Beastly (Phoebe Reede: The Untold Story #3)

by Michelle Irwin

  “Ain’t ya worried about Phoebe?” I asked, finding a crate to sit on.

  “Of course I am,” he said. “She’s my girlfriend. It’s my job to worry about her.”

  “She—” I was gonna say she wasn’t his girlfriend, but I didn’t know that for certain. Sure she’d hinted at somethin’ else during the interview, and turnin’ up at my door wasn’t exactly the action of a faithful girlfriend, but if he didn’t know any better who was I to say otherwise? “Course.”

  I buried my head in my hands.

  “If it’s worth anything, I don’t believe everything the newspapers are saying.”

  Without lookin’ up, I nodded to show I’d heard.

  “There’s plenty you should feel guilty about, and I know you hurt Phoebe over and over, but I’m sure wherever she is, she’s fine. She’s probably just trying to forget the things you put her through.”

  My stomach twisted because there was so much truth in his words. The day had given me just a small taste of Phoebe’s life at my hands. For the better part of it, all I could think was that karma clearly had her sights set on me. I was an outcast from the whole team—fightin’ against the preconceived idea they’d developed of me based on a few news reports that only landed the day before.

  It was exactly how I’d made Phoebe feel, and that thought was enough to make me wanna drown myself in a bottle of Fireball. The only solid lead anyone seemed to have was false and pointed straight at me.

  “She’s a good girl. I’m sure she’ll learn to put her faith in God, and he’ll set her on the right path. He’ll help her find her way to where she needs to be.”

  I wished I could have Xavier’s certainty in a higher power watchin’ out for Phoebe. For any of us.

  Once, I’d had unshakable faith. It’d been instilled in me by my foster mother, Mabel. She’d been a good God-fearin’ Christian and had never swayed from her faith. Not even after her husband passed. It was the reason she’d fostered me at all—I had vivid memories of her tellin’ me that God had delivered me to her at just the right time.

  When she passed, I’d lost my way again.

  Since then, I’d never found the path back to religion.

  For her part, Phoebe had never struck me as overly religious. The only time I recalled her mentionin’ his name at all was uttered in exclamation when we were together. Instead of lettin’ Xavier’s image of Phoebe falter, I just nodded. “Maybe. Let’s hope it doesn’t take a miracle for her to come back to us all. Her daddy is worried sick about her.”

  “You’ve spoken to him recently?”

  I nodded. “On Saturday after all this came out.”

  Xavier didn’t need to know that the conversation had been short and to the point—or that Mr. Reede seemed as convinced of my guilt as the media did.

  “Really? That’s interesting.” He glanced down at his phone. “I’ve got a call. I better take it,” Xavier said, moving away before he’d even finished the sentence. Back on the phone, he distanced himself from me.

  I raked my hands through my hair, tuggin’ at the ends. Once more, I wished I had the sort of faith Xavier seemed to possess. With seemin’ly every finger pointed at me, it was takin’ everything in me not to give up. The only thing that stopped me was the thought of the things Phoebe would likely say if I did.

  THE INSTANT MY obligations at the track were fulfilled, I was ready to leave. I slipped away to the meetin’ area I’d agreed on. Before I could find my rescuer though, I had someone approach me.

  “Wanna go get a drink?” Cash asked, as if I hadn’t been ignorin’ him and everythin’ else all day. “It feels like it’s been forever since we talked properly.”

  He was right in that respect. The middle of the previous year, he’d flipped his lid and had stopped talkin’ to me about anythin’ that wasn’t work related. That was before he started missin’ race meetings. Even after he’d been appointed as my track manager, we didn’t talk like we used to. All we’d discussed were plans for the tracks. If it hadn’t been for Cass over the last few months, I probably woulda gone insane.

  “That ain’t my fault,” I said, perhaps a li’l too sharply. I couldn’t find it in me to give anythin’ to any of my supposed friends on the team. None of them had stood up for me durin’ the day or tried to argue my innocence.

  “Don’t be like that,” Cash said, followin’ me as I headed away from the team toward the meetin’ place I’d set up.

