by JA Huss
“That’s not true,” Ivy says. “Ellie says he’s got a whole step-family.”
“Oh, yeah.” I laugh. “There is no fucking way in hell Mac would ever ask his”—I take my hands off the steering wheel to make air quotes—“‘adopted family’ to get to the bottom of this.”
“We’ll see about that.” Ivy says, undeterred. “Victoria is already working on the Conrads. So we’ll have that little detail taken care of soon.”
“What?” I ask, looking over my shoulder at Nolan.
He shrugs and throws up his hands. “It’s your sister’s fault. Ariel and Tori are planning something, man. And you already know Tori has it out for Weston’s parents. He’s gonna be pissed when he finds this out.”
“Jesus Christ. So everyone’s parents but…” I stop talking as I think.
“But Paxton’s,” Ivy offers in her sweet helpful manner. “We all know Mariel Hawthorne is involved. I think that’s very clear at this point. Cindy already told all us girls about the little trip to the racetrack.”
Fuck. “He’s not going to be easy to deal with if you guys bring this up, Delaney.”
“It’s not me, man. I already told you. The girls. This is all them. And it’s your goddamned sister meddling in Mister business. She has no right, Oliver. None.”
“She has every right,” Ivy says. “Something happened to your other sister, right?”
“Not this again,” I say, wishing this fucking car ride was already over. “I told you guys, that’s history.”
“History matters, Oliver,” Ivy says. “And we’re gonna get to the bottom of this and take care of business.”
Damn, fucking Ivy is all over our shit this morning. I pegged her as the quiet, meek type. Apparently I missed the memo when she turned into a badass.
We’re quiet for about twenty minutes after that. There’s almost no traffic going north this time of day, but it’s a long boring drive.
I’m just about to think Ivy went to sleep, she’s been so still and quiet, when she asks, in her not-so-meek voice, “So who’s coming back from your past, Oliver?”
“Ivy,” Nolan says in a low voice from the back seat.
“What?” she snaps, turning around in her seat so she can look at him. “What? I think we have every right to ask.”
“I told you to let me handle it.” Nolan practically growls his words.
“So handle it. Now’s as good a time as any.”
“Damn, Delaney. Your wife is like a fucking pitbull this morning.”
“Victoria is one hundred percent right,” Ivy says.
Both Nolan and I groan. Loudly.
“Well, she is. She’s been telling you guys for a month that Weston’s parents have to be involved. And now we find out that Paxton’s mother is involved too? Tori and I have children to think about. We can’t afford to let this fester.” Ivy straightens up in her seat. Cracks her knuckles. Cracks her knuckles! “Like I said, we’re gonna take care of business. So tell us, Oliver. Who is your special someone who just happened to reappear in your life out of nowhere?”
“No. One,” I say, enunciating each word. “There is nothing weird going on in my life. It’s as boring as it ever was.”
“Hm,” Ivy says, crossing her arms. She’s practically calling me a liar.
“Well,” Nolan says, leaning into the front seat again. “Are you sure? Because West says you were checking your watch last night. Like you had somewhere to be.”
“And Ariel said West caught you jerking off at your desk yesterday morning.”
“Ivy,” Nolan cautions.
“What? It’s true, right? And Ariel says that’s not normal. She says—in fact, everyone says—that Oliver is some kind of celibate priest. Now all of a sudden he gets handed some delete files and he’s jerking off at work? Who was in that stack, Oliver?”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
“Ivy,” Nolan warns a second time.
But Ivy is on some kind of pregnant, hormonal witch hunt. And I’m the witch. “You might as well come clean. Because Ariel is all over that stack of delete papers. She’s gonna find out who got you all hot and bothered yesterday. And when she does—”
“There’s no one,” I repeat. “I mean it. Just fucking drop it, OK?”
Ivy turns her head and stares out the window for the next twenty miles. I’m thanking my lucky stars that this car-ride is just about over when I finally make it to the Fort Collins off ramp and start heading west towards town.
