Page 111 of Pretty Little Fears

“Doyou remember anything else?Whoshe was with?”Whileshe racks her brain for answers,Isend a message toEli.Ilet him know the odd circumstances and ask if he can look into it for me, and see what he can find.Hereyes widen as a look of remembrance crosses her face.

“Actually, yeah.Theguy she was with had some kind of tattoo on his neck.Itwas a large black ball…”Shefades off towards the end, bringing her nail to her mouth and nibbling on it.Hereyes snap to me somehow wider than before, “Itwas an 8-ball!Hehad a large 8-ball on his neck.Ihope that helps?”Shelooks at me with so much determination.

Leaningtowards her,Iplace a soft kiss on her forehead. “Yeahbaby.Ithelps.Youdid so good.Thankyou.”Shesmiles up at me andIfeel my own form at the gesture.Hereyes bounce from mine down to the dimple in my cheek.Lettingout a smalllaugh,Igo to textElithe rest of the detailsBlairwas able to remember.It’snot much, but with the wayEliseems to find shit,Ihave no doubt he’ll get back to me quickly.

Afew minutes go by before a knock sounds on my door.

“Yeah?”Icall out.

“It'sme.Canyou guys come to my room?Someweird shit is going on.”Myheart starts to beat a little harder.Ihear his footsteps retreat without waiting for my answer.Standingup,Ihead to my closet and grab a large sweatshirt to bring back toBlair, pulling it over her head.Grabbinga pair of my sweatpants,Ihelp her step into them and then secure them to her body.

Ican’t help but let out a laugh at the sight of her drowning in my clothes.It’sfucking hot.Possessionslithers through my body knowing she's surrounded by me.Pullingon my own clothes,Igrab her hand and lead her towardsEli'sroom.

Enteringthe space, it's similar in size to mine.Yetwhere mine has minimal furniture,Eli’sis filled with techy shit.Inthe corner of the room where he’s currently sitting, numerous monitors shine back at me.Hesits in front of them, quickly shuffling between all the different screens.

“That'sodd,”Blairstates while picking up a pink ribbon with specks of dirt on it. “Aspenhas the same one.”

Eli’shead snaps in her direction and quickly takes the ribbon from her hand, stuffing it into his pocket.Somethingflashes in his eyes but beforeIcan place it, it's gone.Hesays nothing asBlairholds up her hands in defense, “Sorry.”

Hedoesn't respond, instead, he points to his screen to something that makes absolutely no sense to me. “Withthe informationyou had given me,Iwas able to hack into the event’s database.Itdoesn't show much, but it did have records of those who attended.Beforeyou ask, it only has the name of the invited, not their…guest.”Heswitches through some screens, going between different websites.

“Hereis whereI'mgetting stuck.Thisdatabase is nothing like the othersI'veseen.It'smore complex.Thefiles are locked tight butIhave a feeling what we need is in here.Giveme a few days,I'lltry to crack it.”Igive him a nod to show my appreciation and grabBlair’swrist, guiding her out of the room.

“Emmett!Getthe fuck in here!”Heshouts.I’mrushing in the room and staring at the screen.Codesof numbers and random words stare back at me.

“Whatthe fuck amIlooking at?”Isay, enteringEli'sroom.He'sbeen at it for days.

Blair’ssmall footsteps hit my ears andIfeel her come up behind me at the same timeEli’sscreen changes, a picture of each member, along with their purchases fills the screen.Myeyes lock on the photo ofBlair, the same time hers must because a small gasp falls from her lips.

Iwrap my arm around her and pull her into my side, trying to give her strength for what lies ahead.Heshuffles through photos of people until stopping at one.Aman with a large 8-ball tattoo looks back at me.

“That'shim,”Blairconfirms, her voice shaky.

AsEliswitches over to the file for his guest,Ifeel my heart halt mid-beat.Lookingback at me is my mother.Ithas to be.

“Fuck,”Ibreathe out.Blairpeers up at me, waiting to see my reaction.

“Emmett, it saysSerais her name,”Eliconfirms and my world stops.Asif my father has come back from the dead to fuck with my life once more.Aparting gift no doubt, oneIwas probably never meant to get.Bythe sound ofBlair’ssoft gasp behind me,Iknow she didn't actually believe it was my mom.

“Whatcan you find?”Iask, trying not to get my hopes up before hearing what he has to say.

“Giveme a second.I’msureIcan locate the guy.”Inod even though he isn't looking at me and take a step back.Eliswitches between his multiple screens, doing thingsIcan’t make sense of.

Hisface is void of any emotions as he works through all the information on the monitors.Thatis, until a small smirk forms on his face.KnowingEli, it isn't because he found the informationI’mdesperate for, it's more so because he felt challenged and he won.Eli’sbrain is just wired like that.Hegrabs a nearby pad of paper and starts scribbling shit down.Rippingthe paper from the pad, he holds it out to me.

“Thisis everything.Hisname isRicardo.Here’sthe guy's address, when she was sold to him.I’msorry you have to go through this twice,Emmett.”That'sthe most sincerityI’veever heard from him.Heplaces a hand on my arm for a brief second before he pulls it away.

Igive him a nod before grippingBlairand leading her out of his room.Basedon the addressEligave me,Ricardois only a few hoursaway.Muchlike my little obsession, she was right under my nose all this time.ItakeBlairto my room and tell her to stay there and thatI'llbe back soon.Shejust stands there with wide eyes, staring at me asIleave.

Headingto the garage,Iget ready to go payRicardoa visit.Ihave a plan to make and a piece of shit to kill.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

EMMETT

Pullingmy phone out,IcallGrimm.Hewas a great asset whenIwent on my murder spree to getBlairback and with his unusual hobbies,Ihave a feeling he’ll be inclined to help me once more.

“Wuddupbaby?Kindabusy right now,”Grimmgrunts.Alaugh starts to bubble up in my chest as the tell-tale sign of slurping comes through the phone.

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