Fallen Crest Public
Page 36
Logan had showered. He was dressed in jeans and his athletic sweatshirt. Playing with his car keys in his hand, he shrugged. “Was going to head out for a few. What’s up?”
“You going to Tate’s?”
His question threw both of us. There it was again, the lie Mason never explained to me. Narrowing my eyes at him, I studied Logan at the same time. He seemed cautious now and slid his hands into his front pockets. “Maybe. Why?”
“Kate mentioned a camcorder,” Mason said. “And before that Natalie had her brother’s camcorder. They were going to use it to take pictures of the mannequin.”
“So? They have a camcorder. So do we.”
“Kate said they were heading to Tate’s at the end. Sam just told me they’ve been sending threats to Heather. They want her to stop being her friend and Tate tried to warn them off.”
Logan nodded. “She told me about that. Said it was a lost cause. Kate’s gone off the deep end.”
“So,” Mason paused and watched him. He was waiting …
“So what?”
“Logan, I spelled it out for you.”
“Threats to Heather. Camcorder. Tate thinks Kate’s crazy. None of this is really new here, brother.”
I sighed. Even I knew what Mason was implying. Logan wasn’t dumb. If he wasn’t figuring it out that meant something else was going on with him. Moving to the couch, I perched on the end and said, “I think he’s saying that Kate might think Tate’s on our side.”
“She is,” Logan snorted. “No way would she go against you. She knows what we’d do to her.”
“Logan,” Mason groaned.
I lifted a hand to his arm and felt his tension. My hand began to rub. “Do you think Kate would take a camcorder to Tate’s out of the goodness of her heart?”
“Wha—oh shit. No. No way. You think?”
“Are you going over there?”
Logan glanced at his brother again. A resigned look came over him. “Yeah, I am. What do you want me to do?”
“Don’t say anything or make it obvious, but look to see if there’s a camcorder stashed somewhere.”
“Wait,” Logan shook his head. “You think she’s in on it? We do things or we have done things in the living room. They could’ve put it there—”
“They were going there tonight.”
“Oh.” His shoulders dropped. “So what do you want me to do? You want me to grab it?”
When Mason didn’t reply, Logan looked to me. I shrugged. “Mason’s the mastermind. Not me.”
“Mase?”
“I don’t know. Maybe leave it in place?”
“I’m not going over there anymore. No f**king way, not if they have a camcorder in there. That’s messed up.”
“I know. I’m not saying that,” Mason bit out. “But if we move the camcorder, then they’d have to change tactics again. We know what they’re planning right now. Maybe we can wait to see what else she’s planning?”
“Should I tell Tate?”
Mason didn’t respond.
“Mase, that’s not right.”
“No,” he sighed. “I know. Yeah, tell her, but she needs to act like she doesn’t know it’s there. We’ll figure out the next step later.”
“What about her parents?” I asked. “Should they know? They might talk about things that are personal.”
Logan shook his head. “Nah. She’s not here with them. Her dad lost his job so they shipped her out here to live with her older sister, but she’s gone on a modeling trip. Tate said she wouldn’t be back for a week or so.” Then he jerked his head in a nod and started for the door. “Oh wait,” he braked and gestured to me. “Did you tell her about the mannequins?”
“Not yet.”
“Mannequins?”
“Yeah.” He flashed me a smile as he headed out the door. “We torched ‘em, all of ‘em. Natalie’s aunt’s going to get a nice little surprise when she goes to work in the morning. On that note, I’m out.” The door shut behind him, but we could hear him whistling as he went down the hall.
“You burned them?”
He nodded.
“All of them?”
He narrowed his eyes, and I got a glimpse of the cruel Mason again. “Every single one of them.”
“Was that safe?”
He shrugged, turning to me with a hand on my leg. He nudged it over and stepped between them as he looked down at me. “We were safe. We took all of them to a place where it’d be okay.”
“And Natalie’s aunt? She won’t press charges?”
“We left a note with a few images I kept from when they messed with Marissa. We let her know she could thank her niece for all of it.”
I held my breath. It’d been so long since he’d mentioned Marissa, and now that he had, I wanted to ask him more about her. I wanted to understand what had happened to her, but I sensed his unease. It was like approaching a wild animal. I had to go slow and with caution. My heart started to pound again as I took that first step. My hand raised to touch his arm. The muscles were corded tightly in a bunch. He was so tense, but I had to try. “You still had those pictures?”
His arm began to tremble underneath my touch, just a tiny bit, but it was enough to take my breath away. His voice was rough when he spoke, “Did you know they did the same to her?”
The lump was back in my throat. It was big and wobbly, but I nodded. “Yes.”
“Heather told you?”
“Yes.” My heart was racing so fast now. He was finally talking about her. I felt the wall coming down. I needed to know so much. She was important to him. I needed to understand. “Will you tell me about her?”
“I thought I had?”
“More. You didn’t say much before. She transferred because of Kate and her friends?”
He let out a deep sigh and moved away. I ached, I still needed his touch, but then he surprised me. He came back, a conflicted look on his face, and lifted me from the couch. I was curled against his chest as he sat down on the couch, with me on his lap. Then he tucked his chin over my head and began to talk about her.
“It was Tate, too,” he paused for a moment, “towards the end of her relationship with Logan, and before she tried to sleep with me, when Heather had stopped being friends with her. I didn’t pay attention. I didn’t care about your friend back then, but I remember Logan saying something about it to me. He seemed to care, but then I started noticing that Tate was becoming friendly with Kate and the girls. Made sense. Tate was always around Logan and the girls were always around us. The guys considered them friends, you know?”
