Chasing Hadley (Chasing the Harlyton Sisters 1)

Fifteen

By the time we get home, the sun is setting behind the hills and my head is still stuck in worry mode over tomorrow morning. Since my dad isn’t home yet, I decide to take the opportunity and distract my worried thoughts by going and digging up the bag I saw my dad bury. I wait for my sisters to get settled into their rooms before I sneak out. Through all the chaos of the duel, Payton and I forgot to mention the bag incident to Bailey and Londyn, which is a good thing. It gives me time to see what’s in the bag so I can decide whether to keep it a secret or not.

After double checking that they’re all busy and distracted, I slip outside and into the garage/shed to get the shovel. As I’m headed back out, I hear Blaise and Alex talking from nearby and pause.

“You have to back off," Blaise hisses. “I made a deal with her.”

“Yeah, so. I didn’t,” Alex snaps. “And you should’ve talked to all of us first before you decided on the terms of that bet.”

“The terms aren’t a bad thing,” Blaise replies lowly. “You shouldn’t be bothering the Harlyton sisters. Not with their dad working for ours.”

Wait. My dad is working for their dad? The man who, from the research I found online, owns a bunch of illegal underground gambling clubs?

I shake my head. Nice job choice, dad.

He laughs darkly. “Don’t even get me started on that.”

“Is that what this is about?” Blaise asks, astounded. “Because, if so, you need to get over it.”

“I’m not going to get over it,” Alex growls out. “And you shouldn’t either. They both fucked us over.”

Huh? Who fucked them over? Their dad and mine?

No, that doesn’t make sense. We’ve barely lived here a little over a week. Then again, wouldn’t be the first time my dad’s managed to piss off someone so quickly.

“But Hadley and her sisters have nothing to do with that, so leave them alone,” Blaise warns. “No more slitting tires. No more flyers. No more harassing our new neighbors, got it? I’m sick of taking the blame for the shit you do.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Yes, I do. If I didn’t, you would’ve been in juvie by now.”

“Is that why you’re so pissed off? Because I keep fucking up? Or are you pissed off because I ruined your chances with Hadley.”

“I never wanted a chance with Hadley,” Blaise replies flatly.

Alex snorts a laugh. “You so do. It’s why you bought her new tires and added that kiss on to that stupid bet.”

“That’s not why I did any of those things,” Blaise growls back. “Now get in the car. We have work to do.”

Doors slam then an engine roars to life. A few heartbeats later, the air grows silent again.

I leave the garage/shed a bit shocked at what I heard. Not just the part about my dad working for theirs, but that Blaise was behind my brand new tires. The gesture would’ve been nice if his brother hadn’t damaged the tires to begin with and put those flyers all over school.

Still, as I dig up the bag, I can’t help but wonder if perhaps my first impression of Blaise was wrong. Perhaps he’s a decent guy, just a bit cocky.

Of course, when I get the bag out of the ground and unzipped, I realize I have bigger problems on my hands than whether Blaise is really a douchebag or not. Because inside is a huge stash of money, a gun, and what looks like a brick of cocaine.

“Holy shit, dad,” I mumble in horror as I shine the light of my phone into the inside of the bag. “What the hell are you doing?”

My mind is racing, my heart pounding. My dad may have done some sketchy stuff in the past, but nothing like this. And whose money and cocaine is this? His? His bosses?

“Hadley!” Londyn calls out from the side of the house. “Are you out here?”

I turn off the light and hold my breath as she shouts my name a few more times before giving up and going back inside. Then I quickly bury the bag, put the shovel away, and sneak back into the house. As I’m making a beeline for my room, I pass by Payton on the stairway.

She notices the dirt on my hands. “Did you see what was in the bag dad buried?”

I nod, wiping my hands off on the sides of my legs. “Yeah, it was just a bunch of bottles of alcohol.”

Her forehead furrows. “Why would he bury that?”

“Probably because I told him we weren’t going to spend any more money on booze.”

“He’s such an asshole,” Payton mutters as she continues down the stairway.

I hurry up to my room and find Londyn in her bed, doing homework.

“Hey, where were you just barely?” she asks, setting her pen down. “I couldn’t find you.”

“Digging up a bag of alcohol dad buried in the backyard.” I flop down on my bed, avoiding eye contact with her.

“Seriously?” she asks and I swallow hard, bobbing my head up and down. “Where the hell did he get all the money for it?”

I shrug and she starts to fume, going on a rant. I listen to her, wishing I could tell her the truth about what I found. But I can’t bring myself to do so. Not with this. No, whatever the reason is as to why my dad has a bag of drugs, money, and guns buried in the backyard can’t be good, and I’d rather my sisters not have to worry about it.

But I need to figure out why before he does something that gets us all hurt.