Twisted Sins: A Dark High School Romance (Twisted Pine Academy Book 2) Read online

  I leave before he says anything else. His words were meant to be hopeful but were just making me sad. I don't feel hopeful right now. Not even a little. If Kristen did this, it's only step one in her plan to break us apart. Next she'll tell Braden about us, or Brock.

  And what if this new evidence makes it look like Jackson killed Andrea? What if he ends up going to prison?

  When I get home, I go in the door and see Maria on her way out with a laundry basket.

  She smiles at me. "Good morning!"

  "Hi. You here to get the dry cleaning?"

  "Yes. Brock had a few things he forgot to include yesterday so I dropped by to pick them up." Her smile falls. "What's wrong?"

  "Nothing." I fake a smile. "I'm just tired. I went on a long walk."

  She looks down at my clothes, which are not clothes you'd typically walk in. And I'm wearing flip flops, not walking shoes.

  "I need to go," I say, hurrying past her. "See you next week."

  As I'm making my way to the living room, I hear Braden.

  "Rumor!"

  Turning back, I see him coming down the stairs.

  "Why are you home so early? I thought you'd be hungover at someone's house."

  "I don't drink during the season. I got home at six. I was gonna go to the gym but something came up and now I can't."

  "What came up?"

  "Shit I don't want to deal with." He heads to the kitchen.

  I follow him in there. "Did something happen at the party?"

  "No." He opens the drawer that has his protein bars and takes one out. "Dad's on his way home. Did he tell you?"

  "He said he was staying in LA."

  "Change of plans. He's coming home today."

  "Okay, well, I'm going to my room."

  "Wait." He walks over to me. "I need to talk to you."

  "About what?"

  "There's gonna be some shit going on here. Shit you don't know about and don't need to know about. There's gonna be lawyers and cops and shit."

  "Lawyers and cops? What the hell?"

  He gets in my face. "You keep your mouth shut. About all of it. If I hear anything about this at school, I'll know you're the one who told, and that's really gonna piss me off." His dark eyes narrow at me. "Understood?"

  I back away. "I won't say anything but you really think no one will find out? Cops parked in the driveway makes it pretty obvious something's going on."

  "The police will send their investigators. They don't drive cop cars."

  "Braden, what's going on? You can't even tell me a little of what's happening?"

  "You don't need to know." He goes to the fridge and takes out one of his energy drinks, then walks back to me. "Just keep your mouth shut. And if anyone asks, you didn't see anything. Didn't hear anything."

  He takes off, leaving me alone in the kitchen. I don't feel hungry but my stomach's growling so I open the drawer Ana designated just for me that has food I actually eat. I pull out a chocolate-covered granola bar, then grab a bottle of juice from the fridge.

  Trystan walks in. "Where the hell were you?"

  I spin around to face him. "What do you mean?"

  He opens the fridge and takes out an apple. "I went to your room this morning and you weren't there."

  "I was there. I was asleep. I didn't hear you knock."

  "If you were there you would've heard me. I was banging on your door." He bites into his apple as he leans back against the counter.

  "What did you want?"

  "Didn't Braden tell you?"

  "Tell me what?" I ask, pretending I don't know in the hopes Trystan will tell me more.

  "Shit's about to happen."

  "I don't know what that means."

  He comes over to me, lowering his voice. "Remember that girl I found dead?"

  "Andrea?"

  He eyes me suspiciously. "How'd you know her name?"

  My mind rushes to find an explanation. "Someone at school was talking about her."

  "Who?" he says, like he doesn't believe me.

  "Peyton," I blurt out. "At the game last night."

  "Why would she bring up Andrea?"

  "She was talking about the parties around here and how they can get a little crazy. She said some girl died at one and when I asked more about it, she said it was a girl named Andrea and that she used to date Braden."

  Trystan chews on his apple as I anxiously wait to see if he believed my story. He tosses what's left of his apple in the trash, then walks over to me. "Did she say it was an accident?"

