“You’ll answer now.”
Adam let out another breath, raking a hand over his face. “Fine. You know about my dad’s case.” He spoke quietly too. “It’s because of you guys he was arrested.”
Mason knew. He’d been the one to find the evidence against him. He didn’t need to be reminded.
“My dad wanted to send a bunch of guys to see if you had anything else on him. He’s worried more evidence might come to light. You were at the cabin, and the security feed shows that you went into the garage. There was something in there that his men can’t find now.”
Mason frowned, glancing over at me. He’d kept relatively quiet about going to that house. I knew Mason had made a copy of the files on the computer, but that’s all he said he’d found. He glanced over at Nate and Logan from where he sat with the same impenetrable mask, but I knew. He didn’t have anything else. If someone went into that garage, it wasn’t Mason.
But all he said to Adam was, “He was going to send ‘guys’?”
Adam nodded, casting a worried look toward the kitchen. “I offered to come instead. I worried if they came in, they’d hurt someone.” Adam glanced to me. “I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”
Mason caught the look. His eyes narrowed.
I had to blink a few times before I caught the significance. Adam was worried about me?
I narrowed my eyes too. “Please. Don’t pretend you care about me. You know it’s because of Becky’s loyalty to me that she gave us the full footage of Mason.” I moved closer. “Why are you really here? Were you hoping to hurt me? Because Becky dumped you and you blame me?”
“Contrary to your low opinion of me, I never stopped caring about you.”
I searched his face. Nothing. No reaction. He didn’t look away. His eyes didn’t widen. There were no twitches or anything.
I shook my head, moving away. “I don’t believe you. I don’t believe anything you say. You’ve already proven how deceitful and manipulative you can be.”
“Like you guys aren’t?” he shot back. He was still sitting on the couch, but he strained to sit as tall as he could. “Like you guys don’t lie to protect your own? That’s all I was doing. I sent that footage in to discredit Mason for my father’s case. That’s all. There wasn’t any other intention to hurt you guys.”
“That could’ve ended my football career.”
“Boo fucking hoo.” Adam glared at him. “So, you’ll make your millions through your father’s company instead? Am I really doing you such a disservice? You have to toe the line and act like a good little saint so you don’t get kicked out of your football career? Newsflash, Mason.” Adam’s eyes sparked in anger again. His hands balled into fists, pressing against his legs. “You’re not a saint. I bet it’s killing you to act like the model citizen. You want to beat the shit out of me just as much as your brother does over there, but you can’t because if it’s caught on tape or if someone witnesses it who shouldn’t—there goes your football future.” He sneered. “Get over yourself. You’re no longer going to play in the NFL, and you know it. You just can’t admit it.”
“Is there a problem over here?” The notepad cop came back from the kitchen.
Logan, Taylor, and Nate trailed behind.
“No problem.” Mason kept his gaze locked on Adam. “We’re just fine, sir.”
“Well.” The cop looked around everyone. “You all insist this was some stupid prank. If you discover anything missing, give me or the station a call. We’ll arrest the guy then.” He handed his card to each of us. “Would you like a ride somewhere?” he asked Adam.
Adam gazed around the room and cleared his throat. “No. I’m fine. I have my car. Thank you.”
“All right.” The cop waved his hand. “We can clear out.” He reached for his radio, and we heard him speaking into it as he left the house.
A moment later, all the squad cars were gone, and it was just as quiet as it had been before we woke to glass breaking.
Logan looked to Mason.
Nate looked to Mason.
Everyone was waiting for our leader, but Mason turned to me. “You wanted to be included—”
I felt sick to my stomach, but I knew what they needed to do. Mason couldn’t let this go. He’d let the video go, but not this.
I stepped toward Adam. “Is there anything else you haven’t told us?”
“No.” He frowned, rubbing at his forehead. “Why?”
“You’re really here to search for something for your dad?”
His hand fell back to his side. “I told you, Sam. I came so my dad wouldn’t send those guys instead. If he had, they were on order to remove anyone or anything that got in their way. They would’ve hurt you guys.”
“They would’ve tried.”
Adam turned to Mason. “What?” He looked around the room, and saw the intensity on Logan and Nate’s faces. A different awareness settled over him, like a veil lifted and he was seeing them for the first time. “What are you guys going to do?”
