by J Bree
He grins at me. “You’ve already told me; no taking that back now, Star.”
By the time the others arrive back for dinner, Ash and Harley have beaten each other to a bloody pulp and Avery is wincing as she moves, having pushed herself too hard and too far.
I feel just a little fucking guilty but I’m smart enough not to try to apologize. There’s only so many times I can get snapped at by my family before I learn my lesson.
I fall asleep in Blaise’s arms and wake later to Harley climbing in, grumpy and huffing from attempting to sleep alone. I lay there, listening to the all too familiar sounds of my guys sleeping, and I thank the fucking stars I have them.
And I obsessively plan how I’m going to keep my family safe.
No matter the cost.
Chapter Thirteen
My phone wakes me with a text message, which is never a good sign.
Harley wakes as well, grunting and pulling me into his body tighter until Blaise groans in his sleep and rolls away from us both. He’s always been the precious one about sleep and I huff at him.
I climb over Harley to grab my phone, my gut clenching when I see the Jackal’s number and photos waiting for me. Harley sits up and moves me to sit in his lap, then I click on the photos.
Fuck.
“Aves. We have a problem,” I croak, and she startles awake.
She sits up and flicks the light on, straight into cleanup mode. We all ignore Blaise’s complaints and I send her a copy of the photos. The photos of tongues impaled on the ornate spikes of Hannaford’s wrought iron fence.
There’s at least eighty.
“What the fuck is he playing at? The cops are going to be crawling up our asses in no time and that’s not good for any of us, for fuck’s sake,” Harley snaps, and I get up to start pulling clothes on. I flick a text to Ash, the only person in the other room because he’s a grumpy shit, and then I slip my knife into my pocket. Harley starts to rummage around for clothes as well, no chance of me doing this alone.
I find my Docs and shove my feet in them as Blaise sits up, rubbing his eyes and glaring at us all. I ignore him and say to Avery, “Can you keep the administration away for long enough that I can clean up the… evidence? I’ll call Illi for a pick up and we can figure out what to do about this.”
She nods, her eyes never leaving her phone as her fingers fly across the screen, and then curses under her breath. Her eyes flash as she looks up at me. “Someone has already called the cops. They’re down at the fence already. The Jackal must have waited for them to come in before sending you the photos.”
I groan as the door unlocks and Ash comes storming in, dressed and deliciously sleep rumpled. He makes a beeline to the coffee machine without acknowledging any of us and I feel the same damn way. Gimme some caffeine to deal with this bullshit.
“Why the fuck would he call the cops? Surely someone has to notice a hundred guys walking around with no tongues. Or a hundred dead bodies,” Harley snarls.
I shrug. “He has the Bear on his side. He can dispose of that many bodies all at once easily so there won’t be any evidence for the cops to find. The problem is that they’re going to be hanging around here, questioning everyone, and we don’t know how many of them are dirty and in Senior’s pocket. The two threats are fucking blending together, just like they want them to.”
Avery nods but doesn’t look up from her phone. “Call Illi. Tell him, and I’ll speak to Atticus. We’ll make sure we’re protected before the cops get here.”
I step into the bathroom to call Illi so I can hear him over Harley’s bitching. I glance at the clock to find it’s only five in the morning. Fuck this.
“Kid, just because you don’t sleep, doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t need our eight hours,” he snarks and I snort at him.
“Eight? Fuck, I wish I got eight. We’ve had a visit from our friend. He’s cleaned house to make sure he doesn’t have any more snitches, then called it in with the pigs. We’re going to be put into lockdown, possible interference from the serial killer. Just another day at Hannaford Prep.”
Illi groans and I hear the rustling of him sitting up in bed, Odie’s murmuring low and soft. My heart does this weird clench thing in my chest at just how freaking close we got to losing her. Again.
Fuck.
“Right. Get the ice queen to wipe your phones and I’ll come have a chat with some old friends I have in the force. Everything will be fine, kid. Just keep your family safe,” he says, and I listen to the rustling sound of him pulling on clothes.
