by Nikki Godwin
I slam the truck door behind me, just so whoever is inside will know I’m here and I’m coming in with a vengeance. Colby eases up behind me, sans phone.
“If we die in a few minutes, thank you for believing in me,” he says.
For the first time today, I actually smile. “You have nine lives, Taylor,” I remind him. “If anyone lives through this, it’ll be you.”
My key proves itself pointless when we walk around the sidewalk to the front entrance. The door is already cracked open, so I waste no time and push it forward. A metal file cabinet slams shut, and he turns around to face me.
“Haley Elise Sullivan,” he says, shaking his head. “I should’ve known you’d be the one to find me.”
It hits me harder than Jace hit the Liquid Spirit jerk. It’s that feeling – that last summer, forever-chasing, there’s hope for the world after all feeling.
From the depths of my brain, I pull out the vocals from an old memory. It’s Reed’s voice, announcing the ‘man of the hour.’
And now here he stands, in Shark’s photography studio, staring back at me with those blue eyes that haunt me even now – Vin Brooks.
Chapter Twenty
“Well, this is awkward,” Colby says, shoving his hands into the pockets of his cargo shorts. “I think I’ll wait outside. You know, to keep watch or something.”
I think he’s officially made this more awkward than it would have been if he’d just kept his mouth shut. He pulls the door closed behind him on his exit, leaving me standing in Shark’s studio facing my ex-boyfriend who isn’t even supposed to be on the west coast.
I open my mouth, but my vocal chords grab onto the words and hold them tightly, refusing to let them exit my mouth. I have so many questions. But I can’t ask them.
“I was searching for a spare set of keys to Drenaline Surf,” Vin says, like it’s not a big deal that he’s here…in California…in his best friend’s photography studio…with me.
“Who knows you’re here?” I ask. I can’t budge from this spot near the door. I feel like I should stay here, though, just in case I need to run.
“Joe’s the only one,” Vin says, glancing away from me. He opens the next drawer on the file cabinet and searches through it. “Well, now you and Taylor know, obviously.”
He keeps his back to me as he pulls USB cords out of the cabinet. I doubt Shark hid extra keys in there, but I don’t tell him that. He crams the items back in and slams the drawer shut.
“I know I owe you a lot of answers,” he finally says, bracing himself against the cabinet. “But it’s not safe to talk here. Can we go somewhere else?”
Go somewhere and talk? Has he completely forgotten the last few weeks?
“You can’t just show up here like nothing happened,” I say.
I try to choke back all of the emotions that I want to throw at him, but they’re begging to be let out of the glass jar I’ve been keeping them locked away in. I don’t know which feeling wants to riot first, but based upon the sudden rage I feel upon seeing him, I think anger is leading the way.
“Haley, I know I fucked up a lot of things, and I know I let a lot of people down, but I can explain things,” he says, keeping his voice calm. I wonder if he’s even nervous.
“Why are you here?” I ask. He has to know what’s going on. There’s no other reason for him to randomly show up in Crescent Cove again.
“Can we please go back to Taylor’s house and talk there?” Vin asks, easing across the room closer to me. He stops a few feet away. “We really don’t need to be here.”
As much as I want to hear what he has to say, I don’t trust him right now. Hell, I don’t know if I trust anyone other than A.J. and Colby. For all I know, Vin knows everything and he’s here to bring me down just like Liquid Spirit and Dominic and whoever the hell else is behind this.
“Does Topher know you’re here?” I ask, ignoring his request to leave Shark’s studio.
I hate being rude and harsh in front of the gorgeous photographs lining the walls. Shark’s masterpieces shouldn’t have to witness this awkward and angry reunion. I should’ve sent them out the door with Colby. At least they’d be in a safer place instead of hanging around while I blast Vin with questions.
When Vin doesn’t answer, I realize that he hasn’t even told his own brother about his return. I don’t care what kind of bad blood exists between them now. Topher deserves to know that his brother is back in the cove. I grab my phone from my pocket, but Vin knows my move before I even hit Topher’s name to dial.
