“The same.” His voice is monotone and bereft of hope.
“What are the doctors saying?”
“Every day that she doesn’t wake up lessens the possibility she will.”
Emmett pulls the chair around the bed, placing it beside Sean, and I sit down. “That sucks, but I refuse to believe it. Sar is a fighter, and she won’t give up. I bet she’s listening to all of us, having a little chuckle at our expense, because she’s healing herself, and she’ll wake up when the time is right.” I’m not sure I believe that, but after today, I need to cling to something positive, to believe there is hope and that good triumphs over evil sometimes.
“I want to believe that so bad,” Sean says, taking my free hand and squeezing it. His other hand is placed over Sariah’s hand on the bed. “But it’s hard to hold on to hope day in, day out when there is no change.”
“You’ve got to try, Sean, because Sar needs all of us to be strong for her.”
He nods, turning to face me with a sad smile. “I’m glad you’re here. We missed you.”
“I’ll be here as often as I can, but there’s a lot of shit going on right now.”
“Like what?” Emmett asks, folding his arms and staring at me.
“How’s your sister?” I purposely ask because it seems he needs a reminder.
A muscle ticks in his jaw. “She’s good,” he says, following my lead. “Still asking when you’re dropping by.”
“I’ll come by soon. I promise.”
He nods. “That would really cheer her up.”
“What happened with the school investigations?” I hadn’t thought to ask the guys before now.
“No one will say a word, and the only witness is still missing,” Sean says. I make a mental note to ask the guys where that freshman girl is and what they plan to do with her. I know they had sent her away so we could deal with the situation ourselves, but events have overtaken us, and I think it might be best now to let the authorities handle it.
Emmett eyeballs Galen. “As are Parker, Finn, and Brooklyn, but I suspect you guys already know that.”
It’s obvious he’s suspicious—and with good reason. “I wasn’t aware they were MIA.” I cast a glance at Galen over my shoulder, and his eyes warn me to say nothing. I’m not sure how much of a threat Finn represents now he’s lost control to the Saints at school. His little rebellion at the warehouse backfired, so I presume he’s running scared with Brooklyn. Or maybe, they’ve officially and permanently joined forces with The Bulls. I make a mental note to ask Saint.
“Beth is shitting her pants,” Emmett says, but there’s no humor in his tone. “We gave statements to the school and the police saying it was Beth, Parker, and some of their cronies, but we weren’t there at the time of the attack, so our word doesn’t mean much.”
“I think the cops believe us,” Sean adds. “But with no evidence or any witnesses, they can’t do much.”
“They’re not getting away with this.” I peer straight into Sean’s eyes. “I promise you that. Just hold tight, and they will get what’s coming to them.”
I get twenty minutes with Sar before the nurse comes to confirm visiting hours are over. Sar’s grandma arrives to stay the night, and we leave with Emmett and Sean.
When we reach outside, they head off in Sean’s car, and we walk to mine. I open the passenger side door and Galen frowns. “You want me to drive?”
I shake my head. “I’ll drive. Get in.” I place my arms around his toned waist from behind, and he looks down at me, his gorgeous green eyes staring at me in confusion. He hasn’t been styling his faux hawk lately, I’ve noticed, and though the sides are still shorn tight, the brown hair on top of his head is in a messy heap of tangled waves. It’s every bit as sexy as the faux hawk, and I hate how much I’m attracted to him.
Guess that’s another side to my perverse personality—feeling desire for the person who would sooner kill me than fuck me.
I help him into the car, and then, we drive home in silence.
When we get back to the house, Galen disappears into his room while I go in search of the guys. Mom and the psycho are still out, thank fuck.
Saint is alone in the basement when I find him, shirtless, his back glistening with sweat as he punches the shit out of the punching bag hanging from the ceiling. I walk toward him, admiring his muscular form, as he keeps thrusting, his fists pounding the bag powerfully. I step around, holding the bag and urging him to continue.
“How’s Sariah?” he pants, bouncing from foot to foot, as he jabs the bag.
“No change. That’s what I want to talk to you about.”
Beads of sweat dot his brow, and he swipes his arm along his forehead. “Talk.”
“Are you still hiding that witness?” He nods, and my eyes zoom in on the muscles bulging in his arms as he hits the bag and the way his abs ripple and flex with the motion. The only clothes he’s wearing are training shorts, and I’m having a hard time concentrating.
Saint is so freaking hot, and my attraction to him is only growing stronger.
He smirks as he watches me checking him out, and I shrug. He ogles me too, so he’s not one to talk. “You need to bring her back,” I say. “We don’t have time to dig up dirt on Beth or the others, but I want them to pay for what they’ve done to my bestie. Let the witness give a statement, and then, the police can do their job.”
“They might make looking for Parker a priority,” he admits, stopping and dropping to his knees to grab the bottle of water at his feet.
“I’ve had a thought about that.”
“I’m listening.” He lifts the bottle to his lips, drinking greedily, and the way his throat works as he swallows is so sexy.
Fuck. I’ve got it bad.
I clear my throat and shake my head. “I know the guys buried her remains, but now, we know she had ties to The Bulls, would it not make more sense to pin her murder on them?”
I can almost see the wheels churning in his head. “We could dig her up and bury her in their backyard and then get a tip sent to the cops.”
I nod. “There’s no evidence linking me to her, so I think it’d be nice to set the cops crawling all over The Bulls. They’ll be forced to lie low, and it buys us some time to plan our takedown.”
“Your sharp mind gets my dick hard every bit as much as your hot body,” he admits, smirking as he cups his crotch.
“Should I be flattered?”
“Come here.” He holds out his hand, and I take it, letting him pull me into his sweat-soaked body. “Shower with me?”
“To get clean or dirty?” I tease, grabbing his ass cheeks and pulling his hard-on flush against my crotch.
“Both, princess,” he says, licking a line up the side of my neck. “It’s always both.”
CHAPTER 18
Harlow
“HONEY. IT’S SO good you’re home,” Mom says the following morning as I’m standing in the kitchen at the window, looking out over the back lawn. Her heels click across the tile floor as she heads for the coffeepot.