Graduating (Covenant College Book 5)

by Amanda M. Lee

  “So was Mark, and that didn’t stop you from going after him,” Kate said.

  “That was an accident,” Paris said. “I didn’t go after him. It just happened. You’re going after Aric. There’s a difference.”

  “I’m not going after Aric,” Kate said. “He’s just the kind of guy I’d like to go after.”

  “Well, find someone just like him then,” I said. “I don’t want you fawning all over him anymore. I don’t like it.”

  “Maybe you’re just worried that Aric will like me better,” Kate challenged.

  “Kate, you have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said. “Even if Aric and I weren’t together, you would never be his type.”

  “And what makes you say that?”

  “You want to be his type,” I said. “That immediately puts you out of the running.”

  Kate made a face. “Maybe we should just agree to disagree,” she said. “I promise to stay away from your boyfriend, because I know it makes you insecure. Why would I even bother? He’s out of here in a few months. So are you.”

  “This is true,” I said. “Let’s just try and keep things civil, if not friendly. It will make the next four months more tolerable.”

  “Fine.”

  “Great.”

  “Well, I guess I’ll go to my room and be civil,” Kate said, getting to her feet. “I’ll leave you three to … whatever it is you were doing.”

  “Bye,” Kelsey called out brightly.

  Paris and I had the good grace to tamp down our laughter until we were sure she was out of earshot.

  Twenty-Two

  As I started my final semester at Covenant College, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic. Sure, a lot of terrible things had happened here, but a lot of good things had happened, too.

  This was where I met Paris and Kelsey, and realized what real friendship was. This was where I met Rafael, and learned exactly how annoying I really was. This was where I met Aric, and finally felt like I “fit” with another person.

  Of course, this was also where two of my roommates had tried to kill me, a freaky professor had tried to take over, and where a sphinx had hunted me in the woods. Hey, nothing is perfect.

  Life is full of crossroads, and I was approaching a big one. The problem was, I couldn’t look down the road until I’d finished traversing this one. I had a feeling there was at least one more Covenant College mystery that had to be solved – and I couldn’t leave until I knew who (or what) had killed those students.

  And I couldn’t leave knowing that Professor Blake was still in a position of power. That was a more recent realization, but it was just as poignant. Blake was equally as dangerous as whatever monster had committed mass murder, merely in a different way.

  As far as my classes went, it was a hodgepodge of credits to fulfill my graduation requirements. I had two journalism classes, photography and cultural events, one creative writing class, one lame sociology class, and a walking class. Yes, walking. I had three credits to make up, and walking seemed like the absolute easiest way to do it.

  My first class of the day was photography, and my biggest relief was to see an unfamiliar professor standing in front of the room. Obviously Blake had received my warning. If he showed up in my cultural events class, I was going to have an absolute fit, though.

  I settled into one of the open seats, looking up briefly when someone slipped into the one next to me. It was Mark’s face staring back at me. Uh-oh.

  “Oh, hey.”

  “Hey.”

  “Um, how was your break?”

  “Horrible,” Mark said. “How was yours?”

  “I had a good time,” I said. “I was in Lansing.”

  Mark seemed surprised by my admission. “Did you spend Christmas with Aric?”

  “I did.”

  “And the senator?”

  “He was there,” I said.

  “How was he?” Mark asked, curious.

  “What do you mean?”

  “He’s a big deal,” Mark said. “It’s got to be intimidating to meet him.”

  “He’s actually pretty great,” I said after thinking for a moment. “He’s a lot like Aric. They have the same sense of humor. He’s more serious, but he’s pretty nice.”

  “That’s cool.”

  The professor, who introduced himself as Luke Dawson, went through the basic introduction to the class and then paired everyone up, ultimately lumping Mark and me together. He told us to go over our equipment, talk about ideas, and then planted himself in his chair and pretended he didn’t want to be somewhere else. If I had to guess, he was nursing one heck of hangover. I guess his New Year’s celebration had gone on for a few days.

