If You Dare (Dare #3) — Chapter no 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

DEMI

SETH BRINGS HIS car to a stop in front of my mother’s house. “You

okay?” he asks.

I nod my heavy head. “Yep.”

He chuckles. “Need me to carry you upstairs and put you to bed?”

I snort. “I didn’t drink that much.”

“I know, but you also haven’t eaten anything.”

I open the door and look over at him. “I’m fine.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I crawl out and turn to shut the door, but he speaks. “Don’t let her get to you,” he tells me.

“I won’t …”

“She’s pissed. Just lost her best friend and her boyfriend.”

I snort. “You don’t know them like I do.” After what went down with my sister and Austin, my sister left. I’m sure she went running to Deke.

Begging him to love her from her knees. I’m sure he promised her the world since he owes her for fucking up and sleeping with me. He probably told her we were drunk. Or he thought I was her. Who knows what he said and what she’ll believe?

“I know your sister is a bitch.” He growls. “And that you should sleep with your bedroom door locked and one eye open.”

I nod. “Thanks for the ride home.” I slam the door shut and make my way up to the front door.

It’s a little after midnight. I left a few hours after Becky and Austin did. I called Seth, and we went to hang out with a friend of his. We had some drinks and played video games. I needed to celebrate. I fucked over my sister, and she fucked over her best friend.

It was a great Monday!

I hated the look on Austin’s face when she realized she had been betrayed, because I’ve been there with Becky, and it hurts. I’ll go see her

tomorrow after school and apologize for how things went down. And let her know that I’m here for her too. I can be her friend.

I make my way into the house and up the stairs. I enter my room and gently close my door. Flipping on my bedroom light, I squeal like a pig when I see a man sitting on the end of my bed.

“What the fuck?” I breathe. It’s midnight.

How the hell does he keep getting into my house?

Deke looks up at me. “A little late to be out on a school night, isn’t it?”

My eyes catch sight of a black bag at his feet. It reminds me of the same one Eli kept close to him. And Austin had mentioned in her journal that the GWS gave her one when they forced her to join their group.

Any other time, I would be afraid of him being in my room at midnight after I tricked him into sleeping with me, but I’m not sober at the moment.

He’s come to play. To piss me off. I know how he works. I do something to him, and he comes and threatens me. But he has yet to hurt me. I haven’t seen that side of Deke that Austin wrote about in her journal or the one I heard when he threatened to kill my sister. I want to poke the shark. See how much he can endure before he gets deadly.

I push off the door and walk slowly over to the foot of the bed, crossing my feet as I walk. I’ve seen enough of my mother’s models grace the stage to know how to walk like them. I come to a stop before him, and he tilts his head back to look up at me. Placing both hands on either side of him, I lean over, making sure my tits are in his face. “Is that why you came here, Deke?” I lick my lips. “You want me to play Becky while you play my daddy?”

His jaw sharpens and eyes narrow as my words piss him off. I laugh.

Pushing off the bed this time, I stumble more than anything as I make my way back to my door. And I’m not even in heels. I dressed comfortable for my evening celebration. I swing it open and lean against it. “We both know you’re only here to tell me that you love her.” I roll my eyes dramatically, and it almost knocks me off balance. Maybe I had a few more drinks than I thought. “And that you made a mistake. So go ahead and walk over to her room and be with her.” Somehow, Becky has talked him into rubbing it in my face. That even though he fucked me, he still loves her. I’m not surprised. But it does piss me off. Again, she’s so goddamn perfect, and I’m insignificant.

He stands, squaring his broad shoulders. He looks taller, scarier for some reason in a pair of black jeans and matching long-sleeve shirt. He’s got the sleeves pushed up, showing off his tan, muscular forearms. Walking over to me, he takes hold of the door and shuts it.

My eyes go to the door and then to his. He reaches up and runs the back of his knuckles up and down my neck. I swallow nervously as my heart rate picks up. I close my eyes at the feel of his hands on me, but they spring open the moment his hand grips my throat, and he pins me against the door.

“I’m here for you, Demi.” He whispers my name, and even though the hairs on the back of my neck stand up in warning, my pussy throbs.

I swallow. “Is that supposed to scare me?”

His right leg forces its way between my knees. I tighten mine, refusing to let him through, but he’s stronger. He smiles when he’s pressed fully against me. His muscular thigh now wedged between mine.

“I’m not afraid of you,” I state, moving to my tiptoes. His hand keeps getting tighter, and my knees threaten to buckle.

