Page 87 of Love Me
“She stepped up to the task,” Keelan said. “She has many years of experience as an assistant manager at another gym in town. The only reason she stopped working there was because the owner died and the kids who inherited the gym sold it.”
“Isabelle started working yesterday, too,” Colt announced.
I knew that already. I had a million texts from her, which I had responded to while we’d waited for dinner to arrive. Most of her texts were full of worry for me. She had heard rumors around school that I had been arrested. I explained to her what had really happened. She was happy karma was raining down on the sheriff. I believed her exact words had been, ‘Karma is my favorite bitch.’ Then she went on to tell me about her first day and how Derek had trained her. “She told me she likes it so far.”
“That’s good. She’s—” Keelan was interrupted by the sound of ringing. All our phones were on the coffee table. Mine was the only one lighting up.
I reached for it and saw that it was the unknown number. I sent it to voicemail and set my phone back on the table.
“That guy is still calling you?” Creed asked.
“Yeah. I figured after Isabelle talked to him, he’d stop calling, but he hasn’t. He calls at least six times a day,” I explained.
“What did he say to Isabelle?” Colt asked.
“He was wanting to speak to an Annabell Weston. She told him he had the wrong number and he hung up,” I answered, omitting the fact that Isabelle had gone off on him first.
I felt them all go still, and I looked from the TV to them. They were all staring at me and appeared stricken.
Keelan leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “What name did you just say?”
“Annabell Weston,” I repeated, and I watched as they paled. “Do you know her?”
“That’s our mother’s name,” Knox said.
“Weston was her maiden name,” Keelan added.
“I—” Before I could say more, my phone rang again.
The five of us stared at it for a few rings. On the screen in big letters, it saidUnknown.By the fourth ring, the four of them lunged for the phone.
Knox got to it first and answered it. “Hello?” he said, sitting ramrod straight on the couch. “Hello?” he repeated. “I can hear you breathing, ass—” Knox pulled the phone away from his ear to look at it. “He hung up.”
“Do you think it’s the sheriff?” Colt asked.
“Or Gabe?” Creed said.
“He’s missing,” I said.
Creed gave me a look like he didn’t believe it. “Do you really think he is, or Amber for that matter? Don’t you find it odd that they both went missing at the same time and the sheriff was trying to pin it on you?” Creed took my phone from Knox and held it up. “They are all in a lot of trouble and this is them grasping at fucking straws to get to you and us.” He tossed my phone on the coffee table and leaned back against the couch. “We’re changing your number tomorrow.”
With a small smile, I relaxed back against the couch, too. “Sir, yes, sir.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “I thought I told you to only call me that in the bedroom.”
I gawked at him. “No, you haven’t.”
One side of his mouth lifted. “Would you like to?”
Knox snorted and that set Colt and Keelan laughing.
Dirty Stone boys.Blushing, I grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.
23
It wasFriday and the disappearance of Gabe and Amber was being reported repeatedly on the local news more and more as each day passed. Because Cassy had said the twins' party was the last place Amber and Gabe had been seen, a good chunk of students who’d attended the party had been interviewed by the police, and all had said they hadn’t seen them there.
According to the rumor mill, Cassy had quickly changed her story after everyone else’s had made her look like a liar and now it was being reported that Gabe and Amber had been last seen leaving Cassy’s house, which was also the sheriff’s house, and the news was going crazy over it.
