Need you Now (Top Shelf Romance Book 2)

by Laurelin Paige

  “You’re alive,” I choked out.

  “Of course she’s alive.”

  “Hailey, I don’t like this,” Lana repeated, tears in her eyes.

  I hadn’t known Lana on a personal level, but she’d always been kind to me. The Lana standing here was a contradiction of the high school Lana, popular and bright. She was a contradiction to the naked, naughty Lana I’d seen in pictures at The Lab. This Lana was frightened, and off. Something was wrong with her, but I couldn’t pick up what. Was she drugged? Maybe. A loud thump made me turn away from Lana, toward where Deacon stood. He was wiping his forehead with the sleeve of his jacket, a shovel in his hands before he started digging. My eyes widened. A strangled noise built in my throat. I coughed again and it seemed to go on forever. I felt like the dirt beneath me was weighing down on my chest. Was Hailey planning on killing me? Burying my body? Or was that what she was doing to Lana?

  “What are you going to do?” My voice shook, a slight wheeze escaping me.

  “Maybe you can use your investigative skills to put two and two together,” Hailey said. I looked at her as she lowered my head. She touched my temple. “You’re bleeding pretty bad.”

  “You’re going to kill me,” I whispered.

  “It’s all I’ve been thinking about since I was a little girl,” she said, her brows furrowing as if she almost felt sad about admitting it.

  “Hailey. Please.” I shook my head. We didn’t know each other when we were kids. She was losing her mind.

  “Our father should have paid attention to me,” she said with a tsk. “But instead, he was busy doting on you, his little princess. Little princess with the hip clothes and lavish birthday parties.”

  My head was spinning. It took me a moment to wrap my head around her words. Our father. It struck me at once. I jerked back and looked at her, really looked at her, then shook my head. She couldn’t be. It was implausible. How would my father have . . . she was the same age as Lincoln. He couldn’t have . . . could he? Couldn’t he? Bile rose in my throat. I started coughing, then choking on it. I needed my inhaler.

  I wheezed. “Hailey.”

  “Hailey. She has nothing to do with this,” Lana’s words were slurred. Somehow, she’d picked herself off the ground though.

  “She has everything to do with this,” Hailey screamed, casting a glare up at Lana. “She’s part of their little secret society. I saw her there in that creepy house at the end of the woods.”

  She looked up. I tried to follow her gaze, but couldn’t turn my head all the way. Were we close to The Lab? I screamed just in case. Screamed louder for good measure. She clamped her hand over my mouth, my eyes were wide on hers as I tried to scream again.

  “Shut up. No one can hear you anyway.”

  “This is going too far,” Lana said. She was shaking.

  “So playing dead wasn’t going too far?” Hailey shouted. “Causing an accident and making your friend think you committed suicide wasn’t too far?”

  “That was different,” she whispered. “I was trying to protect—”

  “My father, yes, I know.” Hailey looked at me again. “Lana’s been fucking our father. She wanted your brother to butt out so I helped her plan this whole scheme. I watched them go to parties at that creepy house. I watched them as they fucked outside. I watched those people for months. Stupid elitist secret society. I should be a member you know? My mom’s a member.”

  “Is that what you want?” I coughed once, twice, three times. “Is that why you’re doing this?”

  “No. How silly do you think I am?” She laughed. “I already have what I wanted. My mother, on the other hand, is sad. Cries herself to sleep because dad no longer wants her. Because Lana took up all his attention.”

  “Ella never had him,” Lana shouted. “Felipe is married. He’s always been married and always will be married. Your mother should’ve learned by now that she wasn’t going to keep him.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “You won’t have him either. He’ll never give you the Bastón last name,” Lana said.

  “Yes, he will.” Hailey roared as she lunged at Lana.

  I whimpered, helplessly trying to break free of the ties around my ankles and wrists. I didn’t want to hear about women fighting over my father. I didn’t want to hear about his relationship with Lana or Ella or how Hailey believed she was his daughter. The rational part of me knew she was probably telling the truth, but a bigger part of me wanted to fight it, to shield myself and my family from the wave of embarrassment and heartache this would bring. I closed my eyes as I thought of my mother. She’d always been so rational, taking her time to truly understand people’s reactions and feelings, but no amount of experience as a family therapist could save her from her own husband’s betrayal. My brothers would be pissed. Lincoln especially.