“That’s your first mistake.” He gives me a cruel smirk that makes him look like the beautiful bastard he is.

My hands grip his wrist that holds me in place. “The … second?” He’s almost cutting my air off.

“Playing me.” His free hand comes up and palms my breast over my shirt.

I moan, and my eyes fall closed. He pushes his hips into mine, and he’s hard. I’m wet. Fuck, why does he do this to me? Why, out of all the boys in the world, does Deke Biggs manage to make me want to spread my legs and slap him at the same time?

“Feel how hard I am for you, princess?” he asks, running his lips along my jawline.

Pulling all the self-control I can manage, I rasp. “You think I’ll give in that easily?”

He gives a rough laugh before taking my earlobe between his lips while his hand tightens on my neck, taking away my air before he whispers, “I don’t need permission to take what I already own.”

And his cockiness brings me out of my drunken and lust fog. I’m not in the mood to play his stupid games tonight. I’m tried, drunk, and need a shower. I push him off me. He takes a step back with a smug smile on his face.

I rub my sore neck and swallow roughly. “I can’t tell you how much I hate your unannounced visits, but it’s time for you to go.” I walk over to my adjoining bathroom, trying to stay upright, and flip on the light.

I go to slam the door shut, but his black boot stops it, and it flies open.

“Deke … What …?”

He reaches out, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling my back to his front. He stares at me in my bathroom mirror. “Where do you think you’re going?” he asks, bringing his right hand up and wrapping it around my neck again, forcing my chin up.

“I need a shower,” I say, trying to fight him off, but he’s not allowing it this time. He’s too strong.

He leans down, whispering in my ear, “It’s cute that you think I give a fuck what you need.”

“I’m dirty,” I protest. I smell of weed and alcohol. I don’t smoke the shit and neither does Seth, but his friend was. Pretty sure I have a contact high at the moment.

He leans down, inhaling my ponytail. “Baby, I’m about to make you filthy.”

My breath hitches when he releases my stomach and lowers his hand to the button of my jeans. “Deke?” What is he doing? We’re done. The back and forth game is over.

“Yeah, princess?” His ocean blue eyes stay on mine. The sound of my zipper being lowered is barely heard over my heavy breathing. A smirk graces his handsome face when his hand slides into my jeans. “All you

gotta do is tell me to stop.”

I don’t.

My heart pounds, my body physically shakes, and my mind screams fucking stop! But I can’t make my lips move. My hands lie heavy at my sides completely useless against this man.

He lowers his lips to my ear, and whispers, “Tell me to stop, Becky!”

And just like before, that knocks me out of this trance. I shove him off, and he doesn’t even resist. Spinning around, I glare up at him, and it makes me even more pissed to look at his smug smile. “I hate you, Deke!” I seethe.

He throws his head back and laughs as if I just told him a joke. It makes his entire body shake, and I let out a scream of frustration. I think I’m losing my mind.

“Say it like you mean it, princess.” He looks me up and down while licking his perfect lips.

I ignore the way it makes my heart race. I shove him. “I FUCKING HATE …”

He grips my hands, pins them behind my back, and slams his lips to mine. “I fucking hate you too.” He growls.

My hands fight him, and he lets them go, but instead of shoving him away this time, they wrap around his neck. His large hands grip my ass, and he picks my feet up off the floor. My legs wrap around his hips, and he walks me back to the bedroom. Then he’s tossing me onto the bed. His blue eyes stay trained on mine as he stands by the edge. He removes my shoes, socks, and then yanks my jeans down my legs. I find myself kicking them a little to help the guy out. My heart pounds like a drum in my chest—loud and viciously. I’m trying to catch my breath, but I’m afraid I may pass out before he undresses me. Without taking his heated eyes from mine, he grips the white lace fabric of my thong, and in a much slower pace, he slides

them down my shaking legs.

“Are you still bleeding, princess?”

If I wasn’t so drunk, I’d blush at that question. “No.”

He drops them to the floor and reaches up, gripping the back of his black shirt and pulls it up over his head. His abs flex, showcasing a six-pack that looks carved out of stone. Then he pushes his jeans down his muscular thighs along with his boxers.

My eyes slowly travel down over the V that you only see on the cover of magazines. I bite my bottom lip when I get to his hard dick. It stands to attention and makes my thighs tighten. When we had sex, I had the lights off, so I never got to see it. My mouth goes dry at his impressive size. No wonder it was so painful.

“Is this the first time you’ve ever seen a cock, Demi?” he asks, wrapping his hand around the thick base.