  "It didn't come up," I say, not wanting to tell him what she said. "She changed topics and we never went back to it."

  "You gotta watch out for that girl. What Braden told you is true. Peyton lies all the fucking time. She does it to get attention. She'll make shit up and spread it around school just for the fun of it. Did you tell her anything?"

  "Like what?"

  "Did she ask you about Andrea or what happened that night?"

  "No. Why would she ask ME? I wasn't here when it happened."

  He turns and walks the other way, rubbing the back of his neck. "Peyton," he mutters. "I wasn't even thinking of her." Trystan leaves the kitchen and I hear him yell, "Braden, get your ass down here!"

  I race out of the kitchen and find Trystan at the bottom of the stairs. "Tell me what you were going to say. About Andrea."

  Braden appears in the upstairs hallway. "What do you want?"

  "Get down here," Trystan says. "I think I know who might've told."

  "Told what?" I ask. "What are you talking about?"

  Braden comes down the stairs, stopping in front of Trystan. "Yeah? Who is it?"

  "Peyton. You know how she makes shit up all the time, and last night she was telling Rumor stories about Andrea."

  Braden's eyes dart to me. "What'd she say?"

  I shrug. "Not much. She was telling me about the parties around here and said a girl from school died at one."

  "That's it?" Braden asks, sounding annoyed.

  "Peyton told her it was Andrea," Trystan says. "And said you were dating her."

  "That doesn't prove anything," Braden says. "Peyton talks about everyone. The bitch never shuts up."

  "Yeah, but why would she be talking about Andrea? Why now? And why tell Rumor?"

  "She was just talking about parties getting out of control," I say. "It didn't have anything to do with the new evidence."

  They both look at me, and I realize I just admitted knowing something I shouldn't.

  "Evidence?" Braden says. "I never told you there was new evidence." He glances at Trystan. "Did you tell her?"

  "I just assumed," I rush to say, my voice breathy. "If there's an investigation, there must be new evidence."

  Trystan folds his arms over his chest. "How do you know about the investigation?"

  "I told her," Braden says. "But I didn't tell her there was new evidence."

  They're both looking at me in a suspicious way that's making my stomach knot and my palms clammy.

  "You acted like you didn't know what was going on," Trystan says. "Why'd you pretend not to know when Braden had already told you?"

  "I wasn't sure if it was a secret. And I didn't know what you were about to tell me. It could've been about something else."

  Trystan and Braden look at each other and I get even more nervous. They may be my cousins but I don't trust either one of them. I want to believe they're innocent but there's a part of me that wouldn't be surprised if either one of them was involved in a murder.

  Braden comes up to me, his eyes dark and threatening. "If you're lying to us, if you're involved in this, if you're hiding information or working against us, I swear to God I'll—"

  "Braden." Brock comes racing in. "I got here as fast as I could." He stops next to Braden, noticing how close he's standing to me. "What's going on here?"

  Braden takes a step back, his eyes still on mine. "We were just talking."

  Brock looks at all three of us, then back at me
. "Rumor, go to your room."

  "Why? What's going on?"

  "This is a family matter."

  "I'm not family?" I ask, sounding offended.

  "Rumor, please," Brock says. "Go to your room."

  As I walk off, I hear them talking in hushed voices. I go in my room, leaving the door open a crack, but all I hear is silence. They probably went in Brock's office to talk.

  Brock's office. Shit! I forgot to put his money back!

  My phone rings, startling me. I shut the door and grab my phone from my bed.

  "Hello?"

  "Rum...your...tell"

  It sounds like a man's voice but I don't know what he's saying. The words keep cutting out.

  "Who is this? I can't hear you." I check my phone to see who's calling but the screen says unknown.

  "Meet...can't..."

  "What?" I hold the phone closer to my ear. "I think you have the wrong number."

  The person doesn't answer and when I check my phone, I see the call was disconnected.