  “Deacon, take care of this,” Hailey shouted. “Your little doll is getting out of control.”

  “Digging grave,” Deacon called out.

  Digging grave. I kicked into overdrive and thrashed some more, pulling my feet apart, my ankles. Nothing worked.

  “Lana please,” I begged, but they were still having a face-off.

  “I didn’t want you to get hurt,” Lana said. “I swear. I didn’t want to hurt Lincoln either but he kept getting in the way. Felipe kept blaming me for Lincoln’s actions and saying that he should’ve never gotten involved with me, so I tried to help by leaving.” She cried. “I didn’t know he’d lose his mind like that.”

  “I don’t care,” I shouted. “I don’t fucking care. That’s in the past. Help me now.”

  “Our father hid her away.” Hailey walked over to me, pushing the sole of her boot onto my chest. I coughed again. “Can you believe that? I came up with this brilliant plan to get rid of her and his solution was to keep her hidden away until he figured everything out. Hidden away so that he could keep fucking her.”

  “You blackmailed him,” Lana shouted. “You took pictures of us together and blackmailed him!”

  “I saved your fucking life, you little shit.” Hailey took her foot off my chest and glared at Lana before looking at me again. “We bonded over that though, dad and I. We bonded over this secret. How I was keeping Lana safe until he figured out what to do and how to save the rest of his little friends from going down. He trusted me not to let her leave. Not that she wanted to.”

  “I did want to,” Lana whined. “I tried to leave.”

  I thought about the exhaustion on Hailey’s face that day at the coffee shop when she showed up with Deacon. I thought of the scratches on her hands and how she said she’d chased a sheep that escaped. Lana was the sheep. My chest felt heavy.

  “You sent the text messages,” I whispered.

  “I did.” Hailey smiled. “God, my sister is smart.”

  “I wanted to leave,” Lana wailed. “I wanted to leave and all you did was tie me up and drug me. I told you I wouldn’t tell and you kept drugging me.”

  “Bullshit,” Hailey roared. “Don’t believe a word she says, Mae. She caused that accident and then threw herself off that cliff so that Lincoln would believe she was dead.”

  “I wish I would have died!”

  “Bullshit,” Hailey roared again. “You knew you wouldn’t die because I told you where to jump. Don’t act like you’re innocent. Mae’s not going to believe the bullshit you’re spouting.”

  “My brother could have died.” I fought against the rope again, my muscles tightening with every movement.

  “Your brother has nine lives,” Hailey said, disdain in her voice. “Deacon injected him with enough drugs to take down a horse and even that wasn’t enough for that fucking . . . ” She took a deep breath and exhaled. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Hailey said the accident had to happen. Lincoln had to think I was gone, dead, so that he wouldn’t report your dad. If he thought . . . if he thought I was gone, he’d just let things be.” Lana hiccupped.

  Hailey shot me a look. “Lana
wanted dad to move her to Mexico City so she could live in one of dad’s lavish penthouses.”

  “Stop calling him dad,” I screamed, wishing I could cover my ears. “Please stop. Please stop.”

  “He is my dad though, and now he’s finally ready to act like one.” Hailey grinned maliciously. “And when you’re gone, he’s going to need a new daughter to dote on.”

  Dread flooded me. I glanced around, looking for ways I could escape this. Deacon had stopped digging and was chugging down a bottle of water. How deep was the hole? Would they kill me before tossing me in there? Would they stab me and make me suffer or shoot me and get it over with?

  “Lincoln didn’t even go to the police to tell them I’d jumped,” Lana said, her voice still shaking. “He just kept quiet.”

  “That’s not something a good friend would do,” Hailey said. “Right, Mae? You’re a good friend, aren’t you?”

  “I won’t tell anyone about this.” My words were rushed, desperate. “I won’t tell anyone about this if you let me go. I swear.”

