“I’m going to head out. You know my number if you need me, but honestly, I want Ashley as far away from this as possible.”
“I can appreciate that. Thanks, man,” Chase says, stepping forward, shaking his hand.
“Thank you,” Willow says as she gives him a hug as soon as Chase steps back. Catching Jacob off guard.
Hesitantly, Jacob peels a clinging Willow off of him and opens the door and leaves.
“What the hell is going on?” I demand.
Wordlessly Chase and Willow walk into the living room and sit down. I follow them and take a seat on the chair.
“Well?”
“Hailee didn’t betray us,” Chase says calmly.
“What do you mean?”
“It was my idea,” Willow says softly before clearing her throat. “She has this picture of her and her parents in her room. She’s in a cheerleading uniform. I knew that if we went digging into who was dealing drugs at school as a group we wouldn’t get anywhere. No one would tell us anything because of Chase. So I convinced her to join the cheerleading team, cut ties with us to try and figure it out.”
“What did you just say?” I ask, my heart racing.
“I wasn’t completely sold, but you and I both know that once those two have their mind made up, that’s it, so I didn’t fight them. Hailee would find out what she could and then let us know. Mainly through Jacob,” Chase says.
I look away from them, trying to get my temper under control. “And what did she find out?”
“Shannon had made a deal to help pay for the cheer expenses from someone the team didn’t know. It was supposed to be a one-and-done. But it wasn’t,” Willow says.
“That there was a teacher at the school helping keep the girls in line. Her last note said it’s your English teacher.” Chase says as he hands the paper to me. “And now it’s time for you to step up to the plate.”
“Why didn’t you guys tell me?” I ask as I take the paper, not looking at it.
“Come on, Nate,” Willow says, rolling her eyes. “If you would have known, you wouldn’t have been able to stay away from her. You could barely keep your hands off of her as it is. Your hatred needed to be real for them to believe it. To let her in.”
I look down at the paper and see Hailee’s note. I run my thumb over her handwriting, trying to process everything. “So what happens now?” I murmur.
“Now we take these bastards down,” Chase says.
“The question is, are you in?” Willow challenges.
“You know I am.”
I meant it too. Even when I thought she betrayed us, I wanted to protect her. Now knowing she did this all for us? Fuck, I regret every single word I’ve said to her since.
She probably hates me for what I’ve done and said to her. The way I’ve fucked her like a whore. I don’t even blame her.
It doesn’t matter though. Whatever she needs from me, she has it. Even if that means I don’t make it out breathing, I will make sure she does.
“Good. And if you well and truly break her heart I’ll break you,” Willow teases, making me smirk.
This is why she kept having her back.
Hailee didn’t betray us. She made the ultimate sacrifice for us.
“All right, so this is what’s going to happen…” Chase says.
-
Twenty-Six
