"It's not your fault."
"In a way it is. I should have done something about Drake a long time ago. He's ruined too many people's lives."
"I think I'm gonna go back to mine. Get an early night."
"Want me to drive?"
I shook my head. "I just need some time to sort through things."
He looked as if he wanted to say something then just nodded.
"I'll walk you to your car."
I took the steps of the staircase two at a time. At the bottom of the stairs, Charity had both arms around Harry. Their lips were locked in a passionate kiss.
I fought back a wave of jealousy and brushed by them on my way to the door. As I reached the front door I heard Charity shout, "Going so soon Robyn? The party’s only just started."
I slammed their door behind me and ran to the sanctuary of Rust Bucket.
It was time to find out all their secrets.
Mai's apartment was empty when I got back. I opened my laptop and inserted Charity's thumb drive.
A video popped up on my screen.
A woman was half naked and kneeling in front of a man in an office that seemed somehow familiar. The camera zoomed in on their faces. The woman was Penny Pine. The man, J.C. Thruster.
So they were having an affair. But that led to the question, if J.C. Thruster was being blackmailed because of this video then why had he instructed me to investigate the Knights of Kimberley?
Or had he? I remembered how little technical knowledge he had the day he asked me to send a fax. And yet he had supposedly emailed me with instructions for my assignment. Unless it wasn't him?
I needed to pay Penny Pine a visit in the morning.
I inserted Virtue's thumb drive into the laptop. A video popped up on screen. The camera was filming with a green night vision filter. The scene was of woodland.
The body of a woman lay on the shore of the lake. A shadow in the moonlight fell across her. J.C. Thruster was unmistakable in the moonlight. Standing with an uncertain swaying motion, he stared at the body for a moment. He looked up abruptly and stared into the trees. Then he turned and staggered away into the darkness.
Clouds crossed the moon. The body disappeared into darkness.
Another shadow appeared. Someone with their back to the camera was walking towards the body. She knelt by the body, shook it by the shoulders, but there was no movement.
The woman then ran. A minute later a sports car reversed up to the body. The driver climbed out of the car, opened the trunk and spent a couple of minutes struggling to haul the body up into the trunk.
The camera zoomed upon the face of the dead woman. I recognized her. It was Madison.
I thought I was going to vomit, but swallowed hard.
Eventually, the woman driver successfully forced Madison's body into the trunk of the sports car. She slammed the lid and nervously glanced around.
She turned briefly towards the camera. Her face was clear for the first time.
The driver was Mai.
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
I ran to the bathroom and flipped up the lid of the toilet. I spent the next ten minutes on my hands and knees.
I heard a knock at the door. Mai called out: "Robyn, you OK?"
I hesitated. I needed time to process what I'd witnessed on the video. I reached up to the faucet and pulled myself up. I rinsed out my mouth and groaned, "I'm OK."
I was shocked at how hoarse I sounded.
"OK, babe. Brad's here. We're going to bed. Pop in if you want to talk. No need to knock."
My legs began to shake. I sank back down to the floor. I forced myself to sound normal. "OK. Thanks."
I let my face rest on the cool tiles. I drew my knees tight up to my chest and wrapped my arms around my knees. I put one hand over my mouth to muffle my sobs.
Half an hour later, with no more tears left to shed, I found enough strength in my legs to stand. I walked slowly down the corridor toward Mai's bedroom.
But, first I needed something from my bedroom. I walked on by. In my room I sent the video of Mai by blue-tooth to my tablet. I rummaged in my sock drawer and found my hand gun. I checked it was loaded and that the safety was on.
I walked back to Mai's bedroom.
I heard their now familiar sex noises. The door was partially open just like the time before. I stood in their doorway and watched their naked silhouettes gyrating and groaning in frenzied love making. For a moment I desperately wanted that kind of perfect intimacy, vulnerability and trust with someone and felt the familiar shameful feelings of lust and jealousy.
But this time it was different.
I stood there until Mai glanced up from Brad's embrace and let out a tiny shriek followed by a giggle. She was sprawled across Brad's body with his muscular arms wrapped around her breasts.
Breathlessly she exclaimed, "Oh, Robyn, you startled me."
She patted the bed. "Come sit with us. We can cuddle up and talk. Brad won't mind."
I took one small step toward them. I glanced at the tablet and hit the play button. I tossed the tablet onto the bed at Mai's feet.
In the moonlight Mai's eyes alighted on the gun in my hand. She sat bolt upright.
"Robyn, what the Hell are you doing with a gun?"
"I'm here to talk about what you did with Madison's body."
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
Mai pulled her knees up to her chest and nervously glanced at Brad.
"Robyn, I don't know what you're talking about."
I raised the Glock and aimed it at Mai.
"I saw the video."
"What video?"
"Lakeside. Night time. Sports car. Body. Trunk. Ring any bells?"
She picked up the tablet and watched the video. Her hands flew to her mouth. "Oh my God."
Brad sat up. "Mai, what's she talking about?"
Mai put her head in her hands and wept.
I thumbed the safety off. "Mai, I'm going to give you one chance to tell the truth. So listen carefully."