My wide eyes shoot up to meet his, and this time I do blush, telling him what he already knew.

He gives me that smug smile that I fucking hate. The one that makes his blue eyes dance with mischief and my belly flop. “Spread your legs,” he orders.

My bended knees begin to shake. I should have had another drink.

He lets go of his dick and steps up to the bed. Placing his hands on my knees, he slowly pushes them apart.

I fall onto my back, and my hands come up to cover my face. My entire body is shaking uncontrollably. Even the alcohol can’t help mask my fear and embarrassment of what is to come.

His hands leave my knees and travel up my thighs. They firmly spread them farther until I’m completely exposed to him.

This is where I’m nothing like Becky. I lack experience and confidence. I have never felt more vulnerable and turned on at the same time. I’m ashamed because I’m completely wet for him. And the lights are on, allowing him to see every inch of me.

His thumb slides over my pussy, and I moan loudly.

“Such a pretty pussy,” he says softly.

I swallow, my mouth suddenly going dry. I wish I would have known this was going to happen. I would have put some music on so he wouldn’t have to hear my heavy breathing.

“Has a man ever eaten your pussy, Demi?”

Dear Lord! I’m going to come at the sound of my name and pussy being mentioned in the same sentence. “No,” I mumble my answer.

His hands grip my hips, and he yanks me toward him. I remove my hands from my face and cry out in surprise as my ass now hangs off the edge of the bed. “Deke …”

“Unless you’re telling me to stop, I don’t wanna hear it.” He growls.

I watch his eyes trail down over my chest; the only thing I wear is a black bra. And it’s not even pretty or flattering in any way. He didn’t get the chance to remove it. Not like I have much to show, though. They continue their assault, raking over my stomach and pussy. When he drops to his knees, my breath gets stuck in my lungs.

He places my shaking knees over his shoulders. My wide eyes go to my bedroom door. I didn’t lock it. “What if someone comes in?” I ask in a panic.

“Let them watch me eat you out, baby,” he says, not sharing my concern.

“Deke …” I protest, but he leans forward, and my words die as I feel his

mouth touch where no man has before.

“Oh, God.” My hands grip the comforter.

His fingers dig into my hips, and I buck them when I feel his tongue enter me.

He grips me tighter, pulling me closer to his face, and I close my eyes at the pure pleasure of his tongue touching me in the most intimate way.

My legs tighten on his head, my back arches, and I start to pant as a fire runs up my back. Then I feel a pulsing between my legs, and it travels up through my body. I’m screaming his name as what can only be described as an energy rush reaches my head and explodes.

DEKE

I stand and lick what’s left of her from my lips. She lies before me, shaking uncontrollably with her back arched and her eyes closed. Her lips are

parted, and she is panting.

Fuck, she looks beautiful.

I had planned to come and hurt her, to remind her who the fuck she’s dealing with, but I couldn’t do it. I had brought my bag since I wasn’t sure how I was going to do it. Make her bleed? Leave her restrained again?

Carve my fucking name in her ass? I didn’t know which plan of action was the best one.

But the moment she entered her room, all I could think was to get her naked and underneath me. I saw how turned on she was. How much she still wanted me. Last time I was drunk and a fucking idiot, so I didn’t ease into it. I just fucked her like she was the same whore her sister is.

Demi deserved better for her first time.

I reach out, grab her hand, and yank her to a sitting position. As she looks up at me with heavy eyes, I remove her bra. Her hands go to my stomach, and they roam my body, exploring every inch of what I work hard to achieve. Being a swimmer keeps me in shape, but even at eighteen, I have to spend a lot of time in the gym due to my bad eating habits and alcohol consumption. But I have no problem working as hard as I play.

I remove her loose ponytail, and her long blond hair falls over her shoulders. I push it back, exposing her chest to me. Her pretty pink nipples harden as I run my thumbs over them.

“Scoot back and lie down,” I order, dropping my hand to stroke my cock.

It’s been hard since the moment she entered her room with an attitude that I wanted to fuck out of her.

She does as I say, and her still shaking legs fall open without me having to say a word. I smile. She’s already learning.

I crawl onto the bed.

“Is this why you came here?” She licks her lips. “To fuck me?”

“Why else would I be here?” I arch a brow, centering myself between her

parted legs.

“To hurt me,” she answers breathlessly.

I place my hands on either side of her head and lower my lips to her ear.

“Oh, I have every intention of hurting you.”

