Page 27 of Reckless
Chapter Eight – Jaz
Mom hadn’t been happy to be corralled upstairs while Ollie and Archer talked, and then while I talked with him. Afterward, Ollie pulled me into his office and told me he didn’t know whether Archer Vega could’ve done the crime, but if it wasn’t Archer, we had no leads. None at all.
I’d told him that Archer wanted to start over, and Ollie had said to be careful. If I started over with Archer, I could keep an eye out, which might help us find whoever did do the murder. He was doing his best to keep the police off me, but after the string of murders, they were eager to close one of their bloody cases.
I’d handle it. I had no choice not to.
The next day in choir, I found Bobbi in her seat. For the first time ever, she’d made it to class before me, and when I neared her, I noticed she had a few bruises beneath her coverup, bruises her makeup and sweater couldn’t hide.
I sat down beside her, immediately asking, “What happened?”
Bobbi threw me a frown. “Chelsea and Deetra cornered me by my locker, dragged me into the bathroom.”
Chelsea and Deetra, AKA Brittany’s best friends, the ones who would always huddle around her and follow the blonde bitch’s lead. I’d nearly forgotten about them, having been so wrapped up in my own shit.
“They think I helped you, or something,” Bobbi muttered, folding her arms across her chest. “I don’t know. Or maybe they just think that since I’m friends with you, I’m guilty, too.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, feeling like I said those words a lot. I was sorry, for what little it was worth. Her father might be the detective on the case, but I held nothing against Bobbi. Her father was only trying to do his job; you can’t fault a guy for that.
Bobbi gave me a tiny smile, though it looked like her bottom lip was split a bit. “It’s not your fault.”
She might say that, but it kind of was. Even though I didn’t kill Brittany, everyone thought I did. Things were seriously only set to get worse. Silly me thought I’d be able to lord my crown over Brittany for a while, but then things had to go and get deadly. Just went to show you that you never knew what Midpark had in store.
“I can ask Ms. Haber to change my seat,” I suggested, wondering if me cutting ties with Bobbi would keep her safe. If those two girls were willing to beat her up, who knew what else they’d do, or the other students at Midpark. If I had to stop talking to Bobbi to keep her safe, I would.
It’d suck, because she was my only friend—the only one without a dick, I mean—but I’d do it. Having a friend wasn’t worth her life.
“No,” Bobbi said, shaking her head and wincing at the movement. “Then I’ll never get to see you.” She shrugged it off. “I’ll be fine, Jaz. I’m a big girl. I’ve been dealing with everyone here my whole life, so I’m used to it.”
Used to getting beat up? I didn’t know if I’d go that far, but I let her have her way. Still, I’d feel really bad if something were to happen to her because of me.
“Enough about me,” Bobbi spoke, trying to act normal, as if everything wasn’t falling apart around me. “How are you holding up? I can’t imagine what stress you’re under.”
“I was okay, before I found out Deetra and Chelsea attacked you,” I answered honestly. “Besides that, everything else is fine. Oliver hired a private investigator to help out and be my bodyguard, pretty much.” I’d kept that detail to myself before, but seeing as how things were going, it looked to be a permanent arrangement.
Bobbi’s eyebrows lifted. “Wow, I’ve never heard of the famous Oliver Fitzpatrick enlisting outside help.”
With everything he’d told me, with what I now knew about his sons, I knew exactly why he was taking this so seriously. Ollie wanted to do right, for once, not because he was getting paid to do it, not because the Scotts were forcing his hand, but because he wanted to tip the balance that had been his life. It was something I could respect.
“I’m just glad he doesn’t think I did it,” I said.
Bobbie reached for my arm, gently touching me as she whispered, “I don’t think you did it, either. If my dad wasn’t such a dick, I’d be over your house all the time. I could help get your mind off of all of this.”
I gave her a smile. I appreciated the thought, I really did, but now that I knew she was targeted because of her association with me, that was the last thing I wanted. “I had a talk with Archer.”
That must’ve been the last thing she was expecting, because her hazel eyes widened. “You did? When? How did it go? I can’t even imagine…”
“Long story short, I think he wants to start over.”
She looked like she didn’t know whether or not she should be cringing or smiling in support. “Is that what you want, after everything?”
I thought about our talk yesterday, how genuine he’d looked and sounded. After he’d spoken with Ollie, even Ollie didn’t think he’d killed Brittany, which left us with a whole host of new questions. I was weak to Archer, in spite of everything. If we started over, tried to forget the mistakes of the past, I knew that weakness would only grow.
Was it what I wanted?
I…I didn’t know. Was it wrong if I said yes?
I decided to play it cool, or as cool as I could, saying, “Maybe. We can at least try.”
