Fallen Crest Forever (Fallen Crest Series Book 7)(47)

Adam left, and as soon as the door shut behind him, Logan asked, “Why the fuck didn’t we pound him?”

I gave him a look as I reached for my phone. “Because that doesn’t look suspicious. He was at our house and then he gets beat up? They could charge us for that.”

“And stripping him naked and sending him on his way isn’t something we could get charged for?”

I shrugged. I was willing to bet they’d let that slide.

“Who are you calling?” Nate asked.

I grinned. “A cop who’s friendly with Sam’s dad. Garrett summers here. He gave me a few names of people we could call if we ever needed anything. I figure this guy might want to know about a naked dude walking away from our house, and that it’s the same guy who broke into our house earlier tonight.”

Logan laughed. “Okay, that’s good.” He turned to go burn the rest of the stuff Adam had in his wallet.

“Logan,” I called. “We’ll get him another time,” I added when he looked back.

“We better. The punk needs to be dealt with.”

He did. And we would.

I was sure of that.





SAMANTHA



Call me a vindictive bitch; I don’t care.

But when Mason told me what they did and what they’d found out from Adam, I went the extra mile. I called Becky, told her Adam had showed up at our place with a plan to see her afterwards to “make up.” I told her about the condom, because every girl enjoys knowing she’s an assumed sure thing. Then I followed that by letting her know he hadn’t just “dropped by” our place. He’d broken in because he wanted to plant a spying malware program on Mason’s computer. I ended the call with a warning not to let him anywhere near her computer.

And thinking about that call now—how Becky had been beyond pissed—gave me an extra boost of speed on my run.

It’d been two weeks since Raelynn’s accident, and a week since our latest run-in with Adam. Everything Raelynn predicted had come true. Faith milked her accident like a cat licks every last droplet of milk. By the end of the first time Faith rejoined the team at practice, everyone was acting like it’d been her in that car. And when I dropped by to see Raelynn yesterday afternoon, she told me Faith had already stopped visiting her.

I was keeping a healthy skepticism, but it looked more and more like Raelynn was telling me the truth. Her words hadn’t been part of an elaborate plan of manipulation.

As I ran, I continued to stay hyper-aware of my surroundings. I usually liked to tune everything out and just go, but I couldn’t do that with Faith behind me. It wasn’t that she was breathing down my neck. She was a good half-mile or more away, but I still couldn’t relax. The moment I did, I worried she might pounce—or have someone pounce for her. Coach Langdon was happy with my times, but I knew staying watchful had cost me some of my speed. Once I could tune the world out again, he’d be even happier.

And I soared over the finish line once again.

Coach Langdon clocked it and called out, “Another fast time.”

I felt more in me. Today was an “easy day,” and Coach wanted us to lift weights too. Instead of pushing for another go-around like I wanted to, I slowed to a walk and waited until Taylor crossed the finish line. Courtney came next, then Grace, followed by another prediction of Raelynn’s that had come true. As Courtney and Grace headed my way, their third friend went to Faith’s side. Nettie had replaced Raelynn as Faith’s go-to, right-hand girl.

Nettie crossed paths with Courtney and Grace, and she didn’t spare them a look. It was as if they were complete strangers.

Taylor shook her head. “That’s sad.”

“Yeah.” I agreed.

Courtney’s jaw seemed clenched, and Grace looked over her shoulder at Nettie, who talked excitedly to Faith. Her hands were all over in the air, yet Faith seemed to be mostly ignoring her, only glancing up every now and then

“Raelynn’s coming back next summer,” Grace said. “What does Nettie think is going to happen then?”

We stopped walking and found a spot on the grass to stretch. Grace pulled one leg over the other and leaned toward it

“I have a hard time imagining Faith won’t want her best buddy back,” she added.

“Unless she’s not as fast as Nettie,” Courtney said.

Taylor started laughing. “Sorry. I was remembering the first night we met you guys.”

Courtney grinned. “True. Nettie’s fast in that way too.”

“Hit the weights this afternoon, ladies,” Coach Langdon barked before he headed back to his office.

We wouldn’t see him again until tomorrow morning when we had an easier run scheduled, then our first meet of the year this weekend. I’d run races in high school, but I knew college was more. The mileage was double what it had been in high school, and everyone was more intense. I didn’t know what to expect, but I thought I’d be okay. I just had to beat Faith. That was my main goal.