Lie. If I wanted to do her any harm, I would have done it the moment she stepped foot into her room. Caught her off guard and taken advantage of a situation I knew I could win. I never act without knowing the outcome.

“Good.” She wraps her arms around my neck. “I thought you were going soft.”

My eyes roam her face, and I watch as her soft features harden just a bit.

Her orgasm is wearing off—fading away. The only reminder that I’m not a fucking douche quickly diminishes. And that urge to hurt her returns. I rack my brain, trying to think of what I could do to her. How I could make her remember that what she did was wrong. She crossed me. I wanted her, and she only used me. Was any of it real? I doubt it. And I hate that I fell for it so easily again.

“You look like you’re trying to decide if you want to choke me to death or fuck me.” She taunts me as if I’m not onto her.

I can read her like a book. One that I want to rip the pages out of and burn to ashes. A story left to never be told again. It’d be a tragedy, but one she earned with too many pages filled with lies.

I slide my right hand into her hair and jerk her head back to force her to look up at the ceiling. I lean down, lowering my voice to a dark whisper.

“What if I said I want to do both?”

It’s what I do to her in my dreams. When she tells me to pretend she’s Becky, and she’ll pretend to love me. It’s so fucked up, but nothing about this is sane. Ever since I touched her at Silence, we’ve been hiding who we

really are.

A beautiful mess and a demon.

I have killed, and she has lied. We are exactly what we should stay away from, yet here we are.

“Are you going to fight me?” I ask, inhaling the scent of her hair. It smells of vanilla, and it makes my mouth water. Becky’s always smelled of strawberries.

“That depends on which option you choose,” she answers breathlessly.

I smile against her neck. “Well, princess, I already have you naked underneath me, legs spread wide, and my lips still taste of your cunt. But …” I pull away and run my free hand up her chest to wrap around her neck.

“If I sit here and choke the life out of your pretty eyes, you’ll fight?” I’m not sure which one sounds more appealing.

Becky never allowed me to be rough. She always told me she wanted me to be my best self. And I believed that fucking bullshit. She didn’t change for me; I should have never tried to pretend with her.

She looks up at me the best she can since my right hand is still holding her head back by her hair. “You think I have pretty eyes?”

I can’t help but chuckle. Of course, that’s what she takes from what I said. “You know I think you’re gorgeous,” I say honestly.

There’s nothing wrong with admitting that to her or myself. Over the past week, I’ve noticed the difference between Demi and Becky in their looks.

Demi is more of a natural beauty while Becky is just all-out fake. Demi’s blue eyes hold more truth and anger. She carries herself differently. She doesn’t need to dress like a slut to get attention, and she doesn’t need the world to bow at her feet. No, Demi doesn’t need anyone, and that’s what draws me to her. To need someone is a weakness, and I want to see her need me desperately. Like her life depends on it.

Her lips part, and I feel her pulse race against my hand.

“But don’t think that will stop me from hurting you,” I warn, my hand tightening on her throat as a warning. She can still breathe, though. I don’t

want the fun to start too soon.

“Maybe I want you to hurt me.”

My eyes narrow as I press my hard cock to her dripping pussy in warning. I was so rough with her two nights ago in Becky’s bed. She has to still be sore. “Did I hurt you the other night?” I ask. She had cried. At the time it didn’t register until she sent me the message that I took her virginity.

“Yes.” She licks her lips.

“And?” I ask, not liking her simple answer. I’m sure as shit not going to apologize because she should have told me.

Swallowing against my hand, she whispers, “I liked it.”

“Demi.” I growl. She’s playing with me. This is another one of her fucking tricks. This is where she’s just like her sister.

She places her hands on my chest. “Is that what you want, Deke? To hurt me?”

“Yes.” No. Fuck! Do I want to hurt her? I’m not sure what I want right now. So much has happened over the past couple of days that I can’t even think straight.

Her hands drop to her sides, and she whispers, “Then do it.”

“Is this why you’re with Seth?” The thought of him makes me want to punch him in the goddamn face and choke her out. “You piss him off, so he’ll hurt you?”

She lets out a laugh, so pure that her body shakes underneath me. “I found another thing I like about you.”

I release her hair and neck, placing my fisted hands on either side of her face, then I ask, “What’s that?”

“Your jealousy,” she answers, licking her lips.

“I’m not—”

“Liar.” She cuts me off. “But Seth isn’t here, Deke. It’s just you and me.

So there’s only one thing you need to ask.”

I’m afraid to ask her anything. Demi has this way of pushing me. I always seem to be off my game around her. I don’t like it.