  “You won’t tell.” Hailey crouched beside me again, reaching over and patting my head twice. “You won’t tell because you won’t be here to tell. I’m sorry it’s come to this, but it’s my turn now.” She tilted her head. “Dad and I are thick as thieves. Who would have thought my obsession with secret societies would have led to this?”

  “I have to give him credit though, he wasn’t so forthcoming at first, but when he saw that I knew about the sugar daddy ring and had proof of his affair with Lana, well, he had to give in. After all, I could expose the others easily. Did you know he’s visited me every week since? He’s been in town so many times and he never once called you to meet up with him. How does that make you feel?”

  My chest tightened. I took a few deep breaths, trying to dictate to my lungs what to do in order to ease the feeling.

  “If he’s really your father, you should have a relationship with him,” I said finally, licking my lips and focusing on breathing.

  “He is my father,” she screamed. “And we do have a relationship. Better than yours.”

  “Hailey, she’s not breathing right,” Lana said, dropping to the ground beside us. “What did you do to her?”

  “Do you want to go back home or not?” Hailey shouted, turning to look at Lana.

  “You promised you’d let me go,” Lana yelled back, tears streaming down her face. “You promised!”

  “I didn’t promise anything,” Hailey shouted.

  “You promised,” Lana whimpered.

  I coughed again, turning over on my side as I struggled to bring more air into my lungs. It was too much information to handle. What was Ella’s role in all of this? Did she know her daughter was a psycho? As I coughed, the side of my head where I’d been hit touched the ground, and I groaned in pain.

  “I don’t like this,” Lana said quietly. “You should just take her to Deacon’s. Get Felipe’s attention like that, how you did with me.”

  “This is a different scenario from yours, dumb ass,” Hailey said. “I wanted you as bait. I want her to suffer.”

  Lana was silent for a beat. “She’s going to get her wound infected if she keeps her head like that.”

  “What will it matter if she’s dead?”

  “You would really kill your own sister?” Lana whispered. “Think this through, Hailey.”

  “I have thought this through,” Hailey shouted. “I almost, almost convinced myself not to do it, but then she said she was going to the police with incriminating information on our father and I knew I’d been right all along. She doesn’t care about him. Dad will thank me for this. He’ll understand I did the right thing. He doesn’t need his own children betraying him.”

  “Other people know too,” Lana said, her voice sounded like a plea. “You can’t kill every single one of them just because you want a relationship with a man who’s not willing to give himself freely.”

  “Pot meet kettle.” Hailey snorted.

  “That’s why I’m saying it. If anyone knows this plan of yours is impossible, it’s me.”

  “You know what? I don’t fucking care.”

  “Think this through, Hailey. Are you going to be able to live with the guilt of killing your sister?”

  “Shut up, Lana. Shut up.” Hailey stood up and glared down at her. “If he doesn’t pay attention to me once she’s gone, fine, but he won’t have her either.”

  “What about Becca?” I asked.

  “Becca isn’t his. Leave her out of it.” Hailey glanced at me over her shoulder, then up. “Deacon, where’s the special water?”

  Deacon didn’t respond, but Hailey got up and started rummaging a bag nearby. She walked over to Lana and handed her one of the bottles of water in her hand. The rope around Lana’s wrists was definitely looser than mine, she was able to hold it between her hands perfectly.

  “Drink.”

  “I don’t want to,” Lana whispered.

  “Drink it or I’ll have Deacon make you.”

  Lana’s eyes widened. She twisted the cap off and drank the water. I imagined it was drugged. It was obviously how they’d kept her compliant all this time. Hailey came up to me with a water bottle.

  “Open your mouth.”

  I clamped it shut, twisting my head in the other direction.

  “Trust me, you’re going to want this. It’ll help with the pain and everything else. I’m trying to be a good sister.”

  I made a sound. I didn’t want her calling herself my sister.

  “Fine. Half-sister,” she said, as if that made it any better.

