Covert

by Natasha Preston

  I rang the doorbell and waited. As soon as the door opened I pushed past him. "Come in," he muttered behind me. Ignoring him, I walked upstairs to his room. His mum wasn't in again, or if she was she was hiding out somewhere. Maybe she was at the hospital with her brother still. His footsteps following me were all I heard. No more sarcastic comments. He must be tired.

  "He tried it on!" I said, dropping down on his bed and throwing my hands in the air.

  "What? Aaron?" He raised his eyebrow and smirked as if to say I didn't know he had it in him.

  "Yep. Oh, and he does weed!"

  "I hardly think that's a confession of the year."

  "He does drugs."

  "I wouldn't tar weed smokers and Rohypnol spikers with the same brush."

  I frowned. "Do you do weed?"

  "No, but I know it's not exactly on the same level."

  "I know that too, but doesn't that mean he would be able to get hold of Rohypnol?"

  "Anyone can get hold of anything."

  "I couldn't. I wouldn't even know where to start. What do you do, hang out on a dodgy street and ask whoever looks like a criminal?"

  Blake raised his eyebrows. "Promise me you won't do that."

  "Why? Is that how you do it?"

  He chuckled. "No, that's how you get yourself raped and murdered, little miss innocent. Seriously, your naivety is worrying."

  "Well, I'm sorry I don't know how to score drugs!"

  He flopped to the bed, laughing his head off, a proper from the belly laugh. "We need to move on," he said, shaking his head and grinning so wide I was surprised his face didn't crack in half. "So now you think it was Aaron, hey?"

  "That's not what I said."

  "Pretty much is. You think he can score Rohypnol. You're considering it, aren't you?"

  "I don't like you anymore, Blake." He smirked. "I don't know what to think," I replied, sitting cross legged on his bed.

  He looked up at me; his blue eyes were icy and intense. "You know, Mackenzie. Stop fighting it so hard and open up your mind. Distance yourself from your feelings for your friends."

  "I tried that today already and it doesn't work. You're distant, why can't you just tell me!"

  "Distant. Not oracle," he replied dryly. "Anyway, I've told you what I think, and you dismiss it."

  "Because you think it's Kyle!"

  "Well, now I think it's Aaron."

  I gulped and my heart started working overtime. "But..." I whispered, trailing off.

  Blake rose at the same time his eyebrow arched. "You think so too."

  "I think if he was into that whole weed... scene then maybe. He still loves Tilly, or what he thinks is love anyway. Whatever's going on he's seriously screwed up right now."

  "Why did you say it like that?"

  I shrugged. "They weren't good together. Not for longer than a few weeks. Everything ended in an argument and them breaking up. I know they both liked each other or they wouldn't keep going back for more, but I don't think it was love."

  "Is that motive enough then?"

  "Is anything motive enough? People kill randoms because they enjoy it or because they looked at them a funny way. That's not the important part. If it was Aaron it was driven by revenge and that has always been strong motive."

  "Maybe you should be a judge or--"

  I clicked my fingers in front of his face and said, "Stay with me." We didn't have time for him to go off on one about something stupid. "You think Aaron, so I think we should look into it more."

  "I'm a little hurt that you're using me that way."

  I frowned. "What way?"

  "You think it could be Aaron, too, but you're using me as an excuse to run down that road. Everything else I've said you've dismissed or told me I'm an idiot."

  "Not everything," I said, playing with my fingers. He was right. We both thought it, but I couldn't quite bring myself to admit it out loud.

  "New rule; if you're going to use me in the future it will only be when we're both naked."

  I stared blankly. "I knew you were no gentlemen, but that is pushing it."

  "Baby, you won't hurt my feelings."

  "No, but I'll hurt yours when I'm left frustrated and complaining about your lousy performance in the sack." He lunged for me, making me yelp in surprise. "Blake!" I shouted as he pinned me to the bed, holding my wrists against the mattress.

  "You're just being mean now and since you've cruelly insulted me and mocked my performance, which you know is rockin' since you came like a train, scratched the fuck out of my back, and moaned my name every five seconds, we're going to have sex again and then you're going to apologise."