  Left to our own devices, Mark and I played with the cameras and made small talk for a few minutes. Then, finally, he asked the question I knew was coming.

  “How is Paris?”

  “She’s good,” I said. “She’s busy with classes. It’s our last semester. You know how that goes.”

  “Um, how is Heather?”

  I smiled sympathetically. “I have no idea,” I said. “She hadn’t shown up by the time I went to bed last night. Maybe she’s staying somewhere else? She was really upset about the whole situation.”

  “I don’t blame her,” Mark said. “I feel really guilty. I never thought of myself as a cheater.”

  “Then why did you do it?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “We were just talking at first. We hadn’t talked in a long time. After she dumped me, well, she just kind of forgot that I existed. Then I saw her with that other guy, that big dude from the bar, and I knew she’d moved on and figured I should do the same.”

  “Did you really not know that Heather was our roommate?”

  “I had no idea,” Mark said. “She just didn’t seem like the sort of person who you guys would hang around with. I thought I was safe.”

  “You thought you were safe?”

  “That’s probably the wrong way to put it,” Mark admitted. “It’s more like I didn’t think I was in any danger. I know the girl rules. I wouldn’t have done it if I knew. Trust me.”

  “So, why did you stay?”

  “Because, if I left, I would have been the ass who slept with the girl and then took off the next day never to be heard from again,” Mark said. “I didn’t want to be that guy. And, the longer it went on, the harder it was to get away. It was just an impossible situation.”

  “I get that,” I said. “College is full of hard situations. It’s annoying and ridiculous. Still, there had to be a better way to handle things than the way you did.”

  “I’m telling you, it was an accident,” Mark said. “We were just talking. We had a few beers. Yeah, we were drunk, but we weren’t that drunk. The next thing I remember, and I still don’t know how this happened, we were kissing. And, well, then we were doing more than kissing.”

  “What did you think, you know, when it was over?”

  “I thought that I had to get out of that house,” Mark said. “I wanted to get out without Heather finding out.”

  “Were you just going to go on like it never happened? Because that wouldn’t have been fair to her.”

  “No,” Mark said. “I planned on breaking up with her. Hell, I planned on breaking up with her before I slept with Paris. I just didn’t want to do it before Christmas. I thought that would be too much of a douche move.”

  “It would have been a douche move,” I agreed. “I think it was even more of a douche move to sleep with her roommate.”

  “Oh, yeah, there’s no doubt about that.”

  “So, now what?”

  “Now? I don’t know,” Mark said. “I want to talk to Paris, but she won’t accept my calls. I’m thinking of trying to find her on campus.”

  “Yeah, don’t do that,” I said. “If she sees you, she says she’s going to run and hide. She’s really embarrassed and confused.”

  “She should join the club.”

  “Just give it time,
Mark.”

  “Do you think that will work?”

  “Are you asking me if I think you and Paris will get back together?”

  “Maybe.”

  I hesitated. “Mark, a lot has happened between all of us,” I said, keeping my voice low. “I know you say you’re done with the Academy, but you were still there that night, and you didn’t do anything to try and stop it.

  I held up my hand to stop the argument that I was sure was coming. “I know you were scared. I was scared, too. You didn’t do the right thing. Paris knows that. I’m not sure you can ever fix that.”

  “What if I really want to?” Mark’s face was hopeful.

  “Then you’re going to have to figure out how to do it on your own,” I said. “I can’t be a part of it.”

  “You’re not still worried that I’m a threat, are you?”

  “No,” I said, and I almost meant it. Almost. “I just think some things can’t be forgiven, or forgotten.”

  “And this?”

  “Just give it time,” I said. “I’m a big believer that things will work out the way they’re supposed to. You have to give it time, though. There’s nothing else you can do.”

  Twenty-Three

  “What is that pounding?”

  “My head.”

