Deadly Temptation (Book 3)

Deadly Temptation (16)

"—and you think this is Reese?" Detective Marshall Ryder asked her as he stared down at her phone screen.

"I know it's him. Who else would it be?"

"This doesn't seem like something he'd do..."

"I'm telling you it's him! I went to the institution he was in and asked a few questions about him. Then I got this text! Clearly, it was him."

Marshall raised an eyebrow at her. Janessa seemed a little bit off-hinged when it came to Reese. "Alright, I'll see if I can do a trace and find his location."

"Thank you, detective." She snatched back her phone and walked out of his office.

She needed a distraction and she needed it badly. Unlocking her phone, she decided to call Maria. They had just worked on repairing their friendship earlier that day and what better way now than to go out.

Minutes later, she was picking her up and heading to Lily's house to get dressed.

"What made you want to go out? You seemed tired earlier." Maria commented.

"Well, Henry's gone and there's nothing at home to do."

"Considering what happened the last time you went out... I think we should just have a girls night."

"As long as it involves liquor, I'm all for it."

Pulling up to Lily's apartment, Janessa noticed a white Mitsubishi car and she recognized it as John's car so Luke and Barry must be with him.

She didn't like the idea of having guys over when all she wanted was a night with her girl friends— but she wouldn't complain. She needed something fun to do.

"Heyy, welcome to the party!" Barry greeted them at the door with two beers in his hand.

"We're having a party?" Maria asked as she took a bottle.

"More like a pre-party party. If that makes sense." He grinned at them.

"Actually, we're going out." John said as he came up behind Barry. "I got us into a secret rave."

"Secret?" Janessa asked.

"Yes, you know the ones where the address is only sent to a certain set of people because it's illegal?" John chuckled.

"Why is it illegal?"

"Because," Lily's voice rang through the tiny studio apartment as she was searching for clothes to wear, "it's an abandoned warehouse with a shit ton of liquor and drugs. If the police got a whiff of that, we'd all go to jail."

Janessa and Maria exchanged looks before they shrugged and started looking through Lily's wardrobe for something to wear.

The boys, however, were all simply dressed in cargo shorts and T-shirts while the girls rummaged and changed a few times before settling on shorts and a crop top. Janessa, however, wore a mini skirt instead of shorts. She was feeling sexy and risky tonight.

"Hey, guys, come here." Luke said as he poured liquor into shot glasses. "Let's take a shot before leaving. It'll definitely pump us up." He grinned as he handed one to Janessa first then the others. "To a fucking spectacular night with my peeps."

"You're so lame," Lily rolled her eyes as they all toasted and took the shot.

An unfamiliar bitterness and burning spread through Janessa's chest and she started coughing. "What the hell is this?"

"It's tequila from my dad's cabinet. It's been sitting there since I was born so I decided we should drink it instead," he winked. "Don't worry, he's got three more bottles like this." He gestured to the clear, stout bottle with a red label.