Wait—Did I Steal Your Best Buddy While You Were ‘Missing’? HELL YES!! Chapter 05
just like I figured, Jasper couldn’t stay away.
He came to check on me himself.
1 AM. He snuck into my place using his fingerprint-I’d given him access back when we were together.
I was buried under the covers, breathing deep and steady.
The bed looked untouched. No trace of anyone else.
On the nightstand sat crumpled tissues and our photo together.
What he didn’t know? I was faking sleeping.
And the camera on my desk recorded everything.
If he tried anything, Callan was downstairs watching the feed-ready to come up immediately.
But Jasper just looked around and left.
Then he “ran into” Callan at a convenience store.
“Dude, my bad. I totally misread that situation earlier.” Jasper sounded apologetic.
“You’re good.”
“Where’s your girl?”
“She was tired, didn’t want to come out.”
“Man, her voice sounded exactly like Lexie’s. Gotta introduce us sometime.”
Callan just shrugged.
Jasper looked rough-dark circles, messy hair. “Callan, should I just go back to her?”
“Why the change?”
“I haven’t been sleeping.”
Jasper cracked open a beer, eyes going red:
“When I was with Lexie, I thought she was on me too much. Now I’m free and everything feels wrong.”
He took a drink.
“I haven’t slept in days. And Lexie hasn’t asked about me all week. I’m scared I messed this up.”
Callan kept his voice calm:
“You’re overthinking it. She hasn’t given up-she was talking about filing a police report.”
“She can’t do that! If she reports it, everything falls apart!”
“I know, I stopped her. She’s been sick this week anyway, hasn’t had the energy.”
“Is she okay?”
“Just a cold, nothing serious.”
Jasper let out a long breath. “I regret this. Putting Lexie through all this…”
“Come on, don’t say that.” Callan’s tone stayed even:
“Remember how she’d freak if you went out drinking? How she’d lose it over Sloane? This’ll teach her to back off.”
“So I should…”
“Listen to Sloane. Keep her waiting longer.”
After Jasper left, Callan pulled the phone-still on the call-out of his shirt pocket.
“How’d I do?” He sounded tense.
“Perfect. Come back. I’ll make it worth your while.”
See?
What I needed Callan to do was simple: keep Jasper on track with their plan.
Because I had a surprise waiting.
Three days later-Saturday-I invited friends over.
All old classmates of mine and Jasper’s.
I’d decorated carefully. Jasper’s photo hung in the center.
Above it, four words:
[Goodbye to Jasper Brennan.]
Everyone looked horrified.
“Lexie, what’s going on?!”
I wore all black, looking completely wrecked. “Jasper’s been missing for over a month.”
“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?!”
“I didn’t want to bother anyone. His parents told me to keep it quiet.”
“So he’s… is he…”
“Still missing.”
Everyone gasped.
“A whole month and nothing? That means…”
“I heard the rescue window is 72 hours.”
“After that, survival chances drop to almost nothing.”
As they murmured, tears streamed down my face.
“Stop, you’re making Lexie feel worse.”
“They were so good together. She must be devastated.”
After everyone comforted me, one classmate asked: “Don’t the police have any leads?”
I shook my head sadly. “We never filed a report.”
“Why not?”
“His parents wouldn’t let me. They wanted to handle it privately.”
“That makes sense. The Brennans are high-profile. Bad press and all.”
Exactly.
Jasper’s parents had respectable jobs, polished images.
This getting out? Not good for them.
I wiped my tears and glanced toward the corner.
At my phone, livestreaming everything.