“Are you gonna fuck me or not?” She finally asks when I don’t.

The words piss me off more than they should because she’s right. I am jealous. Demi doesn’t belong to me. She belongs to Seth. Just like Becky never belonged to me. And I refuse to go down that road again with another Holt Ice Princess.

I lift my right hand and run my knuckles down her soft cheek and lie just like she does to me. “You may be gorgeous, baby, but your sister is the one I plan on fucking tonight.”

________________

I enter the dark house and drop my bag at the front door. Thankfully, Austin put that damn Halloween decoration up in the attic, so I no longer have to hear it go off when I walk by. I grab a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of the junk drawer in the kitchen and make my way to the back patio.

“What are you doing out here?” I ask, seeing Cole in the pool doing laps.

No surprise there.

He pushes the wet hair from his face. “Needed to relieve some stress.”

“Austin still mad at you?”

He nods his head. “She locked herself in Lilly’s room for the evening.”

I snort and light my cigarette. Guess that talk earlier didn’t go so well for him. “I’m surprised that stopped you.” A locked door isn’t going to keep him away from her.

“Oh, her ass is gonna be in our bed when she wakes up in the morning,” he says matter-of-factly.

“I’ll make sure to leave early.” I take a drag and lean back in the lounge

chair.

“How did things go with Demi?”

I grunt. “Well, I left her in her bed naked and wet.” After I got her off.

“Sounds like we both have some groveling to do.”

“I can go get pussy anywhere.” I give him a smug smile. “You’re the one

who is limited.”

“But you want Demi’s.”

The smile drops off my face, and I take another drag. “I’m not going to touch her. Again.” I’ve made up my mind. We’ve both overstepped a line, and I’m drawing a new one. It’s over.

I change the subject. “Heard anything from Bennett?”

“I spoke to him a couple of hours ago, and he hasn’t got any leads on Evan Scott.”

“He once said that when Austin stole Jerrold’s laptop, there was shit there that he missed.” I growl.

Austin had dared Bennett to steal Jerrold’s laptop and that also gave us access to all the bank accounts to JJ’s Properties—Jeff and Jerrold’s businesses. Bennett syphoned all the millions combined from those accounts, and we split it equally between us. But what Bennett almost missed was that it also held details revealing that his brother Jeff—the guy we were killing the night Austin found us in the cemetery—had been paid by Bruce, Austin’s dad, to tamper with the brakes on Cole’s car, which ultimately led to the accident that killed three of our friends.

“Do you believe him?” he asks.

I take a drag of the cigarette and slowly blow the smoke out. “I think that whoever is behind it is smart. And they have help.” He frowns. “It’s gotta

be more than one person.”

“What makes you say that?”

“A hunch,” I answer. “And Austin had mentioned us having enemies in Collins. She wasn’t wrong. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Someone back in Collins is helping someone here ’cause no one here knows what all we’ve done in the past.”

“Except for us, Demi, and Becky. The girls admitted that they read Austin’s journal.”

“Yeah, but we don’t know what all was written in there. And she hasn’t had it since she was shot. And they knew that we killed Kellan.” His name was marked out in red.

“But that was all over the news.” He shrugs. “People thought I killed him. They just couldn’t prove it.”

Five months ago

I called the cops on our way to Bruce’s from the clubhouse. But I didn’t disclose that Kellan was involved. I gave an anonymous tip that there was a homicide at the Lowes’ residence, then hung up. When we arrived, Austin was lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen, and Kellan was leaning against the countertop. Cole told me to remove him from the scene because he didn’t want the cops getting to him first. So, I brought him up to the abandoned cemetery behind the Lowes estate, making sure I didn’t leave a trail of blood. Kellan doesn’t deserve to be behind bars. What little life he has left is up to Cole.

Cole reaches down and grabs Kellan’s ankle, dragging him across the uneven ground. Even though we are too far from the Lowes’ residence and no one can hear him, Cole drops his ankle and then straddles him, placing his hand over Kellan’s mouth to quiet him.

“I’m not even going to ask you why.” His bloodied chest rises and falls quickly as he sucks in breaths through clenched teeth. “Because it doesn’t fucking matter.” Then he punches him in the face. Kellan opens his mouth to cry, but Cole does it again. And again.

I don’t stop him. Or offer him any help. When Cole is in this kind of mood, you just stand back and thank God you’re not the guy he plans on destroying. He used to do this for sport, but ever since Jeff, things have escalated to murder. And I don’t hold him back. If anything, I encourage him.