She raised her head from her hands and stared down the barrel.
"Mai, did you kill Madison?"
"No, no. It wasn't like that."
Brad pulled Mai around to face him. "Mai, what have you done? Tell me."
Mai sobbed. "It was all for you, Brad."
Brad’s eyes widened and he shook his head. "For me? What are you talking about?"
"I saw you and Jason Drake. Chasing Madison through the woods."
Brad shook his head. "Chasing her? I wasn't chasing her. I was trying to save her."
I aimed my gun at Brad.
Brad pushed Mai from him. He looked across to me.
"Robyn, I'm telling the truth. I was trying to save her from Jason Drake. I swear it. By the time I climbed down the waterfall, there was no sign of Madison."
Mai wailed. "Brad, I thought you killed her."
Brad took Mai by the shoulders. "Mai, how could you think I’d do such a thing?"
"I saw her running from you. I don’t know what I thought. I just wanted to protect you, Brad."
"Protect me?" he wrapped his arms around her tight and rocked her sobbing body back and forth. "Oh, Mai, you stupid fool. What have you done?"
I felt my arm shake from the weight of the gun.
"Mai, take me to Madison. Now."
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
Mai drove her sports car in silence as I sat next to her with the Glock 19 in my lap. Brad followed in his car. We took the lakeside road. After ten minutes Mai turned onto a dirt track. She killed the engine.
The sound of rushing water seemed a little way off.
I climbed out of the car and walked to the back.
"Pop the trunk."
The lid opened with a gentle sigh.
Inside the trunk I found a shovel. Taking the shovel I told Mai to lead the way.
Mai led with a flashlight. After five minutes we came to a clearing.
We were about halfway along the shoreline. Roughly equal distance betw
een Dean Everhardt's mansion house and the other even more impressive white stone pile opposite.
A helicopter landed on its front lawn.
Mai pointed out to it, "My uncle arriving from China."
"He lives there?"
"He owns all this land. Leases it to the college on very favorable terms."
"How much further, Mai?"
"We're here."
She knelt by a small pyramid of stones.
I turned to her. "You buried Madison here?"
She nodded.
"How deep?"
She shrugged. "I didn't have much time."
I thrust the shovel into the earth and began to dig. In the cold air it was hot, sweaty work. We took turns. After an hour I asked Mai how much deeper?
She shook her head. She grabbed the shovel from Brad and frantically dug.
Between sobs she gasped, "I don't understand, Robyn. I'm sure this is the right place."
I threw Brad a look of exasperation. He put his hands on Mai's shoulders and made eye contact.
"Mai, who else did you tell?"
She avoided his eyes. "No one."
His eyes narrowed. "I can tell when you're lying, Mai."
"He wouldn't have betrayed me."
"Who?"
"My uncle."
Brad ran his fingers through his hair. "Mai, of all the people you could have told about this, you had to tell Khan? What were you thinking?"
"Brad, I couldn't speak to you about it. I was trying to save you. Besides, Kublai is family. He must have thought moving Madison's body was for the best."
I wiped my sweating brow and spat into the disturbed earth. "Best for whom?"
I knelt by the open grave and looked up through the canopy of trees to the night sky. A shooting star arced across the sky.
Mai stopped sobbing and cleared her throat.
"Robyn, what are going to do now?"
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
We drove back to Mai's apartment in silence. It was almost midnight when we walked into the living room. I gazed out the windows at the sky full of stars as Mai drowned her self-pity in white wine. Brad paced up and down.
Mai slumped against the couch. Brad fetched her silver insulin box and gave her an injection.
"Mai, you got to remember to take the syringe wherever you go."
She nodded.
Eventually, I had collected my thoughts to begin to make sense of what I had to do next.
"We say nothing. We act like nothing unusual has happened tonight. That means not involving any family. Got that Mai?"
She nodded.
Brad stopped pacing. "I'll make sure she complies."
He sat down opposite Mai and took both her hands in his.
"Mai, we have to stop keeping secrets from each other. Agreed?"
She wiped her wet eyes and nodded. They kissed. She glanced over to me.
"She's more to you than just a story, isn't she?"
"What?"
"Madison. Who was she to you?"
"No one."
She shrugged. "Have it your way. But tell me this. How did you know?"
"I'm a journalist."
"You're a miracle worker. No one was supposed to find out. The only people who knew would never tell."
"I can't reveal my sources." But the truth was, Mai had hit on something. It had always been at the back of my mind. All these videos could have been made by Madison in person. But the last one. The one of her own burial?
She had to have had an accomplice. My money was on H.G. Harry Gunn.
Something else occurred to me. "Mai, I've been assuming all this time that Madison drowned or broke her neck in the fall. Did you examine the body?"
She avoided my eyes. "No."
Brad nudged her with his elbow.
She shrugged. "I swear I didn't examine the body. I didn't have to. It was obvious she'd been shot."
Brad looked at me. "I don't own a gun. Neither does Jason."
I wasn't willing to let Brad or Jason off the hook just yet.
"Shot in the back?"
Mai shook her head. "Between the eyes."
"So she knew her killer."
