me catch you calling him anything else.”
I threw my hands up in surrender, phone and all. “Milo it is.” I put the cell to my ear. “Hello?”
“Hey, Rick.”
“Sawyer. What’s up?”
“You still coming tonight?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“No reason. It’s just... it’s good.”
My brows crept together. “What’s good?”
“Having seven. See you at nine.”
The click sounded in my ear, cutting off my chance to ask what the hell he meant. I pulled the cell away and stared at it in confusion like its black screen had answers for me.
“Maverick.” Olivia broke into my thoughts. “Meet Pepper, Milo, Teddy, Dixie, Chester, Blue, and Romeo.”
“Really?” I lifted the now-named Dixie and let her nibble on my chin. “I was thinking Sarah Jessica Barker. Or how about Virginia Woof?”
“You have now lost the right to name my grandchildren.”
I fell over laughing, and was immediately descended upon by the Australian cattle dog horde.
That night, I put Adam to bed in his temporary room—mine. Daphne and Caroline began renovations on his the day before. With Jaxson and Ezra getting up early to head to work, Adam was bunking with me. Naturally, he was thrilled at being near the puppies, and I loved having the little guy around. We stayed up watching movies and eating ice cream in bed like I used to do with my dad. Also like my dad, I made him swear to keep our sugar-binge sessions a secret from Val.
Only when he was asleep did I get dressed and leave for the poker game. Jaxson called out to me as I climbed off the bottom step.
“Yo, Rick.” He emerged from the living room. “Seriously, you’re going to this thing again?”
“Yes, I’m going. I can’t figure out what Aiden’s about from the other side of campus.”
He carded his fingers through his hair, somehow not messing it up. “Listen. I’ve been thinking. Do we need to know what he’s about? Sawyer Burn wasn’t chopped into pieces and scattered in the ocean like chum. He’s fine. That Teagan girl is fine. Leighton Lewis—dead or alive—isn’t coming back. Logan is dead. We caught the person who ran Valentina off the road. Aiden obviously didn’t hurt those guys, he didn’t hurt Val, and we can’t prove he’s hurt anyone else. Why can’t we just let this one go?”
Stiffening, my grip tightened on the banister. “Because the last time we sensed something was wrong, we put our heads down, pretended everything was normal while deep down a thick rope of fear strangled us. All of us. The entire town.”
“It’s not like the academy.”
“It’s exactly like the academy,” I shot back. “Someone should have put a stop to that shit a long time ago. Instead we pretended what we couldn’t see, we didn’t have to face. Well, I see Aiden Connelly. I see through his smug-ass grin and offers of friendship. He may not be a serial killer, but something isn’t right with that guy. And that strangling fear, it chokes Val every time she sets foot in that house and wonders if there’s another Leighton nearby—watching her, digging into her life, forming another group of budding sociopaths.”
Jaxson crossed between me and the door. “I hear you, man. I really do. All I’m saying is what Val’s been trying to tell us for months. If Leighton Lewis was a threat to her, she wouldn’t have given the knife back. Whoever cleaned up that body for her might be in it with Aiden too. That’s fucking serious, but it’s also the cops’ job to track them down. You’re playing undercover hacker and putting yourself in danger for what? Connelly’s too smart to slip up with you around.”
“No. He’s arrogant. He thinks he’s always the smartest guy in the room and that’s how I know he’ll slip up. When he does, we’ll find out the truth about Leighton Lewis, the people who’ve vanished from the Sams and Sallys, why he collects dossiers on his brothers, and what he knows about the people who got rid of Logan’s body. The guy is right next door to Val almost every day. I won’t sit around while she does what we know she will do—find the truth on her own.”
“Fuck. All right.” Jaxson stepped aside. “Go. Be a hero. Save our lady.” His hand shot out as I took a step forward. “But if something happens. Anything. Call me. I’ve got your back.”
“I know you do.” I gripped his shoulder. “You’ll run in and protect me with those noodle arms. All five foot nothing of you against the big,