Mason POV

“Mason!” Cassie came running to me as soon as we entered my room.

Hazel walked in and sat down at Jax’s desk. She never looked up from her phone. Jax stared at her all puppy-eyed.

Cassie wrapped her arms around my waist, and I chuckled.

“Did you miss me?” I asked, hugging her back.

“A lot.” Cassie said, smiling up at me.

She let go of me and turned to Emma.

“Hi, Emma.” Cassie smiled, hugging her as well.

Emma was surprised, but then a small smile appeared on her face.

“Hi, Cassie.” Emma said softly.

I frowned while watching them. Emma was five years older than Cassie, but she was a little bit shorter. I didn’t really notice it until now when Cassie was hugging her. I am not short. My parents are not short. Is she short because that bitch didn’t feed her properly? Is that even possible?

Fuck!

Emma noticed my frown and raised an eyebrow at me.

I forced a smile on my face. I didn’t want to ruin Cassie’s time with her brother.

Emma gave me a suspicious look, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to ruin their time together either. She looked back at Cassie and smiled.

“What do you want to do?” Emma asked. “You still have some time left before you have to leave.”

“Talk and annoy my brother.” Cassie grinned, walking toward Jax.

“Oh, joy.” Jax mumbled, rolling his eyes playfully.

Cassie laughed and sat on Jax’s lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

“You love me.” Cassie said happily.

“Yes, I do.” Jax chuckled, wrapping his arms around her.

I smiled. Jax didn’t love her. Jax adored her. And he was a great brother. I wished I was like him. He would never abandon Cassie like I abandoned Emma.

“Where is Chris?” Hazel asked, looking up from her phone for the first time since we entered the room.

“His room.” Jax answered. “He will be here soon.”

Emma sat down at my desk, and I stretched out on my bed, holding myself up on my elbows.

“Did you have fun, Cassie?” Emma asked. “I wish you could stay longer so we could get to know each other better.”

“I had a lot of fun.” Cassie smiled. “I will come back soon and we will hang out more. I hope that they will catch that guy so that we can go somewhere the next time I visit.”

“That guy is so creepy.” Hazel mumbled, and I could hear fear in her voice.

Jax heard it too, because he reached out and took her hand in his.

“You are safe, Elly.” he said. “He will never touch you.”

Hazel looked up at him and smiled. “I know. Thank you, Jax.”

Cassie looked at me and winked. I chuckled and nodded. Yeah, he really liked her.

“Do you have any idea who that guy could be?” Cassie asked.

“I think it’s Mr. Rodriguez.” Jax said, not letting Hazel’s hand go. “He is weird as fuck. He is always eyeing girls up and down.”

“Weirdo.” Cassie mumbled, frowning in disgust.

The door opened, and Chris walked inside. He looked around and smiled when he saw Emma. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. I told him to stop with the looks. I guess I will have to tell him again.

“What were you talking about?” Chris said as he sat down next to me on my bed.

“Mr. Rodriguez.” Jax answered. “He could be the fucker.”

Chris ran his hand through his hair and sighed. He glanced at Emma with a worried look on his face.

“Whoever it is, he is seriously fucking disturbed.” Chris mumbled.

“Who do you think the doll is?” Cassie asked quietly.

My heart raced. I had no fucking idea, but if there was even a slight chance that it was Emma, I would burn the fucking world down.

Jax glanced at Emma and gulped. I clenched my fists. Does he think it’s her?

“I don’t know.” Hazel said quietly. “But I feel so sorry for her. If he gets his hands on her...”

Hazel stopped talking and shook her head.

“I can’t believe that the police don’t have any fucking clue!” Chris exclaimed angrily. “They should have caught him by now!”

“They probably already know something, but they won’t share it with us.” I sighed. “At least I hope they do.”

“They are useless.” Chris mumbled angrily, clenching his fists.

I furrowed my eyebrows at him. It was rare to see him this upset. He glanced at Emma, and his angry look turned into a worried one.

“Did you pack everything, Cass?” Jax spoke, changing the subject.

“I did.” Cassie smiled.

“We should get going.” Jax sighed, standing up.

“What? Why?” Cassie whined. “I still have like 25 minutes.”

“No.” Jax shook his head. “The ferryboat leaves in 25 minutes. You still need to get there. The police car will pick you up in 10 minutes.”

Cassie’s eyes filled with tears and she hugged Jax.

“I will miss you, Jackie.” she said. “I want to stay longer.”

“I will miss you too, Cassandra.” Jax chuckled. “You can come back in a couple of weeks, okay? I hope that they will catch the fucker by then. I will be able to take you somewhere, and we won’t have to be in the room the whole time.”

“Okay.” Cassie said quietly, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

“We will see each other soon, I promise.” Jax said, kissing her forehead. “Say goodbye to others, okay? We need to leave.”

I stood up and opened my arms. Cassie came to me and hugged me tightly.

“I will miss you, Mase.” she said sadly.

“You will see me soon.” I said, rubbing her back. “As soon as the fucker is gone, you are coming back. I need someone to help me with Jax. He is insufferable.”

“He really is.” Cassie looked up at me and smiled.

Jax rolled his eyes, picking her backpack off the floor.

Cassie hugged Chris, and he kissed the top of her head. “Be good, kid. We will see each other soon.”

Cassie smiled and looked at Emma and Hazel.

“It was nice to meet you.” Cassie said. “I hope we will hang out again.”

“We will.” Emma smiled back at her. “Maybe we could even have some girl time when you come back. Without all the boys around.”

Yeah, no. Like I would leave her alone. Not fucking happening.

“Oh, yes.” Hazel added, grinning.

“That sounds good.” Cassie smiled. “If they catch this guy, we are definitely doing that.”

I wasn’t going to ruin their excitement, but that was definitely not happening.

“Enough plotting against us.” Jax said, taking Cassie’s hand in his. “We have to go.”

“Okay.” Cassie gave him a sad smile. “Bye, guys. I will see you soon.”

Cassie gave me another quick hug before leaving the room behind Jax.

“Cassie really loves you, Mason.” Hazel mumbled as the doors closed behind them.

“Well, she was always the center of attention whenever she came to visit.” I sighed. “She loves that, and she loves me because I made her the center of attention.”

“We spoiled her.” Chris mumbled quietly.

I glanced at Emma, worried that my words would cause pain or sadness, but, instead, I saw her smiling.

“That was very nice of you.” Emma said softly. “She is a sweet kid.”

My heart clenched painfully. She deserved to be the center of my attention, not some other girl. I screwed up.

I wanted to reach out to her, but the knock on the door interrupted me.

Chris stood up and answered.

It was one of the police officers.

“Sorry to bother you.” he said politely. “Is Miss Emma Richardson here? Detective Peters needs to see her.”

My breath got caught in my throat, and my heart almost jumped out of my chest.

Why? Why did he need to see her?

Chris stepped aside, looking at me with a shocked expression.

The police officer looked at Emma.

“Please follow me, Miss Richardson.” he said politely. “I will escort you to the principal’s office where detective Peters is waiting for you.”