Defiance Falls Boxed Set: The Complete Defiance Falls Trilogy

by Dean, Ali

  “Whoa!” Bodhi jumped back, barely avoiding the locker door hitting his forehead.

  “Yo.” I greeted him with a nod before reaching inside to grab textbooks for my first class.

  Bodhi placed a hand on the top of my locker and leaned closer. He knew eyes were on us too, and ears were listening. Fortunately, he was my cousin, and it didn’t seem strange when he put his lips closer to my ear. Cousins were still allowed to tell secrets despite everything going down, weren’t they?

  “Have you seen Cruz?”

  I shook my head and let Bodhi see the concern in my eyes. “You?”

  He shook his head right back at me. We’d had family dinner last night at our grandparents’ house, just like we did every Sunday. Cruz hadn’t come. None of us had seen him since Saturday afternoon. We’d gone to the hospital with him while he’d visited his father. When Cruz came back from the hospital room, he’d looked like he’d seen a ghost. He wouldn’t tell us anything, and when Mitch came out a moment later, the stoic man shared a similar stricken expression with his grandson. Cruz had asked Gramps to drive him to Harvard so he could get the motorcycle he’d left there the night before. Since then, no one had heard from him.

  I shut my locker and turned to find the others behind me. Spike, Moody, and Emmett. “He’s not here?” I asked, even though I didn’t need to. The student body wouldn’t be half as interested in us if Cruz was roaming the halls.

  Spike rubbed the back of his neck. “Could be at the courthouse. A lot of activity going on there. Maybe he wanted to see it going down.”

  I frowned and shook my head. We hadn’t hashed out all the details, especially after we got the news about Cruz’s dad. Not that we could have planned for everything anyway. There were too many unknowns. But I thought there’d been an understanding we would lie low, stay away from everything as much as possible, avoid getting caught up in the media spectacle.

  Emmett threw an arm around my shoulder. “Cruz is in the line of fire no matter what he does, Hazel. He can’t hide from this. Our boy is facing it head-on.”

  Moody nodded in agreement. “And he doesn’t want to bring us in with him.”

  The first bell had already rung and now the late bell went off. The hallway was still packed though, and I knew why. We were speaking in low voices, and people were giving us a wide berth, so I could only hope our conversation remained private. As Emmett steered me toward my classroom, I murmured, “I don’t think I’m going to avoid scrutiny. Everyone knows it was my dad who did this.”

  “People don’t know shit,” Emmett said, all smiles now as he put on a show for the spectators. His words contradicted the carefree attitude he was faking. “Their world just got turned upside down. There hasn’t even been time to gossip about the source.”

  I scoffed at that. As of last night, Defiance Falls was international news of the hottest variety. The Malone family had been a source of pride for this town for decades. They’d been around for the founding of our country and had played important roles in all aspects of our community. They’d been loved and feared in equal parts, and now they’d been outed for what they were: mafia. The most organized crime family in the world.

  I tried to remember that all this gawking I was receiving was because of the Malones. It wasn’t personal. And yet, that wasn’t exactly true. People knew my dad worked for the Malones, yes. But half the town worked for them in some capacity.

  My head spun as I tried to piece together how exactly we had become the center of attention at school. Yeah, we were responsible for the Malones being outed as mafia, but did people know that? And if so, how?

  Bodhi came along my other side then. “Doesn’t matter, Haze,” he said, as if he’d heard my question. “With everything going down, there’s gonna be all kinds of talk flying around and we’re gonna be in it. Bravens involved, Donovans involved, so we’re right there too.”

  Bodhi slowed as we got to my classroom for first period. “You’ve always had a tough skin, Haze. It’s gonna be tested like never before, so get ready.”

  It felt as if I was going into a war zone when I stepped inside AP English by myself a moment later. It was a ridiculous feeling, I knew. The high school students gawking at me in silence weren’t my enemies, and this classroom wasn’t where the real battle was raging. None of that mattered though, because I knew better now, and I was wearing my armor. A strike could happen anywhere, any place. I was reminded of this as I realized the only desks left were in the back row, beside Louise Janik.

