Page 124 of Dark Tangled Truths
And how that could make some people jealous. Jealousy makes people do crazy shit. Jealousy over her career choices. Jealousy over her having us. Jealousy over the attention she receives. We need a way to make sure she’s safe.
No more reacting to the shit that’s thrown her way. It’s time to draw this motherfucker and his friends out into the open.
Me:
Need to chat tonight
Damon:
Our spot
Hawk:
What about Annie?
Me:
She’ll be working after this
I’ll drop her at home
Adam and Heather are there
I want to talk about the stalker
CHAPTER 38
Cam
We rideour bikes out to the spot. Sure, we could have done this in Damon’s house or his room, but Evan is a distraction. And right now, she needs us not to beherdistraction. Damon made sure she had food in front of her before we left, but she was already buried in her books.
When we park, we take off our helmets.
“We need to stop letting this fucker control the narrative,” I start off with.
“Do we really believe it’s Mia?” Hawk asks, running his hand over his hair.
Damon shakes his head. “She might be part of it, but she’s not the person pulling the strings.”
“The texts. Clearly personal to Evan.” I lean forward on my bike, trying to think through everything that’s happened since the beginning. “But they haven’t continued. Why? All it did was put Evan on notice that someone was watching her.”
“It freaked her out.” Damon gazes off into the distance. “Scared her, put her on edge.”
“But it wouldn’t have worked if Jackson hadn’t reentered her life.” I breathe out. “It can’t be a coincidence. So either it was him or someone who knew about him.”
“Her flat tire was the first thing. Audition night.” Hawk meets my gaze. “That could have been coincidence, but with everything else, it becomes suspicious. She didn’t have a spare. She would have been stranded and had to call her mom or ask Mr. Watson to take her home. If I hadn’t waited for her, she would have been alone in that parking lot. Brandt left before her. Maybe he didn’t look at her car, but there would have only been their two cars left in the student lot.”
“That was before the scrimmage where Jackson saw her?” I ask, trying to imagine the timeline.
Damon gives a sharp nod. “It could have been a bad tire and not part of the stalking. The thing that bothers me is, if Jackson was so obsessed with Evan when she was sixteen, he could have easily found her again. I wouldn’t have given up on her that easily. She’s all over the Anteros website. Even a YouTube search would give you where she goes to school. She’s not difficult to find.”
“She doesn’t have a rich daddy who keeps her protected,” I add. “Elizabeth Stanwell is practically a ghost on the internet. You’d have to do a deep dive to find out anything about her.”
“So, if Jackson really was stalking her, why wait until now to come after her? Opportunity? Because we were interested in her? Is there little stuff Evan wrote off that shows he’s been after her this whole time? When she was alone and vulnerable?” Damon looks like he could break something right now.
“Maybe he was being honest when he said he took the hint,” I offer.
Damon glares at me, and I raise my hands in surrender. But he’s right, a stalker doesn’t always make their presence known. It could be that he watched her for years.
