We The Pretty Stars (Court High 4)

“Well, that was Paige’s. Mine that I gave Paige before I got it replaced with the one I gave you. It was supposed to be hers after this whole thing. She must have lost it…”

I closed my eyes, chasing down the sickness.

“I looked into that after you gave it to me that day of the fire. Thinking I could find out something about where she’d gone.”

He had missed a lot of school.

“But I came up with nothing.” He squeezed my shoulder. “But now I know why. All this? There was nothing to find. She was gone, and the sheriff’s office knew about that, but kept it quiet.”

I shook. “But why would they? What does all this mean?”

He looked at me. “Well, at the time, it meant that I needed to look into things deeper. I left Mira that night at the diner and she threatened me. Said she knew about the haze and what ‘us guys’ were into. I guess she’d heard from some of the Court’s other girlfriends. She thought holding that over my head would do something, get me to sleep with her, but I didn’t give a shit. I had more important things to look into. The day of your sister’s memorial service, I decided to drive up to the coroner’s office. Figuring money talks, you know?”

I did know, and it had today.

He braced my arm. “Dr. Felton admitted he was told to destroy the file. He’s only keeping it because of me, and I’m paying him like a goddamn employee for that. He was also even told to tamper with the physical evidence, any DNA on Paige’s physical remains tossed out, then wiped clean from the record before she was cremated.”

I cringed. “Who told him to destroy the file in the first place? Do that?”

“The same company who did the investigation. Paige was taken out that night, killed before that train even came, and it was all covered up. And the whole story about the alcohol being in her system? The autopsy had nothing about that. The whole thing was bullshit, completely made up.”

“But by who?” I asked, the reality of what all the guys tried to warn me about flooding back to me now. They’d been scared about something. Warned me about getting involved.

Royal’s large chest rose with heavy breath and pulling me in, he kissed the top of my head again. “There’s still a lot the guys and I have to piece together, but we do have our suspicions. There’re some people involved in this, a few someones we think, and I get the feeling what we know is only the beginning.”

Seven

December

Things were starting to come together. Things were starting to make sense, and I squeezed a pillow that morning, my side cold. A divot in the bedding was all that remained of Royal Prinze the next morning. I assumed he was up and in the suite somewhere. I had slept a long time.

Easing into his spot, I wallowed there for longer than I liked, sought comfort there in ways I needed. Today, we needed to go over what was next, and I needed to be let in on whatever he and the guys were doing. They’d discovered something they obviously kept between themselves until now, and after last night, I knew why.

There was a murderer in the town of Maywood Heights.

The very thought shot a chill down my naked spine, and I closed my eyes, blocking out the sun. Whoever hurt my sister was still out there and maybe even still under our noses. There was a possibility, of course, they’d skipped town, but if someone got away with murder, as they clearly had, why would they? The person obviously had resources too in order to cover up such a thing. I closed my eyes in an attempt to block out the circumstances that surrounded the murder but to no avail. My sister had been out there by herself, her reality and now mine. My sister had been killed, raped.

Get out of this fucking bed.

I let go of the pillow, needing to be her strength now. I wouldn’t let what happened to her go with her to the grave. I was still here, and as long as I was standing, whoever did this to her would get what was coming to them in the end. I’d get my revenge…

Even if I had to go to certain lengths.

I had no idea what those lengths might be, but I had a feeling Royal was already two steps ahead on it. Something had happened to him since I’d known him, a slow but steady transformation. He had a darkness inside him I saw more and more every day, and was something that was obviously heavily influenced by all this that happened with my sister. I had so many things I needed to know, questions dating back to that first time he pushed me away in California. Deciding it was time to get those answers, I got up, and when I found a shirt, it was Royal’s. Shrugging it on, I went to the bathroom connected to the room. I got washed up real quickly, cleansing water on my face before brushing my teeth. After, I slid on a pair of bed pants from my bag to go with Royal’s shirt. I went looking for him in the suite after I dressed, and as I smelled something cooking, frying as I made my way down the hallway, I smiled.

He cooks too.

He was so sweet, and in so many ways. His care was subtle but always present. Even when he was pushing me away, he was doing things for me, always there looking out for me. I realized now all the guys had in some way, shape, or form in the past, Jax, LJ, and Knight. I was highly surprised they didn’t all come out for this trip just to be here. I guess I assumed Royal hadn’t allowed that, on his own for this one.

“Royal?” I crept down the hallway, the suite incredibly warm and smelled so stinkin’ good. It was a smell I couldn’t identify, something hot but nothing like bacon or eggs. I appreciated those smells despite being vegan. I didn’t have to eat the food to know it still smelled good, and I wasn’t ignorant to good-smelling things.

What’s he making?

“Royal?” I found him in the kitchen, well… at least someone. Whoever was whistling a happy tune, shaking his chiseled hips in his designer jeans. He was a little shorter than Royal and the buzzed haircut definitely told me it wasn’t him. I caught looks of the guy in the kitchen over the bar and must have announced myself because Jax turned around with a frying pan in his hand.

He grinned. “Ah, mon cherie! Comment allez vous?”

My eyebrows had to have jumped at least the height of my forehead. He spoke French? I shook my head, only to see LJ skirt through the kitchen with a spoon. The tall blond scooped some of whatever Jax had in the pan right out of it, blowing on a sample before tasting it.