She grinned up at him, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear as he spoke to her. She nodded once then raised her hand in farewell. His lusty grin had a red haze forming over my vision, but thankfully for him he walked away before I reached them.
Caity watched him leave then turned and saw me. Her blue eyes bulged wide and she drew in a quick breath.
“What the hell, Caity? Who was that? And don’t tell me he’s in your class, because he looks way too old to be a freshman.”
She blinked a couple of times before looking to the ground and whispering, “He’s a post-grad student here.”
“And why are you hanging out with him? Is he helping you study or something?”
Glancing back up, her face pinched with agony, making my gut squeeze tight.
“Just tell me the truth.” I clenched my jaw, ready for whatever she was gonna throw at me. My insides felt raw and I knew her words would be sandpaper.
“No, he’s not helping me study.”
I winced and looked to the ground.
“I’m sorry, Eric. I should have told you last Friday, but...I wasn’t wrong about Connor.”
My head snapped up. “You lied to me?”
“Not exactly.” She raised her hands to stop my volcanic eruption. “He wasn’t drugged at that second game, but the other team was. I was going to tell you, but then Professor Hoffman showed up and I didn’t want to talk about it in front of him. I still don’t trust that guy.”
“Not for the reasons you think,” I muttered.
“What do you mean?” She frowned.
“I—I saw him getting it on with one of his students.”
Her face blanched.
“They didn’t see me, thank God, but that’s obviously what you’re seeing on him. He’s not as squeaky clean as I thought he was. You are, once again, right.”
I didn’t mean to sound so scathing and instantly regretted it.
Her blinking eyes were now trying to stem a flow of tears and I wanted to cut my heart out. I ran a hand through my hair and looked away from her. I needed to get the conversation on more even ground. I was screwing it up big time...but then I thought of the business card I’d grabbed off her desk.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were talking to a cop?”
Her lips parted, her eyes turning a vibrant blue as she frowned at me. “What—How did you—How do you know about that?”
I yanked the card from my pocket and showed it to her.
“You went through my stuff?” She reached for the card and I let her take it.
“I didn’t mean to find it; I was leaving you a note.” I huffed. “How could you not tell me about this? What did he want?”
She sighed. “He was asking questions about Liam...and Mason. He’s a homicide detective. He’s looking into the case.”
“I thought it was a car accident.”
She shrugged, obviously trying to downplay the whole thing. “He thinks it might be more than that.” She cleared her throat.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I stepped toward her, my voice tight. I hated when I started to lose control. I tried to draw in a calming breath, but it got stuck in my nose. Gramps’ techniques were struggling to have an impact.
Licking her bottom lip, Caity swallowed again and pinched her nose. “Eric, I don’t know what’s going on exactly, but that drug thing I spotted, I think this is all linked...Connor, the professor, Liam...Cameron.”
“Who’s Cameron?”
“That post-grad guy.” She pointed behind her. “I don’t know what they’re doing exactly, but I think they might be drugging the players.”
“How do you figure that?”
“That’s what I’m trying to work out.” She threw her hands wide. “I’m trying to connect the dots and piece it together. I can’t help feeling like Liam was drugged without knowing it and that’s why he crashed and then when I was speaking to Connor…”
“Connor?” I spat out the word, fear spiking through me. “When were you speaking to Connor? I thought you were going to drop this, Caity.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?” I ran a hand through my hair. “Caity, it’s not your job to save the world!”
“Are you even listening to me? I’m telling you that Connor might be in trouble.” Her eyes blazed when she pointed at me. “And don’t tell me not to save the world. I was given this gift for a reason. You think I can just walk away from this? What if I’d done that with Indie? She’d probably be dead by now!”
Her eyes were fiery as she battled it out with me.
Did she not get it?
She’d nearly died getting involved in that situation and this was a hell of a lot bigger and scarier.
No, she couldn’t be a part of it.
I wanted us to both walk away. Connor could get himself out of trouble. I loved Caity, and I needed to keep her safe, but telling her that would never work. She was never worried about her own safety. I loved and hated her selflessness in equal measure. If only I could convince her to leave it alone.
I nearly lost her to Mason.
I couldn’t lose her to this.
18
Caitlyn
“I don’t want you pursuing this, Caity.” Eric’s voice was like iron. I’d never heard him talk to me like that before and I hated it.
“What is your problem? I’m doing this to help your stepbrother. To help you! I can’t just walk away! You don’t know what I’ve been seeing.”
“I would if you’d tell me!” He threw his arms wide, getting in my face with his loud voice.
I somehow managed to keep mine even. “I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid of your reaction.”
“Oh, so you’ve just been lying to me instead? That’s so much better, Caitlyn. Very mature!”
I rolled my eyes. He wanted to talk about mature? He was throwing an all-out hissy fit in broad daylight. Yes, we were getting a myriad of weird looks from by-passers, but if I asked, Eric would refuse to go inside. He wanted this out. It was like he wanted to scare me off or something.