  I giggled from beneath him. "Thanks for the offer but I'm busy."

  "What part of that did you take as being an offer? Clothes off, Mackenzie."

  I sighed. "See, that is why I know you'd suck right now. How unsexy is it when someone tells you to take your clothes off like that?"

  "I kinda like it."

  Yeah, I kind of did too, but he didn't need to know that.

  "Because you're a man. You kiss the crap outta a woman and remove her clothes as you go. You can have that tip for free. Let me know if it works," I replied, pulling my arms to try to get him to release me. "Come on, you're heavy and we have things to do." I frowned and looked up at him. What was taking him so long? "Hello?" I called to his lights-on-but-no-one-home face.

  "You might have something there," he whispered in reply and lowered his head.

  "Blake!" Eloise shouted from downstairs. "Blake!"

  He jumped off me and spun towards his door. I only had time to push myself into a sitting position before she burst into the room. "He's dead," she sobbed, falling to the floor. "Pete's dead."

  Chapter Eighteen

  I dropped to the floor beside the shaking, broken mess that was Eloise. She had just lost her son and now her brother, and she looked as if she was about to die, too.

  Blake looked at me, lost. "Mum," he said as if he was just calling her to ask what was for dinner.

  I reached out and wrapped one arm around her back, scooting closer. "I'm so sorry, Eloise," I whispered, pulling her closer to me. She fell limp into my lap and cried. Her whole body shook violently. "Shh, it's okay. Are you alone?"

  "Yes, alone," she croaked, sobbing her words. She said alone as if she had lost everyone important to her. Her alone meant more than just no one had brought her home. You still have Blake. Why hadn't anyone picked her up? Did she drive home in that state? We would have gone to get her.

  "Okay," I said. "I'm going to put you to bed and then me and Blake will sort everything out."

  She didn't reply, but she didn't try to stop me when I hooked my arm under hers and lifted her up. Blake stepped in and helped, doing most of the lifting, and we carried her to her room. Practical things Blake could do, but not the emotional stuff. Eloise was dead weight, making little effort to hold herself up, but he carried her with ease.

  "Blake, don't you... don't you do anything stupid. Don't you get yourself killed," she cried, taking deep breaths between words.

  "I'm not going anywhere, Mum," he replied, frowning in discomfort. It would seem that the only emotions Blake could deal with were fickle ones, nothing deep and meaningful. He must love his parents, every kid did, even if they made mistakes.

  Eloise cried hysterically the whole way and didn't stop when we laid her in bed. She hugged her pillow, pressing her face into the cotton as she broke down. I felt for her, huddled up in the foetal position, crying her heart out.

  "Do you need anything?" I asked, stroking her hair.

  "N-No. Look a-after him."

  "I will," I promised her. "Shall we stay?" She shook her head and curled up tighter. "Okay, we'll check on you soon." Standing up, I nodded to the door, telling Blake to leave too.

  "How do you know what to do?" Blake asked as we closed his mum's bedroom door. He looked like hell. He had no idea how to deal with things, especially women.

  I wrapped
my arms around his waist. His body tensed. He didn't know what to do, again. Now I knew he wasn't exactly a cuddly person, but he must have hugged people before, right? I started to feel awkward and was about to pull away, but he very slowly lifted his arms and snaked them around my back.

  "I don't really. I just did what I would want someone to do for me. All you have to do is look after her."

  "I've never had to do that."

  "You do now."

  "So when you fall apart I need to remember to put you to bed."

  I pulled back, but he didn't loosen his grip so I could only just see his face. "I'm falling apart?"

  "Not yet. You're not done protecting everyone yet."

  I wasn't looking forward to facing everything. Pushing it away was much easier but I knew it couldn't last. I didn't really want it to last because I knew how unhealthy it was, but I was enjoying being whatever version of a normal teenager I still was. Blake helped with that; he kept me sane, and although he was a few years older than me; he certainly didn't act it.

  "You're sticking around then?"

