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He maneuvered his car around the packs of students chatting and hanging out. The sun was up, birds chirped in the trees, and everyone seemed to be in a good mood considering it was Monday. Beau didn’t share their sentiments.
After parking in his usual spot, he climbed from his car. The first few stares he got didn’t bother him. He expected to get a lot of crap for what had happened at the game.
But as he crossed the lot, several students scurried out of his way.
“Dude, ignore them.” Mitch approached, giving him a fist bump. “They’re just freaking out about the news.”
He swung his book bag over his shoulder. “What news?”
“You didn’t hear about the body the cops found on a riverbank this morning? They said it was a naked woman. They haven’t identified her yet.”
The sting of apprehension rippled across his skin. How had they found her so quickly?
“Where did they find her?”
“That’s the thing. She wasn’t more than two miles from where we party. Everyone is scared about going to the river for Halloween. They think there’s a killer on the loose.”
“There is no killer. You know how people like to party on the river. She was probably some drunk.” Wanting to change the subject, Beau surveyed the parking lot. “Where’s Josh?”
He couldn’t wait to put the backstabbing asshole’s nose to the fire and make his life hell.
Mitch eyed two freshman girls in short skirts. “He stayed home sick. He hasn’t been right since Saturday night. After he hooked up with some girl, he came back to the bonfires all pale and sweaty. Just hope I don’t get it.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine by the game Friday night.” Beau wondered how much Mitch knew. “You have fun at the river Saturday night?”
“Wasn’t the same without you, but a lot of girls from Covington showed up.”
The whirlwind in him expanded into a sea of black clouds. “You hook up with anyone? Go to The Abbey?”
“Nah, man.” Mitch turned to the parking lot. “You know that place creeps me out.”
Beau’s heart raced when a white Accord entered the lot.
She’s here.
“Aw, dude, you’re not still hung up on Dawn, are you?” Mitch slapped his shoulder. “I thought you two called it quits?”
That Mitch didn’t understand the reason for his excitement didn’t bother him, but why would he assume he’d split with Dawn?
“What makes you say that?”
Mitch’s jaw slackened. “It’s all over school. Everyone is saying she dumped you.”
The air left his lungs.
“Are you kidding me?”
Mitch held up his hands. “Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just telling you what’s out there.”
The black clouds inside him surged into a raging storm. The interest of his fellow students made sense. It wasn’t the game they cared about—it was Dawn.
Eager to save his rep, he scrambled across the parking lot.
“Did your sister tell you I called?” he blurted before Dawn could get out of the car.
She leaned back in her passenger seat, seeming more annoyed than upset to see him. “Yes, Beau, she did.”
The sarcasm was new. Probably Leslie’s influence.
He held out his hand to her. “Then why didn’t you call me back, baby?”
Dawn climbed out and recoiled, avoiding his touch. “Because we’re through, baby. You can party at the river without worrying about cheating on me.” She folded her arms, smirking at him. Just like her sister. “Yeah, I know about all the other girls. How long did you think you had before it all got back to me?”
He wanted to tear her limb from limb; the only thing holding him back was his razor-sharp discipline.
“What are you talking about?” He kept a wary eye on the parking lot. Students gathered around, taking in their discussion. “You’re going to believe the gossip of all these jealous losers over me?”
“They’re not losers, Beau.” Leslie butted in, coming between him and Dawn. “Losers are the ones who hurt people, who hit people, who destroy lives by ... You’re a monster.”
His fingers twitched. He needed to walk away before she shredded the tenuous grip he had on his self-control. Despite his desire to keep her as his, he could not allow her to live. Her strange power over him had to come to an end.
“You don’t want to push me, Leslie.” Beau’s voice became cold, menacing. “You won’t like what I become.”
Dawn pushed him away. “That’s enough! Leave Leslie out of this.”
Beau edged closer. He couldn’t let it end like this. No one broke up with him.
“You might want to reconsider breaking up with me. Piss me off, and I will destroy your rep. I’ll make it so no other guy will touch you.”
Dawn didn’t flinch, didn’t raise an eyebrow at his threat. She grabbed her bag from the backseat, unflustered. Nothing like the girl he once knew.
“Breaking up with you is the best decision I ever made. Stay away from me and my sister, or I will tell everyone what I know about you.”
Panic shattered his confidence. What did she know? Had Taylor talked? Or Kelly? His insides heated into a congealed mess. He couldn’t afford loose ends, not when he was so close to his ultimate goal.
He gripped her arm, hard. “What do you know?”
Leslie came around to her sister’s side and slapped Beau hard across the face. “Let her go.”
He didn’t register the slap. He was too eager to know what Dawn meant. “What do you know, Dawn? Tell me!”