I sigh and rub a hand over my face. “Yeah, I know we’ll get through this but fuck, I’m tired and Illi I’m… I’m worried about who he’s going to go after next. Get Odie somewhere safe, ok?”
Illi grunts down the phone at me. “Look. No one is touching her. No one is touching you or the rest of the family. We’re fine, stop getting the fucking jitters because he’s going fucking psycho, that’s what he does. We knew it would get bad and his temper tantrums aren’t going to stop us from taking him out. Now hang up and clear your phones. I’ll be there in under an hour.”
I hang up and shove my phone in my pocket, glancing up to find Ash in the doorway with a scowl on his face.
“Did you just get a pep talk from the Butcher? Fuck, we are in trouble,” he sneers, and I roll my eyes at him.
“I’m allowed to feel shitty about this whole… thing, you know. Don’t take your issues out on me, talk to your sister and actually fucking listen to her for once.”
He narrows his eyes at me and grinds his teeth. “Atticus Crawford is a fucking cancer and we need to cut him out now before he gets Avery killed.”
I blow out a breath at him, grabbing a fistful of his shirt to pull him all the way into the bathroom and pushing the door shut behind him.
“Nothing is going to happen to Avery. Not ever, I won’t let my world or yours hurt her but if you don’t pull your fucking head out of your ass she’s going to walk the hell away from you. That’s where this shitty attitude leads, Ash,” I whisper, trying to keep my tone civil but I don’t think I succeed.
He gives me a dark look, one I haven’t seen aimed my way since sophomore year. “She’s not going to walk away, the only way I’m going to lose her is if she’s dead which is exactly where this is going. Atticus is a selfish fucking dickhead, he’s always thought he’s better than what he really is, and if she goes along with him, he’ll get her killed.”
I stare at him for a second and then nod slowly. “Ok. Ok, I’ll do what I can. Just ease up and I’ll do what I can.”
I fucking hate politics.
Especially the family kind.
Avery has all of our phones wiped before I make it out of the shower. I’d dragged Ash in with me to try to get him in a better mood but by breakfast they’re back at each other's throats. I go back to my default and ignore them completely, and Harley and Blaise seem to be happy enough to do the same.
There are extra men in suits lining the halls and when we walk to our classes we find pigs trawling through the school grounds, taking photos and questioning the Crow’s men. One of them tries to stop Avery to speak to her and at the mere uttering of her name they scatter like mice. I share a look with her; they’ll all be in Senior’s pocket for sure but how much of this little stunt has he hand a hand in?
In our first class of the day we’re told by our teacher to go about our lessons as if there hasn’t been dead body parts left on campus. Half the students in the class look like they’re about to jump out of their seats and run screaming from the room but it’s the other half, the bored half, that holds my interest.
What’s happened in their lives that spiked tongues don’t bother them?
Avery follows my gaze and starts to take note, this could be useful for us and I have no doubt she’ll have a whole new list of filthy rich families under her thumb by the end of the week.
I find myself unable to concentrate for the entire freaking day. Something nags at me and I can't
let it go. Something pulling at the back of my memory, and my mind worries over it like an obsessed child until it works it out. It's so frustrating I can't even focus on my classes. Harley notices, he watches me too closely to miss fucking anything, and finally at lunchtime when were in the dining hall together with our family, he snaps.
“What the fuck is going on in your head today? You’re a twitchy mess.”
The whole lot of them stop eating to eye me, Avery frowning and slipping her phone out of her pocket like she’s ready to wage war the second I tell her who’s pissing me off. It’s sweet, a better gesture than any other she could offer me.
I roll my eyes at Harley because I haven’t been that bad. "How did the Jackal know someone had snitched? I can't let it go. The only people we spoke to about it were the Crow and Illi. Illi would never betray us, never, we’re family and he’s all fucking in. But… I don't think the Crow would either. We have a leak and we need to plug it before it gets someone killed.”