  "I'm not sure what I'll do yet. Back home I don't have much going but at least it's home. Whatever I decide I'll wait to tuck you into bed though."

  "You really do care, don't you? As hard as you try to push everyone away and be Mr. Independent, you do care."

  "I don't care; you just have this way of bulldozing your way into someone's life and fucking staying there."

  I smiled. "That was sweet on some level."

  He narrowed his eyes. "I don't do sweet."

  "Too late, you were sweet. Inside you're made of little pink marshmallows."

  "Why pink?"

  "They're cuter."

  "You think I'm cute?"

  I pulled away, rolling my eyes. "No, I think you're an idiot." When I looked back at him, he had the biggest school boy grin I had ever seen. "Whatever, Blake. Stop distracting me." People were being murdered around us and we were messing around. Only he could turn me into my old self when my friend was dead and we were possibly on someone's hit list.

  "I think we should follow Aaron, Kyle and Megan."

  I smirked. "You wanna stalk my friends?"

  "No, I think Pete found out who killed Josh and Courtney, and they killed him. Whichever one of your friends did it, they're getting desperate. If they think people are starting to find out they might do something, go somewhere, that'll lead us to the truth."

  "We're going on a stakeout?"

  "Yep. We need a different car."

  "Hire car?" I replied, getting excited. It scared me how well I was able to distance myself from what was going on. "Can we hire one though?"

  "Why can't we?"

  "Don't you have to be a certain age? Twenty-five in some places."

  He snorted. "Please, I have fake IDs that put me well into my thirties. I'll sort the car and pick you up at six tomorrow night. This needs to be sorted out before..."

  "Before?"

  "Before someone else gets hurt."

  "Watch out, you're caring again."

  "I meant me getting hurt."

  I grinned and raised my eyebrows. "Sure you did."

  "Go home, Mackenzie."

  "Okay," I replied. "When your mum wakes up remember to--"

  "Alright, alright, stay for now!"

  I followed him back into his room and we sat on the bed. "You okay?" I asked. His uncle had just died, surely he felt something.

  "Dunno really. I didn't know him." He frowned. "I barely know any of them."

  "Did you want to know them?"

  "Are you going to psycho analyse me again?"

  I smiled. "Maybe."

  "I wanted to, of course I did. That's not how it always goes though. My parents split and so did our family. There were times growing up when I wanted mum to be in my life, properly be in it not just the odd phone call every couple months, but she was busy raising Josh and had her own stuff to deal with."

  "That doesn't mean she was allowed to be less of a mum to you," I replied, feeling angry for him. No matter how far apart they were she should have been the best mum she could have. A phone call every few months wasn't being a parent.

  "Mackenzie, it's cool. I'm a big boy."

  It wasn't cool, but I dropped it because Blake wasn't known for spilling his heart, and I didn't want to fight. "What does this mean for us?"

  "Wright is going to try pinning Pete's death on us, too. Whoever the killer is, they've just entered serial territory."

  "What?"

  "Serial killer, Mackenzie."

  "How do you know that?"

  He sighed, shaking his head. "Three murders and you're serial. Although I think that might only count if there's time between so Josh and Courtney might count as one."

  "Okay, I don't wanna talk about that. What if we're next?"

  He cocked his head to the side. "You know that's the first time you've put yourself before your friends." It was what? "Don't look so confused. A few days ago you would have said something like what if you're all next, now it's just us."

  "Because I don't know which one of..." I stopped, shocked at myself. Which one of them is the killer. I sat back against the headboard and pulled his cover over me. It was one of them.

  Blake shifted, moving up the bed and under the cover like I had. "Do you want me to speak to Wright about Lawrence? Maybe--"

  "No," I said, cutting him off. "It's not Lawrence, is it?"

  Taking a deep breath, he replied, "No."

  "Shit," I whispered. Blake's body shook as if he was laughing, but he didn't make a sound. "I'm so stupid."

  "You're not stupid, you're loyal."

  I snorted. "Same thing."

  "Stop doing that. You're putting yourself down for being a good friend. Don't ever feel bad for not wanting to believe any of your friends could be murderers."

