“It’s a lot easier to deal with when I don’t see him,” Shaye told her. “And I certainly didn’t need to see him with Chelsey Brandenburg.”
“You know that girl?” Colleen sounded interested.
Shaye nodded. “I met her at Matt’s house. Believe me, she couldn’t wait for me to be out of the picture.”
“Old girlfriend, huh?” Colleen pointed to the nearby pizza parlor. “Come on, Shaye. Let’s go get something to eat. It will do you good.”
“Colleen, all I want to do is go hide in our room. I don’t want to be around a bunch of people.”
“We’ll hide in a corner booth.” Colleen grabbed Shaye’s arm and pulled her toward the pizza place.
“Oh, all right. I don’t want to stay long, though,” Shaye stipulated.
“Don’t worry,” Colleen assured her.
Colleen’s assurances were somewhat misplaced. The restaurant was packed, and as they stood near the door waiting for a table, Shaye had the feeling that people were staring at her. She kept looking around, expecting to see Doug or someone who could be an FBI agent, but she didn’t notice anything. When the waitress finally showed them to their table, a girl stopped Shaye as she passed.
“You’re Matt Whitmore’s girlfriend, aren’t you?” she asked with several of her friends looking on.
Shaye shook her head, somewhat surprised by the question.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I just assumed you were dating.” The girl followed her friends out, glancing back at Shaye as they went through the door.
“Who was she?” Colleen asked, sliding into their booth.
“I have no idea,” Shaye told her, allowing the depression to wrap around her as though she could hide beneath it. “Matt has a lot of friends on campus. Maybe she’s seen us together before.”
“Cheer up!” Colleen ordered. “Pizza is supposed to put everybody in a good mood.”
“Right.” Shaye faked a smile.
“You’re impossible.” Colleen laughed.
“Guilty as charged.” Shaye glanced around the restaurant, wondering who else was watching her now. She hadn’t noticed Doug, but the feeling of being followed hadn’t disappeared since he had arrived.
By the time their pizza finally came, Shaye and Colleen were both starving. They hardly spoke as they ate, and by the time they finished, the restaurant was thinning out.
As they stood up to leave, a large group of college kids came bursting through the door. Most of them wore football jackets from the University of Virginia, and Shaye guessed that the whole team had stopped to eat before driving back to their school.
Colleen and Shaye snaked their way between the tables and pushed through the crowd to get to the door. When they finally made it outside, Shaye froze in her tracks. Standing directly in front of her was Matt. Clutching his arm was none other than Chelsey.
“Shaye . . .” Matt took a step toward her, but Chelsey pulled on his arm to keep him at her side.
Involuntarily, Shaye’s eyes met Matt’s. He still looked troubled, but with Chelsey hanging on his arm, Shaye was certain that he was recovering from their breakup. Matt’s eyes went from Shaye to Colleen and then back to Shaye.
He pulled his arm free from Chelsey’s clutches and took a step toward Shaye. “We need to talk.”
“I can’t,” Shaye whispered. She turned to leave, but he grabbed her arm.
“Please. Just for a minute,” Matt begged.
Before Shaye could answer him, Doug appeared. “Come on, Shaye. I’ll give you a ride home.”
Matt’s hand dropped from Shaye’s arm, and instantly Chelsey was clinging to him once more. She ushered him into the crowded restaurant as Matt stole one last look at Shaye.
“We can walk. Really,” Shaye told Doug, glancing at Colleen.
“You’re right on my way.” Doug extended his hand to Colleen. “You must be Colleen. I’m Doug.”
Colleen opened her mouth, but words didn’t come. She managed to grasp the hand he extended in greeting even as she shot a questioning look toward Shaye.
“My car is right over here.” Doug led the way across the parking lot, and Shaye was grateful he didn’t try to put his arm around her.
The ride back to their dorm was uncomfortably quiet, but no one made any attempt to break the silence. It wasn’t until Shaye and Colleen were safely inside their room that Colleen spoke.
