Cooper couldn't believe he was still alive.
He sat perched on the back of an ambulance, hands jittery with the aftereffects of adrenaline and the single sip of coffee he'd managed to get down earlier that morning. The EMT had already cleared him, so technically, he was free to go. Technically.
But then there was Detective Beitch to consider.
He'd narrowed his bloodshot eyes in warning at Cooper from the second he'd arrived on the scene, wearing that same grimy tie and a pair of wrinkled navy pants that didn't go very well with what had to be the most foul orange button-down Cooper had ever laid eyes on. The man looked like a deranged bird of paradise, clucking around the parking lot with his hands propped on his hips and his mouth set in a perpetually displeased frown.
Cooper knew what he was thinking. Hell, he knew what everyone was thinking. Here he was, at the scene of a crime—again. And there Calla was, standing at the center of it all with blood on her hands—again.
If their last brush with death had raised eyebrows, this spectacle would surely get the rumor mill running overtime.
"How're you holding up?"
Cooper startled at the question, but relaxed when the twins joined him at the back of the ambulance. "Hey." Cooper managed a half-wave. "I'm fine." He glanced at a second ambulance across the parking lot, where Vincent was busy icing a fractured nose. Their eyes met and he offered Cooper a sheepish smile. "Better than Vincent, anyway. Guy's been kidnapped twice. He's never gonna live it down."
Mike cracked a grin, but it vanished just as quickly when his brother elbowed him in the ribs. "Just got done talking to the detective. Don't worry," Blake said, noting Cooper's quick, questioning glance. "We stuck to the story."
The story. Calla had crafted it with a scrutiny he'd come to expect from her. In short, they would tell the truth. Or a version of it, at least. There would be no mention of steroid abuse, no whisper of conspiracy.
We'll say Stephanie threatened to leak a sex tape of Blake and Jess if Mike didn't do exactly as she asked, Calla had instructed, raising her voice to be heard amid the long, low whine of approaching sirens. The rest of it stays the same. Mike, Blake—you were just doing what you were told. You didn't know anyone was going to get hurt.
The new story would require a few sacrifices—embarrassing rumors about the fabricated sex tape were bound to circulate once news got out—but the alternative would land them all in a world of trouble.
"I still think I'm in a lot of trouble," Mike said miserably, echoing Cooper's thoughts.
We all are. Calla's secret is out. Nothing will ever be the same.
Cooper clasped the other boy's shoulder. He didn't know how else to offer comfort. Mike meant well. Mike always meant well. But a girl was dead because of what he'd done. And Cooper, better than anyone else, knew what that felt like.
Mike would have to wrestle with that particular demon on his own. And maybe one day, if he was lucky, he'd forgive himself.
Cooper knew he'd be waiting for that day for a long, long time.
"You did what you had to do for your brother," Cooper murmured. And he meant it. For Vincent, Cooper would've done anything—even if it meant making a deal with a killer.
News flash, Coop. You already did that.
The thought unsettled him.
"Did you know?" Blake asked suddenly.
YOU ARE READING
The Devil Inside
Mystery / ThrillerCooper Daniels survived his last brush with death by the grace of God and a teenage psychopath named Calla Parker. And so far, his senior year is off to a great start. His grades are up. His girlfriend is happy. But no matter how hard he tries to tu...