More than ever I was growing desperate to collect all the remaining missing pieces of Madison's secret journal.
I turned to Brad.
"Brad, I'm going to need your help with something important."
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
Shortly before midnight I made up my mind. It was time to start using the power of those secrets.
I called Penny Pine on her cell phone.
"I have a video of you and J.C. It's late at night in his office. You're both naked."
I didn't need to say any more than that. It was as if she'd been expecting the call. If not from me, then from someone.
Clinically, without emotion, Penny replied, "Midnight. The office. Come alone."
Something didn't feel right. But I wasn't entirely sure how this situation should feel.
She hung up. I turned to Mai and Brad.
"I have to go out."
I quickly changed out of Harry's joggers and into jeans and a t-shirt.
A few minutes late, I was outside running to the offices of the Kimberley Times. I turned the corner and found Penny Pine anxiously smoking a cigarette as she waited outside the office. She was shivering.
I asked her if we should go inside.
She replied she didn't have a key. She planned to phone J.C. when I arrived.
She took out her cell phone and hit speed dial.
As she waited for J.C. to pick up, she began explaining.
"My husband doesn't understand me like J.C. does. Promise me you won't tell my husband. He can be violent."
"I want to speak to J.C, first."
She nodded. "Is it money you want?"
"Information."
Her eyes narrowed.
"J.C's not answering his phone."
I shrugged. "His office window looks out to the courtyard out back, right?"
She nodded.
We ran around the far side of the building. Penny pointed out his window. It was broken. Shards of glass were strewn about the inside of the window as if it had been smashed from the outside.
Inside, J.C. was sat at his desk. Slumped forward with his head facing away from us. Penny shrieked.
I reached inside my jacket for the Glock.
Penny's eyes bulged. "What are you doing?"
I used the handle of the Glock to knock out the jagged pieces of glass that remained in the window frame. Reasonably confident I wouldn't slash my hands, I reached inside and hauled myself through the window.
Penny crawled through after me.
I ran to J.C. His head lay in a pool of blood. I carefully lifted his head off the desk. He had a gash across his forehead. He was still alive, but only just.
"J.C, tell me what you know about Madison?"
Penny protested. "This is hardly the time."
"You think this is a random, senseless attack? No. This is precisely the right time."
He was mouthing something, but I couldn't hear. I put my ear to his lips.
Penny gasped, "Darling, are you OK?"
I turned to her sharply and put one finger to my lips to silence her.
I put my ear to J.C's lips.
J.C. whispered, "I was there."
"Where?"
"I knew they’d be coming for her. I only had one drink to steady my nerves. I drove out there drunk."
"Drunk?"
"Did anyone follow you?"
"I think... maybe there was a cop car."
I swallowed hard. "Did you see who the officer was?"
"I fell asleep at the wheel. I was late to the rendezvous."
"Rendezvous? Out at the lake?"
"When I woke I found her body near the lake. I panicked."
He whimpered as tears fell into the pool of blood. "I abandoned Madison. She's dead because of me."
He stared across the room into the d
arkness. He shouted, "I told you I don't have anything."
"Who are you talking to?"
I followed his line of sight. A shadow stood in the office doorway. The silhouette of a hand gun aimed at J.C.
A shot rang out.
J.C. fell backwards over his chair. A second shot rang out.
Penny screamed and slumped to the floor.
I threw myself behind the desk. Next to me, J.C's dead eyes stared at me. I reached for my Glock and shouted.
"I have a gun."
I heard running footsteps. I dared to peek up over the desk top. The killer had vanished. I stood and ran. My feet tripped over something.
I fell and hit my head. I looked up and realized I'd fallen over Penny. I crawled to her.
"Penny?"
I felt for a pulse. She was dead. I felt bile rise up into my throat. I swallowed hard.
The sound of glass crunching under shoes made me spin around. I raised the Glock and aimed at a shadow walking toward me.
CHAPTER FORTY
"Robyn, it's me. Lower your gun."
I recognized that deep, male voice. "Harry?"
He stepped into the moonlight and I clearly saw his worried expression.
"What the Hell went down here? Are you hurt?"
I sat up. He helped me to my feet.
He moved his hands up and down my body. I brushed them away.
"I'm fine. What are you doing here, Harry?"
"I heard shots. And it’s my job to ask the questions. So what are you doing here?"
I avoided his intense stare. "J.C. had an assignment for me."
"At this time of night?"
I shrugged. "The world of journalism is twenty four seven."
He seemed unconvinced. He moved from Penny to J.C.
"Did you see the shooter?"
"No."
"Robyn has this anything to do with Madison?"
I reached for a desk lamp and flicked it on. I then let my eyes fall on the award shaped like a typewriter.
"It was his prized possession."
"Lot of good it'll do him now."
"I wonder..."
As Harry knelt over J.C, he called in the murders on his two-way radio.
I picked up the award and played with the keys. I typed out J.C's name. A small tray in the bottom, popped out. Inside was a familiar looking silver thumb drive with the symbol of the Knights of Kimberley.
Guilty Secrets (Campus Love and Murder Sorority Eyes Romance Book 1) Page 11