Mayhem At Prescott High (The Havoc Boys #3)(66)

I don’t believe him.

Not for a second.





It takes the detective and his pretty, blond assistant the better part of a week to work their way through the student body of Prescott High. By Friday, they’ve circled all the way back around to me again.

“We’ve really got to stop meeting like this,” I deadpan as I step into Ms. Keating’s office and flop into one of the two chairs. They’re in considerably less good shape now than they were when I came here and found the box of Havoc shit. All these students in and out, with no Ms. Keating to command respectful authority, and the chairs are picked at, cut up, and scratched to shit. There’s even the word gullible scrawled across one in purple Sharpie.

Gross.

“Bernadette, how’s married life?” Sara Young asks, trying to smile at me. There’s some genuine curiosity in her statement, but her expression couldn’t be anymore patronizing. Getting my brains fucked out, trying to balance my relationships with three other guys at the same time, desperately searching for a reason not to kill Oscar Montauk.

“It’s great.” Just that, no elaboration. I stare at Constantine since I can tell talk of me being a child bride is upsetting to him. “What’s up?”

“Do you mind if we record our conversation again?” The detective asks, and I glance over at Principal Vaughn with a what the actual fuck, man? sort of a look. He stares right back at me, and then flicks his shit-brown eyes back to the cops.

“Doesn’t she need a parent or guardian here?” Vaughn clarifies, but Constantine just gives him a smile as patronizing as the one Sara gave me.

“No, actually. Because Bernadette here is a legal adult now, aren’t you Bernie?”

“Do not call me Bernie,” I tell him, my voice flat and serious. “Question: am I free to leave?”

“Um, of course,” Sara says, pinching her pink lips together. “But why would you want to do that? We’re just looking for as much information as we can get about your stepfather. Last time we were here, you seemed to express a fear that he might be coming after you? Do you want to talk about that?”

“No. I want to know if I’m free to leave,” I repeat, because if I’m not then this investigation has just amped up to another level. Also, if they tell me no then it’s time to contact a lawyer. “I can’t be seen spending so much time here with—no offense—a bunch of pigs. It won’t look good to the rest of the school.” I glance shyly in Sara’s direction and tuck some hair behind my left ear. “Maybe though … I could stop by and we could talk sometime, like have coffee or whatever?”

Sara’s eyes light up with triumph as Constantine narrows his own.

“That would be fantastic. Are you free on Sunday?” I nod and Sara smiles. “Good. Do you need a ride?”

“No, I can get to your place if I go early enough and take my bike …” I trail off, shifting my eyes to the side, opposite where Principal Vaughn is standing, like I have something to hide … or something to be afraid of.

“Why don’t you text me when you’re on your way, and we can pick things up there?” I nod a second time and slip out the door before Constantine pisses me off and I lose my temper. I can feel the suspicion rolling off of him; he wants to peg me with something, anything.

“Real quick,” Sara Young calls out, popping out the door and causing me to turn around, nice and slow, like I’m afraid of being seen with her. She seems fairly sympathetic to my position and stays where she is, near the door of the office. “Do you know a girl named Ivy Hightower?”

Shit, fuck, damn.

“Yeah, why?” I ask, waiting for her to drop the bomb on me.

“Because she hasn’t been seen in a while, and her family is extremely worried.”

“She was dating Danny Ensbrook,” I say, feeling my chest get hollow. Anxiety pours into me, but I fight the physical tells with every ounce of strength I have. “Maybe they got knocked-up and ran off together? Happens all the time.” I turn away before Sara can probe any further, but I can see from her face that this is the response she expected, but one she isn’t buying.

Likely, she’s heard from Danny’s brothers that running off would be out of character for him, that something bad probably happened, that Havoc is very much responsible.

Fuck.

The walls feel like they’re closing in, but I walk it off, down the hall, right back to Mr. Darkwood’s class. I ignore Kali Rose completely this time. After all, she isn’t worth anymore of my energy. I’m just fucking done with her, to be honest.

I slide into my seat and put my pen to the paper.





A careful dance of dangerous boys,

A choreography where each missed step could break a heart,

A single girl with a soul as black as pitch,

With newfound dreams as big as the Milky Way.

Watchful eyes and grasping claws,

A war that can only end in blood,

Sex and violence, love and grief,

A list, a jackpot, a twisted test of romance.





“Another poem about me I assume?” Kali quips as I walk by at the end of class in my pink leather Havoc jacket. I blink in surprise as I turn to look at her with a frown on my face. For so long, I’ve been furious with her, but … she knows what she did to me. I know what she did to me. And she’s going to pay for that; the Havoc Boys will make sure of that. She means nothing to me now.