Page 142 of Devil's Bargain

He drags a hand through his black hair and shrugs. “I watched him pull her into an empty classroom one day. It was pretty fucking obvious.”

“But did you actually see anything?” Dallas asks, her raven hair moving in the summer breeze.

“No.”

We all deflate.

“But there are cameras in the hallways of this school. I’m sure you will come to the same conclusion as me if you watch it.”

Ben’s eyes widen as if a lightbulb has flicked on above his head. “Do you guys remember the morning after she skipped detention? Scott acted fucking weird then. I bet if we can get hold of the footage from that day, we’ll see something.”

“But how? It’s not like we can just walk in and ask for permission to view it,” I point out. Now I’m the one pacing.

Josh crumples up the paper the croissant was wrapped in. “Technically, you can if it’s related to you, and since you spend all your waking hours with April, she’ll be on most of the footage, but it’ll take weeks to get permission.”

I pause in my step and stare at him disbelievingly. “Weeks, Josh?!” I throw my arms out. “We don’t have that long! Where the fuck is she?!”

He holds his hands up placatingly. “I was simply stating a fact.”

I start pacing again. “There must be some other way we can get hold of that footage.”

Steph has her phone pressed to her ear. “She’s not picking up.”

“Something is definitely wrong!” Dallas says. “We should go to her house and see if she’s at home before panicking.”

Ben shakes his head. “You should go, but I’m getting that CCTV footage.” He lifts his chin to Matt.

I watch them leave, whispering, “I don’t know what to do.”

Steph pulls me in for a hug. “Dallas and I will go to her house to see if she’s there. You and Josh can go with Ben and think up a plan for how we’re going to get that footage.”

I release a shaky sigh against her shoulder. “Okay.”

“It will be!”

“I should’ve been there for her.”

Steph palms my cheeks. Her wild curls bounce when she shakes her head and says, “This is not your fault. Don’t blame yourself. We all fall out sometimes.”

She lets me go, and she and Dallas make their way over to Steph’s car.

Josh wraps his arm around my shoulder as we walk toward the school building. The parking lot is almost empty, and classes are about to start. “We’ll find her, Nina.”

My vision blurs with tears. “We fucking better!”

* * *

April.

My scraped knees ache on the porcelain paving slab in the backyard as Salt and Pepper tweaks my nipple.

He’s on the phone. “I need the papers on my desk by Monday.” He releases my nipple and reaches for his coffee cup on the table. “I know it’s short notice, but you need to make it happen. It’s what I pay you for.”

When I feel his finger on my chin, I look up. He pulls down the gag and rubs a strawberry over my lips. “I’m busy this week. He will have to wait until I’m back in the office.”

I bite down on the ripe fruit, silently moaning as the sweet taste explodes on my tongue.

Salt and Pepper swipes up the juice running down the side of my lip before sinking his thumb into my mouth, watching me suck it.

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