by Apryl Baker
“Is that so? I don’t do dominant male drama,” I say flippantly, but inside my stomach gets all fluttery at the thought.
Dan laughs. “I think you’ll have to deal with it. Eli has it bad and he’s not going to just let you run from him. He’ll chase you and he’ll make sure to catch you.”
My eyes widen at the finality in Dan’s words. It sounds almost prophetic. I flash back to the images I’d seen of Eli’s eyes in those memories I’d had. Maybe neither of us has a choice.
“Still up for the lake?” Dan gave me another elbow nudge. “There’ve been enough deep discussions for one afternoon. How about some fun at the lake today and we’ll figure out everything with Silas and your maybe-brother tomorrow?”
That sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all day.
“At least until Eli gets there,” Dan chuckles and herds me out the door.
Eli would be there.
And then what?
Only one way to find out.
Chapter Seventeen
Lake Norman is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. It’s completely man-made, but that doesn’t matter. It’s gorgeous. Surrounded on all sides by woodlands, the water sparkles a clear, deep blue in the sunlight, making me want to drag out my sketchpad and spend hours drawing. Dan has a friend who let us borrow his boat. I was shocked that Dan knew how to drive it. That’s pretty cool, telling me there’s a lot about Dan I don’t know. I’ve never been on a boat before and can’t wait.
Dan parks his beat up old Chevy and then I help him unload our stuff out of the back. “Where to?” I ask.
“We’re walking for a bit. I know where Lacey hangs out so I want to check to see if she’s here yet.”
Ah, Lacey. I really hope she knows more than the next-to-nothing she told the cops. We’re basically clueless about who killed the drama queens. She was Addison’s best friend…so she should know something.
Dan leads us down the slope to where the boats are docked. I stop and just stare. It’s not a big boat compared to other ones around us, but to me it looks huge. Jessica Marie is the name painted along the side. Where did the name come from? My mind then starts making up crazy scenarios. I’ve been doing this a lot since I started writing, and it comes as somewhat of a surprise that I really do have an imagination. It tends to rear its head at odd times.
“Hurry up,” Dan calls down to me. “We’ll store our stuff here. We need to find Lacey.”
I shake my head and climb up after him. We dump everything into the built-in storage locker. “You like?” he asks as he reattaches the lock.
“Can’t wait to go out on the lake,” I grin. I love the water. “How many people will it hold?”
“Six easily,” Dan says and helps me back down. “We might need it if you’re right about Eli showing up. I know Ava wants to meet you, so she’ll probably tag along, too.”
“Who?” I ask, confused.
“Ava Malone.”
“Your sister?” I frown. I hate meeting new people.
Dan nods. “Ever since they told her about you getting the best of Eli, she’s been dying to talk to you.”
I groan. Great, what must she think of me?
“Don’t worry so much, Mattie.” Dan laughs at my expression. “She’ll love you just like everyone else does. Now get a move on. We’re wasting time.”
The lake shoreline is so much different from that of the New Jersey beaches. There’s no sand here, but soft grass leading down to the water’s edge. A small forest surrounds the lake, making it feel isolated. The clear blue water makes me think of lazy, magical days. It’s peaceful here.
At least until we round a bend and come face-to-face with a massive number of teens having fun. Some play a volleyball game while others lounge in the grass watching. Not much conversation—as if you could hear yourself think with that blaring music. Most of the girls are dressed in little bikinis and I flinch. That’ll never be me in a bathing suit because of my many, many scars.
“There she is,” Dan says, jarring my attention back to the landscape. I look to where he’s pointing and recognize Lacey from Addison’s memories. Her brown hair is pulled back into a ponytail and she’s lying on a blanket, sunbathing.
When we reach her, she looks up at Dan and frowns. Yup, the girl is definitely hiding something. I can tell by the way she fidgets. Most people can’t lie well and just seeing Officer Dan makes her nervous. Most girls would think it’s because Dan’s cute, but…hey, I’m a pro when it comes to spotting liars. Lacey knows Officer Dan is on to her.