He comes to a stop and falls off Kellan as though he was functioning solely on adrenaline, and it just ran out. Cole sits on a patch of dead grass next to him, breathing heavily with his eyes closed. Pulling his knees up, he places his elbows on them and drops his forehead into his open, bloody hands. They’re shaking. His entire body is.

I take a step toward him to make sure he’s okay but then stop myself. This isn’t like all the other times. No matter how much Kellan has betrayed us, he was still one of our best friends at one time. But now he has tried to kill the love of Cole’s life. And by the amount of Austin’s blood covering him, I would say Kellan succeeded, causing my chest to tighten for him. For Becky. I’m gonna have to break my girlfriend’s heart and tell her that her best friend is dead.

“She was …” Cough. “Always going to die,” Kellan chokes out. “The game …”

Cole lifts his head slowly, blood now covering his face, and he opens his eyes. He stares at Kellan for a long moment, and I see the fire raging in them. I’ve seen it so many times, and I know how explosive they can get.

Then he kicks him in the face.

“Fuck the game!” he roars.

Kellan’s head snaps back, and I hear bones breaking. For a moment, I think Cole broke his neck. But then Kellan releases a strangled moan, and I realize it was just his jaw. His bloody hands come up to cover his busted face. He sobs into them like the little bitch he is.

“You’re the only one who is dying tonight,” Cole snaps. “She’s alive.

And she’s gonna stay that way.”

“Naaa … Pwe … ase …”

It’s hard to understand his words with a broken jaw.

Cole finally looks up at me. His chest rising and falling fast. “Call Shelby.”

I scramble to remove my phone from my pocket. When she answers, I place it on speaker. “Are you at the hospital?” I ask in greeting.

“Deke? What are you …?”

“Are you at the fucking hospital?” I bark out. Austin’s alive for now. But

how long will she stay that way?

“Yes,” she snaps.

“Austin is on her way. She’s been shot.”

“What?” She gasps. “What the hell, Deke? Cole shot her?”

“I don’t have time to go through this with you again!” She always thinks the worst when it comes to him. “I’m calling you ’cause Cole isn’t family, and he’s gonna need updates. So fucking update me!” Then I hang up before she can say anything else.

Kellan coughs before turning onto his left side. Blood runs from his mouth and nose. His face is busted. “I’m … sowwwy,” he cries out.

“You will be,” Cole tells him. Then he looks at me. “Call Bennett. Tell him to get his ass here.”

“No … no … no,” Kellan cries frantically.

I dial Bennett’s number. He answers on the third ring. “Hey, Deke ….”

“I don’t have time to explain. Get your ass up to the cemetery behind the

Lowes’ Estate.”

“Everything okay?” he asks quickly.

I look down at Cole as he straddles Kellan again. He wraps his hand around the butt of the knife that sticks out of his side. “Fuck you, Kellan.”

He yanks the knife from his side, tosses it away, and then begins to punch Kellan in the face again with fists still covered in Austin’s blood. Kellan tries to fight him, but it’s no use. He’s lost too much blood, and Cole is a killer. When you become his target, he doesn’t stop until the job is complete.

Kellan knew this would only end one way. Even if Cole had to track him down, the outcome would have been the same.

Death.

And I was going to help my best friend achieve that goal. No matter what I had to do to make it happen. Because we’re sharks. And what do sharks

do? They kill.

“Deke …?”

“No, Bennett, it’s not.”

“The town did call off the search.” I shrug. They were never going to find his body. Bennett arrived and dropped him off in the ocean—attached to some dive tanks. He was never going to resurface. I’m sure the sea creatures took care of what was left of him. “With no body recovered, that leaves a lot of questions.”

He sighs. “I’ll call Bennett in the morning and see if he’s got anything new.”

“Has he found any information on who owns the cabin?”

He shakes his head again.

“So we’re just supposed to wait around for the fucker to throw something our way?” I growl.

“I’m just as pissed about it as you are, but until we know who it is, there’s nothing we can do.”

A silence falls over us, and I finish the cigarette. I stand to walk inside when he steps out of the pool, and asks me, “What if it’s not her?”

I turn to face him but don’t answer.

He picks up his towel off the ground and wraps it around his neck. “Her name was on the list. So she’s either behind it or about to be thrown into it.”

“Your point?” I quirk a brow, wondering where he’s headed with that statement.

He runs his hands through his hair, shaking off the excess water. “My point is what are you going to do if she’s not behind it?”

“We have never killed someone for the hell of it. If she’s innocent, then I’ll protect her.”