Getting Played

by Mia Storm

  “I would have found out,” she counters. “I want the truth, Addie. Did he coerce you or threaten you?”

  “No!” I flop down on the couch. “You really believe I’m that stupid?”

  “Men will say anything to get what they want. Inexperienced teenage girls are easy targets.”

  My frustration is choking me. I don’t know whether to scream or cry. “I’m not a target! And he didn’t touch Corinne.”

  She gives her head a doubtful shake. “You can’t know that, Addie.”

  I toss my hands in the air. “I can and I do. Other than the fact that Corinne is a spiteful bitch, Marcus would never do something like that.”

  She appraises me for a long moment. “If there’s an investigation, I guess we’ll know soon enough.”

  I stand and stagger down the hall to my room, trying to push back the tears. All this time I’ve been so worried I’d do something to get Marcus in trouble. Marcus is going to lose his job…maybe go to jail, not for the things he did, but for something he didn’t.

  And I might be the nail in his coffin.

  Chapter 21

  Marcus

  I haven’t heard from Addie since I left her house on Tuesday, and I’ve spent every moment of every day vacillating between bone-crushing regret and self-loathing. I can’t believe I’ve done to Addie what I’ve been so angry with Caiden for doing to Blaire. And now, if her aunt reports me to the police, I’ve put her right in the middle of all of this.

  I’ve run practices this week, but only half the team has been showing. Let’s just say that Bruce isn’t the only parent in town calling me pervert now. So when Principal Monroe calls me into his office Friday before practice, it comes as no shock.

  I lower myself into the seat across his desk as he gives me a grim look.

  “Marcus, you know I like you. Always have. But this thing is spiraling out of control.” He tents his fingers under his chin. “The school board is demanding that you be suspended until the investigation is complete.”

  I rub a hand down my face. “I guess that shouldn’t surprise me.”

  His brow creases as he looks at me. “I’m not supposed to discuss this, but you should also know that another witness has come forward.”

  I feel my eyes widen. “And said what?”

  “She says she saw you attack Corinne.”

  There are plenty of things I actually did that would be just as damning. My jaw drops when it’s not one of those that comes out of his mouth. “It has to be Melanie.”

  He shakes his head. “It’s not a student, Marcus, but I’ve already said more than I should.”

  My head spins as I try to wrap it around this information. “But I didn’t attack Corinne. How could someone have seen something that didn’t happen?”

  He pushes back in his seat, an apologetic squint on his face. “I don’t know what to say. Sometimes these things take on a life of their own.”

  I lean forward with my elbows on my knees and rest my forehead on my interwoven fists. “Who’s the witness?”

  “The police have asked me not to divulge that information right now, Marcus. I’m sorry.”

  Cold despair sinks into my bones and I shiver. “So, that’s it? I’m done?”

  “Not necessarily,” he says with a shake of his head. “But the school board is always going to err on the side of caution. Let’s just ride this out and if there are no charges, everything can go back to normal.”

  I stand and turn for the door, feeling like I’ve doubled in weight in the last ten minutes. I head through the outer office to the hall, but before I reach the front doors, I look up to see Deanna turning the corner ahead.

  She saunters my direction and doesn’t stop until she’s nearly pressed right up the front of me.

  “I heard you were here,” she drawls, gliding a long fingernail down my biceps.

  “Yeah, well, not for long. I just got suspended.”

  Her eyebrows go up, but it’s more in feigned surprise, because a self-satisfied smirk spreads across her face. “Hope that tight virgin pussy was worth it.”

  “Jesus.” A bolt of cold lightning shoots through me as it all clicks together. “It was you.”

  She tips her head in a question, but the smirk never leaves her face and an amused gleam shines in her eyes. “What?”

  My fists ball at my sides as every muscle in my body tenses. “You’re the witness.”

  “I’m sure I have no idea what you mean, Marcus.”

  “Why would you do this?” I ask, fighting to keep my voice low. “You know it’s my career on the line.”

  She shrugs. “When the opportunity presents itself, you’ve got to take it.”

  “Meaning?”

  Her smirk becomes more of a sneer. “Meaning, you dump me because you’re all lusty for one of your girls? That’s sick, Marcus. I tried to warn you, but your little head was doing the thinking for you.” She shrugs again. “It was my responsibility to protect those girls.”

  “But I never touched Corinne,” I growl. “How can you say you witnessed something that never happened?”

  “A little white lie for the greater good. Maybe you did what Corinne says, maybe you didn’t. But you know you’re not innocent.” She looks at her fingernails. “I’m doing society a service.”

  I push past her and punch out the front doors before I do something that will totally land me in prison. Because I want to strangle her.

  I need to swim. But I also need to be off this campus. Instead of festering in my apartment, I decide to go to the gym a few hours early. I know pounding out reps on the weights won’t do for me what the water does, but it’s something.

  I’m halfway through my second set of squats when I look into the wall mirror in front of me and realize someone’s standing behind me. I rack the barbell and turn to find Detective Diaz standing next to a burly cop in full uniform. From the look on her face, and the fact she brought reinforcement this time, I know it’s not a friendly visit.

  “I need you to come to the station with us, Marcus,” she says.

