“So what’d you see?” Knox asked.
“There’s a weird car on our street,” Graham whispered in a rush.
“Here’s what I think you should do,” Deacon said as he dropped his elbows onto the table.
They all sat back and looked at each other. Knox was the first to speak again. “What do you mean weird car. What kind of car?”
“Like, a car that doesn’t belong here,” Graham answered. “I can’t be sure, but I’m almost positive it was there last night when we left to get Harlow the outfit, but I hadn’t been looking then. But it was definitely there when I left to check the house, it was there when I came back, and it was there this morning when Deacon left to get the food.”
“What kind of car?” Knox asked again.
“Dark, some BMW,” Graham said immediately, and I felt Knox stop breathing at the same time my body began shaking.
“Wait, you think this is Collin?”
All the guys looked at me for a few seconds before Deacon asked slowly, “Yeah, what’d you think we were talking about?”
“Not Collin! I thought this was normal, nosy neighborhood talk. Why would you think he’d know where to find me? I’m not even sure if he does know about Knox, and he doesn’t know about either of you. I’ve never even mentioned knowing anyone in Thatch.”
“Because he has cops working for him, and if he’s found you running away before, he can find you now,” Knox explained.
“But I was driving my car that time. This time I walked, and took different cars, and . . .” I trailed off as dread spread through my stomach. “And it was too easy.” My head snapped up and I held Knox’s worried stare. “I told you it didn’t make sense that he’d just not be there, or that I’d be able to leave. It didn’t make sense; he could’ve followed me. Oh my God. I can’t stay here, I can’t put you in danger like this.”
Knox squeezed my hand reassuringly and glanced at Graham for a second. “Do you have any idea what kind of BM—”
“One of the X’s,” Graham said with a snap. “The SUV ones.”
I exhaled so quickly, it sounded like I was in pain.
“Is it his?”
“No,” Knox answered Graham so I wouldn’t have to. “But he does have a dark BMW.” Knox bent close to me. “What kind of cars do his parents have?”
“The exact same, just different colors.”
Knox rolled his eyes, because I also had the same car in another color as well. “Isn’t that cute,” he sneered.
I took a calming breath and asked, “How would you know a car doesn’t belong here?”
This time Deacon answered. “Thatch is small. Everyone here knows everyone and their business. During the summer we have visitors out by the lake, or the center of town, but it’s rare when you don’t know a car in one of the neighborhoods—especially your own neighborhood. We know everyone who lives around us, know their cars, and know the cars that are usually there visiting. It’s hard not to when we’ve all grown up together. So when there’s a different car on a street, people start talking.” He shrugged and grinned widely. “People don’t think twice about random cars here, because too many girls come in and out of—” He broke off quickly when Knox and Graham shot him a look, and my stomach fell. “Regardless, we don’t know that car, and it caught enough attention that a woman down the street asked if it I knew whose it was when I saw her walking her dog this morning.”
“Where is it?” Knox asked.
“Three houses that way,” Deacon said, and pointed in the direction behind Knox and me.
“Back to your earlier question,” Graham said, and his eyes darted to me. “There were two cars in the driveway when I drove past at one this morning. Two BMWs.”
It took me a second to understand what he was saying, and then all the blood drained from my face. “You went—you went. Why!”
Knox squeezed my hand as Graham continued. “I already knew what those two cars looked like, but I didn’t know if maybe the car on our street was some other—anyway, you already answered about that. But all the lights were on in the house, and I mean all of the lights. It was lit up bright and the blinds were open. It was weird for how late it was.”
“I never opened the curtains or blinds yesterday,” I mumbled. “That was dangerous going there.”
“I didn’t even slow down as I passed your house,” he assured me.
“Deacon?” Knox murmured.