| |
Present day
––––––––
While scrolling through social media, Rose received a new notification.
Holly Gray liked one of your photos.
Taken aback, Rose clicked on the notification to see the photo. It was a selfie she had taken last summer when she was at the beach with Holly, an angled shot of her body in a bikini. Chills crept over her skin, and she contemplated deleting the photo.
Without thinking much about it, she messaged Holly on the app.
Rose: Hey, how are you?
Immediately, she received a new notification. Holly Gray has blocked you.
What the fuck? Rose attempted clicking on Holly’s profile, but she couldn’t. The profile was grayed out as if it no longer existed. Why had Holly been creeping on her profile, liking old photos, and then blocked her as soon as Rose reached out to her? For a few seconds, Rose thought Holly wanted to resolve things. Maybe she wanted to put the past behind them and move on for good. Rose would have been all for that idea. Clearly, that wasn’t the case.
Rose continued scrolling through her social media apps for ten more minutes until she became bored. Her mind drifted to Mason and how their relationship had gone horribly wrong. There was a small part of her that didn’t believe he was The Midnight Flower. She reminded herself that he hadn’t treated her with respect and didn’t care about her. He had been weirdly obsessed with Lily, but did he hate her enough to scare her and blackmail her?
Besides, she still didn’t know how The Midnight Flower knew so much about her and Spencer, not to mention Lily’s disappearance. Either they had a way of watching them or listening in on their conversations, or someone else they knew was involved.
For the first time, the scariest thought of all crossed Rose’s mind.
What if Spencer is The Midnight Flower?
Almost as soon as she considered it, she chuckled darkly and shut the idea down. It wasn’t possible. She and Spencer had known each other their entire lives, and their moms were best friends too. They had grown up on the same street. They had gone through childhood together, awkward years and all. That sort of friendship didn’t end in betrayal without a truly awful event instigating it, and what had she ever done to Spencer that would result in him betraying her? Nothing she could think of.
Rose needed to talk to Mason and Spencer to piece together more of the puzzle. If she wanted to solve the mystery and evade the clutches of The Midnight Flower, she needed to interrogate everyone who could be involved, including her evil exes.
***
Rose told her parents where she was going, just in case. As usual, they were wary about her going anywhere, but she told them she would be in a public place with plenty of witnesses.
She met Mason at the same coffee shop she frequented with Spencer. Spill the Beans was downtown, so she drove there in only a few minutes.
She was sitting on one of the cozy armchairs by the fireplace—which wasn’t emitting any heat because it was another ninety-degree day in July. On the rectangular oak table in front of her, a mostly empty plastic cup with a little iced coffee and a lot of ice remained. Mason was late, and she wasn’t sure he would show up. After their dramatic break-up, she doubted he wanted to see her. And to be honest, she didn’t want to see him again either, but it was necessary if she wanted to stop The Midnight Flower.
Rose pulled out her phone, debating if she should text Mason to ask where he was when he strode through the door and sat down next to her.
“Hi, Mason,” she greeted him, remaining seated.
“Hi.” He stood next to her chair.
“Thanks for meeting me. I know this is awkward, but I need to talk to you,” she started, struggling to remember what she had rehearsed in the car on the way over.
Mason peered down at her, his blue eyes sparkling dangerously. “Is this about The Midnight Flower?”
Rose swallowed, resisting the urge to scream or run out of the coffee shop. Now, more than ever, she knew she had to do this. “How did you know?”
“Because they contacted me too,” he said.
“What?” Rose stared at him, uncomprehending. She hadn’t expected that. “What do they want from you?”
“I’m assuming the same thing they want from you. For my secret to be revealed. I refused, and they backed off for a while, but they started harassing me again this week. I thought I was safe, but I don’t know how far they’re willing to take it. Be careful, Rose. They’re dangerous,” Mason warned her.
“Do you know who they are?”
“No. Every time we’ve met up, they’re always wearing a black hoodie and this weird mask covering their face. They use a voice-changing app when they talk, so I can’t tell who they are. Do you have any ideas?” Mason sat in the oversized armchair next to her, rested his elbow on the armrest of the chair, and leaned toward her.
Rose wouldn’t reveal any details to Mason that she didn’t need to, so she shook her head.
Mason sighed in disappointment. “I was hoping you had more information than I did and that we could figure this out together.”
“Sorry, I, uh . . .” Rose stumbled over her words, embarrassed about why she had asked to meet with Mason.
He tilted his head to the side. “What?”
“I thought you might be The Midnight Flower,” she admitted.
Mason chuckled and rubbed the stubble on his chin. “No, it’s not me. But if I was The Midnight Flower, I wouldn’t tell you, anyway.” He winked. “Be careful who you trust, Rose.”
***
“Rose, why the hell didn’t you call me? I would have gone with you. Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? Mason could have hurt you!” Spencer exploded.
Rose held her cell phone away from her ear as he continued ranting. She sat in front of her desk in her bedroom, staring at the photo collage on the wall across from her. Photos of her and Spencer throughout the years, and one of her and Lily that she hadn’t taken down, were scattered across the wall, although it pained her every time she spotted Lily’s bright, young face. She turned away from the photo of her sister.
“I know, I know. I don’t need a lecture from you about it. But Mason isn’t The Midnight Flower, and I’m fine. He wouldn’t have agreed to meet me if you were there. He was civil the entire time,” she promised.
“Yeah, because you were in a public space, and he doesn’t want you to suspect him. We might have questioned if it was him, but we don’t know for sure that he isn’t involved. We need to narrow it down and find out their identity.”
“It’s not that simple. The Midnight Flower won’t admit who they are or what they’re doing. They clearly enjoy holding people’s secrets over them and feeling powerful and in control. We need to force them out of hiding and make them show themselves. We need to stop giving them a choice and keeping us in fear. It’s time to unmask them,” Rose explained.
“Do you have an idea?” Spencer asked, sounding wary.
“Yup, but I’m going to need your help.”
“Ugh, I was afraid you were going to say that. Okay, I’m in, but only because I don’t want you doing this on your own. I don’t want something to happen to you.”
Rose grinned. Spencer was her best friend for a reason. “Good. So, here’s what we need to do first . . .”