I ripped off his mask, peeled him all the way back until I was looking at that hurt little kid again. The one who kept getting wounded by the people who were supposed to love him. His trust had been slashed to pieces over and over again and I was yet another attacker, holding a whip of my own.
I let out a soft sigh, wanting to cry for him as I layered him back up and was once again faced with his angry glare.
“It’s not like that, Eric,” I murmured. “I hate letting you down. I know this hurts you, but you’ve got to understand that I don’t think Connor knows he’s being drugged. I have to get to the bottom of this. I need to figure out what’s going on.”
His brow flinched as if he was starting to give in...as if he wanted to believe me. But then he drew on his pent-up rage and decided to go for the jugular.
“Yeah, by flirting with other guys.”
I grimaced, crossing my arms over my chest and sinking in on myself. “I’m only pretending.”
“He doesn’t know that.” Eric’s volume had reduced to a whisper, but his tone was still harsh. “He likes you, Caity. He wants you and you’re playing him...like a fool. How the hell do you think he’s gonna feel when this all ends, once you’ve got what you wanted?”
He stepped toward me, looming over me and snatching my wrist, his grip hard enough to hurt me if he increased the pressure. “What if he gets you in a situation where you can’t pull away? Where he won’t let you refuse. ”
I tried to wrench my arm free, but Eric held tight.
“What if I’m not there to stop him?” A cold terror swept across Eric’s face.
My eyes glassed over with tears and I whispered, “Then be there with me. Help me do this.”
He let go of my wrist, stepping back with a broken headshake. “I can’t. I want you to walk away.”
“I can’t.” My lips bunched together as I tried to stop the tears from falling. It didn’t work; they fell fro
m my eyes, one drop at a time. Eric’s face crumpled with an agonized frown. Without another word, he spun on his heel and walked away.
I couldn’t handle going back to my room, so I walked to the massive willow tree where I’d first told Eric my secrets. I hid myself away on the park bench and sobbed until my head ached and my face was a blotchy mess. I had no idea if Eric and I were still together and I didn’t have the guts to call him to find out.
When my tears finally ebbed, I shuffled back to my room.
Piper was sitting at her desk, her pen once again tap-tap-tapping. She glanced up as I walked in and her eyes rounded with surprise.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I dropped my bag to the floor and threw myself backward onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling and hoping she’d ignore me.
Her deep frown remained on me and I finally looked up and caught her gaze again. I wanted to yell at her to turn around and leave me alone, but a layer fell off her face.
I jerked up. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she murmured.
“No, you’re not.”
“Well, neither are you!” She pointed at me, her face bunched with anguish. I didn’t know Piper that well, but she was a strong, feisty chick. It took a lot to beat her and right then, she looked totally defeated.
I inched forward on my bed, until my feet touched the floor. Grabbing the edge of the mattress, I muttered, “Eric and I got into a massive fight.”
“Is that all.” Piper shrugged, ready to turn back in her chair and hide her woes from me.
“I think he wants to break up with me.”
Her expression crested with compassion. “Why?”
I sighed, ready to spill all, when my phone tinged. A microsecond later, hers did too. We both frowned at each other then pulled our hardware free to check the messages.
Study group. Tonight at 7pm in Psych. 205 xx Cameron
Great, the guy was sending me kisses. I winced and deleted the message before looking up at Piper. Her face was pale.
Unmasked, it was freaking transparent.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.” She slammed her phone onto the desk.
I bit the edge of my lip and decided to go with my instincts. “Was it study group?”
Her head whipped up. “How do you know about that?” Her voice was tight and punchy.
“I was invited, as well.”
“By who?”
“Cameron Darby.”
Piper’s neck muscles strained, and she gave a sharp sniff before giving a stiff shrug that was supposed to look casual. “Study group’s not that great, you know. I don’t think you should bother going.”
“Why? Is Cameron bad or something?” My fingers dug into my soft bedcover.
Piper sucked in a ragged breath. “He...he helps run the group.”
“With Professor H.”
Piper’s skin paled a shade further, if that was even possible. She looked grey. The usual fire in her eyes had been vanquished.
“Why don’t you like them?”
“I never said that,” she snapped.
My eyebrows rose as I tipped my head and gave her a skeptical frown.
“Everyone loves Professor Hoffman.” Piper tried to sit up and raise her chin the way she did when she was hiding something, but I was looking at her unmasked and all I could see was fear...and defeat.
“Piper, what’s going on? Has he done something to you?”
Tears popped into her eyes, brimming on her thick lashes as she tried to sit tall.
“I can’t go to study group again,” she finally choked out.
“Why?” I pushed off the bed and knelt at her feet, gathering up her shaky hands in my own. “What happened?”
She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I can’t tell you.”
“Yes, you can.”
“I don’t want anyone to know.” She flicked my hands away, but I gathered her fingers back up.
“Look at me.” I squeezed her hands until her green eyes finally connected with mine. “Whatever you tell me now will not leave this room. I promise.”
She weighed me up, soaking in my words and trying to decide if she could trust me.
“I don’t even know you,” she whispered.
