Page 54 of Hunt

Persistent ringing in my ears almost distracted me as I ran down the stairs and stepped into the large foyer. I had a class to attend and an assignment to finish, but my head was raging with anger. Once back into my Mustang, I took out a fat blunt from my glove compartment, lit it, and let the weed relax my body and mind.

Me: Did u know Riley’s glasses were broken?

It took ten minutes until Ronan answered me and I was high as fuck and the words danced off the screen off my phone. “This was some good shit.”

Ronan: No. Just her phone. How did her glasses get broken?

Me: dint jnow

Ronan: What?

I swiped to call him, and he immediately picked up the phone. “I’m high.”

“It’s early. How did her glasses get broken?” cutting to the chase.

“No one is speaking,” I slurred, but trying not to slur made me slur more.

“Did you confront Shaun?” he asked carefully, worried he might be missing an ear or half his head.

“Yeah,” I replied, zoning in and out of reality as the colors and spaces between solid objects seemed alive and vivid. “I didn’t do anything.”

“What did he say?” he quizzed.

“Not much…” I looked at her phone, broken into three pieces, sitting on the seat beside me. “Her phone was bagged.”

“Bagged? Do you mean bugged?” His voice sounded steely as if he was clenching his jaw in anger. “Gunner, are you for real? Her phone was bugged?”

“According to Shaun, she dropped her phone, and the back fell off. That’s when they discovered the device there. Shaun reckoned she was recording the conversation between them. B-but wasn’t she calling you? This is fucked up, man.”

“Jeezus fucking christ. Bro, you’re not driving while blitzed, are you?” I knew Ronan worried about me, and Mikael told him to watch my back, so I didn’t lose the plot and do something stupid that I might regret.

“No,” I groaned. “I’m sitting in my car, hoping Annika will appear like a ghost from my past…”

“Alright, bro,” his voice waved in and out down the line. “Don’t go anywhere while blitzed, okay?”

“Sure. Whatever. But…Rone, remember someone broke her glasses. How did that happen?” I raised my voice in anger.

“I don’t know,” Ronan retorted.

“You can bet it’s got something to do with Shaun,” I proclaimed.

“Yeah,” Ronan faded out. “I gotta go, but you’ve given me plenty to think about.”

“Bugs and glasses, bro,” I slurred.

“Yep, bugs and glasses,” he declared. “The plot thickens.”

21

Has he gone?” I asked when the conversation fell quiet, and Cheetos looked back at me, wearing a scowl.

“Yes, he’s gone,” she sighed, annoyed that I asked her to cover for me. She clarified that she didn’t like Gunner, but seemed to find Ronan okay. Not sure why he was tolerable, but Gunner wasn’t. “You can’t avoid him forever.”

I slumped down in the chair opposite, dumping my bag on the table. Luckily, Cheetos saw him coming, which gave me plenty of time to scoop up my books and run into hiding. “I know,” I exhaled, resting my chin on my hand, elbow on the table.

“He said he’ll see you tonight,” she proclaimed.

“I’m sorry that I asked you to cover for me,” I told her as I opened my bag and took out my new phone that Bitchtective had given me. “I owe you big time.”

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