"So if we've been using that porn site, then Wren, Cassandra, and Hunter were on it, too."
Emma frowned. "I didn't really know Wren, but I seriously doubt Cassandra was looking at that, and Hunter once told me they used to look at porn but had stopped."
"People lie about watching porn all the time. It's not something you're going to freely admit."
Emma shook her head. Samantha hadn't been there when she'd gone to Hunter and confided in them. If Hunter were still looking at porn, they would have said so. "How did you find Candy Porn?" Emma asked.
Sam's brow wrinkled. "I think I saw it advertised a few times when I was browsing sites, but then I was sent a link on my phone."
"Yeah, me too," Emma said softly. "Do you think the person is, like, a religious fanatic or something? Someone phishing for kids who look at porn and then murdering them?"
"I think it's someone who knows us. The touch with the nails—it's too personal. And what about that video of Wren screaming at her sister? It was taken in her house."
“But Poppy…” Emma didn't complete the sentence.
Sam nodded. "Poppy was framed. I'm ninety-nine percent sure she never sent that video out of Wren. That's just what was written in her supposed suicide note."
"Emma's heart hammered in her chest, and her nose throbbed. "What do you want to do?"
Sam gazed at her in a way that made Emma think of Cassandra. "You should get your nose dealt with first. Then… we'll talk more, get our stories straight and go to the police."
"Okay. But you might have to come out to Malibu. I don't think my mom will let me go anywhere after this."
"Yeah. I'll come out," Samantha said and sighed.
Emma texted Blue to meet her at the Santa Monica house.
Immediately, a text came back.
Okay, I'm going to meet Posie at Whole Foods on Wilshire. She says Donovan knows something.
My face is busted up. I have to go to the hospital.
What happened???
Long story.
Did you find the letter?
Emma didn't bother answering.
Chapter 45
She’d only been in Malibu a week, but it seemed longer, Emma thought as Sam pulled into her mom’s driveway. There was an abandoned feeling to her house that surprised Emma.
Sam must have felt it, too, because she said, “Want me to wait with you until Blue and Posie get here?”
“Thanks. No. I’ll be fine.”
“You sure?” Sam’s eyes lingered on her nose.
“They’ll be here soon. I’ll be fine. Really. Thanks for the ride.”
Sam made a face like Cassandra. “It’s the least I can do.”
Emma got out of the car, and Sam gave a brief wave before pulling out of the driveway. Emma returned the gesture, watched her make a U-turn, then walked up her front steps and unlocked the door.
It was still early, and sunlight streamed through the windows, casting the living room in soft pale light, chasing away the earlier somber feeling. Emma sighed and headed for the hall bathroom to get a look at her face.
She sucked in her breath sharply. Her nose, flattened, sat to the right side of her face, the bridge swollen to twice its size, a pea-sized bump just at the center. Dark, purplish bruising shadowed her eyes. She looked like a Halloween witch.
“Shit,” she hissed under her breath, and sank down onto the toilet lid, trying to ignore the fact that her face was throbbing again. Her mind replayed the last few hours, sneaking into Cassandra’s house, the run-in with Sam, getting the shit kicked out of her, then the letter.
Someone has stuff on us. Someone we know well. Emma could hear Sam’s voice in her head.
Emma pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them tight. She sat like that for fifteen minutes.
Her phone pinged and she almost didn’t answer it, then thought, considering everything, that it would be stupid.
The message was from Sam, and it blasted through her muddled mind before her brain could make sense of what she was reading.
Don’t let Posie and Blue in. I’m turning around. Have you called your mom yet?
The doorbell rang, and Emma’s blood ran cold.
Chapter 46
Emma's breath caught, and she flattened herself up against the wall, making her way to the front door. Heart in her throat, she texted Sam back.
They’re here already
Did you let them in?
No.
Don't let anyone in omw
The sudden knocking on the door made Emma jump.
