sight of today’s torture. Our coach had a substitute, which meant we had dodgeball.
“I think they consider this chilling out,” I replied, already dreading it. I made every effort to get hit, so I could go sit down, but by some miracle the ball missed me every time. It wound up with me against one guy from the other team and he threw the ball weakly, confusing the crap out of me. The dude was an athlete. Why was he obviously throwing the game? I finally managed to hit him with the ball because, while he might be purposefully avoiding hitting me, I actually sucked at the game. We shook hands after the game and he asked me, “We’re cool, right? No hard feelings? I wasn’t going to hit you with the ball.”
I gave him a confused look, but said, “We’re good.”
I told Carly about the conversation as we got dressed, and she didn’t look surprised.
“Why are you not surprised? What am I missing?” I asked, finally.
“I’ve heard rumors that before Tristan left, he put the word out that no one messed with you or he’d come back and hurt them. After Ripper came to school that day with two black eyes and a broken nose, no one was going to question him,” Carly explained, touching up her lipstick.
“How do they know Tristan did that to Ripper?” I asked, surprised at how much people did seem to know. Carly gave me a look that clearly indicated how stupid she thought that question was.
“It’s high school. People talk, and Ripper’s a scary dude. Whoever did that to him is scarier,” she responded with a shrug. She made sense. Ripper hadn’t scared me nearly as much as Jake had when he saw the bruises Ripper gave me.
We parted ways outside of the gym, and I didn’t really pay attention to my surroundings as I was walking. A mistake I quickly realized when someone grabbed my arm.
“Long time, bitch,” he growled, his hand gripping my arm tightly. “Your boyfriend ain’t around to protect you anymore. It’s about time you paid for what he did.” The first hard thump of my heart was fear, but anger quickly took over. I narrowed my eyes, but didn’t try to jerk away. I was calm as I assessed the situation. Jake and Connor had prepared me for a moment exactly like this one.
“Well, well Ripper, you finally noticed Tristan is gone? Or did you finally work up the courage to come after me?” I taunted, my head tilted as I looked up at him. A couple of his friends were hanging back. They didn’t look like they wanted to be a part of this. A good choice, because I wasn’t going to take this lightly.
He jerked my arm, his breath in my face. “Bitch, what you saying?”
“One, get a breath mint. Like seriously. Two, you’re a coward.” I smiled as I said it, deriving a sick pleasure from his anger. This tipped him over the proverbial edge, and I saw him raise his other hand to strike me. I used my free hand to pop his thumb back before stepping into his space further. My movements took him by surprise, and I used it to my advantage. I made a fist and, with a sharp rotation of my hips, I gut punched him. He doubled over immediately, and my knee came up to meet his face. It connected with a heavy thud as his head jerked back.
I looked up at his two friends who had been hanging back. I gave them a hard look, and they took off. Apparently, my death stare was as good as my grandmother's had been.
Ripper was on the ground moaning and crying out threats, all while calling me a bitch. This pissed me off further, so I took my foot and stomped down hard on his sack of nuts. His scream was high pitched before turning into a weak mewling. I leaned over him, “Tristan doesn’t take kindly to people messing with me. I’ll be sure and mention this encounter to him the next time we talk. But until then, this is your only warning to stay the hell away from me.”
I was smiling as I walked away, satisfied I had taken care of Ripper. While I knew this wasn’t over, I felt strong and capable. It was a heady feeling.
Chapter Sixteen
That evening, I did something I never did. I called Jake. The confrontation with Ripper had revealed a bit more than I was sure he intended. My taunting questions had yielded some unexpected answers. Information I believed to be true and that meant Jake needed to know.
“Hey. Are you okay?” were the words I heard when he answered the phone. I noticed a lot of background noise, and it occurred to me that I might have interrupted him.
“Are you busy? I can call you back,” I asked, embarrassed I had called without sending a text first. I was sure he thought this was something serious and it was, but it wasn’t time sensitive.
“No, it’s fine,” he replied off-handedly. “Are you okay though?”
“I’m fine. A family dinner? I can call you back,” I told him, knowing where he was at now. I heard his low laugh.
“Nothing gets by you. Now tell me why you called. It’s got to be important. You wouldn’t call otherwise.” His low voice was cajoling and ridiculously sexy. I heard a woman’s voice in the background asking him who he was talking to. Jake must have covered the phone, but I still heard his muffled replied, “Its work, honey. I’ll only be a minute.” When he came back the background noise had faded, so I knew he’d walked away from them. I really felt ridiculous for calling now, since his girlfrie
nd was obviously there. I wasn’t going to keep him longer than necessary, so I went over what I found out quickly.