  That was the thing with AP classes. The front rows filled up first so that if you were running late, you got a back-row desk. I was instantly on alert because Louise was never late. She’d picked the back row on purpose. She knew this was where Cruz liked to sit, and that I would be beside him. There was no sign of Cruz today though, and that meant I could leave the last empty desk as a buffer between me and Louise. If Cruz showed, he’d be an even better shield. Sighing, I realized how ridiculous this was. I had to see the girl at practice every day for the rest of the fall soccer season. Once school soccer wrapped up, it’d be club practices with her. I knew then that I would have to do something about this girl who had betrayed me. I just didn’t know what.

  The teacher was already talking by the time I pulled out my books. Louise was the only one who hadn’t stopped staring at me. Along with a handful of other so-called friends, she’d blown up my phone after the news about the Donovan house fire came out, and then again once the Malone Mafia headlines hit. I could practically feel Louise’s guilt emanating from her two desks over. If she hadn’t understood before, she now knew just how badly she’d screwed up when she delivered me to the Malones.

  Maybe letting her fester in her own guilt was enough. I spent most of the class watching the door, hoping Cruz would walk through it. He didn’t. When the bell rang, someone grabbed my arm before I could get out of class.

  Louise dropped it as soon as I turned. “Sorry,” she rushed out. “It’s just, I’ve been trying to talk to you. You’re always with the guys now, and I never get a chance.”

  I wanted to continue ignoring her but couldn’t help pointing out the obvious. “I was at soccer practice every day last week and so were you. The guys aren’t on girls’ varsity.”

  Her eyes shot to her feet, an expression of defeat that didn’t suit this ex-friend of mine who was so rarely deterred from her goals, big or small. “I know. But that’s like, sacred time to you when you’re on the field. I knew it wasn’t the time to bring this up. Besides, you know you’re never alone at practice either. You have so many fangirls watching your every move.”

  “Fangirls? I’m not sure that’s what I’d call them.” I needed to walk away. I was remembering why Louise had been one of my only true girl friends in high school. Or why I’d believed her to be, at least. I’d thought she was honest, straightforward, no bullshitting. Clearly, I’d been a terrible judge of character.

  “Look, I know saying sorry isn’t enough. I want you to know I decided not to apply to any Ivy League colleges after all.”

  Louise’s eyes were wide and hopeful and I was surprised that I felt no temptation to give in, not even an inch. “Is that because the Malones found out you spilled my whereabouts to the guys that night? They sabotage your chances at an Ivy?”

  “I should have known you’d say that. But no. I haven’t heard anything from them since that day. I’m thinking they’ll be a bit too preoccupied to care about that at this point anyway.”

  “Preoccupied?” She couldn’t have known what I did to them on Friday night, could she? We’d all assumed Sean and Branden would be too humiliated, and it wouldn’t go outside their family. Their family, it seemed, had their own ways of getting revenge.

  “Well, his dad was arrested last night, along with aunts, uncles, cousins.”

  Right. Of course. I shook my head. Why was I still standing here talking to this girl anyway? Students were already arriving for the next class, which wasn’t AP, and that meant
people wanted our back-row seats. I turned to leave, ignoring her when she tried to call my name.

  By lunch time, there was still no word from Cruz. We’d planned to stick with our normal routine. Beyond that, there hadn’t been much of a game plan. We had been prepared for the unexpected, and would react to whatever came our way. But without Cruz, we were lost. He was our leader. What did we do when he went missing?

  “I should’ve tracked his phone,” Moody said as we sat at a table together in the cafeteria.

  “Yeah man, can you set that up to track me?” Bodhi asked, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “That way if I go missing next, you can find me.”

  “I’m already tracking you,” Moody answered before sliding a laptop out of his backpack.

  Bodhi paused with a burger halfway to his mouth. “What? Seriously?”

  “Yeah, Cruz asked me to track all of you.” Moody didn’t even bother making eye contact as he delivered this bomb, instead focused on the computer screen.

