Axton Read online

  May 30, 2008

  He knows.

  And he’s happy.

  I didn’t think he’d be happy about it. He said he didn’t want kids. That he couldn’t have them. How we have to keep things secret. Everything has to be kept a secret. He doesn’t want anything to happen to me and he said bad things happen to people that are near them.

  They’re dangerous.

  I know. I can’t tell Taylor about us when I really want to. I’ve told her everything. I don’t keep anything from her, and yet, I can’t. He begged me not to, so I can’t, can I? I don’t know why he does what he does, or why he’s always warning me. He constantly tells me it’s better this way. Where no one knows who we are together.

  I know Taylor would be angry. I think. She’ll hate me for keeping this a secret. We tell each other everything. How can I tell her though that not only have I fallen in love with one of the four kings but I also carry his child?

  Who?

  What?

  When?

  Why?

  Taylor knew how dangerous the four kings were. This was just insane. There was no way it could be possible.

  Even as I write this I know he’ll be angry, but there are four kings. No one needs to know which one, not here anyway. Tonight though, I’ve already promised him I’m going to tell her something.

  A baby isn’t easy to hide.

  Not for long at least.

  He’ll tell his father, and everything will be okay.

  I had hoped that first test had been wrong. Now, after taking six tests, I know without a doubt that I’m pregnant.

  I have hope. Even if Taylor is a little pissed at me, I know she’ll come around. Auntie Taylor. She’d make one hell of a mom one day. She doesn’t make bad choices, ever. She’s all about being reliable, predictable, and just herself. I love that about her. She’s not desperate to fit in. I am.

  I want to fit in so bad. I pretend not to care, but I love this attention. I love it when I’m around him, and I want everyone to know that he belongs to me. That I’m going to have his child, and sometime soon, we’re going to get married.

  I can’t wait.

  Baby?

  Closing the book, she slid it inside the pocket of her jacket before making her way into the kitchen. Trudy stood swirling the teabag within the cup.

  “You know, she really liked tea. Said it was better for her than coffee,” Trudy said.

  “When did she start saying that?” Carla was a coffee addict. She was always drinking the stuff and laughing at anyone who thought decaf was a good substitute.

  “A few weeks ago. She even came home with this lemon variety. I don’t know.” Trudy handed her over the tea, and looking at it, for Taylor, something wasn’t right.

  “I know this is going to sound weird, but did anyone at the hospital say anything? Comment about Carla’s condition?”

  “Carla’s condition? You mean the depression and anxiety?” Trudy asked.

  Taylor wanted to ask more, but Trudy couldn’t handle it. She started to cry, handing her over the cup.

  “I’m so sorry. I just feel like the worst parent in the world. I didn’t even notice what was going on, you know. I should have seen it, right? I should have noticed that something was wrong with my daughter? That she wasn’t happy.”

  Taylor wanted to argue with her. Carla wasn’t sad.

  She was happy.

  They’d been making plans for graduation.

  This was wrong. So fucking wrong.

  “I didn’t notice either,” Taylor said, playing along. “I thought she was happy. That she and I still had a lot of plans.” She gritted her teeth and sipped at her drink.

  “Oh, honey, it’s not your fault. It is never your fault.” Trudy cupped her cheek. “You’re a good person, Taylor, and a wonderful friend. Carla was lucky to have someone like you in her life.”

  She didn’t say anything more, sipping her tea before leaving Carla’s home.

  She walked to her car, and without even thinking about it, she went straight to Paul. There were too many questions, and she needed answers. Paul was a computer nerd and proud of it. She and Carla hung out with him a lot when he wasn’t busy on his computer as they all had chemistry together. He showed them once how easy it was to hack into the school’s system and to find out any information he wanted. No one was safe.

  Paul also happened to be rich, almost as rich as the four kings. The only difference was, he didn’t take the power that was given to him. He didn’t fit in with the crowd. Also, he’d had the biggest crush on Carla.

  Something wasn’t right, not to Taylor. They were hiding Carla’s pregnancy, and she needed to know why. It wasn’t like a teenage pregnancy was unheard of. There had been a couple of girls throughout high school that had gotten pregnant and they’d not been seniors either.

  Parking up in his driveway, she saw there was only one car there. She climbed out of the car and walked up the long driveway. Money never excited or impressed her. She understood from the start that money was needed to make the world go around, but that was about it.

  Her parents weren’t rich, but they were well off. She didn’t have to worry about getting a job to support herself through high school or college. College applications were sorted, and she already had a dorm ready for when she arrived. Everything was going smoothly, until Carla.

  All of her plans were centered around her best friend, and with Carla gone, she didn’t know what to do.

  Paul opened the door. He was dressed in sweats, his hair completely unkempt and in serious need of a cut.

  “You’re here.”

  “I’m here.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I know I’ve not stopped by,” she said. Seeing his tears, she remembered exactly why she’d decided against coming to see him.

  Paul not only had a crush on Carla, he’d loved her more than anything. He’d admitted the truth to Taylor months ago and begged her not to say anything. She hadn’t. This crush wasn’t hers to tell, not now, not ever.

