I hop up and run my hand across it while he gives me a hug. “You look cute. Older. I like it.”

“Well, here’s hoping the female population of Eastbrooke echoes that sentiment, because there are eight newly single varsity cheerleaders that may require my attention.”

I give Riley a big hug and he whispers in my ear, “I want to hear about your trip.”

Dallas overhears him and says loudly, “I think we all want to hear about your trip.”

“The Cave it is, then. Tonight.”

Dawson points to my sweatshirt and says, “Bring a coat, Keatie.”

“And here I was gonna suggest she bring some hotties,” Jake says with a laugh.

“Oh, that too,” Dallas agrees. “That too.”

“Wouldn’t they expect us to party tonight?”

Jake thinks about it. “Hmm, maybe we should wait a day or two.”

“Sounds good, prefect. I’ll see you all later.”

Riley accompanies me upstairs while Dallas stays in Dawson’s room to bullshit some more.

“So you and Aiden worked things out?”

“Yeah. I hear that’s partially because of you.”

He shrugs. “I figured I owed him since I broke his nose. Did he do the dirt?”

“Yeah, he did.”

Riley shakes his head. “Why? I told him it was the dumbest thing ever.”

“Because he knew I’d love it. I was going to make him leave until he gave me the dirt.”

“Girls . . .” he says, laughing and shaking his head again.

“Speaking of girls,” I interrupt him. “How’s Ariela?”

“I miss her like crazy but, thankfully, she’ll be back soon. I want to change my shirt and stuff before she gets here.”

“I’m surprised you don’t want to greet her shirtless.”

“Naw, I want her to rip it off me.”

When we get to Aiden’s door, he bangs on it, and says in a girly voice, “Aiden, open up. I wanna fuck.” And then runs down the hall to his room.

My hand is still up in the knock position when a sexy voice startles me. “Bonjour.”

“Aiden, where did you come from?”

“Logan’s room.” He points to the door between his room and the stairs. “Maggie is in there, unless, you know, you need my services now,” he jokes.

“You know that was Riley.” I laugh.

“Did you get unpacked?”

“No. Bryce and Katie were, uh, getting reacquainted in my room. I just dropped my bag and left.”

“Where have you been?”

“I was on my way up here, but Dawson pulled me into his room.”

Aiden clenches his back teeth, his jaw tightening. “I see.”

“Aiden, he’s my friend. And he was telling me about his weekend. And Jake was there, and then Dallas and Riley showed up.”

“Well, I’m glad you ended up here.”

“Does that mean you’re gonna let me in your room?”

He gives me a forced grin. “Only if you take off Dawson’s sweatshirt first.”

I look down, remembering I have it on. “Better he give me his sweatshirt than offer to warm me up himself, right?”

Aiden pushes his hands under the sweatshirt, purposefully running them up my sides. As he strips the sweatshirt off me, it pulls my dress up in the front and gives Aiden a flash of my thong.

“Aiden!” I yell, my voice muffled by the thick sweatshirt swaddling my head. It’s dark and I can’t move my arms.

He pulls me into his room, shuts the door, finishes pulling the sweatshirt off, then starts stripping off my dress as he says, “I think I can find a way to keep you warm without a sweatshirt on. Without anything on.”

I’ll double it.

12:04am

I’m meeting with Cooper, laying out my plan.

He listens to the whole thing without interruption.

“So, what do you think?”

“If your life weren’t on the line, it’d be a great plan.”

“Well, that’s where you come in. I’d like you to quit working for Garrett and work for me.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. Whatever he’s paying you, I’ll double it.”

He raises an eyebrow at me.

“Fine. I’ll triple it.”

“You suck at negotiation,” he laughs.

“That’s what agents are for,” I laugh in reply.

“Why do you want me to work for you?” He looks at me intently as he leans on his forearms.

“Because I already almost got you fired. And . . . I’m probably going to ask you to help me with some things Garrett may not approve of.”

“You’ve asked me a lot of questions regarding pushing Vincent. Is that part of your plan?”

“Yes.”

“And how do you think that will end?”

I fiddle with the string on Aiden’s hoodie, the one he pulled over my head as I was leaving, hoping Cooper will forget the question.

“Answer me,” he says firmly.

“How do you think it will end?” I whisper.

“With one of you dead.”

I nod. “That’s what I think too. And, either way, it’s a win.”

“How is you ending up dead a win?”

“Because if he kills me, I know you’ll get the evidence we need to put him away for life. Which means my family will be free of him. That’s all I want. If I survive, I’ll give you a really big bonus.”

“I don’t want your money, Keatyn. I’d do this for free.”

“I know you would, but your life will be in danger too.”

He says softly, “I won’t let him win.”

“There are a lot of ways it could go down. Lots of different endings to the script.”

“Like what?”

“He kidnaps me, you come get me, and he goes to prison. Or, he kidnaps me, you can’t find me, I escape, and then he goes to prison. Or, he kidnaps me, kills me, and you make sure he either goes to prison for life. Or . . .”

“Or what?”

“I’m going to update my will this week.”

He squints at me. “Once I get over the shock of a seventeen-year-old even having a will, I’m going to ask you why.”

“If I’m murdered, there will be a provision giving you a large sum of money. I want you to use the money to move your family somewhere there’s no extradition. Then I want you to hire a professional to kill him.”

Cooper shuts his eyes tightly. “Is there a happier ending? One where you aren’t kidnapped or dead?”

I sigh and tell him the rest of my plan.