“You going to Tate’s?”
His question threw both of us. There it was again, the lie Mason never explained to me. Narrowing my eyes at him, I studied Logan at the same time. He seemed cautious now and slid his hands into his front pockets. “Maybe. Why?”
“Kate mentioned a camcorder,” Mason said. “And before that Natalie had her brother’s camcorder. They were going to use it to take pictures of the mannequin.”
“So? They have a camcorder. So do we.”
“Kate said they were heading to Tate’s at the end. Sam just told me they’ve been sending threats to Heather. They want her to stop being her friend and Tate tried to warn them off.”
Logan nodded. “She told me about that. Said it was a lost cause. Kate’s gone off the deep end.”
“So,” Mason paused and watched him. He was waiting …
“So what?”
“Logan, I spelled it out for you.”
“Threats to Heather. Camcorder. Tate thinks Kate’s crazy. None of this is really new here, brother.”
I sighed. Even I knew what Mason was implying. Logan wasn’t dumb. If he wasn’t figuring it out that meant something else was going on with him. Moving to the couch, I perched on the end and said, “I think he’s saying that Kate might think Tate’s on our side.”
“She is,” Logan snorted. “No way would she go against you. She knows what we’d do to her.”
“Logan,” Mason groaned.
I lifted a hand to his arm and felt his tension. My hand began to rub. “Do you think Kate would take a camcorder to Tate’s out of the goodness of her heart?”
“Wha—oh shit. No. No way. You think?”
“Are you going over there?”
Logan glanced at his brother again. A resigned look came over him. “Yeah, I am. What do you want me to do?”
“Don’t say anything or make it obvious, but look to see if there’s a camcorder stashed somewhere.”
“Wait,” Logan shook his head. “You think she’s in on it? We do things or we have done things in the living room. They could’ve put it there—”
“They were going there tonight.”
“Oh.” His shoulders dropped. “So what do you want me to do? You want me to grab it?”
When Mason didn’t reply, Logan looked to me. I shrugged. “Mason’s the mastermind. Not me.”
“Mase?”
“I don’t know. Maybe leave it in place?”
“I’m not going over there anymore. No f**king way, not if they have a camcorder in there. That’s messed up.”
“I know. I’m not saying that,” Mason bit out. “But if we move the camcorder, then they’d have to change tactics again. We know what they’re planning right now. Maybe we can wait to see what else she’s planning?”
“Should I tell Tate?”
Mason didn’t respond.
“Mase, that’s not right.”
“No,” he sighed. “I know. Yeah, tell her, but she needs to act like she doesn’t know it’s there. We’ll figure out the next step later.”
“What about her parents?” I asked. “Should they know? They might talk about things that are personal.”
Logan shook his head. “Nah. She’s not here with them. Her dad lost his job so they shipped her out here to live with her older sister, but she’s gone on a modeling trip. Tate said she wouldn’t be back for a week or so.” Then he jerked his head in a nod and started for the door. “Oh wait,” he braked and gestured to me. “Did you tell her about the mannequins?”
“Not yet.”
“Mannequins?”
“Yeah.” He flashed me a smile as he headed out the door. “We torched ‘em, all of ‘em. Natalie’s aunt’s going to get a nice little surprise when she goes to work in the morning. On that note, I’m out.” The door shut behind him, but we could hear him whistling as he went down the hall.
“You burned them?”
He nodded.
“All of them?”
He narrowed his eyes, and I got a glimpse of the cruel Mason again. “Every single one of them.”
“Was that safe?”
He shrugged, turning to me with a hand on my leg. He nudged it over and stepped between them as he looked down at me. “We were safe. We took all of them to a place where it’d be okay.”
“And Natalie’s aunt? She won’t press charges?”
“We left a note with a few images I kept from when they messed with Marissa. We let her know she could thank her niece for all of it.”
I held my breath. It’d been so long since he’d mentioned Marissa, and now that he had, I wanted to ask him more about her. I wanted to understand what had happened to her, but I sensed his unease. It was like approaching a wild animal. I had to go slow and with caution. My heart started to pound again as I took that first step. My hand raised to touch his arm. The muscles were corded tightly in a bunch. He was so tense, but I had to try. “You still had those pictures?”
His arm began to tremble underneath my touch, just a tiny bit, but it was enough to take my breath away. His voice was rough when he spoke, “Did you know they did the same to her?”
The lump was back in my throat. It was big and wobbly, but I nodded. “Yes.”
“Heather told you?”
“Yes.” My heart was racing so fast now. He was finally talking about her. I felt the wall coming down. I needed to know so much. She was important to him. I needed to understand. “Will you tell me about her?”
“I thought I had?”
“More. You didn’t say much before. She transferred because of Kate and her friends?”
He let out a deep sigh and moved away. I ached, I still needed his touch, but then he surprised me. He came back, a conflicted look on his face, and lifted me from the couch. I was curled against his chest as he sat down on the couch, with me on his lap. Then he tucked his chin over my head and began to talk about her.
“It was Tate, too,” he paused for a moment, “towards the end of her relationship with Logan, and before she tried to sleep with me, when Heather had stopped being friends with her. I didn’t pay attention. I didn’t care about your friend back then, but I remember Logan saying something about it to me. He seemed to care, but then I started noticing that Tate was becoming friendly with Kate and the girls. Made sense. Tate was always around Logan and the girls were always around us. The guys considered them friends, you know?”