  “I’m pleased you did. I … you’re all I’ve got of her right now.” He sniffled.

  “I need you to do something,” she asked.

  “What?”

  “Can I come in?”

  “Sure.”

  After she stepped over the threshold, he closed the door behind her. “What do you need me to do?”

  Opening up her jacket, she withdrew the diary.

  “What the hell are you doing with that?” he asked.

  “Read the last entry.” She trusted Paul with Carla’s diary. She’d often read them out excerpts of her life and feelings.

  He took the book, clearly uncomfortable with reading it. She wasn’t.

  He flicked through the pages and came to the last entry. She watched and waited.

  When he finished, he looked up. “She was pregnant?”

  “Yeah, but here’s the thing, Paul, her mother doesn’t know.”

  “Wait, they’d have done a thorough investigation, wouldn’t they? Assessed her body. She died in the lake. I don’t understand.”

  “The four kings. I need you to go online, do your thing, and find out what is in those reports or something. I don’t know. Something is missing.” She paused, trying to think of anything else that could be important, putting all of her movie watching skills to use. “I also want you to see if there have been any interesting transactions to any of the doctors.” That was what people did, use money to bribe others to get what they want.

  “Taylor, she’s gone. I get that—”

  “She was my best friend, Paul. Now she’s gone, and I want to make sure no one is covering this shit up. Do you understand me? She didn’t have fucking depression or anxiety. I knew her. She was happy. We were all fucking happy. Something isn’t right here, and I need to know what the hell is going on. Don’t you get that?”

  “I get it, but what good will it do? Knowing the truth doesn’t change what happened. It doesn’t bring her back.”


  “I’ll know. We’ll both know the truth.”

  Paul sighed. “This is fucked up. I can only find what they document with a computer, and even records like that can be erased.”

  “Whatever you can find. Please. I know it’s a lot to ask.”

  “It is, but it’s for Carla so … I’ll get to it.”

  She followed him as he walked upstairs to his bedroom. His parents wouldn’t mind. One day when she and Carla stopped by his father had been there, and even said it was good to see his son taking anything beside his keyboard up to his room.

  His bedroom was a mess. Empty cans of soda, snacks, and clothing littered the floor. She perched on the edge of his bed and waited as he started to do his thing.

  “You shouldn’t have her diary.”

  “Don’t tell me what I should and shouldn’t do. You’re starting to sound like a parent, and that sucks. I’d hate to have to put you in the naughty corner,” she said.

  He chuckled.

  There was a pause. Carla would often speak about the naughty corner.

  “I miss her.”

  “Me too. I just need to know that I’m wrong, Paul. Really. If she did have depression or anything, please let me know so I can stop thinking about her being fine and that everyone else is wrong. She never went to a counselor, Paul. You know this. She was always with us in high school. None of this makes any sense. She was never alone for long.”

  “I get it.” He reached out, giving her hand a squeeze. “I’ll find it.”

  She released his hand, and he got to work, typing away. His fingers moved so fast that they were like a blur to her. Time passed as he started to break through certain firewalls, building them back up so it didn’t show anyone trying to hack their system. She didn’t have a clue what he was doing. Computers were never really her thing.

  She could type and work a spreadsheet and surf Google. That was all she needed them for.

  “I have her cause of death,” he said. He scrolled through. “It says suicide. No signs of a pregnancy.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “No. Look, cause of death, suicide. There’s not even a note on pregnancy. Maybe she got it wrong?”

  “No.” Carla wouldn’t have documented it if she for even a second thought it was wrong. She knew Carla and there’s no way she would have written about it and been wrong, right? The coffee change, the way she’d been acting, it all pointed to Carla being pregnant. Taylor knew there was a relationship going on, just not with whom.

  She climbed off the bed, reading through the file. “Find out if there’s been a payment to any of those signatures.”

  “Okay. This isn’t a crime show, Taylor. You could be wrong, and people do hide their depression.”

  “I know. I just … I need to know.”

  He did his thing, and after a few minutes, he brought it up.

  “Yeah, from an offshore account. Wired five million to him.” He pointed at the screen.

  “Can you find out where that offshore account came from?”

  “Taylor?”

  “Please, for me. Don’t pretend you can’t do this. I know you can. It’s why you’re going to have one of the best technology firms in the country and be rich beyond your wildest dreams.”

  “I’d have given Carla a good life as well. If she’d only looked at me.”

  Taylor placed a hand on his shoulder, hoping to comfort him. They were both grieving.

  He got to typing again, and she waited, feeling sick to her stomach, knowing what it would come back to.

  “Taylor?”

  “Let me guess, someone within the Four Kings’ Empire?”

  “I don’t like this.”

  She fucking hated it, but now everything was becoming clear.

  “I don’t like that look on your face. You don’t know this for sure. This could be anyone. It could have been anyone.”

  Taylor paced the length of his bedroom.

  Someone from the four kings had gotten her pregnant. She’d intended to tell her that night. Carla was scared about it. There was no notice of the pregnancy, and money had been wired to the doctor in charge of her autopsy.