"Emma?" Blue called out. More pounding. Emma's throat went dry, and she held her breath, trying to block out the sound, hoping Blue would give up.
"Emma?"
More knocking.
Emma waited, then peered through the peephole.
Blue was still there alone, chewing at her lip, her face rigid with worry.
Was it an act? Finally, she turned and walked away.
But then Emma heard noises in the bushes by the front window, and she scurried back to the corner behind the door. Sinking to her knees, she crawled to the kitchen before Blue could get around to the other side of the house and see her from the tall northerly window. Emma continued to crawl down the hall to her bedroom, shutting and locking the door.
Her face hurt and felt even more swollen than before.
She thought of calling 911, but didn't know what she would say exactly and how she would explain her face. The throbbing continued to intensify in her nose as if her heart had taken up residence there. The only option was to wait for Sam. Even getting ice seemed too risky. Texts came in from Blue.
R u okay?
At your house. Wru?
Fh. I'm worried
Then texts from Posie.
At the WFM on Wilshire. Hv u heard from Blue? She's not picking up
Hello??? Wtf
Address? I think my brother knows something
Emma stared down at the last message, her blood running cold. Blue hadn't met Posie. She’d come to the house alone, which meant…
Her screen lit up again. It was her dad.
Where are you?
Emma ignored him and texted Sam.
Are you almost here?
Immediately dots were forming, and then they stopped. Emma chewed her index nail until she'd chewed it to the quick and tore the skin. She spit the fleck of skin off her tongue.
About 5-8 min away. Don't let anyone in!
The renewed warning sent a new flash of terror through her body, and Emma sank down to her bed, the minutes dripping by. Another text came in from Oliver.
You leave me no choice but to call your mom.
Shit, the last thing she needed was for her mom to show up with the twins in the middle of whatever it was she was in the middle of. Being stalked by a possible serial killer? She quickly texted him back.
In SM. Needed to get out of the house. I'm fine. Call you soon.
This wasn't the plan. Oliver texted back.
I know. I'm sorry.
The dots started moving. Do you need a ride home?
She thought about her face and the fact that she needed a doctor. Her dad would be easier to deal with than her mom.
Yes. Call soon.
Okay.
The phone rang.
“Gold Digger,” loud and obnoxious, blared from the speaker, a ringtone Emma had set out of nostalgia. It was Blue calling, and Emma fumbled to turn the ringer off, but the phone flew out of her sweaty hands and thunked against the wall. Blue was at her bedroom window, standing on tiptoe, looking in, and when she saw Emma, her hand flew to her mouth. Then she was gone. Emma got up to grab her phone, the screen lighting up again. This time Oliver was trying to call. A shattering sound came from the living room. Emma jumped. This was followed by more sounds of glass breaking and then Blue calling her name from inside the house, and another sound—tires squealing outside, and a text coming from Sam.
I'm here. Let me in
Emma felt paralyzed as Blue pounded on her bedroom door. The front doorbell rang, followed by forceful knocking, which overtook the racket Blue was making. Emma could hear Blue's footsteps retreating as the doorbell rang again. Then a text from Sam.
Answer the door or im brking in
"Emma," Blue's voice came from outside her bedroom door in a loud whisper. "It's Sam. Was she the one who fucked up your face?"
Was this all a trap? Emma wondered.
"I've got pepper spray," Blue said.
Emma sprang up from her bed and lunged for the door. Opening it, she could see Blue already down the hall, pepper spray in hand, flinging the front door open.
"Blue!" Emma yelled.
"Ahh! Fuck! Fu—" Sam's words were cut off in a fit of coughing.
"Stop!" Emma screamed, jogging down the hall. She halted at the entrance of the living room. There were giant shards of glass everywhere and a large rock. For a moment, she thought of her mom and how upset she'd be, then realized what a ridiculous thought it was.
Sam stood hunched over on the front stoop, barking out a cough, trying to catch her breath.
Blue gaped, somewhat awed at the effect of what she'd done, but when she glanced at Emma, she gave a sharp gasp, the blood draining from her face.