I sighed. “Look, I know I’m total crap at keeping a bedroom tidy, but I’m nice and I know you’ll feel better if you tell me. Maybe I can even help you.”
“You can’t help me. No one can.” She sucked in a breath.
“How do you know that if you don’t tell anyone?”
She bit the inside of her cheek, her fingers trembling within my grasp.
Her pinched expression began to crumple and eventually she huffed.
“Okay, fine.” She wriggled her hands free of mine and ran shaky fingers through her thick, dark hair. “At the first study group, Prof. H pulled me aside afterward and he was really flirty. At first I thought he was just trying to be charming, but then it got kind of...I don’t know, creepy.” She sighed, her shoulders slumping. “Before Scott and I got together, I—” Her skin paled and she swallowed. “I slept around and…” Her lips pinched together, her nostrils flaring. A quivering breath left her lips and she finally whispered, “My reputation got me into trouble. This one sick, asshole played me and tried to…” She covered her mouth, obviously reliving it. “If Scott hadn’t turned up when he did, I don’t know if I would have survived what that sadist had planned.” She shook her head, tears trickling out of her eyes. “Anyway, when I was talking to the professor, I picked up that same vibe. I brushed off those warning bells last time, I wasn’t about to do it again. I told him I had the world’s best boyfriend and I wasn’t interested in anything more than studying.” Piper’s lips wobbled. “He was really good about it and apologized and said he was taken with my beauty. He seemed really genuine and embarrassed by what he’d said and implied, so I thought it was all okay. I decided to give study group one more shot. If he made any more comments or gave me anymore looks, I’d quit.”
Piper ran the back of her fingers under her trembling chin.
“So, what happened the next time?”
She shook her head, more tears streaming. “They drugged me.” She sniffed. “Cameron was handing out this herbal tea that he said was really good for concentration. It had ginseng in it or something. It was so good and he kept offering me refills. He must have been re-filling it when I wasn’t looking, as well. I think I had three or four cups, maybe more and I just...I don’t remember.”
My insides ran cold.
“I woke up in the study room, on the couch. Cameron was tittering, that stupid laugh of his, I hate it! He’s such a freak...and a jerk...and an asshole!” She squeezed her eyes shut. “He said I’d dozed off and snored my way through the end of study group. Everyone else had left and Prof. H asked him to stay with me until I woke up.”
“How did you feel when you woke up?”
“Like shit. I had the world’s worst headache. I came straight back here and went to bed. I didn’t even think to look at the time.”
“How long had you been at study group?”
“I don’t know!” she wailed and shot out of her seat, nearly knocking me to the floor. Stalking to the door, she hid her face in her hands, her body wracked with sobs as she knelt down.
“Piper, what is it?” I stepped up behind her and gently touched her shoulder. She flinched then used her sleeve to wipe away the tears—so unlike her. Mascara marked her pristine white shirt as she crawled past me and dug out a manila folder from beneath her bed.
She held it out to me with trembling hands.
I didn’t want to take it. The expression on her face had me petrified to look inside. Pinching it between my thumb and forefinger, I carefully opened it and pulled out a stack of A4 images.
“Oh, shit.” I flicked through image after image of Piper lying on the couch, her shirt undone. Cameron was half-lying on top of her, kissing her mou
th, clutching handfuls of her hair and pulling her head back so he could gain easy access to her neck. His hands were on her breasts, running down her body...followed by his tongue. “Do you think...?”
“No.” Piper shook her head. “I had my period that day. It wouldn’t have happened. And I just—I don’t know, I know. You know what I mean? I just...I know he didn’t go that far.”
It was a relief to hear, but it still didn’t take away the sick bile roiling in my stomach.
“It gets worse, Caitlyn. Look at my face in those images.”
I held them a little closer and felt my heart sink. She was into it. She wasn’t unconscious at all, just drugged and hallucinating. There was a dopey smile on her lips; her glazed eyes were beaming.
I slammed the pictures down on her bed. “He can’t get away with this.”
“Yes, he can. Professor Hoffman handed them to me after class yesterday and gave me this creepy smile. I didn’t even know what was in the envelope and I nearly died when I opened it.”
“Did he say anything when he handed it to you?”
“He said that if I’m smart, I’ll let him have a turn and if I’m not, he’ll get these printed in the college paper.” Piper slowly rose from the floor. “I have nothing to stand on, Caity. If he shows these to anyone, what proof do I have? I had frickin’ ginseng tea!”
“Cameron must have drugged it.”
“I have no proof of that!” She sucked in a breath. “What if he shows them to Scott?” Her lips stretched tight as she let out another painful sob and covered her mouth, dropping to her bed like a rag doll.
“Have you had any other communication from him since these?” I pointed at the pictures scattered over her bed.
She snatched a tissue off her nightstand and mopped her face dry.
“Yeah,” Piper sighed. Rising from her bed, she pulled out two assignments from under her textbooks. “These were under my door this afternoon.” She held out two copies of her latest Psychology 101 assignment. One had a big F marring the entire first page and the other had an A+ neatly written in the corner. I reached for the attached note Piper held out.
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