Page 161 of The Forbidden Note

At that point, I’ll have to figure out who or what I’ll be next.

He clears his throat. “This place gives me the creeps.”

“It’s much prettier during the day.”

“Pretty things can still be poison.”

I can’t disagree.

Rick slips a hand into his pocket. “Viola wants to transfer. Did you know that?”

“To Redwood?”

Rick nods. “I’m against it.”

“Why?”

“After she moved here, Cadey got married to Jarod Cross’s son.Jarod Cross.Not just that, she got married to him thedayshe turned eighteen. And a week later, she was burying our mom and moving in with her husband in between going to trig class. Who does that?”

I stare at him with a discerning eye. “You’re worried about your sister.”

“She grew up too fast.” He shakes his head. “And this world is dangerous. Those boys are the masters of it, sure. But that means there’s a target on their backs. They’ll always draw chaos.”

He’s not wrong about that either.

My phone chirps.

It’s Zane.

Get ready to burn, tiger.

My lips quirk as I imagine Harris’s face when he sees what we’ve done.

Rick notices my expression. “Zane?”

“Huh?” I glance up distractedly. “Oh… yeah. They just set the fire.”

“They probably enjoy this. Destroying things.”

“Probably.”

He eyes me. “You know… it would have made me feel a little better knowing an adult Cadey trusts is part of that psychotic family.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint, but I’m not,” I say. “I’m just a teacher at Redwood and they’re… entitled eighteen year old boys.”

“Zane too?”

“Especially him.”

He snickers. “The kid was about to take a bullet for you.”

“The gun was empty.”

He snorts as if I’m being ridiculous.

Maybe I am. I don’t want to believe Zane is serious about me.

He can’t be.

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