Dare Series Collection - Shantel Tessier Page 0,211

he asks, placing his hands in his pockets.

“No.” I shake my head.

He looks over my shoulder to the clubhouse for a long second and then back at me. “Funny how he just … disappeared.”

He knows I did something, but he just can’t prove it. “Wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened here in Collins,” I say, and his eyes narrow.

Mr. Biggs’ business partner went missing a couple of years back, and nothing was ever done about it. Monroe was the detective on the case. Funny how he makes fifty grand a year but lives in the same neighborhood as Deke’s parents. He gets paid under the table to overlook shit, and the whole town knows it. His time will come, and he’ll have to answer for his mistakes in blood.

“You wouldn’t know something about that, would you?”

He’s referring to Jeff. I couldn’t thank Austin enough for what she did to his body. “Are you accusing me of something?” I arch a brow. “Because this time you’re gonna need a warrant.” I won’t willingly lie down on the gravel and allow them to take me again. And sure as hell not for Kellan. What I did was for Austin.

He smirks. “This case also wasn’t the first one your daddy paid to go away.” Taking a step forward, he closes the small space.

“Yes, but we both know if you had done your job the first time, then you would have realized my car was tampered with, and it wasn’t really an accident, right?” I tilt my head to the side.

He removes his hands from his pockets and fists them down by his sides, ignoring that. “I know your girlfriend stabbed him in self-defense. But I also know that you and your group finished him off.”

I smile. “I dare you to prove it.”

His face tightens. Then he looks over my shoulder at the clubhouse once again. I refuse to turn around and see what he’s looking at. I won’t be caught off guard. When his eyes meet mine again, he gives me a curt nod. “Have a safe trip, Cole.”

“Is that a threat?” I ask and try to hide my smirk. You can try to fuck with me all you want, but you will lose!

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he gets back in his car and drives off, ending our pointless conversation.

I walk back inside, and Lilly sits on the couch watching videos on her phone. Her blond hair is a mess from moving around in her sleep, and she still wears her Frozen nightgown. I make my way up the stairs to find Austin making the bed. “You’re up early.”

“Yeah, Lilly and I are meeting Becky for breakfast.” She tucks the end of the top sheet under the bed and turns to face me. “What were you doing outside?”

“I had to call and talk to Deke about something,” I lie. It used to be so easy lying to her, but now it chips a piece of me away every time she looks up at me, knowing she loves me. How easily she believes anything I say. It makes me sick to my stomach.

She nods and then begins to bite her bottom lip nervously.

“What?” I ask her.

“I need to talk to you about something.”

“Okay.” I sit on the side of the bed, and she comes to stand between my legs. “What is it?” I place my hands on her hips. She wears a little pair of cotton shorts and another one of my T-shirts. I can’t wait to get to our house in Texas where we have our own bedroom with a door that locks. So she can sleep naked for me again.

“I’ve been thinking about Texas.”

“And?” I ask.

“And we have four bedrooms.” I nod. “I spoke to Becky the other day …” Shit, I know where she’s headed with this now. “And she’s having trouble finding a place to live. I thought maybe she could move in with us.”

“Austin …”

“I heard Deke say he was going to be in the dorms. And they’re still not a hundred percent on speaking terms right now.”

I release her and run a hand through my hair. They’re not speaking at all actually. Deke told me the other day that she won’t return any of his texts or phone calls. I haven’t spoken to her once since we got into it while standing in Austin’s closet, and I’m fine with that. Becky and I don’t need to have any kind of conversation or interaction. That’s how things work