Page 77 of Play Dirty
Why would he have her phone? The cops should. The question begins shuffling inside my head, but all I do is look at her like she just dropped a bomb. The words take a moment to digest, and still, all I can ask is: “What?”
“I saw it,” she fidgets with her cup. “I recognized the case immediately, but he put it away quickly when I approached him.”
I bring my brows together, biting my lower lip. “Wait, when? Are you sure about that?”
My best friend looks at me with disbelief. “Today, I went to confront him to stay away from you, Shiloh. You don’t even like him. He’s messing with your head just like he did with June.”
What? No.
I don’t want to believe this, but the look on her face tells me it’s the truth, or at least she truly believes what she saw. But why would he hide that from me? I try to make sense of it., Maybe he found it, maybe she left it at his house the night they argued and never came back for it.
But why hide it?
“Why would he keep that from me?” I whisper, instantly regretting saying the words out loud. Tati places a hand on my shoulder, “I don’t know.” She answers, and fuck, I believe her. “But I’m sure that’s not the only thing he’s hiding.”
I look at her sharply.
She blinks. “I just mean… he was with her. And now he’s with you. Don’t you think it’s weird?” Before I can respond, my phone buzzes in my side pocket. I lift the side of my skort, and a chorus of notifications spills from inside as I pull out my phone.
Tatiana looks down at hers, both of us locked on the screen.
The Pulse Blog
My heart drops as I watch the video with no sound. June rushes out of the library, fixing her school uniform with a grin on her face, and behind her is Asher. My hand flies to cover my mouth. I glance up at Tatiana, who’s already looking at me, like she’s expecting me to say something.
“I have to go.” I manage to say.
I turn and leave before she can follow, bumping into someone as I walk through the house, not caring to stop or apologize. My legs move on instinct, fast and focused, my wedges clicking against the tiles as I grab my keys and rush out the door. The air suddenly feels too cold… pulling out my phone, I text the only person who can calm my mind.
Nico.
where are you?
No reply.
My heart beats faster. Blood is soaring through my ears. Heat simmering beneath my skin.
I pick up my pace.
If he really has her phone, what else could he be hiding?
Chapter Thirty- One
Nico
The small room feels crowded, the air stale, and smells too much like corn chips with a hint of a caramel candle burning on the kitchen counter. This is not how I intended to spend my Sunday night, but when Ted called Thiago to let him know he had something, I couldn’t help but tag along.
Turns out Theodore Raymond Lorenz is actually the hacking god he claims to be. He was able to intercept the video uploaded to The Pulse, but the IP led to a dead end, so here we are deciphering the meaning of it.
No matter how many times I see it, this doesn’t seem like June… there's no way in hell that she would ever sleep with a man like Asher. That’s not June. Ted rewinds the clip, eyes flicking between the grainy footage and his second monitor. “Watch this frame.” I lean in.
The video plays in a loop on the screen, and Ted motions to the small glitches before slowing it down, pointing to a small flicker. A stutter. Something barely noticeable when you don’t know what you’re looking for. Not that I know, but he does. “What does it mean?”
He chuckles. “That's fake. Or at least whoever is behind her is. This isn’t the real video.”
“So what you’re saying is that’s not Asher walking behind June?” Ted pushes back his glasses, “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Whoever it is, they did a great job of adding him in, but it’s definitely not Asher.”
He taps the screen. “There’s actually no one behind her at all.” I sit back, slowly processing his words as he takes a deep inhale of his vape. “If there’s no one behind her, who took the video?” Zayden asks, his voice hoarse from lack of use. Thiago just listens, leaning against the door frame.
