Page 27 of Hell or High Water

A pawn in my game? Was that what he thought I was doing? Playing a game?

I needed the man whose sperm had contributed in giving me life to help for a couple of months, and he’d refused. So, now, because I’d had to threaten him out of desperation, I was playing a game. My molars hurt from clenching them.

“I understand.” I didn’t say more.

“There will be no relationship of any kind between you and Crew.”

“Got it,” I clipped out.

I didn’t want a relationship with Crew, but being told what to do made me angry.

I was looking straight ahead, but I could feel Than’s eyes on me. He needed to watch the freaking road.

“Take her phone. Keep it when she gets home every day.”

My eyes widened. Was he serious?

“All right,” Than replied.

“Send me whatever Crew sends her.”

“He put his number in her phone because he didn’t have his phone. He didn’t get her number,” Than told him.

“I’m pretty sure he texted himself from my phone before handing it back to me,” I said, not looking at him.

“I missed that,” Than replied.

Yeah, well, Than, you don’t know everything.

“Take her phone. Block his number, then delete it from her phone.”

“Will do.”

“I’ve got another call,” Linc told him.

“Yeah, all right.”

The line went dead.

“Perhaps you should look through my school laptop and check all my notebooks. Just in case I’m hiding something.” The bitterness in my tone was thick, but at least it hid the hurt I didn’t even understand. Why was I feeling hurt or betrayed? It wasn’t like either of those men liked me.

I missed my momma. Tears stung my eyes at the thought of her, and I closed them to keep any from breaking free. I couldn’t think about her right now. I had to be strong.

Eleven

Than

I scrolled through her phone, and it was exactly the same as it had been when I went through it on Friday night. The only addition was that Melody and Peg had both checked on her, and she’d told them the same thing.

Me: I’m good. Jericho gave me a place to stay and helped me enroll in school here. Thanks for everything.

That was it. Nothing about the blackmail or that she was staying in a cabin with no freedom to live her normal life. The stupid text that Crew had sent was deleted now, but it had said:

Crew: Hey, beautiful. I’ll call you tonight.

No, fucker, you won’t. I blocked your ass.

Glancing over at the closed bedroom door, I felt guilty, and I didn’t even know why. But, damn, the way she’d looked in the truck before she closed her eyes and turned away from me was…shattered. Lost. Fuck, I didn’t know, but it had made my gut feel twisted up.

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