BooksBarbecue
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Chapters (97)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. 1.
  6. 2.
  7. 3.
  8. 4.
  9. 5.
  10. 6.
  11. 7.
  12. 8.
  13. 9.
  14. 10.
  15. 11.
  16. 12.
  17. 13.
  18. 14.
  19. 15.
  20. 16.
  21. 17.
  22. 18.
  23. 19.
  24. SIX MONTHS LATER
  25. 20.
  26. 21.
  27. 22.
  28. 23.
  29. 24.
  30. 25.
  31. 26.
  32. 27.
  33. 28.
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  86. 81.
  87. 82.
  88. 83.
  89. 84.
  90. 85.
  91. 86.
  92. 87.
  93. SIX MORE MONTHS LATER
  94. 88.
  95. 89.
  96. Discover More
  97. About the Author

’Cause this guy could definitely stumble into that lovey-dovey text trail and know immediately he has some leverage. Easily sense Zack’s budding relationship. Drag Emily in as a bargaining chip…or worse…unthinkably worse…if the guy can find her.

Zack stands at the corner. Assessing.

He can’t risk going home.

He can’t risk going to Emily’s. Can’t risk dragging her into this, getting her involved.

He doesn’t want to make any calls from this phone anyway. Doesn’t want the record of them on here for the guy to have eventually.

Or does he want the record? Does he want to add to the evidence? Start his own trail of evidence? So someone can find that trail someday…

He doesn’t know what to do.

And amid his swirl of panic, confusion, paralysis…

Shit! He forgot about Steve!

He’s so caught up, so terrified, he forgot about meeting Steve at the GreenGirl. The whole reason he was there. Because Steve wanted to get together, wanted to talk through some life issue in person with him.

Steve is his oldest friend. They’d met at sleepaway camp as kids, Steve the nerdy misfit in the bunk above him, unathletic, socially awkward, gloomy, grumpy. Zack’s total opposite, with nothing in common, but that’s what they came to like about each other. That’s what they both eventually thought was special about the friendship. He hadn’t seen Steve in months but they talked and texted, would always be close. Their friendship was a fact of life.

Should he just…text him?

Dude, it’s Zack, texting from another number, lost my cell phone, long story, had to cut out of GreenGirl before you got there…

But putting a text to Steve on this phone—won’t that put Steve at risk along with Zack? Because what if this guy thinks Zack has told his pal Steve about the photos, about what he found? Dude, you can’t believe what happened to me.

Okay, so send Steve the text and delete it right after he sends it. But doesn’t Steve’s number stay stored in the phone’s memory, even if he deletes the text?

Stop. Think. He’s going too fast. Maybe it’s better not to text Steve just yet. Maybe it’s better to leave him standing there at the GreenGirl, not knowing anything—annoyed, waiting, out of the loop—until Zack figures this out.

4.

4.

Joey walks into the GreenGirl.

Looks around quickly, fully, expertly.

He knows immediately. Zack isn’t there.

And if that do-gooding, Boy-Scout-sounding kid is not there when he said he would wait, it makes it pretty clear: the kid must have looked at the phone.

He was nosy enough to see Joey enter his code. So why would he suddenly stop being nosy?