“Don’t call him,” Vin says. “He won’t answer for you.”
I ignore his warning and press the call button. Then I send up a prayer that Topher does answer this time so I don’t look like the ultimate idiot. When my call is immediately rejected and sent to voicemail, I want to cry, but I’ll be damned before I let Vin see me cry over this.
Vin doesn’t show an ounce of emotion as I put my phone back into my pocket. Instead, he holds up his own phone, selects Topher’s name, and calls him. He puts the call on speaker phone. Topher answers after two rings.
“Hey kid,” Vin says. “What are you doing?”
“Hanging out with Miles,” Topher’s voice says through the speaker.
“Everything okay?” Vin asks. “Joe called me earlier, and I just wanted to check on you.”
“I’m good,” Topher tells him. “I’m over at Kale’s. Emily and Miles are here too. We’re going to stay here tonight. Kale needs us, and Emily’s been upset.”
Vin glances my way, but I can’t even break down. I can’t feel much of anything at this point. What am I supposed to feel? Hurt? Betrayed? Broken? I don’t think I have the energy to feel anything other than defeated.
“Okay, well, just take care of yourself, okay?” Vin says. “And call me if you need anything.”
Topher says he will, and the call ends after a quick goodbye. So that’s how it is now. Topher is avoiding me. We’re right back there, back where we were after the kiss-and-run incident. He wasn’t kidding. Running away from things is the one thing he is definitely good at doing.
“Just so you know, I didn’t want to have to do that,” Vin says. His voice is sincere, which I hate even more right now than ever before. “I’ll answer your questions if you’ll let me follow you to Colby’s house.”
I don’t bother giving him an answer because I know him well enough to know he’ll follow me out of plain stubbornness.
“This is fucking weird as hell,” Colby says as we pull into his driveway. Vin’s rental car pulls in behind us. “Are you not freaking out?”
Of course I’m freaking out. I lost my job – again – today, and this time it wasn’t because I interfered with Vin’s plans for his little brother. This is because someone wants to frame me or my friends for bringing Drenaline Surf down from the inside.
We enter through the garage, which is weird because I’ve always gone into Colby’s house through the back door. He and Vin avoid eye contact with each other as we settle into Colby’s living room.
“Start talking,” I say immediately, not giving Vin a chance for small talk or stupid questions. I want answers, and I want them now. I point to the couch and am actually surprised when Vin sits without argument.
“Joe called me earlier this week,” he starts, without any hesitation. “He’d been sending me links to the online articles and forum threads, so I’ve been keeping up from a distance.”
Colby doesn’t bother to sit. Instead, he leans over the back of a chair, propping his arms against the top of it. It’s almost like he doesn’t want to be in the same oxygen bubble as Vin. I wish their tension and dislike didn’t run so deeply. I sit on the other end of the couch, closer to Colby than my ex.
“I don’t know what went down today, but Drenaline Surf is being blackmailed, and apparently it’s really bad,” Vin says. “Joe wouldn’t even tell me what the blackmail is, but it’s something he definitely doesn’t want going public.”
�
�Well, if you’re looking for an answer, I don’t have it,” I tell him.
“I know you don’t,” Vin says. “When Joe found out from Jace about the blackmail, he called me and asked if I could fly back home. Jace gave his resignation today, shortly after he talked to you, Emily, and Kale. He said he couldn’t stay any longer.”
“Jace resigned?” Colby asks. “So who’s running Drenaline Surf now?”
“Well, technically, it’s always been mine,” Vin admits, shrugging like it’s not a huge deal. “Joe never put it back in his name, and he said if I want Drenaline Surf back, I can have it, so here I am.”
Wait a minute. My brain races to catch up with everything. Jace is gone. Vin is back. Vin actually wants Drenaline Surf, and did he say he knows I’m innocent?
I lean forward, halfway across the couch. “Say that again,” I tell him.
“I’m back?” he asks.
