Page 62 of Haunted

“I know you would.”

“Will you wear them? For my peace of mind, if nothing else.”

Instead of answering, I lifted each one out, placing them in my ears without another thought. I wasn’t dumb enough to think nothing bad would ever happen to me and if it meant Keaton would be able to get to me quickly, then I’d wear whatever he wanted.

“Thank you, baby.”

The night pressed on and when it was time to leave,Koen offered to drive Jade and Lanie home, since Keaton and I were staying at his apartment. Out on the sidewalk, the guys said their good nights while I dragged my girls off to the side. And they weremygirls. Our friendships may have started out of necessity; however, they’d blossomed quickly into something more.

“All right. What the hell happened between you and Camden?” I immediately asked when we were out of earshot.

“He asked me out on a date.”

“And?” Jade motioned with her hands for Lanie to continue.

“I said yes.”

“Whoa. Are you sure? What about?—”

She pinned me with a glare, cutting off my words. I’d noticed the way her eyes would track a certain someone whenever he was in the room, however I didn’t have confirmation of her feelings until right then.

“You snooze, you lose, right?” She raised her eyebrows, almost daring me to disagree.

“He’s hot, even if he is old enough to be your daddy.”

“Is a twenty year age difference too much?”

“Ignore Jade. Age is only a number. Do you like him?”

“Yeah, I think I do.”

“Then go for it,” I suggested. “What do you have to lose?”

“A great bar if things go sideways,” she mumbled.

“We live in a college town. Bars are a dime a dozen.” Jade pulled her in for a hug. “I’m happy for you.”

“Me too.” I wrapped my arms around them both.

“I feel like I’ve hit the girlfriend jackpot with you two,” Lanie choked up. “One day soon over a few bottles of cheap wine, I’ll tell you both why I am the way I am.”

“We’ll hold you to it,” I told her.

As we made our way back across the sidewalk, the tiny hairs on my arms stood on end. Glancing around the darkened street, the only people I saw weren’t paying us any attention. I think Keaton’s earlier conversation about the killer was making me paranoid.

12MASTER OF DECEPTION

Him

Fucking idiots.

Look at them. You’d think a bunch of hot-shot feds would know better than to be out in the open when there was a killer on the loose. I could pick them off one by one this very second and no one would be able to stop me. Not that they had a chance in hell of stopping me anyway. I was a master of deception, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, if you will. I learned from the best, until everything we’d worked for went up in flames all because of a teenager with a conscience.

Well, fuck him. He had the chance to be great; could have even joined us at some point if he wanted, but I’d make certain he understood soon enough. They all would. Calvin had to pay for all the pain he’d inflicted and it would start with what he coveted the most.

For a while, I thought maybe I’d be able to convince him how women worked, but after seeing him withthat bitch, I knew he was already drowning in her pussy. She’d feed him lie after lie until she got his ring on her finger, then she’dbreak every promise she swore to keep in front of God. They always did.

First though, I needed to clean up the mess I made. It was stupid of me to go off script, but I was down two toys and she fit the bill perfectly. My line of work took brains and a great deal of finesse. I’d lost sight of the endgame momentarily, but I’d correct my mistake, then move on to the next part of my plan.

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