  I kept my mouth shut and my face moving away from the water bottle in her hand. I knew it wouldn’t go on forever. Sooner or later, she’d force me to drink it. Tears trickled down my cheeks. This was it? This was the end for me? Surrounded by three people I meant nothing to? I thought of Logan, of the call he promised and how I’d miss it. I’d miss hearing his voice and seeing him when he got back. I’d miss his warmth and his sweet thoughts about our future. I’d miss his career and his other accomplishments. Hailey reached over and started trying to force my mouth open.

  “This would be easier if you cooperate.”

  I kicked again. “Lana. Please help me.”

  “I can’t.” She swayed, stumbling on her feet before she hit the ground with a thump.

  I gasped, feeling the last ounce of hope I had vanish. Hailey started to pour the water over my closed mouth, her other hand still working on prying it open. I wasn’t sure whether or not she was successful, but I started to taste chalk in my mouth. I turned over to cough, my chest still tight. It seemed to take a while for me to pass out, I could still hear movement, hear Hailey bossing Deacon around while he freaked out over something he couldn’t quite verbalize. My eyes drifted shut despite my attempt to keep them open, the world around me spinning beneath my eyelids.

  Then, I only saw darkness.

  Chapter 44

  Logan

  My knee bounced incessantly as I waited for the police officer to finish up his notes. She glanced up from her computer, looking at me over her reading glasses.

  “This is what I have so far. You spoke to her on the phone at five o’clock on Sunday. You don’t know where she was headed. You told her you’d call that night, and when you called she never answered, so you tried again, but you figured she was sleeping so you left her alone,” she said, reciting what I’d just told her. “You got home Monday, this morning, at eight o’clock, went straight to her apartment, and she wasn’t home. You called and she didn’t answer, you went to her classes but she wasn’t there, so you went to the coffee shop she frequents and asked her friend Hailey Valentine if she’d seen her, and she said no. You went to the newspaper and asked Max Stein, and he also said no. Ella Valentine told you she’d emailed with her Sunday morning about a potential story and hadn’t heard back from her.” Officer Wright took off her glasses and set them on her desk. “Did you try calling her parents?”

&nbs
p; “Of course I did.” Ella Valentine had the same idea and called Mr. Bastón while I was in her office. “Her dad said she wasn’t home and that he hadn’t seen her since Friday night when she visited her brother.”

  “I’m inclined to tell you to wait a few hours,” Officer Wright said. “Maybe she’s going through some things. Did you two fight?”

  “Yeah, but we were fine already. We spoke yesterday and everything was back to normal.”

  “Sometimes women need a little break, Mr. Fitzgerald.” Officer Wright shot me a kind smile. “I know it’s hard for you to understand that, but it happens.”

  “Nobody has seen her.” I leaned forward, gripping the edge of her desk. “Nobody has seen her or heard from her since yesterday afternoon. This isn’t something Amelia does.”

  “I’m just—”

  “What Logan means is, you don’t want another Lana Ly case on your hands, officer. We’re trying to prevent your department from looking like a total joke, and the only way you can do that is by starting this search right now, as soon as possible. Maybe she’s taking a break, and that’s great, but if that’s the case, don’t you want to be the ones who find her safe?” Nolan asked. He set a hand on my shoulder and squeezed so that I’d stay quiet. I breathed out, letting him have his moment because he really was doing a better job than I could right now.

  “I’ll have some of my officers take a look around,” she said.

  “Thank you.” I brought my face down to my hands with an exhale.

  People like Amelia Bastón didn’t just disappear without a trace and I refused to believe she was doing this to take a break from us. That was bullshit and not the Amelia I knew.

  Chapter 45

  Amelia

  I woke up in the complete darkness, my eyes trying and failing to adjust to it. My feet were still bound, but the ties around my wrists felt a little looser than before, probably from me trying to pull them apart. I kicked my legs out and hit a wall. I turned over and hit a wall. I tried to sit up, and hit the roof. Realization started to sink in slowly, and I was suddenly overcome with panic. Was I inside of a box? My chest heaved. I wiggled around as much as I could. I was inside some sort of coffin. She’d buried me alive in the hole Deacon had been digging. The thought alone was enough to have me come apart. I hated confined spaces. Hailey knew this. She fucking knew this and she stuck me in a fucking coffin.