“No, the other part. You know I’m not blackmailing Drenaline Surf,” I say.
I need to hear him say it. I need someone other than my roommate with a criminal record and my best friend with a lawsuit to believe in me. I need someone credible. I need someone to take my side who probably shouldn’t be on my side.
“You’re not blackmailing Drenaline Surf,” Vin says, putting the words into the universe. “When Joe told me about it, I ruled you out immediately. I know you. You’d never do this.”
It’s the most bizarre feeling. It’s like I’m back on the sand while A.J. drinks Milwaukee Best and Vin talks about Logan and the future of Drenaline Surf. There’s truth and belief and a future. There’s something magical in the atmosphere, even though we were broken down on the side of the road that night. It’s magical right now, here in Colby’s living room, with Shark’s photography on the walls. There’s truth and belief, and I may actually have a future still.
Colby walks around the chair and motions for me to move down so he can sit. I don’t hesitate. I scoot closer to Vin, letting Colby have the corner.
“Alright, Brooks,” Colby says. “Let’s have it. What do you know? What can we do?”
Vin explains that the most recent blackmail is related to a phone conversation that happened the night of the inventory crisis. It was after Logan left, leaving only Emily, Kale, and me in the store to possibly hear something.
“I don’t know what they talked about, but it was between Jace and Joe,” Vin says. He runs a hand through his hair, seemingly frustrated to be on the outside of this. “Whatever they talked about is at risk of being leaked, and they’ll shut down Drenaline Surf before they let it get out.”
If I hadn’t been scared before, I’m scared now. That’s why the store was closed today. I wonder if the blackmailers demanded that Drenaline Surf shut down or go out of business. Are they demanding money? Is there a payoff or do they want us to be a puppet, playing into their game while they pull all of the strings? And who the hell is this person or people?
Vin looks past me at Colby. “Do you remember Jake’s memorial service? The one at the actual funeral home before the paddle out?” he asks.
I glance over at Colby. He nods and then looks at his carpet, like he doesn’t want to go back there. I didn’t know there was a memorial service outside of the paddle out. Maybe I need to just trap these two in Colby’s house, force them to make peace, and then tell me everything because I’m sick of being on the outside.
“Remember how everyone split apart? How Topher refused to even speak to Reed and Miles told A.J. to fuck off?” Vin asks. “We’re entering that again. Lines are drawn. People are choosing sides.”
That’s it. Crescent Cove versus Horn Island. My roommates versus the West Coast Hooligans. That was made perfectly clear tonight when Vin called Topher. He chose his Hooligans over me, without so much as giving me a chance to explain my side of the story. And Emily is with them by default, because she and Miles have been together much longer than I’ve been with Topher.
“So that’s how it goes down,” I say, sinking into the couch cushions. “They join forces, and I’m the girl from North Carolina who clearly can’t be trusted. It’s like I can feel California slipping through my fingers.”
Colby sighs. “I’m sorry,” he says. “You just happened to make friends with two of Crescent Cove’s worst. But on the bright side, you still have A.J. and me.”
“And your job,” Vin adds. “Jace is gone. No one else is doing PR for me. It’s either you or no one. And for what it’s worth, I’m here.”
He’s here? But for how long? As soon as the smoke settles, he’ll be gone again. He’s here to clean up the mess that is Drenaline Surf. When it’s fixed, he’ll take a paycheck for his hard work, hand Joe the keys, and walk away again, just as a hero instead of the villain. This is his chance at redemption. And I don’t know if I can even trust him.
“You’re lying,” I say. “You won’t turn against your own brother. I don’t care what happens. You’ll side with Topher in the end because that’s what you do. You have Horn Island in your veins. In the end, you’ll join Team Kale and Emily Are Innocent.”
Vin leans in toward me, staring me down like the day I met him on The Strip.
“Haley, do you think I’d be in Colby Taylor’s living room if I didn’t believe in you? You can deny it, but you know me well enough to know that I’m biting the hell out of my tongue to play nice with him right now for you,” he says. “You can tell me every bad thing you think about me when this is over, but for now, I need you to let me be on your side, so are you gonna let me in or not?”
