Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
“This is my mother’s house,” Jeremy said. “You can’t tell me to leave.”
“Call my bluff,” Warren invited him. Jeremy opened his mouth, closed it again, and held onto his mug for dear life. Warren gave him another minute to come up with something before saying, “If I get one call or text from anyone that you are acting out, you will regret it. Now get out of my office. I don’t want to see you again until dinnertime.”
Jeremy did a sharp about-face and left. He was halfway to the stairs when William flagged him down. Jeremy tried to wave him off, not in the mood for conversation, but William stepped neatly into his path and said, “You have visitors out front.” Rather than explain, he put out a hand and said, “Mug?”
Jeremy drained the last bit before turning it over, and William got the door for him. The relief that seized his heart when he saw Jean and Cat sitting at the fountain almost took him to his knees. Cat turned at the sound of the door, but Jeremy didn’t trust his expression to hold. He looked back at William, buying a few critical seconds, and said, “Thank you. I’ll make sure they don’t stay long enough for him to notice.”
William nodded and eased the door closed, and Jeremy went to join his friends. Cat sprang to her feet to strike a dramatic pose, and Jeremy followed her outstretched arms to the pair of motorcycles parked a few feet away. They appeared to be a matching set, metallic black with silver highlights.
“What do you think?” Cat asked in lieu of hello. “Fancy, right? I’m going to have to get mine painted, though, so I can tell ‘em apart better. Jean, show it off!”
“He can see it,” Jean said, but he was already drifting to the nearer bike.
When he took too long to extoll the virtues of this model, Cat launched into a rapid-fire explanation. What little Jeremy heard went way over his head; he knew nothing about motorcycles, and Jean was more interesting by far. The Frenchman was tracing a slow line from the handlebars to the seat cushion with one gloved hand. The light in his eyes was unfamiliar but enough to kick Jeremy’s heart up a beat. Satisfaction, Jeremy thought, or perhaps quiet pride. Something a little too hungry to be pleased, like Jean couldn’t believe this was truly his.
Jeremy realized too late that Cat had gone quiet. “I’m glad you found something you like. They look very nice.”
“They’re awesome,” she agreed. “Makes you wanna come for a ride with us now, right?”
As unsettling as the prospect was, Jeremy was briefly tempted. “Thanks, but it’s not a good night.”
Some of the joy went out of her as she glanced past him toward the house. “Figured.” Her subdued tone was enough to distract Jean from his contemplation, and he turned a heavy stare on Jeremy. Jeremy kept his eyes on Cat until she sighed and went for her helmet. “We’ll be on our way, then. Just wanted to christen them with a good first ride and thought we’d hit you up on the way.”
“I’m glad you did,” Jeremy said, and Cat swung past him for a fierce hug.
He watched them zip away, stamped down on his regrets, and turned back toward the house.
-
On Monday afternoon, Jasmine Lane took her life.
Jeremy heard the news as he and Jean left their pottery class. Loathe as he was to break the news when Jean still had a lecture to get through, he couldn’t let him get blindsided by anyone else. Jeremy texted Shane a quick warning before pulling Jean aside outside of Hoffman, and Jean listened in stony silence as Jeremy relayed the latest tragedy. He tried to brush it aside, deflecting with assurances that he and Lane had hated one another, but Jeremy could read the tension in him when he left to join Shane.
By the time Jeremy got home, Brayden Williams and Cameron Winter were gone.
“I thought they’d be under watch,” Cody said when Jeremy called. There was a bite in their voice not unlike Jean’s conflicted grief: the cousins despised each other, but Cameron was still family. Cody didn’t know what to feel or do about this unexpected tragedy. “You can’t tell me Edgar Allan wasn’t expecting this. I don’t—” Cody stopped and took a deep breath. “Mom’s blowing up my phone. I gotta go.”
“Be safe,” Jeremy stressed. “Call me if you need anything.”
“Will do, cap.”
Cody wouldn’t, not when they had Pat and Ananya to lean on, but it had to be said. Jeremy spent the rest of the evening staring at his textbook without absorbing a single word.
He had to stop keeping up with the news on Tuesday. The papers and stations covering the Ravens’ second collapse were good at feigning concern, but there was such a judgmental hunger in their approach Jeremy couldn’t stand it. Cat had a stronger stomach for it, and she kept him updated throughout the day with sporadic messages.