Logan shook his head. “Adam, who the fuck do you think we are? You think we’d take you breaking into our home and let you go with a pat on the back? You can’t be that stupid.”
Fear finally appeared in his eyes. Adam looked at me. “Sam, don’t—”
Mason blocked me from him. “You got a pass. Not anymore.”
“Are you guys serious?” Adam started to rise from the couch.
Nate stepped up and shoved him back down. He kept a hand on his shoulder.
Mason turned back to me. “Sam?”
He was asking for permission. I nodded. “He’s all yours,” I said, quietly.
Then I took Taylor’s hand and left the house.
As we walked away, Adam began to cry out, “What are you guys doing? Wha—you guys! Please!”
Taylor stopped once, looking back over her shoulder. She frowned. “What are they going to do?”
“Do you have your keys?”
She nodded, faintly. She touched her purse. “Yeah.”
“Let’s go to that diner. They need to do this.”
Taylor’s frown remained as we got into her car and drove away. This was new to her, but if you hurt one of us, we hurt you back. That was our motto. That was what I’d promised Faith, and that was what was happening right now.
That was how we were.
MASON
I spoke two words. “Grab him.”
That was the cue. Adam knew to run, and he tried. It was futile. Logan and Nate were on him in a second. They pushed him against the wall, and Nate and I switched places. I stood right in front of Adam as Nate went around the room. He locked all the doors and windows and drew the curtains. No one would see what we were about to do.
Adam’s eyes grew frantic as he watched Nate’s progress. He tried kicking back against Logan, but as he surged forward, Logan and I slammed him back in place. “Wha-what are you guys going to do?”
Logan kept quiet. So did Nate.
It was my turn to talk.
“What do you think, Quinn?”
Logan snorted.
Nate shut all the lights off except one lamp in the far corner. Then he came over and took my spot. I stepped back, my arms crossed over my chest.
Adam wasn’t fighting anymore. He’d grown completely still. He just looked between us, waiting.
“There’s no weakness in us,” I told him. “Is that what you’re looking for? A way out? You think my brother or my best friend is going to turn against me?”
Adam swallowed. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. “Let me go, Mason. I won’t say anything. I swear.”
Logan laughed again, but he didn’t speak.
It was still my turn. “And what are you going to say? You broke in here. The cops asked if you wanted to go. You stayed on your own. It’s on record. And that’s just tonight. That’s not counting when you sent the FCPD a video trying to get me arrested, and your own fiancée—”
“Ex,” Logan supplied. “She dumped him.”
“Ex-fiancée cleared me. Any way you slice it, it will look like you’re trying to set me up again. You already tried once, didn’t you? Not to mention that Caldron went on record that your father was paying him to go after Samantha, that same girl you keep declaring you care about. If you’re rolling the dice, it always lands on our side. Always.”
“So what?” Adam was sweating profusely now. “You’re going to beat the shit out of me?”
I flexed my hand. My knuckles were already bruised from football. “Maybe.” I stepped forward, and without speaking, Logan and Nate backed away. I held Adam in place now. “Why are you really here?”
“I told you.”
“You told me lies.” We walked through the garage, but we didn’t search it. It was the one spot we hadn’t looked through.
He pretended to frown. “What? My dad told me you did.”
I waved to Nate. “Go see if you find anything he planted.” He nodded and went upstairs.
“I wouldn’t do that!”
Logan ignored Adam. “You think that’s why he’s here?”
I was sure of it. “Go check your computer, if he could even get on it.”
“You sure?” Logan eyed Adam.
If the prick made a move, I’d have the perfect excuse to hit him.
I nodded. “I’m sure.”
When he left, Adam began shaking his head. “I didn’t plant anything. I swear, Mason.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because my dad—”
“No, he wouldn’t.” I raised my voice. “Your dad would never hire goons to come in here and rough us up if we got in their way. If he did that, it’d be war between my dad and yours. It’d hurt his case, and if you’re actually here because of his case, you know that too. All roads lead back somewhere. Trust me. My dad would hire the best to find that trail, and he’d use that information against your father. That’s what I’d do.”
Adam started to protest, saw I wasn’t going to budge, and started laughing instead.
This one had a ring of truth to it. My shoulders relaxed. Finally we were going to get somewhere.
