Page 77 of Haunted

“Are you serious?” She threw her arms around me.

“Is that a yes?” I chuckled.

“That’s a hell yes.”

The doorbell rang, interrupting our celebration.

“That’ll be Jade.”

She went to get up, but laughed instead when Koen’s deep voice boomed, “You don’t need to ring the bell, Angel. Just walk inside. You’re part of our fucked-up family now.”

“What if they were indisposed, you big oaf?”

“She just got out of the hospital five seconds ago. Keaton’s not gonna risk pulling her stitches for at least another week.”

When they rounded the corner to the living room, an emotional storm hit me hard and fast. Big, ugly tears pooled in my eyes, spilling over my lashes when I saw the bruising around her neck. Jade flew across the room as Lanie quicklyscrambled off the couch to give her the space. I barely even felt the sting in my side when she collapsed into my waiting arms. We stayed like that for long minutes, until our sobs eventually turned to whimpers.

“I’m so sorry, Henley. This was all my fault.” A male voice I wasn’t expecting sounded from my left.

Jade’s brother stood in the threshold, wringing his hands together nervously, staring straight at me with sorrowful eyes.

“Jett.” Jade blew out a breath. “How many times do we have to tell you, us getting kidnapped had nothing to do with whatever high school drama you’ve gotten mixed up in.”

“It’s not high school drama, Jade.” He stomped his foot, acting every bit the child he was. “You just won’t listen.”

“Whoa,” Koen held up his hands. “Why don’t the two of us go in the kitchen and I’ll listen to whatever it is you have to say. All right?”

“Promise?”

“Yeah, kid. I promise.”

As they left, Jade’s shoulders dropped. Exhaustion was pouring off of her and I had a feeling it was caused by more than our harrowing ordeal.

“What the hell’s going on, Jade?” I asked.

“I told you he’s been acting strange, but when he showed up at the hospital the other night…” She rubbed her hand over her chest, like she was trying to soothe a physical pain. “He flipped his shit. He was spouting off about the guy on the TV and how he knew he shouldn’t have gotten involved.”

“What guy on TV?” Lanie knelt on the floor at our feet.

“Chase,” she answered. “Ever since he saw the news about his arrest, he’s been off the rails.”

“How does heknow Chase?”

I could see on her face; Lanie had switched from concerned friend to federal agent. The question was why? Jett was a high schooler, albeit a brilliant one, but still, he was a kid.

“Uh, guys.” Koen popped his head into the room. “You’re gonna want to hear this. I’ll grab Keaton.”

Ten minutes later, I was in shock. No, not shock. I was flabbergasted.

“Let me get this straight.” Jade paced the floor. She started doing that after Jett finished his story and I didn’t have the heart to stop her. I’d even considered joining in at one point so I’d have something to keep my mind off the fact that Chase had manipulated this sweet boy. “This kid, who you’ve never met before, approached you and offered you a thousand bucks to hack into the university’s mainframe to switch out a test?”

“It wasn’t a test, it was his final paper,” Jett corrected. “He said he accidentally turned in the wrong paper to the wrong professor.”

“And you believed him?” she yelled, flashing him a scathing look.

“Settle down, Angel.” Koen walked up behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders.

“Stop calling me that.” She whipped her head around, nostrils flaring. He returned her scowl with a chuckle.

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