  I'm sure it was a wrong number and yet I have this strong urge to call back. I'm not sure why. It's just a feeling.

  I call the number and wait as it rings several times. It finally stops and I hear a man's voice again.

  "Rumor....going and...need to..."

  "Need what? Who is this?"

  Something's going on here. This isn't a wrong number. The man said my name. He knows me. But how? And why isn't his phone working?

  "Dad?" I blurt out, my heart pounding. "Dad, is it you?"

  I'm not sure why I thought it might be him, but if there's even a chance it might be, I have to know.

  "Dad, if it's you, say something!"

  Silence. I look at my phone and see we've been disconnected. I call back. It rings and rings but nobody answers.

  I find my dad's number and call it. I've called it several times since I got here but he never answers. Maybe now he will. If he called me, it must mean he's out of rehab, but why is he calling from a different number? And why wasn't his phone working? Is he somewhere that doesn't have a signal?

  The phone continues to ring with no answer so I give up and call Jackson. He picks up right away.

  "Rumor, we shouldn't be talking. Not now. The cops could show up here any minute."

  "I'll make it quick." I take a breath, trying to calm down. "I just got a call. I think it was from my dad."

  "Yeah? What'd he say?"

  "I couldn't hear him. It was a bad connection. I just heard a few words, something about meeting, or needing to meet. I don't know. I'm not even sure it was my dad but it was a man and he knew my name."

  "Couldn't you tell it was him from his number?"

  "It wasn't his number. It was a California number but it said 'unknown'. We got disconnected so I called him back but I still couldn't tell what he was saying."

  "It was probably just a wrong number."

  "But the guy knew my name. It's not like it's a common name. He knew me."

  "Did you try calling your dad's number?"

  "Yeah, and he didn't pick up. I really think it was him. Maybe he lost his phone and was borrowing one."

  "If it was him, I'm sure he'll try to call back. I just don't want you getting your hopes up. If he's not in rehab, there's a good chance he's using again. He may be calling looking for money. He knows you're with Brock, right?"

  "Yeah, unless Brock lied about that, but I don't know why he would. I don't think my dad would call asking for money. He's never done that before."

  "But it's Brock's money, not yours. I'm sure he knows you get an allowance. I'm not saying any of this is true. I just know how addicts think. I worked with them when I was an actor. They'll do anything to get their next fix."

  "I don't think he'd do that."

  "Rumor, I need to go. I need to talk to my lawyer before the cops show up."

  "I think Braden's doing the same thing. He said something about lawyers coming over. Brock just got home. I think he took them in his office to talk."

  "Them?"

  "Braden and Trystan."

  "What's Trystan have to do with this?"

  "He found her body. That makes him part of the investigation, right?"

  "I wouldn't think so, but maybe. Did Braden tell you what's going on?"

  "No, they're all acting like it's a big secret. But I accidentally said something about new evidence."

  "Rumor, what the hell? The only people who knew about that were Braden and me. If Braden didn't tell you, that only leaves me as the person who told you."

  "I told them it was just a guess. I mean, you wouldn't reopen a case until there's new evidence, right? So that's what I told them."

  "And they bought it?"

  "Yeah. But I also made the mistake of using Andrea's name. Trystan and Braden never told me her name so when I said it, they got suspicious."

  "So what did you say?"

  "I panicked and said Peyton told me. I said she told me at the game last night. They totally bought it but now—" I cringe.

  "What?"

  "They think she might be the one who came up with new evidence because of her history of lying and making up stories and creating drama."

  He sighs. "This is bad."

  "I know, but it was only a theory. Trystan brought it up to Braden but I don't think Braden believed it. I don't know what happened after that because Brock got home and told me to go to my room."

  "If the investigator shows up, try to listen in if you can."

  I nod. "Okay."

  "My lawyer's on the other line. I need to pick up. Talk to you later."