“Okay, so who’s Doug?” Colleen insisted, flopping down on her bed.
“He’s just a guy I met a few weeks ago.” Shaye picked up her duffel bag. “I’m going to swim. I’ll see you later.”
With that, she disappeared out the door. She noticed Doug’s car parked down the street, but she ignored it. Right now, all she could think about was getting into the pool to work out her frustrations.
Chapter Sixteen
“Well, kid, it looks like you’re on your own again,” Doug told Shaye as they walked out of the aquatics center Monday morning.
“Disappointed you didn’t find anything?” Shaye asked.
Doug shrugged, hoping to shake off the uneasy feeling that continued to plague him. “It was worth a try. We’re packing up this morning, so Pratt’s taking over again. He did say that you need to decide where you want to go for Christmas break. It wouldn’t look right for you to stay here.”
“I suggested Cancun, but he seems to have this thing about me leaving the country.”
“Gee, I wonder why.” Doug rolled his eyes. “If I were you, I’d find a nice ski lodge and take advantage of Uncle Sam’s hospitality.”
“Thanks for the advice.” Shaye smiled. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
“Not if you’re lucky.” Doug laughed. He crossed the parking lot to his car and offered a quick wave before he disappeared out of sight.
“Now if I can just get through finals,” Shaye said to herself.
With only four days left in the semester, she knew that Doug was right. She had to decide where she wanted to go for Christmas break. She tried to forget that she would have spent the holidays with Matt had she not been forced to break up with him.
With a determined effort, Shaye forced herself to concentrate on her upcoming finals. She completed her first two before her evening practice and considered herself fortunate that her last final was on Wednesday, which would leave Thursday free. Her coach had even canceled Thursday’s practice since so many people were planning to leave town for the break.
When Shaye walked into her room after practice Monday evening, Colleen was in the middle of the floor, books scattered all around her. With a highlighter in one hand and a potato chip in the other, she didn’t even bother to look up when the door opened.
“You look stressed.” Shaye dropped her bag on her bed, pulling her swimsuit out and hanging it up to dry.
“I just don’t get this stuff. My physics final is in the morning, and I still don’t have a clue.” Colleen picked up another potato chip and stuffed it into her mouth.
“Eating like that certainly isn’t going to help you.” Shaye picked up the bag of chips and set it on Colleen’s desk. “Do you want some help?”
“Are you any good in physics?” Colleen asked doubtfully.
“I can hold my own.” Shaye sat down on the floor and stretched her legs out in front of her. “Do you have a study sheet?”
Colleen dug through a stack of papers, finally handing one to Shaye.
Shaye browsed through it and then started asking Colleen questions. When she missed the first several, Shaye grabbed Colleen’s book from her and started flipping pages.
“You’re making all of this too complicated. If you can just remember the basic laws of physics, then everything else will fall into place,” Shaye explained to her. She highlighted several sections of the appendix, then handed the book back to Colleen. “Study this.”
“Are you sure?” Colleen asked apprehensively.
“Trust me. If you try to memorize everything tonight, you’re going to make yourself crazy,” Sh
aye insisted. “Do you want me to go get us some dinner?”
“I don’t know. The spaghetti wasn’t looking very appealing in the cafeteria.” Colleen made a face.
“Why don’t we order Chinese food?” Shaye suggested.
“I think I could handle that,” Colleen agreed. “You order, and I’ll study.”
“Deal.” Shaye laughed. A few minutes later, she left to pick up their food.
In the parking lot, she glanced around automatically for Doug before remembering she was once again on her own. She slid behind the wheel and started the car to let it warm up. While she waited, she pulled her cell phone out and dialed Pratt’s number.
Pratt sighed upon hearing her voice. “Don’t tell me someone’s following you now that the surveillance team has left.”
“No, nothing like that.” Shaye chuckled at his pessimism. “I just wanted to set up something for Christmas break.”
“Finally,” Pratt muttered. “What did you have in mind?”