  “How else am I supposed to be, Cash? In case ya ain’t noticed, I got a bit goin’ on.” It woulda been enough to deal with just havin’ the race. With Abby’s death and Phoebe’s disappearance on top of that, it was too much.

  “Look, I know it’s a shame that the princess has disappeared. We all want her to turn up safe and sound”—I doubted there was a lot of truth in his words, but I was tired of arguin’—“but we can’t put everything on hold while we wait for her to come back either.”

  “It ain’t a matter of her comin’ back. It ain’t that she’s wandered off. She was stolen from m—uh, from us. I don’t think she’s gonna come back until someone finds her and brings her back.”

  “You seem to know an awful lot about it. Maybe the media is right. Maybe you—”

  I grabbed his collar and shoved him against a nearby car. “I didn’t have nothin’ to do with it, and the more those rumors spread, the more freedom the person who took her—”

  “Beauregard Miller, you let him go this instant!”

  My eyes widened when I heard Cass’s voice. What the heck is she doin’ here?

  Cash’s gaze searched for her before I could, his lips curlin’ up into a smirk—no doubt at the fact that I wasn’t able to get a swing in before being called off. I gave him a shove and then dropped my hold on his collar and spun to greet her.

  “Thank you,” she said, before shifting her gaze to the man beside me. “Hi, Cash.”

  “Cass.” His voice lacked the friendly air it usually held with her. I had no idea what’d gone down with those two, but they’d been funny toward each other for months. The whole time Cass and I were engaged, he hadn’t said any more words to her than he had to me.

  “Why are ya here, Cass?” I asked, eyeing her prominent belly. She shouldn’t’ve been in the car alone in her condition.

  “I’m your rescue party.”

  I screwed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. I’d figured that much out already. What I didn’t know was why she was my rescue party. “I tol’ Mitch to come.”

  “Mitch is busy.” She moved closer to me and offered me a grin.

  “Then Joe shoulda come.”

  “Joe’s busy too. I’m all ya got.”

  I rubbed my eyes with my hand. “There are twenty staff members at the property. Literally any of them woulda been a better choice. What if ya’d gone into labor durin’ the drive?”

  “I’m not due for another couple a weeks. ’Sides, it’s just a drive.”

  “Yeah, a long drive. Alone. It ain’t safe.”

  Now at my side, she patted my cheek. “You need to stop worrying about me,” she said. She made it clear with a look that she wasn’t gonna argue no more. “’Specially with everythin’ ya got goin’ on here.”

  “It’s too late to do anythin’ about it now, I guess,” I said. “Are ya ready to get outta here?”

  “Wait, Cass, can I have a word first?” Cash asked.

  Her eyes widened, and I was reluctant to leave her alone with him. Was he gonna try to suggest to her that I was guilty? Was he wantin’ to fuel the rumors? Maybe he knew that I was innocent, but wanted the rumor to spread. Was it because he was guilty himself?

  Dang, I was becomin’ so paranoid it wasn’t even funny.

  “Alone,” Cash said to me. His tone woulda left no room for argument if I’d been in a different mood, but I was more than ready to argue with him.

  Cass put her hand on my chest to stop me from advancin’ on Cash again. “It’s okay, Beau. I need to speak to him anyways.”
<
br />   With some reluctance, I walked away from them. Not so far that I couldn’t step in if somethin’ happened, but out of earshot outta respect for Cass.

  Standin’ to the side watchin’ them, it took everythin’ in me not to intervene when it became clear the two of them were havin’ some sort of heated discussion. Eventually, I couldn’t resist headin’ to her rescue.

  “Are ya all right, Cass?” I asked as I moved closer to the pair.

  “I’m fine, Beau. I’m ready to go when you are.”

  “But, Cass—” Cash reached for her arm.

  She shook him off. “I said I’m ’right to go.”

  I wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders and led her toward the SUV she’d driven down in. When she unlocked the car, I held out my hand for the key but she shook her head. “There ain’t no way you’re gonna be able to drive out without being captured on camera. Lie down in the back.”

  “Ya ain’t drivin’ all the way back to Georgia.” I wasn’t a great passenger at the best of times, and in my current mood, I would be even worse.

  “I’m takin’ ya to the airport.”