“It’s about the needle,” I said baldly, unsure how much I wanted to tell him about Ripper. It didn’t matter that I took care of it. He was going to be incredibly pissed when he found out.
“Seriously? You know something?” I could hear the eagerness in his voice, and I felt better about making the choice to call him.
“Yeah, I had an encounter with Ripper after gym today, and a random question I asked revealed some interesting information,” I told him quickly, striving to gloss over the confrontation with Ripper. “It seems like—”
“Encounter with Ripper? What happened?” The tightly controlled anger in his voice brooked no argument, so I sighed and told him what happened.
“That son of a bitch,” he growled. It sounded like he was pacing. “Good job bringing him down. And remind me never to piss you off when you’re near my nuts. Damn.” His words showed grudging respect, and I smiled. I was pretty damn proud of myself. “I’m obviously going to need a word with him again.”
“No!” I shouted at that. I winced and looked around. I was holed up in my bedroom and hopefully my mom didn’t hear me. I would hate to have to explain who I was talking to and why I was using a phone she still knew nothing about.
“What? Why not?” Jake asked, puzzled by my adamant answer.
“Ripper knows the needle,” I told him, pausing to let that sink in.
“Are you sure?” Jake asked slowly, already knowing the answer.
“Yeah, when Ripper grabbed me, I asked him if he finally got up the courage to come after me since you were gone. I didn’t expect an answer. I was just mouthing off, ‘cause he grabbed me. Generally, I wouldn’t expect a question like that to yield an answer. But this time, I saw the needle. He put Ripper up to it. He wanted him to come after me. I’m not sure why, though. But Ripper knows our needle,” I told him in a rush of words, completely sure of this at least.
“Shit, the implications of this are huge. We were so close to him when I was undercover,” he said, regretfully.
“Maybe,” I replied, already answering the question I knew was coming. “Ripper may not have known him then. This could be a recent development.”
“Explain your thoughts,” Jake said. I paused, trying to put together the conclusions I was drawing at a rapid pace.
“Con was looking for the dirty needle and he got shot. That had to tip the needle off. We know he’s a cop, and it was a big deal after Connor was shot. You were pulled off the case. It had to make the needle suspicious. What if he went looking for your undercover self? He would eventually find someone who knew something. And, let's face it, Ripper has a grudge against you.”
“That puts you in danger. You realize that?” Jake said tightly, an undercurrent of fear running through his words.
“… I, uh, hadn’t thought about that,” I finally stuttered, knowing he was right. I had put Ripper down, not even thinking about the fact that I confirmed I was still in touch with Jake. “But Ripper has answers,” I said, grasping at a straw. “Answers that could lead us to the needle.”
“This is true, but you’re still in danger. We need to get you under protective custody,” Jake replied, as I heard him walking and then a cacophony of sound erupted like he was back in the room. His voice was muffled, but I heard him say, “Connor.”
“I’m going to talk to Connor. Tell him what’s going on. I don’t want you going to school tomorrow. It’s too risky,” he told me. I tried not to let his commands irritate me too much. I knew he was trying to protect me.
“That’s not a problem. It’s the last day before spring break,” I replied.
“That’s great. Are you going out of town?” he asked eagerly.
“No. Carly and her family are, but I’m not.”
“Can you go with Carly?” Jake asked.
“Uh, no. They’re going on a cruise. Too late to try to tag along,” I replied, knowing he’d be disappointed. I heard his sigh and then, “Its okay. We’ll think of something. Just don’t go anywhere alone and no school. I’ll call you back when we have a plan.” He was gone before I could reply. I flopped back on my bed, thinking about how one small encounter changed everything.
The next day I was sitting on the porch with Paw Paw when Jake called. My mom let me skip school with no argument. She knew I wouldn’t be learning anything anyway, and it would be a wasted day. Now I needed to find out what Jake’s plan was. I got up and moved into the house so Paw Paw wouldn’t overhear my conversation.
“Hey,” he said, and I immediately noticed his voice was off. “Can you convince your mom that you’re going on the cruise with Carly?”
“What? Why?” I answered his question with a question. It came to me a second later. Jake needed a reasonable excuse as to why I wasn’t home. “Do you think not telling my family is a good idea? What if that asshole comes after them, trying to find me?”
“We’ll put it out that you’re on a cruise. Getting you somewhere safe; that’s my top priority,” Jake responded briskly. I knew he wasn’t telling me something, but I also got the feeling he wasn’t going to tell me over the phone.