  “I’m not going to let them get away with this,” Taylor said. “They’ve been in charge too long!”

  “You’re a teenage kid. Look at us. There’s no way we can take this to the cops. What I did was fucking illegal, Taylor.”

  “They own the cops, so they’d make it go away.”

  “Yeah, they do. We can’t do anything. We’ve got to find a way to move on. Let them win.”

  “Not right now we can’t do anything,” Taylor said. “But in time we can. When we can’t be pushed aside. When we won’t be laughed at.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Simple. I’m going to take the kings down, one by one. Carla didn’t kill herself. What they are trying to say about her is a lie. I won’t have them lying about my friend. They messed with the wrong girl, and now, I’m going to mess with them.”

  ****

  The flowers and cards around Carla’s locker had been removed. Axton watched as the janitor opened it up and began to place her books and belongings within the bag. He noticed her pictures on the inside of the locker. Most of them were of her and Taylor.

  The girl in question stood a few feet away, watching. Her own locker stood open, and she was filling it up.

  He saw the tears in her eyes as she watched.

  Carla’s parents stood together.

  He couldn’t believe they’d done this as a spectacle for them all to see. He was many fucking things that were despicable, but he even saw how heartless this was.

  Easton, Karson, and Romeo stood with him, watching. They all watched and waited.

  Paul came to stand behind Taylor.

  Axton watched as he placed his hands on her shoulders, and whatever daydream she’d been having, he’d pulled her out of.

  She handed Paul her bag, and Axton watched as she walked over, hugging Carla’s mom. Next, she hugged her dad, and then took over from the janitor, clearly sensing the coldness in the man. She reached into the locker and carefully removed every single book.

  He watched, fascinated by her face as she took the pictures off the locker, placing them inside the bag.

  When it was all over, she hugged the parents again and turned back to Paul. She stopped though, and glanced over at Axton. For the first time that he could recall she actually looked at him, and there was something about the way she did that didn’t sit well with him. Her gaze didn’t linger on him. She passed over to Karson, to Easton, to Romeo. The look she gave them was assessing, curious, questioning.

  Why?

  Watching her, he waited to see what would come of it. Why she kept looking at them until she finally walked away.

  He didn’t leave the corridor even as other students started to filter out.

  “Hi, so, Axton, I was wondering—” A perky little blonde started to speak, but he wasn’t interested.

  “Fuck off.”

  “But—”

  He turned and finally gave her his full attention. “Get gone now.”

  She stepped back and quickly rushed away. Paul was whispering something into Taylor’s ear, and Axton wanted to know what it was. Why the little shit kept looking over at them and still whispering.

  “We need to go,” Karson said.

  Walking away from the corridor, he ignored the stares that all four of them got. Anyone who stood in their way quickly moved out of it. They were not known for budging for anyone.

  Once outside to the football bleachers, Easton was the one who started to lose it.

  “Did you see the way she looked at us?” Easton asked. “She knows. She knows about Carla.”

  “Didn’t I tell you to keep your damn mouth shut?”

  “You can’t hide from this, Axton, don’t you get that?”

  “Taylor knows nothing otherwise we’d know something, wouldn’t we?”

  “You t
hink your father would make you go after Carla’s friend after what happened?” Karson asked.

  “In case you haven’t noticed, my dad makes sure nothing falls back on him or us. It’s that simple. She knows nothing.”

  “Paul’s a computer genius,” Romeo said. “Nothing will get past him. Not if he’s smart enough.”

  “He’s not smart enough. Dad covers his tracks. That’s all you need to know,” Axton said. “What we can’t have is you losing your cool right now.” He looked directly at Easton. “You want to draw attention, keep acting like a spoiled little brat that lost his favorite toy. Remember how this started with Carla. You wanted to see what it was like on the trash side.”

  Easton stepped right up to him, and Axton raised his brow.

  “You think you got what it takes to overthrow me on this?” Axton said.

  “I didn’t toy with her.”

  “Come on, Easton, we all knew you were screwing with Carla to get back at your dad.”

  “I love her. I loved her. People change. Feelings change.”

  “Then you should look in the mirror and realize that you’re the one that got her killed,” Axton said.

  He felt nothing. No remorse. No pain. Nothing. Even as Easton was clearly struggling with everything that happened.

  Axton saw everything and felt nothing.

  “You’re a fucking asshole.”

  “I’m the asshole who is going to make sure you live a long and happy life.”

  “Come on, Easton, you can’t be pissed at him for knowing the truth. We’ve even got it all on camera of you bragging about taking one from the other side, remember.”

  Easton paled and looked at Axton. “What?”

  “You were drunk and it was funny, but I knew what you were doing held risks. So I made sure I got some collateral if it ever came to a point that I’d need it. You want it to be released now, Easton? You want to answer a few more questions other than why you were there last night?”

  The tension in the group rose, and he felt that. He saw the anger, the rage, every little piece of emotion that flittered across Easton’s face. He’d been the weakest of the group. Always searching for Daddy’s approval.