Page 43 of Reckless at Westbrook High

“Huh,” I muse, releasing him with a shove to take a hit of my joint. “Funny that.”

He relaxes some like he thinks it’s over, but it seems his memory isn’t all that good. I wait a second for his eyes to hit mine, then I punch him directly between the eyes, harder this time. He’s out cold before his ass hits the floor and I grin, pleased with myself.

“I’m good at that.”

Callie and the boys stare at me like I’ve grown two heads but I ignore it, tilting my head for them to follow me to the stairs at the end of the hall. I smoke my joint while we walk up, refusing to look when I feel his eyes on my back because if I look, I’ll see it.

He likes it when I get mad.

We get to the fourth floor and Kai looks at me. “You want the other one, too?”

I nod and he shakes his head at me, stopping at room seventeen to try the door. It’s locked, as expected, so he steps back and lifts his foot to kick it open. We walk inside and Derek’s buddy jumps up from his seat on the single bed in the corner, immediately going for the fire escape to make a run for it. I laugh at him and grab the back of his neck to pull him back in, tossing him down on his ass in the corner.

“Stay.”

He does as he’s told and I glance over my shoulder to look for Derek, frowning when I realize he’s not here.

“Where the fuck is he?” Damon snaps, looking down at the guy on the floor.

“He just left,” he rushes out, scooting back on his ass to get away from us. “He came by to grab some stuff he left last time he was here but then he got a call from some chick and bailed like his ass was on fire.”

“Where’s he staying?”

“I don’t know.”

I glare and crouch down in front of him, grabbing his jaw to force his eyes up to mine. “If you know where he is, I suggest you spit it out right fuckin’ now.”

“I don’t,” he stresses. “I swear to god I don’t know.”

“Fuck,” Damon growls, spinning to smash his fist into the closet door. “Fucking Freya.”

I wince at that, knowing this is my fault for saying shit in front of her, but I honestly didn’t think she’d be stupid enough to call her old fuck buddy to warn him we were coming for him the first chance she got. I risk a glance at Levi to check his reaction, but he’s not looking at us. He’s looking at Ryan, frowning a bit.

“What is that?”

“It was on the nightstand,” Ryan tells him, side eyeing Damon while he passes Callie a little white envelope. “It’s got your name on it.”

Her brows dip and she looks down at it, cautiously turning it over in her hand. I step closer to take a look and the boys do the same, all five of us surrounding her on all sides while she rips it open. She pulls out a black flash drive along with a note written in Derek’s hand writing, working her jaw while she reads it.

Don’t say I never gave you anything.

“This motherfucker,” Callie whispers to herself, closing her fist around the words on the paper.

I frown and Damon glares, turning to open the laptop sitting on the desk in the corner. He turns it on and waits for it to power up, taking the flash drive from Callie to insert it.

“Damon..” she warns, taking his face in her hands to pull his eyes down to hers. “I really don’t think you’re gonna like th–”

“..the fuck are you gonna do with that, you spineless little cunt?”

Callie’s muscles lock at the sound of her father’s voice and she pales, slowly turning around to face the video playing on the screen. It’s a shitty angle, almost like Derek held the camera between the small crack in the front door while he took it, but there’s no mistaking where he is or what he’s watching.

“Now, now, Jason,” Katherine teases, stepping closer to lift her gun to his chest. “Let’s just skip the dramatics and fast forward to the part where you give me what I want, shall we? Where is my daughter?”

“Your daughter?” he laughs, reaching into the pocket of his sweats to take out a cigarette. “I don’t care who you think you are or how much money you throw at me, you’re not getting her, Kat. She’s my baby girl.”

“Not anymore.”

He raises a dark brow at that, lifting his lighter to burn the tip, and I don’t miss the way Levi inches closer to Callie like it’s his natural instinct to protect her. Kai takes her hand but she doesn’t take her eyes off the screen. She doesn’t even blink, almost like she’s afraid they’ll disappear if she looks away for even a second.

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