Fake Game (The System #3)

Chapter Forty-Two

FORTY-TWO

JACKSON

A knock at the door has Deer shooting upright and out of my arms, her head narrowly missing my chin.

Dammit, right when she’d finally drifted to sleep after tossing for the last few hours.

Her sharp nails dig into me as she stares owl-eyed at the door, her breathing coming in shallow pants. She looks absolutely terrified, and my heart cracks, leaking in agony.

“Hey, it’s me,” Aleks calls out. “If you’re awake, come on out—the sisters are here.”

“Yeah, one second.” I shift, placing my hand on Deer’s as I speak to her in a hushed tone. “Hey, it’s okay.” Her fingers only seem to tighten. “It’s okay,” I repeat, giving her hand a squeeze.

She finally looks down at me, her consciousness returning bit by bit. Slowly, her grasp loosens enough that I’m able to peel her fingers free and sit up.

“Do you want to join or…” I trail off, leaving it up to her.

“I—” She bites her lower lip. “I don’t know. Are there a lot of people out there?”

“Why don’t I go check?”

She nods her head.

I lean forward, placing a soft kiss on her temple before slipping off the bed and cracking the door open. Looking down the hallway, I spy our friends with just the addition of Paige, Phoebe, and that shadowy sidekick of hers.

“You’re good, just the usual misfits.” I turn back and offer my palm to her.

She takes her time, padding softly across the floor until her small hand latches onto mine. I lace our fingers together as we head to join everyone.

Deer startles, pressing herself closer to me when we pass the elevator alcove and notice two new bodyguards standing watch.

Lee and Stevie huddle around Deer as soon as we get close, pulling her into one giant hug. I step back and let them coo over her, checking and doing their own things. Sydney stands, her face a little paler than normal. Parker looks up at her, worry etched on his face. She gives him a smile before taking a deep breath and joining the girls, her smile growing wider, but her gray eyes remaining a cloudy haze of worry.

“Okay, kids, let’s take our seats.” Phoebe is perched on the coffee table, as usual. She seems to like placing herself there so she can look at us as we all sit on the couch.

Paige, the middle Covington sibling and all-star lawyer, leans against the wall, tapping away at her phone in a pale pink suit. She is the opposite of Phoebe; her blonde hair reaches her waist, in sharp contrast to Phoebe’s chic bob, and her heart-shaped face has a softness to it compared to her sister’s ruthless edge. Yet whenever you have the Covington siblings in a room together, there is never any denying that they come from the same model-blessed genetic pool.

“You should start. I’m still waiting on something,” Phoebe nods to her sister.

“Sure. Sorry, I was just checking in with the detectives.” Paige gives us all an apologetic smile as she tucks her phone into her pocket. “How are you holding up, Deer?”

My girl shrugs, and I tug her closer to me, wrapping her under my arm.

“Right, yeah. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Kind of is,” Phoebe mutters.

Paige glares at her sister. “I am doing everything within the law that I am capable of, and the law takes time. We have to follow protocols and get court orders signed in order to gain access to information to keep digging.” She looks at Deer. “I’m making sure this is done right so, whoever the culprit is, they are dealt with to the full extent of the law.”

“I appreciate that.”

“So, are there any leads?” I push.

I don’t think they would’ve come all the way here if there wasn’t something they wanted to tell us.

“Well,” she starts, and it sounds like the answer is no, “we’re looking into the doxing. While I hate to say it, it does help our case because we can add it to the other criminal offenses they’ve committed so far, like the harassment, infliction of bodily harm, incitement to violence, the—sorry, I’m not meaning to freak you out.”

“It’s fine.” Deer gives a watery smile.

“That’s not to say we didn’t try to kill the identity leak, but the internet is a hydra—you cut off one head and two more grow,” Phoebe sighs.

“Right,” Paige nods. “I mostly just wanted to apologize that it got this far before we could do anything and to let you know that we are taking your case seriously. I also thought that maybe you and I could sit down and go through some documents.”

My attention shifts as I catch the mystery man—whose name we really should fucking know at this point—pulling out his phone and striding over to the back wall. I keep one ear on the conversation around me as I watch him, but there’s never a shift in his expression. He calmly strolls back over and places a hand on Phoebe’s bicep before he leans down and whispers in her ear.

Whatever he says has her eyes widening, something like satisfaction slashing across them.

“What happened?” Deer asks what we are all thinking.

The blonde attempts to steel her gaze, but there’s a slight crease between her brows she can’t seem to smooth away.

“We might’ve figured out who it is.”

There’s a beat before the room erupts, everyone clamoring for information.

“Hold on. Give me a second.” She gets up and heads to the glass door that leads to our outdoor patio and steps outside, gesturing for her shadow to follow.

The air instantly falls to a deathly quiet as we watch them through the glass, but they turn their backs to us so we can’t see their expressions. The seconds trickle by as we wait.

“Dammit,” Paige breaks the silence, the frustration clear in her voice as she glares down at her phone. She pushes off the wall, her heels pounding on the tiles as she stalks over to her sister. But despite her clear determination, she doesn’t make it there before Phoebe is already at the door and stepping back inside.

