Page 70 of Three to Fall

Sneak away as soon as you can. Meet me at Sixth Street in the city. It’s a club. I can’t wait to meet you either.

Tears flowed freely down my face, my heart breaking.

Hawk squished onto the couch with me and Hayden and took the phone from my fingers. “Stop. It’s over. We give this to the cops and let them handle it.”

“It might not mean anything,” Hayden said softly. “It still could have been Josiah or one of his guys who killed her. She might have gone to meet this guy there and been intercepted before they could meet.”

“But if that’s true, why are there no more messages from this Xan guy? Why do they all stop that night? If she hadn’t turned up, wouldn’t he have called her? Texted her?”

Hayden looked as hopeless as I felt. “Maybe. But Hawk’s right. We need to give this to the police so they can handle it.”

There was nothing else I could do.

The clubhouse door swung open, and Kyle and Kiki stumbled through, their arms around each other, both of them a disheveled mess. Kyle had a hickey on his neck the size of a small planet.

We all stared at them, and they straightened up.

Kiki pulled at her short skirt so it stopped riding up her long, toned thighs. “Oh. Hi, everyone. Good to see you. Did you have a nice day?”

Hawk sniggered. “Maybe not as nice as you and Kyle seem to have had.”

Kyle grinned at him. “I got laid.”

Kiki slapped at him playfully, but her giggle was cute, and she clearly didn’t mind he’d just advertised their business to everyone.

Hawk raised an eyebrow. “Kiki popped your cherry, huh?”

Hayden pointed at the refrigerator behind the bar. “Grab yourself a beer. Losing your virginity should be toasted.”

I glanced at him and whispered, “Seriously?”

He shrugged back. “Just trying to make him feel included. It’s tough being on the outside around here. You wanted him to fit in, right?”

Hawk sniggered. “He fit his cock right on into Kiki’s pussy.”

“I did!” Kyle called, raising his beer into the air in victory.

Kiki laughed and dragged his hand back down. “Sweetie, I know you’re riding a sex high right now, but you lasted all of two thrusts. Don’t get too braggy.”

I couldn’t help my laugh, and it mixed with those from the guys.

Kiki slapped Kyle on the cheek. “Don’t worry. You’ll get better with practice. You’re cute, so you can practice on me anytime you want.”

Kyle’s cheeks went pink, but he dropped onto the opposite couch and pulled Kiki down onto his lap, pleased as punch with himself, even if Kiki had just brought him down a peg or two with her honest assessment of his skills.

I was happy for him. He sipped his beer, seeming more at ease than I’d maybe ever seen him. He was a nice kid. If only my sister had seen that in him. If she hadn’t gone out that night to meet this Xan guy, maybe she’d still be here with us now. A ball of emotion lodged in my throat, considering all the what-ifs.

“You know what I don’t understand about Alice’s texts?” I mused out loud to distract myself from the tears pricking the backs of my eyes. “She mentions multiple times that her hands are sore.”

Hawk shrugged. “Lotta physical labor on a farm.”

“The men do most of the hard, manual labor at Ethereal Eden.” Kyle ran his fingers absentmindedly over Kiki’s bare thigh. “The women do a bit of gardening and feed animals. But mostly they’re cooking or at the women’s center. Maybe she did a lot of bread kneading or hand-washing on the days she mentioned having sore hands?”

I shook my head. “No, she specifically mentions typing. But Josiah confiscated all computers and devices years ago.”

Kyle shrugged. “Maybe it’s just a woman thing? My mom always complained about having sore hands at night too.”

I glanced over at him. “She did?”

---