A Harmless Little Game (Harmless #1)

 

 

“I don’t! I wish I didn’t know any of this. My God, Drew! All these people did this to me.” I make a barky laugh, the sound so insane even I know I’m frothing into hysteria. “No one knows who the guys in that video are—except they do. The authorities do. The ones who could bring them to justice.”

 

“Lindsay—”

 

“My best friends lied to the press, they lied so bad that my parents acted on it. A rape counselor lied, too. My Mom and Dad know I didn’t ask for the gang rape, and yet they’re choosing to act like they think the lies are true. They’re in damage control mode. Do you have any idea how hard it is to know that they know I was a victim but they’re acting like I asked for it?”

 

Pain makes Drew’s face change. He takes a step closer. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you. I’ll leave you alone if that’s really what you want. What you need. But I can fill in some of your gaps if it helps you to make sense of everything.”

 

He’s a foot away from me, his heat drawing me in. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

 

And then I hear it.

 

Voices.

 

The high-pitched chatter of a gaggle of young women in a pack.

 

My eyes fly open because I know those voices.

 

It’s Tara, Jenna and Mandy.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 31

 

 

 

 

 

Drew’s nostrils flare and his speckled-brown eyes tighten like a hawk’s. My old “friends” don’t see us at first, teetering down the cobblestoned walkway on the newest high-heel fashion, their dresses oh, so perfect. They’re lunching, an activity we all looked forward to after graduating college. When you’re raised in luxury and power, this is what you’re taught.

 

This is what you emulate.

 

They halt as Tara realizes we’re here. Her face goes from her typical cool, fake-friendly L.A. gaze to something more sinister and manipulative. When she thinks no one important is watching, she goes full Queen Bee.

 

And thinks she can get away with it.

 

“Lindsay! OMIGOD! Look at you!” Her eyes comb over me with the slow, treacherous look of someone seeking an error. She finds it.

 

Everywhere.

 

“You look great!” She comes in for a kiss. Mandy and Jenna stand like Barbie zombies, unsure what to do. Whatever Tara’s plan here is, they’re not in on it. Mandy gives Drew a contemptuous look.

 

I sidestep Tara and edge over to the water. Her heel catches between two cobblestones and she wobbles. As she starts to go down she glares at Drew, as if he’s supposed to jump in and help her.

 

He doesn’t. He stands there, hands on hips, face a blank sheet of paper, sunglasses on.

 

He is The Man.

 

“What, um, what’s up, Lindsay?” Jenna asks. Her voice gains more cattiness as the words come out. Jenna is the consummate follower. She does whatever Mandy and Tara tell her to do.

 

“Oh,” I say back, casual as can be, head held high. I cut my gaze to Tara, who magically caught herself before falling, juggling an armload of shopping bags. “You know. The same old same old. Nothing new.”

 

Jenna titters. Tara shoots her an evil glare that shuts her up.

 

A harmless little plan forms in my mind. I walk closer to Tara, my steps careful, leading her toward the water as casually as I can. I look around the area without bringing attention to myself. Seconds pass before I see what I’m searching for. Aha. There they are. Security cameras on the walls of the mall, all facing the water. And no buildings on the other side past the moored sailboats in this tiny marina.

 

This might work.

 

“What about you?” I ask Tara, pretending to be interested, wanting to reach out and slap the saucy grin off her face now that I know how completely and utterly she destroyed the already-ruined shreds of my old life.

 

“Just graduated, of course,” Tara says, the tip of her tongue peeking out to touch her teeth, her look flirty and vicious. She bounces her eye contact between me and Drew. He’s become a marble statue, though. “You know...oh,” she sighs, pretended to be sad. “That’s right. You don’t.”

 

“Don’t what?”

 

“Don’t know what it’s like to graduate.”

 

“I finished my degree.”

 

“I mean with your master’s degree, Lindsay. I just finished my MBA. Accelerated program at Berkeley.” She primps and preens with her eyes, the glee at her perception of my inferiority like an unlimited power source, as if Tara’s evil is a sun.

 

“Congrats! I always knew you’d do well in business. Whichever wealthy man you manage to snag will find your achievement to be great for his arm candy creds.” I say the words so smoothly she doesn’t realize it’s an insult until she’s proven she missed it.

 

My mom may be cold and difficult, but she’s really good for one thing.

 

Learning how to burn someone with words.

 

Tara’s face turns nasty, but as she bites her lower lip and her eyes reflect her on-the-spot calculation for her response, I see how hollow she really is. If she were just an empty, vapid little bitch none of this would matter, but she’s not.