But nothing was coming to me. I couldn’t put the pieces together, and that made me angry and frustrated, like I was banging my head against a brick wall over and over again. All the while, Noah was suffering, and our lives were both threatened. How the hell did we get here? And why? Why couldn’t my time with Noah just be smooth sailing? Instead, it was like we were steering a rickety sailboat into the Bermuda Triangle while there was a category five hurricane ripping through it.

That was when Tristan said, “Hmm, hold up, I think I’ve got something,” and threw a life raft directly toward us, giving me hope that maybe we could make it out of this storm in one piece.

25. Noah Barnes

25

NOAH BARNES

All eyes turned to Tristan. My heart raced, unsure of what to expect but my hope growing alongside Tristan’s widening smile.

“I was able to dig into this text a little bit. Turns out it was sent through a burner app, so someone can get assigned a random number and have the message sent without linking it to themselves.”

“Is there any way to see who sent the text, then?” I asked, my mouth as dry as the pot of dirt holding a variety of succulents on the coffee table.

“All I can see is that someone scheduled the text. There’s two time stamps attached to it. One when it was written and saved and the other when it was sent.” Tristan looked closer at the phone. “Wait, actually, there is something here… It was sent from somewhere in Georgia.”

“Great, that really narrows things down.” I couldn’t keep the sarcastic bite out of my disappointed comment.

“Sorry, Noah, I wish I could give something more solid.”

I shook my head, rubbing my face. “It’s not your fault. You did more than I’ve been able to do, so thank you.”

Tristan leaned over and nudged me with his shoulder, handing back my phone. “Come on. How ’bout we all get in the hot tub and talk about it some more with fresh beers and a nice view?”

That actually didn’t sound too bad. “Let’s do that. But no more talking about—this.” I wagged my phone in the air from the tips of my fingers as if it were infected with something. “Not tonight. I want to try to have at least some fun, and I don’t want to drag you guys down.”

“You aren’t dragging us down, baby,” Jake said, his gaze pinning me to the couch from across the table. He had his legs spread and planted firmly on the ground, his hands hanging loosely between them, his lips cocked into a half smirk. This was the first time he’d used a pet name with me in front of my friends, and it sent a quiver shooting straight down to my core.