Page 135 of Brutal Kingdom

I hurry across campus to my dorm, barely seeing anyone along the way. What the hell was that? Was Mr. Hansen really trying to get me to agree to marry his son? And why, when all this time they’ve been trying to make me look crazy like this was a made up claim?

I hear my dad’s voice in my ears. “Nancy Drew, when you’re on the right track, that’s when people will try the hardest to make you doubt yourself. Don’t. Just keep pushing.”

He used to give a similar speech to Summer about basketball, that included flagrant fouls. He was flexible like that. I don’t doubt myself and I already knew I was on the right track, because I’m finishing what my dad started. But what did I turn up that suddenly has these men running scared? Because that’s what this is. An offensive measure to protect themselves.

I need to go back over everything, and I don’t have a lot of time. Picking up my phone, I step out of my comfort zone and do what I always find it hardest to do. I reach out for help.

FIFTY-THREE

JORDANNA

Simon steps into my place with people in tow. “Uh. What part of don’t tell anyone didn’t you get?”

“I got it all. You said you needed help going through everything, and I know how much paperwork there is to get through. I know you feel it too. Time is running out. You need all the help you can get.”

“So you broughtTabitha?” My eyes cut to the girl standing behind him. Can things get any more bizarre?

“Look, Jordanna. I know why you might be worried about me being here, but I’m on your side.”

“No. Uh, uh. You mean you’re Bella’s spy.” I’m hurt because she was there when I told Dixon I was taking driving lessons, then she turned around and told Bella what I was doing. She’s the reason the guy left me behind the wheel, locked in a car on a deserted road, with drag racers zooming around me.

“Jordanna, I’m sorry, okay. I didn’t know she was gonna do that. I mean I should’ve but, I didn’t think she would go that far. And I understand if you don’t like me, and don’t trust me. But Iamhere to help.”

I look at Simon, since he’s the one who brought her here. “She is Jordy. And I promise if anything we do gets back to Bella, Tabithawillpay.” He glares at her and she nods, averting her gaze. But not before I see the look of fear in her eyes. I’ve seen these two bicker, but whatever is going on now is so much more than a casual disagreement between former friends.

I’ve only ever seen Simon flirty and charming. This look of cold menace he’s directing at her freezes my blood in my veins. This is the side that Simon keeps hidden from the world. What was that phrase he said when I told him his friend was a menace?If Logan’s the devil, then I’m the one who made him that way.

The thought sends shivers through me. “Fine. She can help. But Simon, I’m trustingyouto keep her in line.”

His eyes clear, and he smiles at me. “She’s gonna do more than help. When the time comes, she’ll be right by your side bringing hell to this fucked up town.”

I doubt that. Something tells me Tabitha is a run and hide when the war breaks out, kind of person. But we have a lot to go through in a small amount of time, so I have no choice but to accept her help.

There’s a knock on the door. When I answer it, Kassidy’s on the other side. “Kass, I told you I had plans.”

“That’s right. With your secret, meet up with your super friends, so I’m here, bestie.”

“I can’t let you get involved.”

“I’m already involved.” She stops in the middle of the room, looking around. “So, what do you need?”

They’re all staring at me, waiting for direction, and it’s sort of weirding me out. I start with my most recent issue. “I just had an interesting talk with Brian Hansen.”

“Noel’s dad?”

“Yup.”

I see the gears turning in Kassidy’s brain. “He came to see you after what happened in your lawyer’s office?”

“He had a proposition for me to help level the playing field.”

“No.” she says, scandalized at the idea. I don’t have to tell her what he said because she knows these people better than I do.

“Yes.”

Simon moves to my couch and pulls out his laptop. “If he wants to hook you up with Noel, that means despite what they’re saying in public, he believes you.”

That’s the same thing I’m thinking. “He broke ranks from the rest of the men who were there that day, so he must’ve found something. We’re gonna go through everything we have to see if there’s something we missed.”

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