  I feel like I’ve been sucker punched and it takes me a second to get my breath. “Am I under arrest?”

  Her eyebrows go up. “Why would you think that?”

  “Well, him for starters,” I say, shrugging a shoulder at the cop. “But you’ve also got a witness. If I remember right, that’s all you needed to send my brother-in-law to jail.”

  “The circumstances were different in Caiden’s case. It was statutory rape, and he was caught in the act.”

  I toss a hand in the air. “Apparently, so was I.”

  “You’re not under arrest,” she says. “But we need to chat, and I’d rather do that at the station, if it’s all the same to you.”

  I’ve got the sinking feeling once they get me down there, I might not be leaving. “It’s not ‘all the same.’ I’d rather talk here.”

  “Fine.” She nods at the cop who moves to the front door and takes up position. “Is there at least somewhere a little more private we can chat?”

  I glance around and find the dozen or so other people on the circuit equipment trying to pretend they’re focused on their lifting. I lead her to the studio out back, which is empty until Brenda comes back at four for classes.

  She turns to me. “So let’s go over this again. Tell me about any interaction you had with Corinne Pratt last Friday.”

  As long as she asks me specifically about Corinne, the truth is my defense. “When she got to the pool, she reminded me she’d invited me to a party, which I told her it would be inappropriate for me to attend. We had a normal practice, running drills and whatnot. After practice, I sent the team to the locker rooms. She and her friend, Melanie, were the last two out of the locker room. Melanie left through the gate, and Corinne came to me and implied she had a damaging picture of me. She said she wouldn’t take it to the principal if I took her home.”

  She’s jotting some things on a pad and looks up at me. “And what was you
r response?”

  “Haven’t we already been over this?” I ask with a roll of my eyes.

  “I need to hear it again,” she says, fixing me in a stern gaze.

  I blow out a sigh. “I told her I wasn’t having this conversation with her and if she wanted to continue it, to meet me at Principal Monroe’s office before school on Monday morning.”

  “What was her reaction?”

  I shrug. “I don’t know. I didn’t wait around to find out.”

  “Can you describe exactly where this conversation took place?” she asks, looking at the notepad.

  “In the pool cage.”

  “Yes,” she says, “but exactly where within the cage.”

  I rub the sweat off the back of my neck as I think about that for a second. “At the end of the bleachers closest to the gate.”

  She makes some notes then looks up at me. “Did you have any physical contact with Miss Pratt at that time?”

  “No,” I say with a shake of my head.

  She gives me a skeptical squint. “You never touched her at all?”

  “No.”

  “Did she touch you?” she asks, making a note.

  I think about that, replaying the scene in my head. “She might have touched my arm…or my chest. She tried to do that a lot, but I was usually able to sidestep her.”

  Her glance runs over my exposed arms. “Would you be willing to take off your T-shirt?”

  My eyes narrow, wondering what she’s after. “Why?”

  “I’m working on a theory, here, Marcus. You are free to say no, but it will save us both a lot of time and effort if you cooperate.”

  I roll all the possibilities over in my head and can’t come up with a reason not to do as she asks. I tug my T-shirt off.

  “Do you mind?” she asks, pulling a small camera from her bag.

  I lift my arms to the side. “Knock yourself out.”

  She snaps a few shots from the front, then repeats that process from behind.

  “Thank you,” she says, tucking her camera away. “So, after you say you turned down Miss Pratt’s proposition, what happened?”

  I tug my shirt back on. “I locked the pool cage and we both left.”

  “You didn’t walk with her to the parking lot?”

  I shake my head. “Honestly, I was pretty uncomfortable with the whole situation. I just wanted to get as far away from her as possible at that point.”

  “Fair enough,” she says, making another note. “And between that time and when I spoke to you at the high school, did you see Miss Pratt?”

  “No.”

  She flips her pad closed. “How long have you been coaching?”

  “This is my second season.”

  “I saw your plaque in the trophy case at school,” she says, tucking her pad into her bag and arranging some things in there. “You were quite the star when you went to school at Oak Crest.”

  “I had a good run,” I say with a shrug.

  “That’s what I understand.” Her gaze finds mine again and something in it hardens. “At more than just sports.”

  A chill fingers up my spine as I realize this whole conversation was probably a huge mistake. “I’m not following.”

  “You were quite the ladies man, so I hear.”

  Christ. My mind reels, trying to think of anything in my past that could come back to bite me in the ass. I’m sure there were a few girls I pissed off, but I was never violent with any of them. “I had my fair share of girlfriends.”

  She gives a pensive nod. “Is there anything else you think I should know, Marcus?”

  I shake my head.

  “I’d plan on staying local.” She hikes her bag onto her shoulder. “I’ll be in touch.”

  I watch her leave, breathing away the panic I’m sure she saw rising in my eyes. But she doesn’t need to worry. I’m not going anywhere without Addie.

  I climb on the treadmill and run until my legs won’t hold me anymore.

  Chapter 22

  Addie

  Dad is being released from rehab today and we’re going to pick him up before I have to leave for work. Which hasn’t helped my nerves. Even though Becky said she wouldn’t tell him about Marcus, I’m still terrified she’ll slip, or he’ll figure it out.

