Page 15 of Wilder
I turn, cocking my eyebrow at Echo for the briefest second. It’s obvious by the semi-excited look on her face—if a person can be excited while discussing a fuckin’ murder—that she’s thought a lot about whatever reasoning she has. “There was no note of any sort, no nasty text…”
I clear my throat. “Well, we know Beckham didn’t leave a note on his bathroom mirror, but that doesn’t rule out there having been something in there.”
“Fuck,” Echo says quietly, “I didn’t think about that.”
Royal speaks up. “Doubtful, I think. I’m more of the opinion that we’d better keep our fuckin’ fingers crossed that whoever did that didn’t take photos that they’re going to start sending to us.”
“Ugh. No, no, no,” Echo groans as I pull into a parking space in front of the police department. I glance into the back seat, taking in her beautiful but anxious face. “Why the fuck is this happening?”
I sigh, turning in my seat before eyeing each of them. “I don’t want any of us receiving any more fucking photos, thank you very much. And I’ll be honest, I don’t know what we do if that happens. We showed some to these yahoos.” I jerk my thumb toward the building in front of us. “We kept some from them.”
Echo quietly murmurs, “All I know is I can’t stop thinking about how whoever killed Freya and Zane was right there at the party with us. What if the bitch twins hadn’t dumped my drink? What if it hadn’t gotten all over Zane’s pants? What if Freya hadn’t taken him upstairs to help him change—by the way, what did she think he was changing into upstairs?”
“Nothing.” Royal shrugs. “It was obviously code for ‘We can ignore the situation with your red-stained pants if we take them off and fuck.’”
“Oh. Right. Which explains why they were naked. And vulnerable, too. Oh my god. What if we had gone to Beckham’s room first?” The questions flying from Echo are dizzying, but she’s got every right to be concerned.
Royal exhales rather loudly, which I’ve come to recognize asI’ve had enough, and unhooks her seat belt then scoops her onto his lap, crossways. “That’s a lot of what-ifs, princess.” His voice is husky and low. “Maybe we shouldn’t be getting you all worked up before we go in there.”
Fuck.It’s horrible how we can go from laughing one minute to wrecked the next. I suspect it’ll be like that for some time to come.
“Oh, shit. Is that Cassie coming this way?” Echo points, and sure enough, the brunette with glasses hurriedly makes her way to the truck.
“I’m not digging the nervous look on her face. I didn’t realize they were going to ask other people to come in today. Hold tight for a sec.” I push open the door, and slip from the truck, then take a few steps toward Cassie, meeting her at the front end of the vehicle.
“Um, hey, Wilder.” She grits her teeth, glancing through the windshield, where I’m certain she can see Beckham, Echo, and Royal inside. “I was hoping to talk to Echo for a second.”
I reach up, running my hand through my hair, narrowing my eyes on her. She’s never given us any problems before. And I think Echo actually likes her. But… I let out a heavy breath. “You see, she’s had a bad run of shitty things happening to her, so you’re going to have to pardon me when I ask you what exactly you want to talk about.” I arch a brow and wait, knowing from the rapid blinking and the way she’s inconspicuously attempting to wipe her sweaty palms on her jean shorts that I’ve unnerved her by playing gatekeeper.
“I get it. And I know some of the crazy. But I really, really think she needs to know about this.” She glances furtively over her shoulder. “And it’s best if this is a quick relay of information, no digital trace.”
“Did they tell you not to talk about something?” She’s got my curiosity piqued now, that’s for fucking sure.
“Um. Not really. But—” She clenches her teeth as if she’s slightly concerned she’s about to do something wrong. But there’s also a glint in her eye that tells me she’s probably going to go ahead with it, anyway.
“Okay.” I lift my arm, beckoning to the others that they should join us.
Two doors open and close. Beckham joins me from the right, but when I look to my left, I find Royal has kept Echo partially behind him. She’s frowning hard at him over it, too, tugging him down so she can whisper in his ear. Pretty sure we all hear her say, “For fuck’s sake, it’s just Cassie.”
I suppress a laugh and wave them forward. “I think we’re okay. But two points for extra protectiveness, man.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
I almost laugh at his grumbling. That’s a classic Wilder move, if I ever saw one. Maybe I’m rubbing off on Royal in more ways than one. He finally brings Echo forward, tucked safely under his arm.
“So sorry about this, they’re being extra cautious since—” Echo shakes her head. “Never mind. What’s going on, Cassie?”
“I was telling Wilder… I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you this, but they didn’t tell me not to either, so…” She sucks in an exaggerated breath. “Last night while they were searching Freya’s room, I kinda overheard one thing, but another they specifically asked me about.”
Echo’s eyes meet mine, and it’s clear she’s getting more nervous by the second. I nod my head slightly in an attempt to let her know everything will be okay. She chews on her lower lip for only a split second more before her gaze swings back to Cassie. “Um, I’m already all worked up over everything, so if there’s something I should know, I’d appreciate it if you’d just tell me.”
“Yep. I get that. But please.” Cassie looks over her shoulder again, her every movement betraying how nervous she is to be talking to us right now.Not good.The protective monster inside me rears his ugly head to listen as she whispers, “Just don’t tell them you got this info from me.”
“Done,” Royal grunts. “Spit it out.Please.” He gives her a wicked grin that has her sputtering for a moment.
Pushing her glasses up on her nose, she finally spills. “The detective I spoke to asked me if I could stay in case they needed something while they were looking at Freya’s room, so I did.” Her eyes light as she draws herself up to say more. “First—they found a burner phone. That part I kinda overheard, so keep that on the down low. Then, when they finally came to talk to me, I thought they were going to tell me I could take off, but instead, they asked if there was a reason why Freya would have had access to your room. They found a key. I guess they must have tried all the locks until they figured out what it opened.”
I blink, trying to digest that information. The phone, I don’t know what to think about yet, but a goddamn key and unfettered access to our girl? “How the fuck would she have gotten a key to Echo’s room?”