“Fine,” Adam bit out, rolling his eyes. “I fucking hate you guys. Yeah, I came here to plant something, but I didn’t want to plant it on Nate or Logan. I was looking for your room. I assumed it would be upstairs.”
“What was it?”
“A virus. I was going to load it on your computer.”
“Is it on you?”
He nodded. “My right pocket.”
“The cops searched you. They didn’t take it?”
“They did. But they put it back. Why wouldn’t they? It’s not drugs or a weapon.”
I didn’t move.
He arched an eyebrow. “Aren’t you going to grab it?”
“I’ll get to it.” I had more questions. “What does the virus do?”
“It’s just a bug. It gives me access to everything you have and you’d never know. Your emails. Your school account. Papers even. Your social media. Anything you opened on your computer, I’d have a back door into it.”
“What were you going to do with that information?”
“Anything I wanted. I wanted to make your life hell.”
Logan was coming back down the stairs, and Adam looked up.
“I believe your threat, that you’re going to law school to torture me.” He focused on me again. “You’ve already made my life hell. You did it in high school, and you’ll continue to do it as we get older. We’re going to be competitors. No matter where you look, it’s always you against me. I wanted to start early and get as much dirt on you as possible.”
Logan narrowed his eyes, but he didn’t say anything. This was still my show.
Nate came down the stairs too. “I couldn’t find anything,” he said.
I motioned to Adam. “Strip him. I want to know what he might have on him.”
Adam looked at Logan and Nate, his hands up. “Come on, guys—”
They grabbed him, and he was soon standing mostly naked in our living room, holding a pillow in front of him. Logan went through his pants, pulling the pockets inside out. Nate searched the shirt. They dropped keys, the flash drive, and change on one of the tables.
Logan held up a condom. “Really? Were you planning on raping someone?” He tossed it on the table. “And please say yes. I want any excuse to beat the shit out of you.”
Adam shivered from the cold. He clutched the pillow closer. “No. That’s just, you never know. I was going to drive to see Becky after this.”
“Ah. That’s so sweet. You were going to rape your ex-fiancée instead?”
“No! Shut up,” he barked at Logan. “I wasn’t going to—no rape. Nothing like that. She loves me, and I thought I could get her to take me back. That’s all. I swear.”
Nate tossed the shirt on the floor. “I can’t find anything.”
I gestured to Adam’s socks and shoes. “Take ’em off.”
“What? Are you joking?”
“Please.” Still holding Adam’s pants, Logan put his hands together in a prayer. “Pretty please, refuse us. Give us that excuse.”
“I’m buck naked.” Adam looked at his underwear lying on the floor, and his shirt on top of it. “My socks and shoes are all I have.”
“Give them now.”
Adam scowled, but Logan and Nate started to advance, and he backed against the wall. “Okay. Okay! I’ll do it. Hold on.” He held one hand up to stop their advance and began to toe off his shoes. One by one, he kicked them toward his pile of clothes, followed by his socks. He kept the pillow in front of him the whole time. When he was done, he said, “There. Happy?”
“Dude,” Logan grunted. “If you think we’re doing this because we find enjoyment in your nudity, you might be batting for the wrong team. You know, my girlfriend has a friend. I can introduce you? Though I think Delray could do better.”
Adam glowered. “Fuck you.”
Logan finished searching the pants. He tossed Adam’s wallet on the table, then let the pants fall on the rest of the pile.
“That’s the point, Quinn,” he retorted. “Delray could fuck you, but I still think he could do better. He runs with crime bosses, not with the guy who would be that guy’s bitch in prison.” He winked at Adam. “If you know what I mean.”
Adam didn’t comment.
I knew Logan was waiting for the go-ahead from me. There were a few things my brother liked to do more than others, and burning shit was on that list.
I nodded, and he exclaimed, “Yes!” He grabbed the clothes and took them out.
“Wait. Where’s he going?”
Adam went to follow him, and I slammed him back in place. “You stay.”
“But—” He pointed beyond me. “My clothes.”
“What made you think you’d be allowed to wear them out of here?”
“Bu—” Understanding dawned, and his hand fell back to his side. He gulped. “You’re joking.”
Nate laughed behind me. “It was funny at first, but now it’s