  Spike, Bodhi, Emmet and I exchanged confused glances. Spike asked, “Since when? Why?”

  “Since Branden and Sean took Hazel. I’m tracking Louise too.”

  I nearly coughed up the bite of apple halfway down my throat. “Louise? Why?”

  Moody tore his eyes away from the screen for a second to glance at me. “In case she’s in cahoots with the Malones. That might not have been a one-time thing.”

  I shook my head, appreciating the diligence but doubting Louise was heavily involved in any nefarious activity.

  “Who else are you tracking?” I asked.

  Moody shrugged. “A lot of people.”

  Emmett shook his head. “I don’t think Cruz is in trouble. He’s just getting away.”

  “I don’t know, Cruz is the responsible one. He knows what’s at stake. He’d tell one of us if he needed some time,” I argued. I was starting to worry, really worry. It was a foreign thing, worrying about a guy like Cruz Donovan. Even when he’d been arrested, I hadn’t worried, not like I was now. I’d been angry and confused, but trusted he’d be fine. That was because I’d seen the look on his face when he’d been arrested. He was in control. Now, forty-eight hours after receiving news of the fire that could have killed his dad, I wasn’t so confident. There was a tipping point for everyone, and I feared this might have been it for Cruz.

  A silence stretched between the five of us. The weight of everything that had happened, that could still happen, was heavy in the space between us at that table. Even with the loud cafeteria noises bouncing around us, I knew with one look at the guys that I wasn’t alone in my concern.

  Emmett broke the tense air, leaning forward on his elbows to state, “Easton Wagner, Neil and Keegan Malone, any others on the team who were involved in that frat party bet, we need a plan.”

  “A plan?” I repeated the word like a question, my brain snapping away from Cruz and to the frat party at Harvard on Friday night. I suppressed a shudder at the memories of Easton holding me against the wall, Keegan and other hockey players trapping me in the crowd, the smell of sweat and beer breath.

  “Yeah,” Emmett continued. “The baseball bats were perfect for Branden and Sean but we can’t repeat that play.”

  “Why not?” Bodhi challenged his twin as he bounced in his seat. “I want to take a swing this time.”

  Moody spoke from my other side. “Because that was fair play with the Malones, after what they did to Hazel. Just like with Flynn, they understand the concept of eye for an eye.”

  Spike interrupted Moody. “Uh, no, don’t think the Malones were gonna just accept an eye for an eye for anything we did. That’s why they set Cruz’s house on fire, and why we had to bring them down.”

  Moody cut him off right back. “No, dumbass, what I mean is that they wouldn’t involve the law. The Malones wanted to fight dirty outside the law. They didn’t think we had the balls or the ammunition to bring them down the legit way.”

  Emmett rarely lost his cool so when he huffed with impatience, we turned to him. “I was talking about that dickhead Easton and the hockey team. I think we all agree that Hazel’s MO shouldn’t be our first choice. Easton isn’t mafia. He’ll go to the law and we don’t need that shit.”

  “I’m already on it,” Moody declared. “I’m going to do some intel to catch him if he tries anything like this again. Then we report him with evidence to Harvard, leave Hazel out of it, and get him kicked off hockey, kicked out of school. I already looked at his school records too. Grades are all over the place. Bet he cheats too. I can nail him there if we need backup to give him the boot.”

  I stared at Moody, while the others seemed to mumble agreement. They didn’t ask questions about how he would do it, and I realized then just how much power Moody held. He was godlike in his abilities to delegate justice as he saw fit, and if I wasn’t on his team, I’d find it terrifying. And if Moody was nearly godlike with his hacking skills, what did that say about my father?

  Right. He had the ability to take down the largest criminal organization in the world. But that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be consequences. It was why Dad had held back, been reluctant to pull the trigger. And now? Now Cruz was missing.