  I'm starting to get really worried for Jackson. He has money for good lawyers but what if that's not enough? What if Braden lies to the police and puts the blame on Jackson? What if Trystan does too? It'd be their word against Jackson's. Two against one. The only other person who could save Jackson from jail would be whoever provided the new evidence. If it's Kristen, she's not going to save him.

  Unless he breaks up with me.

  Chapter Eleven

  I leave my room and head through the house to the kitchen.

  "Rumor," Brock calls out.

  I turn back and see him coming toward me. "Yeah?"

  "We're going to the lawyer's office. We'll be back in about an hour. If anyone comes to the door, don't answer."

  "Okay. Anything else?"

  "I'm sure the boys already told you this but you need to keep this quiet. I don't want you telling anyone what's going on here, even your friends back home. Nobody can know about this. It's a private matter that only family needs to know about. Understood?"

  I nod. "Yeah."

  He takes off. I hear Braden saying something to his dad, then they leave out the front door.

  When they're gone, I race to my room and get the money I took from Brock. This may be my only chance to replace it.

  His office door is closed but not locked. I go inside and over to his desk. Opening the drawer that had the money, I see it's still there in a neat stack, like it hasn't been touched. I slip the hundred dollar bills on the bottom of the stack.

  As I go to close the drawer, it catches on something. I open it a little, then try again. It won't move. It's jammed.

  "Shit," I whisper to myself. I can't leave the drawer half open. Brock will notice and then accuse me of being the one who did it. Or he'll blame Maria. Either way, it's bad. I have to fix this.

  Hunching down, I look under the drawer. I don't see anything jamming it and there's nothing sticking up from the drawer underneath. I check the sides. Nothing's stuck there either.

  Sitting back in the chair, I shove the drawer in but it barely budges. Using both hands, I yank on the handle. It moves a little but not much. Fed up, I yank really hard and it finally breaks free of whatever it was caught on and slides open.

  I let out a sigh of relief and finally close the drawer. Looking down, I see what was jamming it. It's a business card. It must've fallen from the drawer and got stuck on t
he rails.

  Picking up the card, my heart skips when I see the card is for a rehab facility. It has to be where my dad's staying. Why else would Brock have this card? I bet he was hiding it. I bet it didn't fall out of the drawer but was hidden underneath. I hunch down and open the drawer. Running my fingers under it I feel a piece of tape near the front of the drawer. He taped it there. He WAS hiding it.

  Getting back up, I close the drawer and shove the card in my pocket.

  "What are you doing?"

  I freeze when I hear his voice. I look up and see Trystan standing at the door.

  "I thought you left," I say, my heart pounding.

  "Dad and Braden did. I was up in my room." He comes over to me. "Why are you in my dad's office?"

  "I was looking for something."

  He huffs. "That's the best excuse you can come up with?"

  "I was," I say, defensively.

  "I told you to never come in here."

  I have no response. What do I say? I'm sorry? That's not going to make this better.

  "Dad's gonna kill you when he finds out you were searching through his desk."

  "I wasn't—"

  "Stop lying. I saw you." He shoves me aside and moves behind the desk. "What'd you take?"

  "Nothing! I'm leaving." I walk away.

  "If you tell me the truth, I'll consider keeping this between us."

  I turn back. "You couldn't do that just to be nice? Because we're cousins?"

  "Hell, no. I don't owe you any favors."

  Walking back to the desk, I open the top drawer. "I was putting his money back. I was going to order takeout last night and couldn't find my debit card. I didn't have any cash so I borrowed some from your dad. I ended up not getting anything so I put the money back."

  "How'd you know it was here?"

  I pause. "I borrowed some before. When I bought my cellphone. Your dad knows. I told him. If you don't believe me, just ask him."

  Trystan stares at me, like he's trying to decide if I'm lying.

  "That's all I did," I say. "I swear. I came in and put the money back. That's it."

  "Why didn't you just tell my dad you took it? He wouldn't care if you took money to order food."

  "I didn't want him finding out I lost my debit card. I thought he'd get mad. I think it's in my room but I don't know where."