“When the time is right, we’re going to let him kidnap me.”

“Are you nuts?”

“Probably. We’ll worry about that later. For now, you’ll only have to worry when we start baiting him.”

“Baiting him?”

“Cooper, I understand why your sister didn’t want to change her life when she was being stalked. I get it, probably more than anyone. But the difference is she wasn’t ready for him. We will be.”

He still doesn’t look convinced.

I jut my chin out and add, “It’s either that, or I go back to Malibu by myself.”

He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “I’ll give you an answer regarding my employment in the morning. Go get some sleep.”

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH

Got blown up.

9:30am

When I get to the diner, Garrett and Cooper are already sitting at a booth in the back. I skip the hostess stand and join them.

“Hey, Garrett,” I say coolly, taking a seat. Be strong, Keatyn. It’s time for you to take charge.

“Good morning,” he replies.

Cooper rolls tired eyes at me by way of a greeting.

“So, let’s hear this plan of yours,” Garrett says, cutting to the chase.

“My plan got blown up the second you made me leave the island. Look. I want to preface what I’m about to say with a thank you. I sincerely appreciate what you’ve done thus far in keeping me and my family safe. And you’ve been especially kind to me.” I sigh. “But, when you threatened me—no, worse: when you made Tommy threaten me—it forced me to take a long look at things. You’ve purposely divided us. And I understand that we shouldn’t be in the same location, but what I don’t understand is why you haven’t been forthcoming about all that’s been going on. It’s tearing my family apart, Garrett, and I won’t allow it anymore. So, starting now, everything goes through me. All bills. All plans.”

Garrett says, “I have a separate agreement with your mom.”

“She’ll be calling you to void that later today. I don’t want to argue with you. I want to partner with you. And we’re going to begin this partnership with you telling me what’s been going on with her.”

Cooper gives me a little smile over the top of his coffee cup.

“Fine,” Garrett says. “You know that everything I do is in all of your best interests. The threatening letters didn’t stop when your mother moved to Vancouver. In fact, they have become increasingly worse. Then, there was a small breach at the Vancouver property.”

“Breach?”

“The fence surrounding the property was slashed and black roses were left on the swing set.”

My heart drops into my stomach.

“You and your mother are a lot alike, Keatyn. She’s trying to bear the weight of it.”

“Surely, you can see the physical toll it’s taken on her?”

“Yes.”

“But she won’t listen to you, right?”

“Yeah, kinda like when I had to have your bags packed.”

“Touché.” I blink slowly, then continue. “So, basically, the original plan hasn’t worked. You said that if he couldn’t find me, he’d lose interest. But the opposite has happened. It’s getting worse for my family because he can’t find me.”

Garrett nods. “I’d say that’s an accurate assessment.”

“Do you think he wants us both?”

“Based on the letters, he only wants you.”

“So he’s threatening to hurt everyone Mom loves if I don’t come out of hiding? Is that it?”

I know by the look on Garrett’s face that it is.

“Shit,” I say. “That’s why she doesn’t call me. That’s why she was freaked out when I showed up at their house. She was afraid.”

“She’s pushing you away to keep you safe.”

My eyes fill with tears. “But what about the girls? She’d want to . . .” And then it hits me. What she’s been doing. “Oh my god.”

“What?”

“Mom’s plan is just like mine. Only she’s using the press to help her.”

“I’m not following,” Garrett says. His and Cooper’s faces are mirrors of confusion.

“The stories in the press. The rumors of the affair with her bodyguard. Tommy and Millie cheating. She’s setting it up so that when she leaves Tommy, people will expect it.”

“She’s leaving Tommy?”

“I think so. Remember when you told me that for witness protection sometimes you make the family believe that the witness is dead? Same thing. I don’t think Tommy has a clue. She wants his reaction to be real.”

“Why would she leave Tommy?” Cooper asks. “And how would it change what’s going on with Vincent?”

“She can’t pretend to be dead, so she’s doing the only other thing she can. She’s leaving them. She’ll get the girls to France and then leave them with James. Think about it. She’s scary skinny. Tommy’s affair is driving her to drink or do drugs. She’s not stable. She’s leaving Tommy and he’ll get custody of the girls.”

“Shit,” Garrett mutters as he quickly recovers from the shock of it. “I knew she agreed to France too easily.”

“She wants them safe. But then what?” I ask. “She checks into rehab? Lives by herself? Or maybe even something bolder. Like, maybe she didn’t really cancel the To Maddie, with Love press tour.” I’m thinking out loud, now.

Garrett shakes his head. “I was under the impression she cancelled the tour. If she’s going, she won’t have security.”

“And maybe that’s what she wants. She told me it was all her fault. If she wasn’t who she is, then her children wouldn’t be in danger.” I stop and look Garrett dead in the eyes. “I asked Cooper this question, but I’d like your opinion. What do you think would happen if I walked into Vincent’s production office and asked to audition for the role?”

Garrett winces. “I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“I know, but why? What could he do? Give me the role?”

“Well, if he’s caught off guard by it, there’s no telling what he would do. Sociopaths like to plan. They are obsessive in their planning.”

“Right, but what happens when things don’t go according to their plan?”

“They become more unhinged, mentally.”

“Would it cause Vincent to just react? And more importantly, if he couldn’t plan, would he start making mistakes?”

Garrett nods. “Their behavior becomes unpredictable. Which is bad. But, yes, if pushed, one would assume he wouldn’t be as careful.”

“That’s exactly what I want. And I’m pretty sure it’s what Mom wants.”