“Hi.” I plop down before Dan can open his mouth. “I’m Mattie.”
“Lacey,” she says automatically. I almost grin. Got to hand it to the South. They sure do raise polite kids. It’s ingrained in them from birth, I think. They might cuss you so viciously on the inside it’d truly make a sailor blush, but on the outside, they’re all polite and smiley.
“I know,” I tell her. “Dan told me about you. I was hoping you could help us.”
“I already told him everything.” She won’t look either of us in the eye.
“Addison was my friend, too,” I say softly.
Her head jerks up and she narrows her eyes at me. “I know all of Addy’s friends.”
“No, you don’t.” I shake my head. “Did she tell you about the guy she met? The one she was supposed to hook up with the night of the party?”
She frowns, clearly suspicious.
“You can believe me or not,” I tell her bluntly. “I don’t care what you think. What I do care about is finding out what happened to my friend. You can either help me or I can make you help me.”
The coldness in my voice matches the look in my eyes. It’s a look I’ve given to loads of people over the years when I wanted them to realize I could hurt them and not think twice about it.
“How do you know her?” she asks, shrinking away from me.
“Long story,” I say. “I’m done asking nicely, Lacey. Tell Officer Richards exactly what you know before I ask him to walk away for a few minutes.”
“He’s a police officer,” she argues. “He wouldn’t let…you…” Her eyes widen when Dan turns and starts to walk away. “Wait!” she calls frantically. “Wait!”
“Ready to talk?” I ask her, my face wearing my nastiest smile, just full of teeth.
“I want to know what happened to her too,” Lacey says, her voice almost timid. “I just…”
“Look, let’s just cut the BS, okay? You know something and not telling us isn’t going to help Addison. So spill it!”
“I did see something that night.” She sighs. “If I hadn’t been so drunk, maybe…”
“Your self-pity isn’t helping anyone,” I tell her. I’m not unfeeling and if I’d been in her shoes, I’d probably feel guilty too, but I don’t have time to make her feel better. I need to get these drama queens off my back. “What did you see?”
“I saw someone,” she says at last. “A guy. I don’t know what he looks like, so don’t ask. I couldn’t really see through the bonfire smoke. He was standing at the edge of the trees and I saw Addy walk into the woods with him. I figured she’d just hooked up with someone, ya know?”
“Why didn’t you tell the police this?” Dan asks.
“Because she didn’t want people to blame her,” I mutter and get to my feet. “She was drunk, and instead of looking out for her friend, she partied.”
Lacey flinches from the disgust in my voice. Dan frowns at me, but I glare right back. I can’t believe how selfish people are. If she’d told the police this before, they might have found a clue.
“Where?” I ask.
“Where what?” Lacey repeats.
I almost growl at her. “Show us where you saw them disappear into the woods.”
“I don’t remember,” she confesses. “I was really drunk and that night’s pretty much just a blur.”
“General vicinity?” I ask, annoyed. I never understood how girls could get so drunk they didn’t rem
ember anything. Don’t they know how dangerous that is? It’s how they end up being raped, killed, or both. They should have more self-respect than that.
“East side of the lake,” she whispers, scooting away from me. I flash her another toothy grin. It’s my best ‘don’t mess with me or I’ll cause you bodily harm’ smile.
“We need to take the boat to reach it,” Dan tells me when I glance up at him. His expression is comical. He forgets so easily how snarky and mean I can be when I want to. “The east side isn’t as populated, so it’s easier for kids to party.”
Well, that makes sense. This side of the lake houses an apartment complex and the west side is littered with expensive homes. I doubt the residents would appreciate the noise factor of an out of control teenage party.
“Let’s go,” I say and start back to the dock.
“Can we hold off for a few minutes?” Dan asks. “I see a couple friends I want to talk to.”
Even though I want to set out immediately looking for clues, I sigh. Dan looks so eager. Time enough later to discuss the idiot who failed to report something significant to the police. “Sure,” I nod. “I’ll stretch out by the boat.”