  "Okay, fine. I won't feel bad, but I would like to be able to see through people a little better."

  He nodded. "Yeah, that you suck at. If it helps I'll tell you when someone is lying to your face."

  I turned my body to face him. "Do you care?"

  Rolling his eyes, he replied, "Yes. Happy?"

  "Happy about?"

  "Not happy. Women," he muttered. "I care about you. There."

  My eyes widened; I didn't hide my surprise well. I expected him to say he cared about his family, not just me. Opening and closing my mouth, I fought to buy some time so I could think of something to say. Mr Heart of Steel had just told me he cared about me. Specifically me. And now I was more attracted to him. My little thing for Blake had become a big thing for Blake.

  "Hmm, not often you're speechless. Why does it surprise you so much? I told you about your bulldozing, didn't I."

  "You're trying to make it sound like nothing."

  "You know it's not nothing."

  "Yes, I know that, but you're trying... Never mind."

  "Just a heads up, I'm going to kiss you now."

  My breath caught in my throat. "Blake, Pete has just died. Your mother is distraught in the next room, and we're possibly next on the hit list."

  His eyes were on my lips. "All the more reason to then. It's what people do in helpless situations like this. Don't you watch movies?"

  I didn't have time to reply before his lips grazed mine so lightly it tickled. He pulled back, looking into my eyes, giving me time to stop him. I couldn't speak; I could barely think, so I pressed my lips to his, showing him what I wanted. Screw it, if it was good enough for the movies...

  I knew it was probably a bad idea, but what I felt when he kissed me - the burning fire - spurred me on. No one had ever kissed me as passionately as Blake did. His hands rested on my hips and then he picked me up as if I weight nothing and set me down on his lap.

  My hands quickly found his hair. I grabbed fistfuls and pulled gently, it was softer than I expected, but Blake didn't seem like the conditioning type. Usually, I could show a little restraint and self-control, but with him it was lo
st. He moaned into my mouth and pushed us up, throwing us back on the bed with him above.

  His tongue brushed my bottom lip and dove into my mouth. I tightened my grip of his hair and pulled his head impossibly closer.

  "Blake," I hissed out as he let me up for breath while he kissed the soft skin below my ear. The sound he made in response was almost a growl. My heart missed a full beat. "We shouldn't be doing this." I said the words but even I didn't believe them.

  "Yes, we should," he murmured against my sensitive skin, making me tremble. I felt his smile. "You don't want to?"

  I closed my eyes, letting the hot, burning sensations of his lips on my body take over. "I want to," I replied, panting.

  He stopped and hovered above me. "But?"

  "But your mum might need us."

  I watched his eyes darken. It looked like he was having a serious internal debate. When he found the answer he sighed. "Rain check. This will happen again."

  "You're very confident."

  "About this I am." He rolled off me and I scrambled up to the pillow end of the bed again, lying down. He raised his eyebrow. "Getting comfortable."

  I nodded. "I'm staying here tonight. Your mum might need me. If you have issues about sharing a bed you know where the sofa is."

  His eyebrow rose higher. "I'm the one that would have to sleep on the sofa?"

  Yawning, I replied, "Yep. Night, Blake."

  "Guess I'm texting your mum then," he muttered as I closed my eyes. I was glad he remembered because with all the kissing my brain was pretty much fried. I smiled as I drifted off to sleep.

  I woke to an empty bed and found Blake and his mum in the kitchen drinking tea. I made sure they were okay and then excused myself to go home. I had to check in with my parents and spend some time with them before Blake and I stalked my friends in the evening.

  Throughout the day, Blake and I had texted. He promised me that he would pick me up with a hire car. I waited by the front door for him to arrive. I had butterflies in my stomach. Well, they actually felt more like birds flying around in there!

  As I heard a car pull up, I shouted bye to my mum and dad and went outside. The butterflies soon fled as I set eyes on the car he had hired. I stopped and blinked, positive it was my eyes playing tricks on me.

  "Are you for real?" I asked when the car didn't turn into an inconspicuous saloon.

  He frowned. "What?"