Heckler. The Red Demon with the almost white eyes.
Holy…shit! Those were Red Demons.
And they were here.
And they grabbed Harper.
Why did they grab Harper?
Was one of them my dad?
Was Maxwell the one wearing the white mask?
A thousand questions ran through my head, but Harper was quieted almost immediately, and then they were gone. Simple as that.
They materialized. They found their target. They left with their target, and no one made a move to stop them. No one was stupid enough. If we had, they would’ve killed us. Everyone felt it in their gut, and I was shook, because the last time I felt this was when my attacker caught me coming into my bedroom, when he pushed me to the bed and covered my mouth with his hand.
But like that time, I would’ve fought back.
After a few minutes, as if we were all afraid to move or say a word, someone broke the seal. “I think they’re gone.”
Then it was chaos after that, but not within me. I could breathe. I just breathed. The other girls started crying.
I mean, they were crying, but they were also pissed. And they were swearing.
And Veronica had sidled up next to Alex.
I pulled my phone out, saw there was no reception, and now knew why Cross hadn’t rolled up.
I asked around, “Anyone have a phone with reception?”
BREN
Cross and the guys arrived three minutes after the masked men left.
We’d called the cops, so it wasn’t too long after they got there when the air lit up with blue and white. Cross swept me up. Jade looked to Jordan. Both seemed tentative with each other, but Jordan pulled her in for a hug. Angeline was eyeing Zellman, and he was eyeing her back. It seemed like a beat later when Blaise drove in with Zeke exploding from his passenger side.
I glanced at Cross. “You called him?”
He nodded, his jaw tight. “He was quiet.”
Oh, whoa. That said everything.
Cross’ arm tightened around me, and he buried his head into my neck. He pressed a kiss there. “Got a text from Zeke.”
“You did?” That wasn’t normal either.
He nodded, his face grim. “Asked if I knew where you were, thought it might be where his brothers were.”
That said a lot. Zeke reaching out to Cross, not a thing. Ever.
Then Cross’ hand tightened around me and he asked, “Why am I seeing Alex Ryerson holding one of Aspen’s friends?”
I grinned and patted his chest. “I’ll fill you in on the way back.”
And that’s what I did.
I gave my statement because Tim Harper getting taken was a big deal. More and more cops were pulling in, but it wasn’t until when a detective broke away from a large group and came over did I realize what really happened.
He was thirty-ish, and tired. A buttoned-down shirt. Gun holster. Badge clipped to his side. He wore jeans and his hair looked raked through. He came right to me and lifted his chin up. “Bren Monroe?”
I nodded.
He pulled out his wallet and gave me his card. It was held between two fingers, and I took it.
He pointed to it. “Come to the station tomorrow?”
“I already gave a statement.”
“You’re Channing’s sister, yeah?”
I was confused. “Yeah…”
Another point to the card. “Come tomorrow and give me another statement.”
Cross frowned. “Why?”
“Because the case against the Red Demons just fell apart.”
“What?”
Wait.
What?
“Harper was the witness?”
The detective didn’t respond, just echoed, “Tomorrow.”
“She’ll be there.”
I glanced at Cross, and he shot me a look.
There was more happening that I wasn’t understanding, but fine. I’d wait and find out.
Jordan moved in. “It’s late. We have a long drive. Can we head back?”
The detective nodded, starting to back away. “For those who were here, if they gave a statement, then they can go.”
He headed back.
Blaise came over, Aspen remaining back with Zeke.
He asked me, “Aspen said what you confronted Harper about. That true?” His jaw was clenching, and his eyes were fierce.
“Yeah, but it looks like it was just him with the plans. The other guys backed away once I started talking about it. They thought they were coming for a goodbye party since he was getting kicked out of the frat.”
“Fuck that. Some fucking goodbye party.” He shared a look with his brother. “I bet you a million fucking bucks that he was going to drug the guys, too, get them all in one go. Hurt me. Hurt Aspen. Hurt the house that kicked him out. Such a fucking piece of shit.”
“Yeah, well, he’s gone.”
“Aspen said those guys were scary.”
I felt a kick in my gut. I couldn’t say anything. Not to anyone. Not ever.
I nodded, letting out a shaky breath. “Yeah, they were.”
Cross’ fingers flexed into my skin, and I knew he’d felt my reaction and would ask me about it later.
“Okay. Well.” He looked back. “We’re taking off. We can get most of the girls with us, but Jade said she drove.”