Her roommate’s mysterious disappearance was annoying, but having Adam bring her up sent Pepper’s spidey senses tingling.
“She told me you wanted to talk to me but you were too embarrassed about the whole thing that happened during the road trip.” He looked upset now. “You know me, Pen, I don’t harass chicks who aren’t into me. But we’re friends, and Kendra said you felt bad about everything. You know, because you had a crush on me all year, and then—”
Pepper could feel her brows rising higher and higher the longer Adam spoke. At this rate, they’d be bumping the ceiling of the car, and she still wouldn’t have registered all the “what the fuck?” she was feeling. “I need a moment to—are you out of your goddamn mind? I had a crush on you?”
“Yes.”
“And Kendra told you this?”
“Yeah, right before we left Chicago.”
Add another point to the list of oh-hell-we-need-to-have-a-come-to-Jesus-talk. What was Kendra doing? Had she flipped her frickin’ lid?
“Adam, I never had a crush on you. Plus you walked into a private situation and ended up punching me in the face. Not to mention writing crap on your Facebook, and going through my suitcases and stealing my clothes, and—”
“What?” he interrupted, his face going whiter than mayo. “I didn’t go through your stuff. What kind of sicko do you think I am?” The car shuddered, as if Adam’s foot was shaking on the gas pedal.
“Well, it’s not like I stole things from my own damn suitcases. And there was only you and Kendra who could…” Oh Lord. Another teeny flash of panic struck her. Adam had access.
So had Kendra.
Adam couldn’t hear her internal ramblings. He went right on answering her other accusations. “I thought I was protecting you that night, Pen. Kendra said the other guys were wasted and trying to coax you into three-way sex. And I told you before, I didn’t post that shit on Facebook. Someone hacked into my account.”
Someone…or Kendra?
Pepper couldn’t deny that her friend had the skills to do something like that. Kendra had studied computer technology and game design in college. But…why? None of it made sense when Pepper thought about it one thing at a time, but connected together, the only thing that every shitty occurrence had in common…
The only person…
“Why?” Pepper glanced over at Adam, who was still white-knuckling the wheel. “Why would Kendra do any of this? I mean, she straight-out lied to you.”
“I don’t know.” He sighed heavily. “I really didn’t mean to hurt you. And if you need me to help you deal with Kendra, I will, no strings attached. She called me about thirty minutes ago, by the way—that’s why I was at your apartment.”
What Pepper needed right now was to get back to the damn hotel and deal with the media emergency first. After that crisis was over, she’d figure out what alien creature had possessed the person she’d thought was her best friend.
If there was one thing guaranteed to get Jack tense and uncomfortable, it was a female’s tears. They reminded him too much of his mother crying in frustration during his parents’ fights, and he had to smother the urge to turn away from Kendra and her visible distress.
But this was Pepper’s best friend, and with Pepper AWOL, Kendra might be the only person who could provide some answers.
He hurried forward, leaving Parker to deal with Charlene’s furious ramblings, and met Kendra halfway.
“What’s wrong?” he said instantly. “Where’s Pepper?”
Moisture clung to Kendra’s blonde eyelashes, a whirl of emotions swimming in her eyes. It was the angry glint that caught him off guard.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded again.
The petite blonde took her sweet-ass time responding, playing with the strap of her purse, glancing down at her open-toed sandals, biting her bottom lip.
“For fuck’s sake, tell me,” he snapped, unconcerned with his harsh tone, because damn it, he was seriously worried now.
“I don’t know how.” Kendra’s voice was small and tired.
Impatience roared through his body. “Take a deep breath and say the words, Kendra. We don’t have time to stand around. We’re trying to track down Pepper and—”
“She’s at the apartment,” Kendra cut in.
Some of his concern ebbed, but the revelation only brought a dose of confusion. “Is she getting the backup files?”
Kendra slowly shook her head, while he fought the urge to shake her. “There are no backup files,” she revealed.
Jack narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“She screwed up the project on purpose.” Bitterness flashed in her eyes. “I tried convincing her that it was a terrible idea, but she wanted to get back at Charlene. She was jealous that you and Charlene used to…you know…”
His shoulders went rigid, a queasy sense of disbelief mingled with doubt floating through him. “Pepper wouldn’t do that.”
“She did,” Kendra insisted. “She sabotaged your party, and now she’s back at our place—” Her mouth slammed shut.