  “No way. I ain’t gonna let ya drive back to Georgia alone.”

  “I’m not a child.”

  I didn’t move.

  “Just get in the car, Beau,” she said.

  “Fine.” I followed her instructions and climbed into the back, curlin’ up on the seat. “But I ain’t gettin’ out at the airport.”

  “Just be quiet back there so ya don’t attract any attention.”

  What’ve I been reduced to?

  Thankfully, the ruse seemed to work, and we were left alone. Once we’d put some distance between us and the track, I convinced Cass that I wouldn’t be gettin’ on no plane and leavin’ her alone. Once that was decided, it was an unspoken agreement to head back to Georgia.

  When we pulled over to change drivers, I saw two cars slow down and the unmistakable sight of a camera lens taking photos.

  “We gotta go,” I said to Cass, getting her to hurry up. Those two cars mighta got the scoop, but that only meant there’d be more people on our tail before long.

  As soon as Cass was buckled into the passenger seat, I took off. Unless she needed to stop for a bathroom break, I was gonna be drivin’ straight through to home.

  “Do ya need to be back in Georgia?” I asked as I had a thought about where I needed to be.

  “Only if this li’l un makes an appearance.”

  “D’ya reckon y’all be okay to go to North Carolina instead? I’ll drive ya back home when I go to Atlanta for the race next weekend.”

  “I think my poor frail pregnant body can cope with that.”

  “There ain’t no need for the sarcasm, Cass.”

  “It’s okay, Beau. I’ll let ya know if I’ve got any problems, but I don’t mind goin’ to North Carolina for a while. It’ll give me a chance to grab some stuff I left there when we had to go back to Georgia.”

  A hush fell over us. I wondered if she was thinkin’ the same things as me—how much had changed since then. For both of us. When we’d rushed back to Abby’s side, we’d been engaged and I’d been preparin’ to be a daddy. I’d been haunted by the memory of Phoebe and livin’ under the shadow of Max’s words.

  As I drove, all I could think was how many days Phoebe had been missin’. It’d been over two weeks. Sixteen days since I’d kissed her against her car and she’d promised to come back to me.

  During the drive, Cass at least let me have the silence I needed. Not that I could find the same silence inside. Instead, my mind was a whirlwind of noise. My thoughts ran from Abby, to Phoebe, to the list of possible suspects.

  At least I was able to put some space between us and the cars that had taken the photos of Cass and me. The last thing I needed was my entire trip back to Mooresville documented by the press. Not that they’d learn anythin’ more damnin’ than the “evidence” they already had against me.

  “What am I gonna do, Cass?” I asked.

  How could I prove my innocence? It no longer mattered to Phoebe’s family that Angel believed me. Mr. Reede didn't, and he and his wife seemed to be able to sway the media in ways I'd never seen before, like puppet masters pullin’ the strings to get the outcome they wanted; that much was clear in the terms they’d been able to negotiate into Phoebe’s contracts.

  Right now, it seemed that outcome was a spotlight on me so bright it drowned out everything else. It shone in such a way that left me vilified and hated. Outcast even by my friends and teammates.

  If it weren't for Cass and Angel, I might’ve given up.

  Except givin’ up meant resignin’ Phoebe to her fate.

  And I couldn’t do that, no matter the personal cost.

  “There's gotta be some way to prove she didn't go back to the Lake Retreat,” Cass said, reaching for my hand to offer me her support. It wasn't nearly as comforting as Phoebe's had been in the days after Abby's passin'. Wasn't even as comfortin’ as Angel's touch. Somehow those two women were able to find ways to reach the places inside me that responded to their tenderness without even tryin’. Still, Cass’s touch was comfortin’ enough. “I can be an alibi if ya need it.”

  “What’s the point though? No one’s listening to a word I'm sayin'. It seems the whole world has already decided I'm some kinda psychopath or murderer. That I killed my sister and then moved on to Phoebe for some fun.”

  “It’s more’n that too,” she said. “You ain’t spoken to Belinda, have ya?”