Avery's eyes drop down to her phone. My stomach drops, I don’t want to have to tell her she can't message Atticus and ask him about this, but then she places the phone on the table where we can all see it. Harley’s shoulders relax just a little at the show of loyalty to us, her real family.
She ignores him, giving me a curt nod and says, “It has to be one of his men. Atticus wouldn't play these games or go back on his word. That's not who he is, even Ash would agree."
Ash doesn’t notice any part of the conversation except the bit where Avery is defending Atticus and now he looks about ready to murder someone. It’s plain to see that the possible question of his loyalty makes Ash positively giddy with murderous intent. "We didn't know he was the Crow, Floss, what makes you think we know enough about him to say whether or not he would betray us?"
I sigh at him and knock his foot with mine under the table. It's a little hard considering I've got to go around Avery but I make it work. I'm pretty impressed with Avery because she manages to control her own murderous intent, everything except her hand tightening around the handle of her knife. "I know you hate him. He's not my favorite either right now. But can you honestly tell me you think that he would do this?"
Harley cuts in before this turns into a full-blown Beaumont Bullshit session, "I agree with the girls, it's gotta be one of the men. The real problem here is we didn't discuss with the Crow what had happened."
And then it hits me like a baseball bat to the back of the head. I stand abruptly and curse viciously under my breath. Everyone else goes on high alert and Avery snatches her phone back into her hand ready to run after me or call for backup.
"Someone's bugged our fucking room,” I grit it out between my clenched teeth.
That gets a reaction.
Avery snatches her phone back off the table and stands, walking away from the busy table. Ash snarls and takes off after her, cursing Atticus’s name six ways to freaking Sunday until every eye in the room follows him out the door.
Harley shoves my plate back at me and gives me a glare. “Avery can sort it out, finish your fucking food.”
I glare at him, my food situation isn’t an issue anymore, but Blaise crosses his arms and joins the fight. Fuck’s sake.
I sit and shove a forkful into my mouth, chewing without tasting a goddamn thing. “I need to call the Coyote, he needs to come and upgrade every-fucking-thing. We need our own surveillance in the room too.”
A slow smirk spreads across Blaise's face and a blush starts creeping across mine. I know that smirk. I fucking love it when he gives it to me, but only when we’re alone and certainly not when we’re surrounded by students.
“We should probably make sure Avery isn’t the one monitoring it. She wouldn’t be too happy to find out I bent you over her bed while she was at ballet.”
Fuck.
I do not need to be reminded of that particular memory, not right the fuck here, and not while Harley is sitting there with raised eyebrows and a fucking smirk that mirrors Blaise’s.
“And here I was thinking Avery’s shit was off limits,” he drawsl, and I steel myself against the shiver that tries to work its way up my spine.
“It is. Blaise just… caught me off guard for a second there. Can we stick to the topic? We have shit going on.”
Blaise shrugs at me, sharing a look with Harley. “There’s always going to be something going on, Star. I’d rather talk about all of the sex tapes we’re about to be making. Can you ask the Coyote to make it a live feed straight to our phones, too? That way I can keep tabs and make sure Harley isn’t being a selfish dick.”
Harley scoffs at him and shrugs. “You’ll learn some valuable fucking lessons on how to keep our Mounty satisfied.”
Fuck.
I’m out. I don’t need the two of them to turn this into a competition in the freaking dining hall of all places. I stand and stalk away listening to them both roar with laughter as they follow me out.
Today has been a fucking day.
After classes end for the day, we head straight to the chapel for the assembly that was called to deal with the aftermath of the Jackal’s visit to Hannaford. There’s an air of sheer, blinding terror amongst the students as we walk into the room together, and there’s a small bubble around us, as if the other students are afraid of bumping into us and losing their heads. Good. Fucking great.