The ground is warm. I can feel the heat seep into me, but it does little to dispel the cold. It’s over ninety degrees today, but to me it could be ten degrees. I wish I could get my hands on my sketchpad. The scenery is gorgeous and I could sit here all day and draw until my fingers cramped up too much to move them.
I stretch out and stare up at the clouds. This has always been a favorite past time of mine. My mom and I used to stare up at them and we’d take turns trying to find shapes in the fluffy white puffs. We’d giggle like fools when one of us came up with something particularly funny.
I smile softly, thinking about those memories. It’s gotten easier to remember her and I’m glad. Even though she did some awful things, she was my mom and I’ll always love her even if I can’t forgive her. Just last year, I wouldn’t have been able to say that. I guess maybe Dan’s right and I really am growing up.
“Matts?”
I turn my head and see my ex-boyfriend, Jake Owens, sprinting towards me. Jake is a cutie. He has that all-American, boy-next-door vibe going on. I would say he’s one of the sweetest guys I’ve ever met if he hadn’t bailed on me last year without so much as a breakup text after the Olson incident. It still hurt that he hadn’t cared enough to even check on me.
“Jake.” I nod and sit up. He falls down beside me and I notice just how good his ripped abs look. He’s the captain of our football team. Everyone is sure he’s getting a full ride to his choice of colleges because of his epic skills on the field. I’ve seen him play and he’s really good.
“Thought that was you.” He grins, his eyes twinkling. “How ya been?”
“Really?” I ask snidely. “You have the nerve to ask me that now, months later?”
He winces and has the good grace to blush. “Yeah, I’m sorry, Matts.”
“Whatever.” I turn and stare at the boats bobbing in the water.
“I really am sorry,” he tells me. “Can I explain?”
I shrug, not really caring at this point one way or the other. When I look at Jake now, I don’t get butterflies like I used to. Jake is someone I let myself care about. Then he let me down. Story of my life.
“I freaked out,” he admits. “That day in the diner when you beat the crap out of Tommy, I saw the girl everyone else talked about. The foster kid with a record. It wasn’t until later that I realized your record didn’t matter. You were my Matts and that’s all I cared about. I tried calling you, but your phone went straight to voicemail. I went to the house the next day and there were police cars everywhere. Mrs. Olson told me you were missing.”
He stops and scoots until he’s in front of me, so I’ll look at him. He gives me that soft smile of his and again, it does nothing for me. “I was so worried about you. The whole time you were missing, I kept thinking if I hadn’t been such a jerk, you might have been okay. You’d have been with me or I might have stopped you from getting taken if I was there. It ate away at me, Mattie. Then when Dan found you, my parents and I were at the hospital all night until we found out you’d be okay. I came by a couple times to check on you, but you were either asleep or Dan was there. I felt guilty, Mattie, and I guess I decided to take the classic idiot’s way out and not face you.”
“That’s just stupid,” I tell him. “And immature.”
“I’m a guy, Mattie.” He laughs. “We do stupid stuff. I owe you an apology and I wanted to say how sorry I was for how crappy I behaved. You deserved better and I’m sorry I didn’t give you better.”
“Yeah, well…”
“If it makes you feel better, Meg has given me hell for it from the moment you woke up and is still harping on about it.”
“Meg?” I frown.
“Yeah, she saw me yesterday and read me the riot act. I told her I would apologize when you got back from New Orleans. When I told her I hadn’t, she went off. That girl really cares about you. Wish I had a friend like that.”
Why would she do that? I thought she hated me after I belted her one.
“Why are you frowning, Matts?” Jake asks.
“Nothing,” I say and go back to cloud staring.
Jake stretches out beside me. “You see that big one right there? It’s like…a fat cat.”
“No.” I laugh. “More like a fat squirrel.”
“No way!” he argues. “It’s a cat.”
“In your dreams,” I say. “Now that one looks like a cone of ice cream.”
“Yeah, it does.” He turns over to look at me. “Can you forgive me, Mattie?”