  Chapter 2

  Hazel

  I kept expecting, hoping, Cruz would pop into one of my classes or appear around the corner in the hallway. He didn’t. He didn’t show for soccer practice either, and I barely made it through my own. My body was numb, moving on autopilot, when I met the guys in the parking lot. It was a hot and humid afternoon but the blood in my veins was ice cold. Everything inside me felt frozen. Even my throat was like an icicle. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t swallow, could hardly breathe.

  Emmett opened his arms and stepped forward for a hug but I shook my head. Hell no. I wouldn’t take his warmth and comfort. Not right now. That would mean accepting that something terrible had happened to Cruz, and I refused to do that.

  “Fuck!” Bodhi shouted, threatening to shake me loose from my self-imposed coma. He kicked the tire of Spike’s Hummer. Bodhi’s fists clenched, and he turned to pace, looking for something else to unleash his anger on. Emmett continued standing on the sidewalk, waiting or hoping for that hug from someone, anyone. I glanced at Moody, wanting to beg for any intel he had about Cruz’s whereabouts. Moody wouldn’t make eye contact with me though, and that was my answer.

  None of us had heard a word.

  “Come on,” Spike called, “get in.” We moved like zombies at his order. Dad had dropped me off that morning and I’d spoken to him three times already on the phone since then. He was looking for Cruz while fielding calls from media and law enforcement.

  Of course Dad had wanted to stay anonymous for as long as possible, but he’d known that despite his hacking abilities, that would be impossible. The media needed a valid source to report the information, and even with the roadmap they’d been given, law enforcement had endless follow-up questions.

  It had been easy to strike a deal that left Dad without any criminal repercussions. They’d been willing to let Dad off the hook for only a tenth of the evidence he had against the Malones. With what he was giving them now, they should really be paying him, bending over backwards to keep him safe. Well, they did offer witness protection, but it was an empty offer and everyone knew it. Dad could do a better job going into hiding and making a new identity for himself than the government could. But he didn’t want that. He’d done all this to be free from the Malone chains, and that would just be another kind of prison.

  Besides, Dad’s role in all of this was too big at this point to make him a direct target of the Malones. Of course it was, I should have known that. Going after him now would be like shooting themselves in the foot. But Cruz? For all the media and law enforcement knew, Cruz Donovan was simply a tragic victim of the Malones’ enterprises. The Malones had no reason to hurt a kid who’d lost his mother to their greed, not at this point, not according to what the rest of the world knew. If he disappeared in the midst of all
this, it wouldn’t be a nail in the Malones’ coffin like it would if something happened to Dad. No, it would just be another casualty in the already tragic Donovan-Braven tale.

  A sob tore through the Hummer and when I recognized it as my own, I threw a hand over my mouth.

  “Why him? Why did they do this?” The questions ripped from my throat, burning my insides. Cruz was gone. It was the only explanation. And with my questions, the silent denial we’d been holding onto was wrenched away.

  “We don’t know that,” Emmett said, as he finally pulled me into that hug he needed as much as I did. “Cruz is hurting. He almost lost his dad, and we still don’t know what happened when he saw him at the hospital. Who knows how he’s coping? I’d probably run away from the world too.”

  “Run away? He didn’t run away, Em,” I told him. Emmett didn’t respond, because he knew I was right. We might not know exactly how Cruz would respond to nearly losing his father by the same hand that killed his mother, but it wasn’t to run and hide. He’d fight. Hell, he’d been the one to make the call to bring the Malones down. An idea struck me with this thought and I sat up from Em’s embrace.

  “Saturday afternoon Mitch took Cruz to get his bike from Harvard’s campus,” I said, though we all knew this bit already. “Mitch said he saw him pull out, but they didn’t make plans to meet. Cruz said he wanted to be alone.”

  The guys were silent. We’d gone over this on Sunday. None of us had stayed at the Spot Saturday night and we’d assumed he’d crashed there. The twins stayed there Sunday night though, and there was no sign of him. “None of the Malones were arrested until last night, and only a handful. Do you think he’s going after the other Malones on his own?” Even as I asked the question, I knew I was grasping at straws. There was too much false hope in my voice and my hands shook.