"Emma, who did this to you?"
And Emma knew then that Blue had nothing to do with the waterside suicides.
"Fuck," Sam gasped again, stumbling inside. "I need water."
Emma grabbed Sam's arm, leading her to the kitchen sink, Blue following behind, looking disconcerted and baffled. While Sam splashed her face, Emma opened the freezer and pulled out an ice pack, placing it on her tender nose.
"Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Blue finally said.
"It's Donovan," Sam said in a muffled voice from under the flow of water.
Blue stared at her for a moment, then at Emma. "I had a feeling," she finally said. "It's why I didn't meet Posie. I started putting it together, and… But then when I saw you outside the door, acting like a crazy woman…" her words trailed off. "Did Donovan do this to you?" Blue asked, eyeing Emma's broken nose.
"I did," Sam said.
Emma handed Sam a dish towel to dry her inflamed skin, a raccoon mask of reddish-orange around her bloodshot eyes.
"You did?" Blue echoed.
"She found me snooping around her house and thought I was the one who's been popping off our friends," Emma said.
Blue's mouth hung open.
"But I think we should call the police now," Emma added.
"I don't," Sam said.
"Why not?" Emma and Blue said at the same time.
"I think we need to figure out how much dirt he has on us first and exactly what we're going to tell the police."
Blue grew quiet, her face reddening.
"What?" Emma said.
"Donovan knows about Mia and—" she shut her eyes and squeezed the bridge of her nose, not finishing.
"And what?" Sam demanded.
"Don't judge," Blue said in a small voice.
Emma and Sam grew quiet.
"Some months ago, I was thinking about doing what my sister does."
"What does your sister do?" Sam asked, but before Blue could answer, understanding swept across her features, and Emma could see her connecting the dots. Blue’s older sister, Mia, hanging on Emma’s dad’s arm the night of the party in Malibu.
"No," Sam mouthed.
"He hooked me up with some people," she said in the same small voice. "It was mostly just online… once in person, but one customer recorded me. Donovan said it was shitty, but it happens all the time to girls, and mostly the videos are just circulated around the dark web and stay pretty anonymous. Her voice trailed off, her face turning redder. "God. I've been so stupid."
"That fucking douche," Sam said. "That murdering fucking asshole. I'm going to kill him."
"And my parents are going to kill Mia," Blue said. "At the least, disown her, and once the media gets ahold of this story, she'll probably get thrown out of school."
Sam groaned. "The fucking media."
"Or worse, go to jail," Emma said in a low voice. She thought about her dad and his smaller involvement in all of this. There were the pictures Blue had posted to Instagram of herself and Mia at a club, Oliver in the background. It seemed the more Emma thought about it, the more scandalous it was looking for anyone who ever had anything to do with the Jenners.
"Nisha might know what to do," Emma suggested.
"Nisha?" Sam said and then turned the water back on, hunching to immerse her face under the stream.
"Yeah. I feel like she knows people who could help us."
She told Blue and Sam about Nisha's cousin, and Nisha hinting that she knew people who would take out the guy who murdered her cousin.
Sam turned the water off and dried her face again, then stared at Emma.
"Aren't we a fucking mess?" She finally said. Then, "You need to see a doctor and get your nose set, and what about James Bond over here," she gestured at Blue. "Breaking your window. How are you going to explain all this to your folks?"
"I'll call my dad. He can be cool about stuff sometimes," Emma said. "And I'm going to call Nisha.
Blue's phone rang in her hand, and she jumped, then looked down at the screen and made a face. "It's Posie again." Her phone lit up a few more times with incoming texts. "And Suri and Valentina. Those two text me every hour on the hour."
"Okay. Focus," Sam said, cutting her off. "Text Posie and let her believe that you still think I'm the one who's been offing everyone. Tell her I broke Emma's nose when I found Emma in my house. Emma got away, and you went with her to the doctor."