The elder sister tilts her head. “What?”

“Where did you get this lead of yours?”

Phoebe blinks and then sidesteps Paige, heading back to where the rest of us wait, without giving an answer.

“Phoebe.”

“The team found him.” She waves her hand dismissively.

Him.

“Team?” Paige’s voice rises. “If it was the team, then where’s my notification?” She comes trekking back, shaking her phone in the air.

“What does it matter?”

“It matters because I told you everything had to be done legally. Le-gal-ly.”

“Stop,” Parker barks. “Both of you, seriously.”

The two sisters whip their heads to their younger brother, the ice in their eyes cold enough to freeze a lake. Parker flinches back like a wounded dog at the sight.

Aleks sighs, standing up and placing himself between the sisters. “He has a point. Your arguing isn’t helping any of us.” They begin to protest, but he holds a hand out, giving them his signature don’t fuck with me look that has them both hesitating. “What’s done is done, and we’ll deal with the technicalities later. Now, tell us who the fuck it is.”

“Floor’s yours, sis.” Paige gestures patronizingly to Phoebe.

She gives herself a second to roll her eyes before slipping back into that cool composure she normally has. Phoebe perches back on the edge of the coffee table.

“Rick Adley.”

Who?

“What?” Deer blinks in confusion.

“That’s who we traced it back to.”

“No.” She shakes her head, laughing through a tight smile. “That’s not possible. Whoever it is must be framing him.”

“Who’s Rick Adley?” I ask.

“He’s her lead moderator,” Phoebe states.

“What? Her mod? Why would he do this.”

“He wouldn’t. It doesn’t make sense.” Deer shoots out of my grip and begins pacing around, folding her arms across her chest. “You’re wrong.”

“My source is never wrong,” Phoebe drawls. “That’s why they cost a pretty penny.”

“Please, don’t say that where I can hear it,” Paige reprimands.

“Well, they’re wrong this time. Rick’s been working with me for years. He’s the one who’s been stopping all the Deer Hunter stuff on my streams and socials. Why would he do that if he was the one doing it in the first place?” Deer is spiraling, her fingers raking nervous red marks down her arms.

I walk over and place my hands over hers, stopping her from hurting herself.

“Deer, baby, take a beat.”

“No!” she screeches, pushing me back. “Where’s the evidence, huh? What did they find that makes them so sure it’s Rick?” She throws her anger like an axe at Phoebe.

“He watched you.”

“What?” Deer freezes, her flame of fury flickering with uncertainty.

Phoebe sighs, walking past me and resting her hand on Deer’s head, stroking it like a mother does to her child. “After the drugging, we dug into your system and found some inconsistencies. The screen-mirroring software we initially uncovered seemed a little odd, so we kept looking. That’s when a certain someone who shan’t be named for legal reasons noticed that your webcam was being remotely accessed.”

“I thought I’d just been leaving it on.” Deer’s whispered words lance through my heart like a spear made of ice.

This asshole was watching her.

He was fucking watching her.

A smokey red haze seeps into my vision as I think about how this fucking man whom my girl trusted, whom she employed for years, took her vulnerabilities and twisted them for his own sick benefit.

“Why?” Her breathing starts ramping back up, those short, little inhales as her brows pinch together.

“I mean, I’m no psychoanalyst, we won’t know his motives until we get a hold of either him or hack into his devices—”

“Do not do that,” Paige interrupts.

“I won’t if your people get their shit done in a timely manner.”

Deer’s legs give out, and I barely manage to reach past Phoebe to grab her before her knees crack on the tiles. The shock seems to be shutting her body down. All the feral anger from earlier has extinguished into a shattered cry.

“No, I—” She pulls her elbow free and continues stumbling backward. “I can’t do this.” She turns tail and runs to the elevator, slamming the button until it opens.

“Wait, Deer. Where are you going?” I follow after her.

“Mine. I need—I don’t know. I just.” She’s barely able to string her words together, everything coming out in broken, breathy pants.

“Fine,” I soothe, placing my hand between the elevator doors to stop them from closing. “Fine, we’ll go to yours.”

“No. No. I need to be alone. I can’t—I can’t think. I need to be away. I need space.” Her hands keep shaking as she scuttles into the corner of the elevator.

My heart cracks at her rejection.

I’m watching her break apart before me, cracks of herself are falling off as she keeps deteriorating with the growing panic. She shouldn’t be alone—I need to be with her. I can help her, stop her from completely unravelling.

I take a tentative step forward. “Sparkles—”

“Stop,” she shrieks, pure terror leaching out of her. I halt, watching as she slides to the bottom of the elevator. “Please, Jackson. Just stop,” she begs, gripping her head and scrunching her hair between her hands.

Phoebe places her hand on my bicep. “It’s fine, we already have bodyguards stationed at her apartment. Just give her some time to calm down.”

No. This is all wrong. She’s hurting, she needs someone with her, someone to support her as the darkness closes in.

“Jackson.” Phoebe pushes, forcing my hand to let go of the elevator.

I just stand there and watch as the doors close and a part of my heart runs away.