Chapter Twenty-One
I feel like I’m in the witness protection program sitting outside of the precinct this morning. It’s a few minutes after eight o’clock when Vin finally takes off his sunglasses and asks if I’m ready.
“You sure you don’t want me to go with you?” he asks. “I don’t care if people find out I’m back. I just don’t want Pittman taking advantage of this.”
“He won’t,” I say. I never thought I’d be defending Officer Pittman, but I know that he won’t abuse this moment. “I don’t want people to see us together. We can’t afford more rumors, and you can’t blow your cover. People can’t know you’re on my side, right?”
Vin lets out a defeated sigh. He lets the seat back in his rental car and puts his sunglasses back on.
“You win,” he says. “I’ll lay low, but if you’re not back in fifteen minutes, I’m coming in for you.”
I skim the parking lot to make sure no one is around before getting out of the white car with the Arkansas plates. I remove my sunglasses at the door and take a deep breath before going inside. This is my only shot. I can’t blow it.
“Can I help you?” the deputy behind the counter asks.
“I need to see Alex Pittman,” I tell him, trying to keep a friendly tone in my nervous voice.
He rings into another office and tells Pittman that a young lady is here to see him. Fortunately, Pittman emerges instantly, probably expecting his girlfriend or someone instead of me.
“Haley?” he asks. “Is everything okay?”
I quickly nod and ask if I can speak with him in private. He leads me back to the office where he and Jace were the other day. He closes the door behind us, tells me to have a seat, and sits opposite of me at his desk.
“What brings you up here?” he asks.
“I need to hire a private investigator,” I tell him. This may be a long shot, but I don’t know where else to go. “I need a recommendation or referral. I figure you guys probably work with a few of them, and you could hook me up with the best.”
He stares at me for a moment, not saying a word, studying me like he’s unsure if I’m being honest. His eyes are dark but familiar, and part of me wants to know who he is – like who he really is when he’s not some asshole cop arresting my best friend. Until recently, I’d never seen him as human.
“Is this about Drenaline Surf?” he asks.
I shrug. “Somewhat,” I tell him. “It’s also about C
olby Taylor. I think his family is paying someone to find out anything they can about Drenaline Surf. It’s become personal, so I want to take action.”
Who knew the truth could be so easy? I played out a million different stories in my head this morning, trying to find something that sounded legal and safe yet still believable. I wasn’t planning on being honest with Pittman, but the truth sounds better than any story I could’ve dreamed up.
“Look, you don’t need a P.I.,” he tells me. He glances at the door, like he’s afraid someone may come inside. He brings his chair forward and props his elbows on the desk.
His voice is low when he speaks again. “If you need someone to check bank accounts, you need a computer hacker, not a private investigator,” he says. “All they’ll do is follow his parents around, maybe check phone records, and charge you by inflated hours.”
Did a police officer just tell me I needed an illegal hacker to do this job for me? No wonder Vin wanted to come inside. This is exactly what he was talking about.
“With all due respect, Officer, I’m afraid that would be illegal,” I tell him, crossing my leg over the other and retaining a straight posture. I won’t be tricked. Just when I was beginning to think he had a soul…
“I didn’t mean…I’m sorry. That came out wrong,” Pittman says. “Look, I have a…contact…who owes me a favor. I can’t exactly call him while I’m on the clock, but I’ll give you my favor.”
What a freaking set up. He’s baiting me. If I was a preschooler, he’d hand me a lollipop and tell me that he’s lost his puppy and needs help finding it. I can’t believe he really thinks I’d fall for this.
“I’m sorry, but I’d prefer not to have a mug shot,” I say. “Thank you for your time.”
I stand quickly and hurry out of his office. Vin was right. I should have brought him in with me. Pittman wouldn’t have pulled a stunt like that if he’d had iceberg eyes staring at him. I may run with criminals, but I’m not aiming to be one.