“How about a quiet ski lodge someplace? I’ll let you pick.”
“I think we can manage that,” Pratt told her. “What do you think of Vermont?”
“Vermont?” Shaye repeated. She had expected him to suggest Colorado or Utah.
“Yeah. I don’t feel comfortable bringing you back out west yet, and I don’t want you near any major cities—at least not until we get a few more people identified,” Pratt explained. “Vermont has a lot of nice little places with relatively good snow. Best of all, it’s
low profile.”
“I guess I’m spending my holidays in Vermont then.” Shaye sighed. “Just try to book me someplace that has an indoor lap pool.”
“I’ll take care of the travel arrangements. Let me know if you don’t get your tickets by Wednesday night.”
“Okay, thanks.” Shaye put her phone back into her coat pocket and shifted the car into gear.
A few minutes later, she pulled up in front of the restaurant, finding a parking place next to the entrance. As she walked through the door, she practically ran right into Brandon.
“Uh, hi,” Shaye managed to say, surprised to see him.
“How are you?” Brandon asked, his face surprisingly blank.
Shaye shrugged her shoulders, not knowing how to answer. She had no idea what Matt had told his roommate.
“You might be interested to know that Matt’s sketches of you have been nominated for the Rease Art Award,” Brandon told her. “But I think he would turn down the nomination if he thought it would help patch things up with you.”
“What?” Shaye asked, confused.
“Matt’s been kicking himself about not telling you about his drawings,” Brandon explained. “Then again, he never dreamed you’d break up with him over them.”
“What drawings?” Shaye looked at him, baffled.
“The ones in the fine arts center.” Brandon’s eyebrows rose slightly. “You haven’t seen them?”
Shaye shook her head.
“We just assumed that you saw them. I mean, you broke up with him right after they were put on display.”
“Things just couldn’t have worked out between Matt and me,” Shaye told him. “I wish they could have.”
“So does he.” Brandon’s eyes lingered on her a moment before he disappeared outside.
Shaye picked up her food and drove home, still in a daze from what Brandon had told her. She wanted to drive straight over to the fine arts building to see what Brandon was talking about but didn’t want to explain the detour to Colleen. She wished that Matt wasn’t blaming himself for their breakup. She knew it would be easier on him if he could just blame her for going out with Doug.
Colleen was studying intently when Shaye returned. The smell of Chinese food quickly filled their room, and Colleen jumped up from the floor.
“I’m starving,” she said, stepping over her textbooks.
Shaye set the food down and handed Colleen her beef and broccoli along with a fork. Ignoring her own food, she sat down in her chair and stared out the window.
“What’s with you?” Colleen asked, dishing her food out onto a paper plate.
Shaye shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Right.” Colleen leaned back in her chair and stared at her roommate. “You didn’t run into Matt, did you?”
“Actually, I ran into his roommate,” Shaye admitted.
“What did he say?”
“Something about Matt being nominated for the Rease Art Award,” Shaye said. “Have you ever heard of it?”
“Yeah. It’s one of the most prestigious art awards given to college students. Just by being nominated, Matt could probably start showing some of his work in galleries.” Colleen watched Shaye closely. “What else did Matt’s roommate say?”
“Something about the sketches that are in the fine arts center.” Shaye shrugged. “He seemed to think that they were the reason that Matt and I broke up.”
“Why? Did you have a fight about them or something?”
“I don’t even know what sketches he’s talking about,” Shaye confessed.
“Do you want to take a walk over there after we eat?” Colleen asked. “I could use some fresh air.”
Shaye debated for a moment and then nodded. She knew that curiosity was likely to drive her crazy if she didn’t find out what Brandon was talking about.
Twenty minutes later Shaye followed Colleen into the fine arts building. Once they were inside, Colleen stopped suddenly.
“Oh my gosh!” she gasped.
“What?” Shaye stepped past her and followed her stare.
She felt her knees wobble as she stared at herself in the sketches in front of her. The display was well-lit by three overhead spotlights, and at the bottom of each drawing was a signature. Matthew Whitmore.