“Where are you guys staying?” I finally ask, breaking the silent treatment Ivy is throwing.
“Ariel’s,” Nolan says. Ivy ignores me and I’m OK with that. “I guess she has some big-ass house in downtown.”
“Yeah,” I say. That’s just great. They are all a two-minute car ride from my garage. I’m gonna have to let Katya know we need to lie low until they leave town again. I mean, how long can they possibly stay? Two days? Three tops?
We are all quiet the rest of the drive back into the neighborhood. Ivy gets interested in the quaint downtown, but she doesn’t say anything else.
When I pull up in front of the Milkshake Mansion, she claps her hands together in glee.
“What the fuck is that?” Nolan asks, craning his neck towards the window so he can see the monstrous Santa Claus in the front yard.
I roll my eyes as I cut the engine. “Don’t ask, man. It’s a long story.”
We all pile out of the car. Nolan wrestles with the suitcases in the back seat while I get the last one out of the trunk. And then we open the picket-fence gate and walk up the path to the massive front porch. It takes us another minute to force the luggage into compliance at the top of the stairs.
I raise my hand to knock on the door, but it opens before I can even make contact.
Ariel is there, coffee cup in hand. Still in her Denver Broncos pajamas, smiling like she ate a canary.
“What?” I ask, pushing past her as I drag a suitcase behind me.
And then I see why she’s smiling.
Because Katya is sitting at the kitchen table with a coffee cup in her hand too. She smiles at me.
“Your friend stopped by, Oliver. Says she’s an old friend. Says the two of you just hooked up for the first time in many years last night. Says you have quite a history together.”
I look at Ivy. Then Nolan.
I am fucking busted.
Chapter Eighteen - KATYA
I stare at Oliver. This is the moment of truth. “Hey,” I say, unsure how he’s gonna react to me being here at his sister’s house.
“What the f—” He scrubs a hand down his face and takes a breath before starting again. “What are you doing here, Kat?”
I set my coffee cup down and stand up from the table. “After you left I had to go home. My sister comes by in the mornings and we have coffee…”
“Katya?” Oliver asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Anyway, I was sitting there in the coffee shop just shooting the shit with her, and the news came on.” I look at all the men standing there. Mr. Perfect and Ellie. The newly arrived Mr. Romantic and Ivy. Mr. Corporate and Victoria, who scares the shit out of me, if I’m being honest. Because she’s looking at me like I’m bad news, man. Bad news. And Mr. Mysterious and Oliver’s baby sister, Cindy.
They are all here. Just like they’re supposed to be.
“And some news show had footage of this mob shootout back in Brooklyn about a month ago. And then they were flashing images of you—” I point to Mr. Romantic. “Your hotel or whatever, out in California. And they linked that to some shooting on Martha’s Vineyard.”
“Fuck,” Mysterious says, wiping a hand down his face and walking over to the bar.. We all watch him grab a bottle off the top shelf and pour himself a drink.
“And I’m starting to get the feeling that all these things are connected.”
“Why do you care?” Ariel asks. “Not to be a bitch—” But let’s be real here, Ariel Shrike is a major
bitch. She’s definitely part of the leadership of whatever these people have going on. “But why would you suddenly appear in my brother’s life after…” She looks at Oliver. “How many years, Oliver?”
“Four,” he says. His tone is low and sad.
“Four years?” Ariel asks. “And you come back, all this shit is going down, and now you’ve suddenly decided that you have all the answers. I find it highly suspicious.”
“I agree,” Victoria says.
“What the fuck is happening?” Ivy asks. “Is she one of them?”
“One of who?” I ask.
“Don’t play coy with us,” Ellie says. “Why are you here and what do you want?”
“You guys,” Oliver says, interrupting.
But Mr. Corporate puts up a hand and looks straight at Oliver. “Let her talk, Oliver. I have a feeling I know where this is going.”
I squint my eyes at him.
“I know you,” he says to me. “I’ve seen your face before.”
