APEX - Season 2

Ch. 2: Make them Pay

Calla

The forgotten hours ended about two days earlier than I needed them to. My body, still healing from the gunshot wound, was shouting at me to stay in bed, have food magically appear in front of me, and move as little as possible.

Instead, the morning after I'd learned that Tonya was dead and my best friend was alive but filled with hatred for me, I dragged myself up, showered, painted my nails, curled my hair, and did all the normal things I would have done on any other weekday. I went through my well-known processes on automatic pilot while my mind replayed some of Vicki's most cutting phrases. In her mind, I'd done nothing to find her. Worse than that, she believed I'd acted to cover up her disappearance to maintain the werewolf status quo.

That last part cut deepest because there was some truth in it. I could have been public about Vicki and the details surrounding her disappearance. I had the opportunity more than once. Yet, I'd said nothing, thinking that if the investigation took place behind the scenes, it would be better for everyone involved. Was there a part of me that had done it to save our reputation? Had my actions hindered the search for her?

The answers to those questions weighed heavily upon me. I was still thinking about them when Jackson dropped me off at Apex HQ, still contemplating my role in questionable moral action on the elevator up to the conference room, still beating myself up as I took a seat and looked around the room at the now familiar faces of the Rawlings family: Aamon, Rhys, and papa Gerald. I wasn't in the mood to deal with any of them—well, at least two thirds of them, but Vicki's speech made this meeting critical.

"We all know why we're here," Gerald began as soon as I'd taken a seat. "How many scandals are we going to rack up before the human population decides to burn us all at the stake?"

"I'd like to see them try," Aaman said. The glower on his face didn't match the bravado in his words, however. And no wonder. Scanning social media during this morning's commute showed the city evenly divided as to who Vicki's mystery date had been...and I happened to be sitting in the room with both suspects.

I thought through some snarky retorts, but the look of utter disapproval his own father lobbed at him outdid anything I could come up with. "It's this sort of foolishness that led our pack down this road," Gerald told him. "Coming back to my point...we need more information on this Vicki woman. Why did she come up with this ludicrous story? Who's paying her? Is she motivated by something beyond money? Fame perhaps? Calla..."

I held my breath. This was the moment I feared most, when Gerald would lecture me on why I'd kept my best friend's disappearance and her connection to Apex a secret. After listening to me apologize half a dozen times, he'd call security to have me hauled away to await my fate in front of the tribunal.

"I need you to do some digging. Find out as much as you can about her. Reach out too. She may be more receptive talking to a woman, especially one who isn't a member of Apex."

Muscles I didn't even know I was tensing eased. He was still in the dark, then. Dev hadn't told him, and neither had Rhys. But eventually, the truth would come out. If I didn't find a solution to all our woes first, there'd be little hope for me.

The best thing to do would be to confess now. Get ahead of the chaos. Rhys caught my eye and shook his head slightly. He must have picked up on what I was thinking. "Okay," I said. "I'm on it."

"And then there's the matter of Tonya's murder," Gerald continued. "Truly disturbing. She was a lovely girl and a good employee. And of course, her death complicates things, doesn't it?"

Gerald stared down Aamon as he spoke that last sentence.

"What did I do?" Aamon asked. "I'm upset about Tonya too. Damn, Dad."