Page 71 of Heartless Legacy

“Your companion?” He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t need to. We both know it’s true. “So, spell this out for me, Pax. You cameherealone,skulking around in the shadows with your hood up, to smooth things over with Thea. Your whole reason for being here is to get her to accept your relationship withEloise.The girl who has been nothing but a bitch to her since day one?”

“I’m honoring my oath, Finn. I don’t give a shit if you like it or not.” He gives a derisive snort as he looks down at the blade I’m still holding against him. “Are you done acting like a psychopath, or is this going to get bloody?”

I’m always prepared for bloody, but I step aside. “I hope you got whatever closure you needed, because in case Thea wasn’t clear enough, I’ll double down on her words. Stay the fuck away from her.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then the next time you come across me in a dark alley, you won’t be walking out of it.”

I take a step back, watch him jog down the street to his bike, and wait until he’s on it before heading to my car. Pax must think I’m an idiot. As if I couldn’t see through that bullshit excuse he just gave me for why he was here. He wanted to talk to Thea, sure, but it’s whatever shit he didn’t come right out and say that’s eating away at him.

Holden tried to talk about Pax last summer, but I didn’t want to hear that shit. I was pissed about him “stealing” Eloise away from me. Meaning, I was pissed that his actions meant my plans for Thea went to shit. But Pax was shaking tonight, and I’m not so cocky as to think it was because he was scared of me. He’s not. Never has been.

Tonight just reinforces my theory that something strange is going on around here, and I’m even more convinced that Pax is in the middle of it. He won’t be able to hide what it is for much longer.

Chapter 44

Holden

Canyon Falls University has some of the brightest Information Technology students in the country in attendance. Just like other IT and cyber security students across the country, their supervised projects include attempts to crack encryptions on top of the line programs. It’s a way for companies to check the integrity of their systems without spending millions of dollars.

I’m good with computers. Great at creating and breaking codes, but lately I feel like I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. There are days when I dig for information andnothingcomes back except for a message that reads“no results found.”

It’s as if someone is actively working to prevent me from finding answers. Then there are other days where it feels like someone’s feeding me those answers. It sounds crazy to even say it, but that’s the only thing I can come up with to explain what’s happening. Today is a helpful day, because I’m staring at information that supposedly didn’t exist two days ago. Just like it didn’t exist when I was looking for Thea.

A copy of Thea’s arrest report is on file in the archives, at The Tomb. I assume someone authenticated her story, otherwise shewouldn’t be continuing as a prospect, but what I’m looking at is so much more than I expected to find.

I have the body cam footage, the dash cam footage of them arresting her and even the traffic cam footage of her trip from the flower shop to the Riverside County Jail.

What has my heart pounding is what happens once they get her inside the building and into the cell. There are cameras in the holding area, and others that point outside the cell. The cell door opens, the other inmate walks in. There’s no sound, but I don’t need any to know that Thea’s trying to diffuse the situation. Then the woman attacks and Thea defends herself while the guards stand around watching. They finally intervene when Thea gets the upper hand. I rewind the footage twice, watch them jab Thea with a needle, instead of the inmate who attacked her. Then, the video cuts off.

The next file is an audio recording. It’s clear, but the conversation is one-sided. “The rookie followed protocol and I can’t exactly complain about that without casting suspicion on the rest of the shift. We transferred her, and the paperwork’s taken care of. I expect the usual payout.”

The audio clip gives no clue as to the identity of the person talking. I have a copy of the arrest report. It shouldn’t be too hard to find out who was on shift that day. I’m sure Finn will be happy to make a personal visit to everyone on the list until we get a name.

Thea

I halt in the alcove at the end of the hallway. The door slams into my back, shoving me a few steps forward. “What are you doing here?” I ask, with a curl of my lip and a roll of my eyes, even though I already know the answer. There’s no way Holden was satisfied with how I ended our conversation the last time.

“We need to talk.”

“I have nothing to say to any of you.”

“Then listen.”

“Nope.” I duck around him, continuing towards the stairs.

“I know, Thea.” His words stop me before I reach the first step. “I know it’s impossible that you were in jail all summer, and I know that someone went to a lot of trouble to make it look like you were.”

Does he know? As in, he’s known all along and helped Malcolm?Or does heknowwho helped me escape?Neither of those are things I can admit to.“You're delusional. There are police reports and court paperwork.”

“I’m thorough and observant, and you went through a lot of trouble to make it seem like you were incarcerated so the league would accept you back without penalty.”

It sounds like he still believes the rumors that were circulating around town after I went missing, and thinks I was out gallivanting across the country. “Holden, has anyone ever told you that you have a wild imagination?”

“Never, because they know I don’t say shit without proof to back it up.”

“Do you have this so-called proof now?”

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