Havoc at Prescott High (The Havoc Boys #1) - C.M. Stunich Page 0,90
wife's car,” he says, and then glances my way. “Not the nurse. His actual wife. She's staying in Connecticut with her ailing mother. Meanwhile, her inglorious husband is using her car now that we've blown his up.”
“He's heading for McKenzie Highway. Clearly, he's on his way to the cabin.” Vic’s jaw works in irritation.
“Well, that was fast,” Hael says with a somewhat nervous laugh. He's still stressed about Vic. I meet the eyes of Havoc's leader, and he returns my stare with a stony one of his own. “Do you think he's taking a new girl up there? Or just getting rid of evidence?”
“No clue,” Vic says, pausing as the girls' laughter rings through the house again. I can hear a movie playing, and figure they've started their movie night early. “Let's get Bernadette's sister over here and get ready to go.”
“I'll take Bernadette over to pick her up,” Hael starts, and the whiplash look he gets from Vic makes me stand up and take a small step back.
“Like hell you will. Aaron, take her over there in the minivan and grab that babysitter of yours on the way.”
Aaron stiffens up, but he doesn't argue, setting aside his half-finished beer and rising to his feet.
“Are you pissed at me?” Hael asks, narrowing his eyes, his hand clenching around his bottle. “Because if you are, you can just say it.” He stands up and turns to face Vic, but it doesn't seem like Vic's interested in a conversation. He just brushes his friend off like it's nothing.
“Everybody else, get your shit together. You know the plans for Vaughn.”
“Jesus,” Hael grinds out, but he takes off in the direction of the kitchen and a moment later, I hear the door to the garage opening.
“Let's go,” Aaron says softly, snatching his keys from the hook and heading outside into the crisp autumn air. The red, yellow, and orange leaves remind me that I need to get Heather's costume together. This year, she wants to be some superhero I don't know much about.
As soon as I climb in, Aaron's turning up the radio, his inked hands tight on the steering wheel as he reverses out of the driveway and starts off in the direction of Heather's school. She's gonna be mad at me for picking her up early again. Better than letting her ride the bus home to Mom and the Thing without me there.
Speak of the devil …
My phone bings with a new text message, and I pull it from the pocket of my jacket to check. Sure enough, it's from my mother.
You've been gone enough lately. Come home tonight, and we'll have family dinner with Dad.
I can't seem to control the scowl that takes over my face, gripping my phone so hard I'm afraid the cracked screen is finally going to give up the ghost and snap in half.
“Your mother?” Aaron asks after a moment, and I shrug one shoulder, reaching up to splay my fingers against my forehead. Pink and white-blond hair falls around my face as I try to figure out how to respond.
“She wants to have family dinner. She wants me to sit at a table with a man who raped her daughter.” I lift my face up and look over at Aaron, studying his clenched jaw and tense shoulders. “You should've taken off when you had the chance, gone to live with that grandmother of yours,” he’d said, but doesn't he know that even if I could, that I wouldn't? How can I live a normal life ever again after all the crap I've been through? How can I just move on knowing the monsters that tormented me are still living in the shadows, waiting for fresh prey? Maybe Batman was a 'good guy' because he never killed anybody, but I think he's a pussy. Kill the Joker, save the people. Maybe there are no such things as good guys? Maybe there are only people who put their moral compass above practicality that think they're good guys?
And then there are people like the Havoc Boys, rotten to the core, but who, in the darkness of their shadowed deeds, can change lives for the better.
“Your mother's an idiot,” Aaron says, his voice almost normal for once. “But don't worry too much about her—or the Thing. We've got plans in the works.”
“What are you going to do to her?” I ask, because this has been bothering me all summer, every sunny day when I sat by the creek with Heather