  I’m supposed to meet Becky at the pick-up circle, but I can’t help taking the long way past the pool cage on my way, hoping for the briefest glimpse of Marcus. What I find instead is a note taped to the locked cage gate that says practice is cancelled. A couple of freshmen from the team come up behind me and grumble when they see the note.

  “Do you know what’s going on?” I ask.

  They both just shake their heads.

  Black dread snakes through my chest and squeezes my lungs as I stumble to the pick-up area. Becky is already there, waiting.

  “Hi,” she says when I climb in her car. “How was school?”

  I know my nerves are totally shot when I have a moment of panicked déjà vu. She looks and sounds so much like Mom, and my heart claws up my throat with the flash of the last time Mom said those words to me.

  I breathe the panic away. “Fine.”

  She hands me her phone. “Call your Dad and let him know we’re on our way.”

  I’m a horrible daughter. I haven’t talked to Dad since I ran out of his room a week ago. I’ve wanted to, but I just don’t know what to say.

  He cheated on Mom. But in my heart, I know Mom left him a long time before that. Does that make it okay? If Mom was his whole world, like he said, how could he have wanted someone else?

  I have more questions than answers when I dial the number for the rehab center. The operator forwards me though to Dad’s room.

  “Hey,” I say when he picks up. “Aunt Becky and I will be there for you in a few minutes. You ready?”

  He blows out a sigh. “Past ready. I’ll see you in a few.”

  I try to gauge his voice. He sounds okay—haggard, but not so angry. “Okay, Dad.” I disconnect and hand her back her phone.

  “I wish your Dad would let me add you two to my account,” she says, slipping it into her purse.

  “We can’t afford it,” I say. I still have my phone, but service was turned off over a year ago, after Dad stopped paying the bill.

  “I’d be happy to do that for you,” she says. “Maybe for Christmas?”

  I shake my head. “It’s too much, Becky. But thanks.”

  She cuts me a glance. “I’m not going to report Marcus.”

  My heart leaps out of my chest and I close my eyes with the wave of relief. “Thank you.”

  I notice her grip on the wheel tighten as she takes a corner. “I’m also not going to tell your father. But, until the investigation is complete, I don’t want you seeing him.”

  “Marcus didn’t do what she said he did. I know Corinne and I know Marcus. If they were the only two people on a sinking ship and I could save them both, I’d save Marcus twice.”

  “You think you know him, Addie, but it’s only been a few months. People are rarely who they seem to be.”

  I tip my head back against the headrest. “He gets me. Better than anyone I’ve ever hung out with. And I catch myself telling him things I’ve never told anyone.”

  She searches my face as she says, “So you trust him.”

  It’s not a question, but I nod. “I don’t really understand how or why, but it feels like I’ve known him forever. Sometimes he just looks at me and I feel plugged in.”

  She stops at a traffic signal and turns to me, the hard lines of her face softening. “Let’s just wait and see how the investigation comes out, okay? If he didn’t do anything to that girl, I’ll be the first to apologize.”

  I slump in my seat, trying not to think about the investigation, or Dad’s affair, or anything else for the rest of the ride. We pull into the parking lot at the rehab center and Becky looks at me as she rolls into a parking spot. “I made lasagna for dinner tonight. It’s your dad’s favorite.”

&
nbsp; She’s right. I’d forgotten that. There was a little dive on the corner near our house, Tony’s Little Italy, that Dad used to stop by on his way home from work a few times a month. They did this take-out lasagna dinner, with garlic bread and salad, for cheap.

  “Were you ever there when he brought Tony’s lasagna home?” I ask.

  Her eyes go a little distant as she nods. “I was. Your dad loved that place.”

  “I try not to think too much about those days. It feels like someone else’s life.”

  She sighs deeply. “That’s understandable, Addie, but I think if you could find some of those good memories and hold onto them, it might help you both heal.”

  I look at her. “Did Mom know Dad was having an affair?”

  There’s a heartbeat where she freezes and the car lurches a little as her foot presses harder on the gas pedal. “He told you?”

  “He feels so guilty about it. But, looking back and knowing what I know now, I think their marriage was probably over way before that.”

  She rolls to a stop at a signal, staring at the red light ahead. “That’s pretty accurate.”

  “So, did Mom know?”

  There’s a long pause before she nods. “She knew.”

  “I never heard them fight or anything.”

  “It wasn’t like your mother to scream and yell, Addie. She just…left—lost herself in her stories when things got hard.”

  I feel anger rising up inside me and it surprises me a little. “Did she at least fight for him?”

  She huffs out a laugh, but when I look at her, I’m not convinced it wasn’t a small sob. “She knew she hadn’t been a wife to your father in a long time.” She makes the turn onto the road that leads up the hill to the rehab center. “They were planning to get married when the divorce was final and she was happy for them.”

  As strange as that sounds, it explains why they got along so well on that last European trip. I wasn’t the most aware person when it came to their marriage, but they really seemed to like each other on that trip. There was no bitterness on either side.

  But then I really hear Becky’s words. “Them? Did Mom know the other woman?”