“I can try,” I finally responded. “What about Ripper and Connor? What happened?” I asked, getting a disjointed image in my mind: Connor’s angry face and a vague feeling of Ripper being scared. I couldn’t piece the image together, so I waited for his explanation. “Connor needs convincing. Ripper, we haven’t found yet.” His words were short, and I knew there was more to it, but at that moment I heard my mom’s car.
“I have to go and see if I can convince my mom to let me go on a cruise to nowhere,” I told him, hanging up the phone before he could answer. I wasn’t handling this well, but I didn’t appreciate his lack of answers and expectant demands.
“Mom, Carly asked if I could go on the cruise with them,” I told her at dinner.
“What? We don’t have the money, sweetie.” Her face was apologetic as she told me this, but I had already figured a way around it.
“No, I know, but apparently Carly’s sister can’t go. All they need to do is change the name for the reservation. If they don’t, they lose the money anyway,” I told her brightly.
“Oh, really?” my mom said slowly. “Do you want to go? I’d hate for you to go and not pay anything.”
I could tell her pride was hurt, so I said, “They assured me it’s no big deal. They’d rather someone go than lose the money. I would need to bring spending money, but that’s it. Everything else is included. It’ll be one of my last chances to spend time with Carly before we’re off to college.” I laid it on thick, knowing she would feel guilty. Carly was accepted to a private college in Mississippi and, while I had been accepted too, it was only with a partial scholarship. I couldn’t afford anything less than a full scholarship, so it was a local state school for me. My mom felt guilty about it for some reason, and while it didn't bother me, it would come in handy now.
“Are you sure?” she asked again, teetering on the edge. Before I could say anything, Paw Paw interrupted, “Let her go, Diane. She’s only young once.” He reached into his wallet and pulled out his mad money. “Here, take this to spend.”
“Dad!” “Paw Paw!” Mom and I said in unison.
“Paw Paw, I can’t take your money.” I got the words out, blinking hard to keep the tears at bay. He helped us with the expenses and was the reason I would be able to afford a car when I went to college. He didn't need to give me the money he’d put aside for himself.
“Don’t argue. Take it. It’s my money to do with as I please,” he said, commanding. I didn’t argue with that voice, so I took the money.
My mom looked between us. “I guess that means you’re going.” We laughed, and I gave them both kisses, praying Jake was right and they wouldn’t go after my family if I was out of the picture.
The next day passed in a flurry of packing. I still had no idea where I was going. W
hen I texted Jake telling him that my mom agreed, he texted back that he would pick me up Saturday night. I told my mom I was spending Saturday night with Carly, so we could get an early start to the cruise port. I listened patiently to an incredibly long lecture about how I should behave and say thank you, yada yada yada.
Carly came to pick me up, so we could go out to dinner and she played along when my mom told her thank you. I grabbed my bag, gave my mom a kiss, and we were gone. I had told Jake to pick me up at the restaurant Carly and I were going to. There was no way I could have explained him picking me up to my mom. Thankfully, he didn’t argue with me and just asked what restaurant.
“So what was that about? Your mom thanking me and your bag? Are you going somewhere?” Carly asked when we got to the restaurant. I’d picked a local taco stand. It was a casual hangout place that served the best fish tacos anywhere. I knew Jake wouldn’t look out of place showing up here.
“Oh,” I said, realizing the flaw in my grand plan. I had never thought about what to tell Carly. “I’m meeting Ja … Tristan to spend the week with his family skiing,” I said, flustered. I had almost slipped on the name and where the hell I’d come up with skiing I would never know. Carly knew me better than that.
“You? Skiing? The girl that hates the cold. Plus, isn’t April a little late to go skiing??” She poked a million holes in my story in two seconds flat.
I laughed and shook my head. “I meant swimming. We’re going to the beach. Skiing was on the agenda, but you’re right it’s too late in the season.” Carly was giving me a disbelieving look, but I shrugged like I had no idea why. When questioned, play dumb was my motto.
“Why am I just now hearing this? Seriously, what else have you been keeping from me?” Carly was disgruntled, and I knew I needed to smooth it over.
“I know, and I’m sorry. It was unexpected, and I was out yesterday. Like, this all happened Thursday. I knew we were going out tonight and figured I’d tell you now.” I smiled, aiming for a puppy dog look. It must’ve worked a little bit, because she relented.
Hidden Truths (The Hidden Series Book 1) Page 9