He cannot possibly remember…
“You were…”
“Holy fuck,” Victoria Arias says. And I see the recognition in her eyes. “You were there,” she says, pointing at me. “You were there at Hederman’s Bar having lunch when that whole thing went down with Lucio Gori Junior.”
“I never had a chance to thank you,” I say, looking Victoria Arias straight in the face.
“Thank me for what?” she snaps.
“For getting rid of the asshole who did this to my neck.” And then I pull the collar of my hoodie down and reveal the scar across my throat.
Chapter Nineteen - OLIVER
She’s lying. I’m not sure about which part of that story rings false, exactly. But Kat is lying. I join Pax over at the bar and he hands me the drink he was just about to pour down his throat, and makes another one.
I down it in one gulp.
She’s lying. She’s fucking lying.
“What?” Ellie and Ivy are on their feet, trying to get a closer look. I glance over at Corporate and I read him like a book. He’s staring at her like… like she’s lying. He notices me and shakes his head.
“Hey, West?” Pax asks. “Can I see you for a second?” I watch Kat’s expression. “Outside?” Pax adds. And even though Kat should be focused on Ivy and Ellie, both of whom are asking a million questions about that scar on her neck, she’s looking at Corporate.
She’s lying. And it has something to do with West’s comment about recognizing her.
“Oliver?” Pax calls as he and West make for the door. “Come here for a second.”
Katya’s attention suddenly turns to me. “Be right back,” I say, following West and Pax out the back door.
When we’re safely behind the garage Pax says, “OK, Corporate, spill. What the fuck is happening here? Obviously Oliver is keeping secrets and can’t be trusted, so just get it out.”
I don’t even protest. Because I was keeping secrets.
“I know her, man. I’ve seen her at my house.”
“What fucking house?” Pax asks.
“My parents’ house.”
We stare at West.
“When?” Pax asks.
“Long time ago. Years.”
“How many years?” I ask, my voice low.
“Ten? Before the shit went down.”
“She’s only twenty-two, West—”
“I know. She was just a little girl. But I know it was her. I know it. My mom introduced us.”
Pax sighs loudly. “Why the fuck would your mother introduce you to an eleven-year-old girl?”
“You don’t even want to know.”
I grab West by the shirt collar and pull his face right up next to mine. “I really do, Corporate. I really fucking do.”
West shoves me in the chest, making me let go of his shirt. “What the fuck, asshole? Don’t kill the messenger, you dick. It’s not my fault her parents were scum.”
“If her parents were scum, why were they at your house?” Pax asks.
“Because—” Tori is leaning on the side of the garage only a few feet away. “They tried to arrange a marriage. Didn’t they, Weston?”
“What?” Pax asks.
“I recognize her too,” Tori says. “And not just from the bar. She was one of us.”
“Us?” I ask.
“Gori’s girls.”
I might be sick. How did we get here?
“I asked you straight up,” Nolan says, coming around the corner like he’s gonna kick my ass. “Straight the fuck up if you had anyone back from the past and you lied, you motherfucking dick. I left my home and came here, with my pregnant wife, because you assholes said it was safe. And now what do I find out? You delivered me to the fucking devil. Like a goddamned gift.”
“Just hold on,” Mac says, suddenly between me and Nolan. “Come on, OK?” He’s looking at Nolan.
“Did you leave my wife in there alone with that Silver bitch?” Nolan asks Mac.
“Ariel’s in there,” Tori says. “She’s fine.”
“Just hold up, you guys,” I say, trying to calm everyone down. “She’s not part of the Silver Society.”
“How the fuck do you know?” Tori asks. “I mean, really, Oliver. How the fuck do you know that?”
I take a deep breath and let it out. “I just do.” I really want to tell them the rest. All of it. But I haven’t even told Katya yet and shouldn’t she be the first to know what I’ve been doing? What my part is in all this?
“Great,” Nolan says, throwing up his hand. “He just does. I’m so glad we got that sorted. Mr. Match says it’s true, so it must be true.”
