Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76298 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76298 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
“Did you hang out with her much?” I ask Clifton, meeting his gaze.
“Uh, yeah, sort of. I mean, everyone knew her. I’m sorry about her, uh, dying and shit. It’s fucked up.”
“Yeah, sorry,” the big guy mumbles, and the rest of the guys mutter their condolences.
“What do you remember about her?” I step closer to Clifton. The big guy takes his chance to slip back to the smoking circle, clearly not interested in discussing a dead girl with the dead girl’s sister, but I don’t let Clifton escape. “Were you close?”
“Nah, not at all, she was too cool. I mean, she was busy following Emilio around like a fucking puppy dog. God, that girl was obsessed with him. I bet—” He stops himself, eyes going wide. “Fuck, you’re in Calico. Which means you know Emilio, don’t you?”
“I might,” I say, trembling with excitement. “But tell me more. Please, nobody ever tells me anything about my sister.”
“I shouldn’t say anything. It’s just, that girl used to follow him around all the time, like she was in love with him or something. We all figured they were fucking. She was, like, completely obsessed.”
I take a step back, heart racing. Lucy, obsessed with Emilio?
And they were fucking?
No, that can’t be true. That’s just some sick gossip. Lucy was just working her case and doing her research, she wasn’t actually into Emilio, that can’t be real.
And yet what if it was? What if Emilio was fucking Lucy, and now he’s fucking me because he misses my sister?
I feel like the salt is about to pile over my face, like my world’s contracting. I turn away from Clifton and mutter something about going for a walk, and I get two paces away from the keg before Lesley appears, shoving her way through the crowd, walking fast.
She grabs my arm and yanks me along with her. “We gotta go. Bye, boys!”
“Later,” Clifton says, looking bewildered.
“What’s going on? That was fast.”
Lesley has a big, cheesy smile plastered on her face, and she talks through her teeth. “Cask boys got suspicious.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was asking a lot of questions.”
“Did you make it too obvious?”
“I picked their leader’s pocket.”
“Lesley!” I nearly stop walking but her drags me along. “You did what?”
“He had the boat key right there like a fucking idiot.” We reach the edge of the party and turn toward campus. “So, you know, I just… grabbed it.”
“Oh my god.”
“Yeah, well, we better hurry, before—”
She’s cut off by shouts from back at the party. We slow and look over our shoulders just as four big, angry-looking guys barrel through the crowd and step onto the margins of the crowd, looking around until they spot us.
“Are those the Cask guys?” I ask. “The big, angry ones?”
“Yep.”
“Should we run?”
“Definitely.”
I toss my beer aside and start sprinting with Lesley right behind me.
My hair blows out in the wind as we speed onto campus. My sandals flop against the walkway and I curse the stupid island. I should’ve worn damn shoes. Lesley passes me and keeps going, running like her ass is on fire, and I struggle to keep up. She’s in fantastic shape and she glides along effortlessly like she’s flying. The guys shout something and they’re gaining on me, and I don’t think I can outrun them for long. My little legs work as hard as they can, but these men are bigger, faster, and stronger.
We reach the brightest section of campus, the central quad, and steam down through the grass, skirting along some decorative bushes. My heart’s racing and I’m breathing hard as I throw myself after Lesley, and I think we made it to safety when a guy appears from the side, out from a stand of foliage, and slams directly into Lesley.
I try to stop but my momentum carries me forward. Another guy appears and grabs my arm, wrenching me sideways, yanking hard enough that I think my shoulder might pop out. I scream in pain as he throws me to the ground. I hit the grass hard, roll, and try to get up, but someone kicks me in the side and I double over, gasping for air.
“Lesley and her new pet.” A young man walks over, flushed from running, a wild smile on his face. He’s got dark hair, stubble on his chin and cheeks, and dark green eyes. He’d be handsome if he weren’t looking at me like he wants to rip my face off. “Who’s the girl?”
“Kaye Drake,” one of the guys says. “Lucy’s sister. Calico member.”
I curse softly. How the hell do they know who I am?
“Lesley, looks like you found another stray.”
“Fuck you, Malcolm.” Lesley gets up to her knees, but two big guys stand around her. One shoves her forward and she glares at them with pure rage in her eyes, but gets back to her knees, hands balled into fists.