Shaye walked slowly to a nearby bench and sat down. She couldn’t stop staring at herself in those sketches. When had Matt made them? Even in black and white, Shaye’s eyes looked haunted, as though Matt had seen right through her and drawn the real her, the person behind the fake identity.
“I can’t believe these.” Colleen sat down next to her. “They’re powerful.”
Shaye nodded, too stunned to speak.
“When did Matt draw them?”
“I don’t know,” Shaye whispered.
Colleen looked at her, shocked. “You mean you never posed for him?”
Shaye shook her head.
“Looking at these, I would say Matt was really hung up on you.” Colleen stood up and walked closer to the display. “I can’t believe he would break up with you after drawing these.”
Shaye said nothing. Since seeing the drawings in his room, she knew he was talented. But even she had to admit that these sketches were in a different league than the other ones she had seen. How in the world had he been able to draw these from memory?
Her eyes wandered from one sketch to the other. She could see why he had been nominated for an award for them. Each one evoked a response. Some made her look completely vulnerable; others captured the haunted look she had seen so many times in the mirror when she had first arrived at Royal. The sketch in the center seemed to depict every aspect of her, making her look somehow disconnected with her surroundings even as the vulnerability showed through.
The realization that Pratt would never allow the sketches to be shown left an ache in her heart. Once the FBI was aware of them, Shaye had no doubt that they would somehow be lost or destroyed before they were ever seen by the award selection committee.
After several minutes, Shaye finally broke the silence. “We should get going.”
Colleen ignored her. “You really need to talk to Matt. I’m sure you two can work everything out if you try.”
“Not this time.” Shaye shook her head. She got up and led the way to the door, pulling her coat tight around her. She glanced back at her portrait and couldn’t help but wonder if she would ever get over Matt.
Chapter Seventeen
After stud
ying well into the night, both Colleen and Shaye returned to their room the next day feeling that they had at least passed their exams. Colleen was quizzing Shaye for her upcoming history exam when the phone rang. Colleen reached over and answered it.
“Oh, great. I’m so glad you could find it.” Colleen smiled into the phone. After a pause, she sighed. “Isn’t there any other time I could come pick it up?” She listened for a moment, then put her hand over the mouthpiece and turned to Shaye. “Is there any way you could drive me up to the plaza before six tomorrow?”
Shaye thought over her schedule, knowing that the two of them had staggered finals. She shook her head. “I won’t be done with practice in time. Just take my car. I won’t be using it.”
“Oh, thanks. That’d be great.” Colleen turned her attention back to the phone. “Okay, I’ll be there before six.”
As soon as Colleen hung up, Shaye asked, “What was that all about anyway?”
“The bookstore up at the plaza found the book I want to give to my dad for Christmas. Tomorrow is the only time I can go get it since Dad’s coming to pick me up Thursday morning,” Colleen explained.
Shaye dug her spare set of car keys out of her dresser and handed them to Colleen. “Here. Just make sure you warm it up for a few minutes so it doesn’t stall on you.”
“Thanks, Shaye. I really appreciate this.” Colleen picked up Shaye’s study questions and started quizzing her once again.
With Colleen’s help, Shaye was able to keep her mind on her studying. Though images of Matt kept invading her thoughts, she continued to push them aside so she could concentrate on her exam.
After completing her last final on Wednesday afternoon, Shaye stepped outside just in time to see Matt walking toward the library. She caught her breath, struck by the way he moved so easily through the crowded sidewalks and how the sunlight played off his hair.
Anger washed over her as she watched him disappear inside, behind the library doors that were decorated for Christmas. Last year she had spent a beautiful holiday season with her father and Chase. Now, just a year later, she had not only lost them both, but she had managed to open her heart a third time to have it crushed once again. How could God let this happen to her? Surely He didn’t want her to be alone for Christmas, a time when she should be celebrating the birth of His Only Begotten.
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