Avery frowns down at her phone and when I move to direct us to our usual seats at the front she stops us, tugging me by our joined arms to one of the bench seats at the back of the room. Harley mumbles something under his breath at her but she ignores him until we’re seated. Ash takes his seat next to me with Blaise on his other side and Harley next to Avery. When Avery cuts me a look my stomach drops.
“Ash, don’t make a scene but Senior is here,” she murmurs, and Blaise groans when Ash turns to freaking stone between us.
I grab his hand and give it a squeeze, leaning in to whisper in his ear, “We’re safe. He can’t get close to us and I’ll gut him before I let him touch Avery.”
He gives me a look like I’m crazy or fucking stupid but I only smile in return.
Then the door on the far side of the room opens and Senior stalks in looking clean cut and disturbingly handsome in his suit. His eyes cast around the room until he finds Ash and then he fixes his stare on his son, the obsession and loathing a potent mix of crazy I haven’t seen since Joey’s head ended up in that fucking cardboard box. A man I’ve never seen before follows behind him closely, looking sweaty and uncomfortable as he tugs on his tie. Definitely not one of his paid bodyguards, he’s far too fucking twitchy.
“Who the hell is that?” I murmur, and Avery’s arm tightens where it’s tucked into mine.
“That’s George Drummond, the Chief of Police. Lauren’s father.”
I survey the room to look out for any extra threats we might have missed on the way in and I make eye contact with one of the Crow’s men. His face is carefully blank but his hands are clenched into fists at his side. The room is uneasy, the students all sensing something is fucking wrong in this room.
Any room with Senior in it would feel this way.
Drummond steps up to the microphone and clears his throat. His voice is clear enough but there’s a fine tremble to it if you listen hard enough. “Good evening, students. I am sorry to have to be here today but as you know there has been a crime here at your fine school and we must address that.”
The whispers start up around us but Avery shuts them up with a single look.
"We are aware that your parents may have concerns about your safety due to the rise in gang activity. We are here to assure them, and you, that we are doing everything in our power to keep you safe. There are a number of people of interest, those with ties to the criminal underworld, that we are currently investigating and will move in on. We are confident that this will put an end to the current rise in crime. We have assured your parents that the… evidence that appeared here this morning will be handled with the utmost care, h
owever we are confident that they are not from any students or faculty, past or present."
Senior’s gaze is like a freaking laser, incinerating and destructive, but Ash just stares him down like the reckless asshole I know he is and fucking love. The corners of my mouth tug into a smirk that is entirely Beaumont, because fuck this man. Fuck him for ruining his kids and trying to tear us all to fucking pieces.
When Drummond finally stops talking about how fucking important we all are, and protecting us is their top priority, Senior steps up to the microphone. Drummond falters as he steps away, swiping at his forehead like it’ll somehow stop him from looking terrified and wet.
Senior’s voice still gives me the chills. “As you may all be aware my son, Joseph Beaumont Junior is currently missing. If any of you have information regarding his whereabouts or anyone who may have had a grudge with him, I am offering a large reward. I just want my beloved son home safe.”
Every damn eye in the room turns to fix on Avery and Ash. At least that’s what it feels like. Even the Crow’s men all glance their way.
I want to start swinging, but the cleanup would be fucking colossal and we can’t afford any extra work on our plates to I school my face into an innocently blank look and pray Ash is doing the same.
Chapter Fourteen
Fall break arrives and we’re all set for the drive down to Avery’s ranch. Harley slings my bag over his shoulder along with his and Blaise tucks me under his arm to walk down to the Cadillac. Avery had gotten up early with a phone call and I don’t have a freaking clue of where Ash disappeared to, but I’m buzzing with excitement about leaving Hannaford for a week.
We come to a stop on the bottom floor while Harley texts his cousins and tries to figure out what the fuck is going on. I tell the nerves fluttering in my guts to calm the hell down, everything is going to be fine. Ash is probably just chasing Avery around to piss her off because he lives for that shit at the moment.