“Oliver,” Pax says calmly. “I get it. You must like this girl or you wouldn’t keep her a secret. But we have to be practical here. She’s your… your ghost.”
“Ghost?” I laugh.
“Ariel made the word up last week. Whatever you want to call her, she’s it.”
“So Ellie’s your ghost?” I ask Mac. “And Ivy is yours? And Tori is yours? And Cindy?” I laugh as I look at Pax. “They’re not the enemy, you assholes. None of the girls are the enemy. And besides, only Tori and Katya were girls from the past.”
“Exactly, Oliver,” Victoria says. “God, you are so stupid. I was one of those Gori girls, but I escaped. She didn’t escape.”
“She did,” I say. “You don’t know anything about her.”
“Neither do you,” Tori snaps back.
“I know a helluva lot more than you do. Which makes me the expert.”
“I want your story,” Nolan says.
“What—”
“Don’t play with me, Shrike,” Nolan says. “I’m not in the mood. I want to know what you were doing that night all the shit hit the fan back in college ten years ago, and I want to know it right now.”
“I’d like to know that myself,” Mac adds. “I’d like to know why you took the heat for Allen-slash-Brutus that night, Oliver. Because you and I both know he was there when that girl was and you weren’t. You didn’t show up until later.”
Fuck. I expected this. I knew I’d have to give them something. But I’m definitely not ready to do that now.
“Come on,” Pax says, putting a friendly hand on my shoulder. “It’s time, Oliver. It’s time to come clean. Just tell us what happened that night. You have to be the final piece of the puzzle.”
I look at Pax. Then Mac. Then West and finally my gaze lands on Nolan. “I saw my sister that night.”
“Cindy?” Tori asks.
“No,” I say, looking straight at Pax. “Rory.”
“I thought she was dead?” Tori asks.
“So did I. But I saw her. I know I saw her. Allen was there and he was being weird. I mean, the guy was weird. I think we can all agree on that. No one in the house liked him. But the girl disappeared in a crowd. And Allen, for whatever reason, was stuck to me while I searched. Like he was helping… but he wasn’t helping. Like he was watching me.”
“I’m not really following,”
Mac says. “What’s this have to do with telling the police you were there instead of Allen?”
I look at each of them. Wondering what they’ll think of me when the whole truth comes out. Then decide I have no choice because there’s no denying what’s happening right now. The Silver Society are coming for us. We are in the middle of the game and the only way out that doesn’t include lots and lots of prison time is winning.
“I think that was Rory. I’m gonna say that right now. But I don’t think she was there for me.”
“Why was she there?” Tori asks.
“I don’t know.” I really don’t know. “But Allen was there, and he saw me, and he said, ‘The cops are gonna show up later. You’re gonna say you were with her.’ And before you ask me who ‘her’ is, I can only guess it was the girl who made the accusations. But in my head I kinda associated it with Rory. ‘I was with Rory.’ Allen continued. He said, ‘They will be looking for five people and you’re one of them, Shrike. Because if I end up being one of them, that girl you just saw is dead for real.’”
“And you agreed,” Pax says.
I nod. “I didn’t even know what was going on. The cops came up to me and started asking if I was with her. And I just said, ‘Yeah.’ That’s the only thing I ever said to them. ‘Yeah. I was with her.’”
Chapter Twenty - KATYA
“So,” Ariel says, taking a seat at the kitchen table next to me.
“So,” I say back.
“You’re kinda young,” Ivy says.
“Right?” Cindy laughs. “Wow, I’m so glad you’re practically jailbait.”
“Cindy,” Ariel says, a note of irritation in her voice.
“What? I’m tired of being around all you old people. And Ivy’s preggo, so she’s no fun. No offense, Ivy.”
“I get it,” Ivy says, taking the seat across from me.
I’m starting to feel a little cornered. I didn’t think they’d be so intimidating.
“I’m sensing that there’s more to your story here. Kat, is it? Oliver likes to call you Kat?”