  Belinda. My publicist. She usually had the easiest job in the world, just bookin’ me for promotions without any real stress. Now though . . . she was probably bein’ run off her feet tryin’ to put out fires. She’d tried callin’ but I’d been ignorin’ her calls. “Not recently. Why?”

  “There’s been a number a headlines about you and Phoebe’s friend.”

  “Angel,” I corrected instinctively. She mighta been Phoebe’s friend, but she was also her own person.

  “They’re accusin’ ya of usin’ me, Phoebe, and Angel. Sayin’ that it was only a matter a time before your lies were revealed.”

  I clenched my fist around the wheel. Of course they’d say that. “Clean-cut and wholesome” had clearly been twisted into “hidin’ dark secrets.” The fact was, I wouldn’t have even given a hoot what the press were sayin’ about me if it helped get Phoebe home safe. But it wouldn’t.

  “And meanwhile the real perpetrator is out there with no one watching them,” I said.

  Fear gripped me even as I said the words. If Phoebe’s daddy now thought I was guilty, would that mean he'd be more lax in watching out for Angel when I wasn’t around until she went home? If I bunked down in my apartment, would whoever had taken Phoebe target Angel next? It was what he’d feared before, what had driven him to allow me to invite her along to Daytona, but now . . .

  Cass put her hand on my shoulder, drawin’ me from my thoughts. I glanced at her across the SUV.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  I just shook my head. Nothin’ I could’ve said would’ve adequately wrapped up the expanse of my thoughts. Panic over somethin’ happenin’ to Angel gripped me, wrappin’ a fresh layer of guilt and fear over the ones that bound Phoebe inside my heart.

  Clearly sensin’ I didn’t wanna talk no more, Cass leaned back against the passenger seat and was soon lost in her own thoughts. The car was too quiet, but any music I tried either reminded me of Phoebe or sounded insincere and sickenin’ in my ear. The whole way, all I could think was that the last time I’d driven the same roads was with Phoebe at my side.

  “What’s goin’ on with you and Cash anyway?” I asked as we crossed into Georgia. I needed somethin’ to distract me from my own thoughts, which were cyclin’ into more and more pathetic ground.

  Her body jolted, and then she sat upright and stared at me wide-eyed. “What d’ya mean?”

  “I mean that.” I nodded in her direction. Her behavior wasn’t exactly normal whenever hi
s name came up, and that’d been going on for months. “And your argument earlier.”

  “We weren’t arguin’.”

  “Cass . . .” My tone held a warnin’. We both knew somethin’ was goin’ on between the two of them.

  “It’s none of your business, Beau,” she snapped.

  I was stunned. She’d never hidden anythin’ from me in the almost three years I’d known her. She wasn’t the type to keep her life hidden away, preferring to keep it all on display. It was one of the few things we’d fought over—she hated that I was against public displays. Or had been against them before Phoebe.

  “I guess it ain’t,” I snapped back before ensurin’ my gaze was fixed straight ahead of me. It mightn’t’ve been what I’d wanted, but ultimately, she was right. It wasn’t my business.

  “I’m sorry, Beau,” she said after a few minutes.

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “I am worryin’ about it. I didn’t mean to say that. Well, I did, but only ’cause I don’t want ya to be disappointed in me.”

  “Ya ain’t makin’ any sense.”

  “Cash worked out somethin’ I shoulda told him a while ago. Somethin’ I shoulda told ya both. That’s why he was upset.”

  Her words didn’t make the situation any clearer. If anythin’, they muddied it up even more. What could Cash have worked out that Cass shoulda told me as well? I watched her outta the corner of my eye. Tears fell down her cheeks as she quietly sobbed.

  What secrets could she have that concerned—

  It struck me.

  Cash’s absences at the track. The growing distance between him and me. His almost guilty stare every time he’d seen Cass and me together.

  Cass rubbed her baby bump.

  The thought hit fast and with a force so strong I couldn’t deny it. I swerved to the side and slammed on the brakes. Thankfully, there was no one behind me on the road.

  “The baby’s his.” The words were outta my mouth almost as soon as they were in my mind.

  Cass sobbed. “I didn’t know how to tell ya.”

  “You slept with my best friend?”

  She stared at her hands as tears traced her cheeks. “You broke up with me.”