I sigh. He’s asking a lot. I don’t forgive people very easily; after all, Jake broke my heart.
“Don’t answer right now.” He smiles a little. “Just think about it, okay?”
I nod. I can do that.
“What are you doing here?” I ask. “I didn’t think you knew anyone up this way.”
“I don’t,” he says. “My brother, Paul, invited me along. His girlfriend lives on the lake. We’re going out on their boat later.”
“Cool.”
“I miss you,” he says suddenly. “I was over at Target yesterday and saw a girl on those rollie shoes you love so much making the security guy chase her through the store. My first thought: Matts would do that.”
I totally would, and have on more than one occasion.
“So, Matts, do you have a new boyfriend?” Jake asks softly.
I look up into those baby blues and want to feel something. Jake was an awesome boyfriend up until the whole abandonment thing. He’d been kind and sweet, making me feel like I’d been worth something for the first time in my life. Jake was also the only boy I’d ever seriously considered having sex with.
Here he was, explaining and apologizing. And if I was the same person I’d been a few months ago, I might have jumped at the chance to grab onto him again. I’d been desperate to feel worthy of love, that someone could love me. Now, I don’t need anyone to make me feel loved. There are people who care about me now. I mean something to them, despite my shortcomings. I don’t need a jerk in sheep’s clothing to make me feel good about myself. Might as well put an end to that hopeful look in his eyes right fast.
“No…”
“YES!” a male voice shouts.
I look up and see Eli stalking towards us, the expression on his face murderous.
My eyes widen. This can’t at all be good.
Chapter Eighteen
Jake’s eyes swing back and forth from me to Eli. He stands up, and even though he’s a football player, he has nothing on Eli Malone.
Shirtless, Eli has my mouth hanging open. Tattoos cover his shoulders and travel down both biceps. They aren’t tribal art, probably runes or sigils of some kind. They make him look even more dangerous. Why have I never noticed the boy is ripped? My mouth goes a little dry as my eyes drink him in. Standing in front of me is not an eig
hteen year old boy, but a full-fledged Knight, a Hunter bent on epic destruction. This man can do some serious damage to anyone standing in his way. Jake won’t stand a chance against him.
It takes me a minute to stop gawking like some awestruck Barbie and scramble to my feet. Jake may be an arse, but I don’t want Eli to beat the snot out of him for no reason. “Where’s Caleb?” I ask.
“He and Ava are looking for Dan. They said you’d be with him,” Eli rumbles, blazing eyes on Jake.
“How’d you find me?” I ask.
“Hilda, like I said before, I always know where you are,” he tells me, his eyes boring into mine.
“Matts?” Jake asks, curious. “Who is this?”
“Matts?” he snarls. “She is not a doormat! Her name is Mattie.”
“He’s nobody,” I tell Jake, ignoring Eli’s glower.
Jake nods. “So, you two aren’t together, right?”
“No…” I start to say.
“YES.” The frost in Eli’s eyes dares me to deny it. “Who the hell are you?”
“Eli, this is my ex-boyfriend, Jake. Jake, meet the arse, Eli Malone.”
“You still can’t say ass, can you?” Jake chuckles. “I always loved that about you.”
“Get lost,” Eli growls. The look he gives Jake has the boy taking several steps backward.
“You have no right…” I begin, but Eli puts a finger to my lips.
“Not a word, Hilda,” he hisses. “You and I need to get a few things straight.”
“Matts, you okay?” Jake asks, very, very nervous. I almost smile at him. That’s Jake. He’s an idiot, but a decent idiot. Eli certainly terrifies him, but he’s willing to risk bodily harm trying to look out for me.
“Call her that one more time and I swear to God, you won’t be able to speak for all the wire holding your jaw together,” Eli says softly, eyes steady on me. It’s not until this moment I realize just how pissed off Eli is. I think it’s a mixture of my running and then him finding me getting all cozy with my ex. Not that I was, but from a distance it might have looked like that.