“Is there a problem here, Mr. Devereaux?”
In a gray wool suit and high black heels, Ms. Greenbriar stood on the curb in front of Leslie’s car, hands on her hips.
Beau let Dawn go and flashed the principal one of his winning smiles. “No, ma’am. Just having a friendly conversation.”
Ms. Greenbriar tapped her shoe on the asphalt. “My office now, Mr. Devereaux.”
Beau backed away from Dawn as a ball of anger burned in his stomach. “Yes, ma’am.”
Leslie’s throaty laugh followed him from the parking lot. The rhythmic clip of Ms. Greenbriar’s shoes on the asphalt acted like a metronome for his fantasy about Leslie, timing every blow to her slender body as he made her pay for her sins.
* * *
“Good. You’re here,” Gage said as soon as Beau walked through the garage door and into the house.
The fact that his father was home early, and waiting for him, intimidated the crap out of him. Any deviation from his tight schedule meant his father was mad—very mad.
He held a mug of coffee in his hands, the rich aroma filled the room.
“No need to stay after school anymore, is there?” Beau quietly set his book bag on the floor, preparing for another lecture.
Gage sipped his coffee, eyeing the bag. “Ms. Greenbriar called me after your meeting. Luckily, you didn’t get suspended. I guess she bought your ‘it was an accident,’ bullshit. But I don’t. Your probation with the school for one month will coincide with my grounding you for the same amount of time. Since you’re no longer on the football team and have been banned from all extracurricular activities, your time belongs to me.” He paused and Beau gulped, dreading what was coming next. “You’re to go to the brewery immediately after school where you will work with me in the office.”
His heart sank. This was worse than prison. “Every afternoon?”
Gage ambled toward him, his somber eyes not showing an ounce of compassion. “And weekends, too. When your probation is up at school, we can discuss terms for your return to your extracurricular activities.”
Nausea swirling in his stomach, Beau gripped the edge of the copper breakfast bar. “What about the big Halloween party next weekend? I can’t miss it. Everyone will be—”
“No more river.” Gage’s deep voice reminded him of a foghorn at night—cold and impassive. “A girl was killed at the river Friday night. The police think there might be a man hanging out there looking for victims. I can’t have you anywhere near anything that brings even a hint of negative attention to this family. I have several business associates who would ask a lot of questions if the police showed up on my doorstep. Make them nervous, and I will make your life hell.”
The statement generated a flurry of images about his father and underworld figures. He’d always suspected the Devereaux family business had a shady side. He wasn’t the only one in the family with secrets.
Gage came up to him and slapped the copper bar. “I noticed the Jeep had been moved Sunday morning. Care to explain?”
How in the hell had he known? He would have to mark where he parked the damned thing when he went out again.
“I didn’t touch it.”
His father hovered, exasperation written all over his face. “I’m locking up the keys to all the cars from now on. You can have your car to go to school and the brewery.”
Beau’s beloved freedom, the only thing making his life bearable, had just been yanked out from under him. Someone shoot me!
“Yes, sir.”
Gage set his mug down on the bar. “Let me make this perfectly clear. I’ve remained quiet about your problem, made sure you stayed off the radar of CPS, kept you out of institutions, and got you the best shrinks to treat you under the table. But fuck up my business and I will arrange for you to be tossed into a psych facility and make sure you never get out.” He stood back and picked up his coffee. “Go to your room and stay out of my sight for a while.”
His father’s threats proved what Beau had always suspected—he was just another holding in the long list of Devereaux business interests.
He collected his bag and slogged to the curved staircase. Never had his father made him feel so insignificant.
His humiliation rose to a crescendo as he bounded up the steps. How dare he be treated like some deranged lunatic? His father had no idea who he was.
He stomped across the second-floor landing to his room.
Eager for something to destroy, Beau searched the spartan décor of his room. He kicked the leg of his bed, slammed his fists into the comforter, and screamed into his pillow until hoarse. He wished he had a girl in his bed so he could pound into her.
Andrea’s soft skin came back to him. The way it had molded around his fists when he’d beaten her sent a shiver down his arms. Beau recalled the way she looked floating down the river. He couldn’t be tied to her death. He had watched enough CSI to know how to cover his tracks.
Despite his father’s ultimatum, he would not stay away from the river. He still had to live out his dream. After Leslie, he would have to find another place to take women, but he would keep his cell. It could become his shrine—a place where he could relive his greatest triumph.
He rolled over on the bed, worn out from his tantrum, and slowly accepting his current situation. He would have to continue to kiss ass, behave like a model son, and agree to everyone’s terms. When he was back in the good graces of his teachers, coach, and parents, he could return to hunting for new victims. Then he could begin a glorious new life filled with pleasure, power, and pain.