"Don't text her," Emma said, “Call her. You don't want to leave a record about any of this."
Blue nodded.
"I'm not sure about the Nisha plan, though," Sam said.
"Trust me. Nisha's the perfect person to call," Emma said.
"Alright, but call your dad first. It hurts to look at you."
Blue wandered off to Emma's bedroom to make her call, and Emma texted her dad.
"Christ," Oliver said when he came through the door and saw Emma. "Christ," he said again when his eyes took in the broken window and shards of glass. "What's happened here, Emma? And who’s this?" He asked, gazing at Sam, with her blotchy red face and bloodshot eyes.
"It's a long story," Emma said.
"Well, I'd like to hear it," Oliver said, his tone sharp, startled eyes jumping from one to the other of them and back to the broken window.
"Fine. But I need to see a doctor."
"Something tells me I need to call the police."
"No, Dad. Please. You don't want to do that."
"I think I absolutely want to do that."
"Dad. You don't." Emma spoke firmly. "If you call the police, there's going to be a lot of explaining you'll have to do."
"Me?" Oliver said, pressing a palm to his chest.
Blue held up her phone to him, her screen displaying the selfie she'd taken with Mia, Oliver at the bar in the background, grinning with drinks in his hand. She swiped to another photo she hadn't posted to social media. It was of Blue and Mia, each giving Oliver a kiss on his cheek. Blue is the one taking the picture, holding her phone out at arm's length. Oliver is laughing, eyes squinted in happiness to be out on the town with two beautiful girls on his arm, even if one of them is only fifteen.
"Is this blackmail?" He asked in a low voice.
"Fuck. Dad, no," Emma said. "I told you, I'll explain everything, but trust me, you don't want to call the police right now."
Oliver looked shaken. "What about your mom's window?"
Emma glanced at the mess. "Maybe we could leave it and let her believe someone broke in."
"Emma, your mom's not stupid. She will definitely put two and two together if you show up with a bandaged nose, and she comes here to find the window smashed in."
"Maybe just get it fixed," Blue suggested.
&
nbsp; "It's difficult to get a window replaced overnight," Sam said.
"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Oliver asked.
"You guys are staying in Malibu. Has your mom been back at this house since you've been staying out there?" Sam asked, ignoring Oliver's question.
"I don't think so," Emma said.
"Perfect. You can probably get the window done in the next few days to a week. That is if she doesn't come by and find out first. Does your mom know you left Malibu?"
Emma looked at her dad.
"No. I haven't told her yet."
Emma knew he'd prefer never to tell Jill that he'd lost track of her while Jill was at work.
"Tell your mom you fell and broke your nose," Sam said.
"I don't think the doctor's going to believe that," Blue said.
"Tell the doctor you got in a fight with a friend."
"What did happen?" Oliver asked.
"I punched her," Sam said.
"What? Why?"
"Dad. Let's go. I'll explain everything in the car."
Oliver glanced around again. He looked like a man trapped in a rip current, rapidly realizing he might not make it back to shore.
"I'm coming," Blue said.
"I'm going to head home. Let me know what Nisha thinks," Sam said.
"Nisha," Oliver echoed. "Bloody hell, I feel like I've just slipped through the looking glass."
"Gumption's your girl," Nisha said. She was on speaker in the car.
"Gumption?" Emma echoed.
"Girl, Gumption's got a dark side. I don't know exactly exactly, but as much as I admire that woman, there is definitely another side to her. I mean, she's got that drug addict bitch living up in her pad, doting on her like she's some princess, and remember, she took out those men who killed her daddy. For whatever reason, Gumption was into Cassandra even before she found out Cas could sing, and she became like a mentor to our girl. Then that jackass poisoned Cassandra and left her to die in Gumption's yard. Left her for Gumption to find. If someone knows someone, its gotta be her."
"But what about the people you know? The ones who threatened to kill Darnell when he gets out of prison?"
The Ugly Girls' Club: A Murder Mystery Thriller Page 33