  It was Saturday morning, and Aric and I had both imbibed a little more than was necessary the night before. It was so cold outside, it seemed like a great idea to warm up with some whiskey and a few friends. I was regretting that decision now.

  Aric rolled over, fixing me with a look as he rubbed his forehead. “Are you going to get the front door?”

  “I was still trying to figure out what it was,” I admitted, climbing out of bed. I moved toward the door, pushing my sleep-tousled hair out of my face.

  “Zoe?”

  “Hmm.”

  “Do you think clothes might help?”

  I glanced down, realizing I was still naked from the night before. “Huh. Yeah.” I reached down, rummaging through the discarded clothes, and coming up with a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt. I didn’t bother with a bra. Once I killed whoever was pounding on the door, I planned on downing a bottle of aspirin and crawling right back into bed.

  “I’m coming,” I grumbled when the knocking on the door started again. “Jeez.”

  The two faces staring at me on the other side threw me for a loop. They were both cops, but I only recognized one of them. “Detective Perkins.”

  “Ms. Lake,” he greeted me, his expression stern. “I was beginning to think you were purposely ignoring me.”

  “I think my hangover was the one trying to ignore you,” I said. “What do you want?”

  “I need to talk to you. Can we come in?”

  I wasn’t sure what to do. I glanced over my shoulder, making sure there wasn’t anything incriminating in the living room. A few of Tally’s friends had been smoking pot the night before, but nothing was sitting out in the open, and then shrugged as I opened the door wider. “I guess.”

  Perkins and his partner glanced around the room, taking in the half-empty cups and beer cans littered about. “Late night?”

  “It was Friday,” I said.

  “So.”

  “It was Friday on a college campus,” I said. “What did you think we were doing, conducting a prayer circle?”

  Perkins made a face. “Well, Ms. Lake, we have a few more questions for you.”

  “Weren’t you told to contact my lawyer Mr. ... Sheldon whatever-his-name-is?”

  “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that,” Perkins said. “Something important has come up, but we would like to ask you a few questions instead of officially dragging you downtown.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”

  “What’s going on?” Aric was standing in the archway between my bedroom and the living room. He’d pulled on a pair of boxer shorts, but he didn’t seem embarrassed by his lack of clothing.

  “The detective has a few questions,” I said.

  “I told you to go through her attorney,” Aric said, striding into the room.

  “Mr. Winters, I understand you’re protective of Ms. Lake,” Perkins said. “It’s obvious the two of you are very close.”

  Aric raised a confrontational eyebrow. “So?”

  “Something has come up in our investigation, and we have a few more questions for Ms. Lake. If you’d prefer, we can drag her down to the station for questions and make a big deal about it. I would imagine that you – and especially your father – would prefer we handle it this way.”

  Aric made a face. “Do you think that’s going to work on me?”

  “It’s your choice.”

  “Aric, it’s fine,” I said, sinking down onto the couch and rubbing my forehead. “Let’s just get it over with. I feel like I’m dying.”

  Aric glanced at me, his face unreadable. “Just stay here for a second,” he said. “I’m going to get the aspirin and some water. Don’t ask her anything until I get back.”

  The cops watched Aric leave, sitting on the other couch with their hands in their laps.

  “This is a nice place,” Perkins said finally. “Especially compared to other houses around here. This place is big, and well taken care of.”

  “Yeah, we were lucky to find it.”

  “How many people live here?”

  “Seven,” I said, not bothering to explain about the Heather situation. She still hadn’t shown up, but I didn’t think telling the cops investigating me for mass murder that I had another missing roommate was a good idea.

  “And there are seven bedrooms?”

  “Three on the main floor, four on the second floor.”

  Aric returned to the room, two bottles of water in his hand. “I thought I told you not to question her until I came back.”

  “They were just asking about the house,” I replied, accepting the water from Aric.

  He opened the bottle of aspirin and tipped two into the palm of my hand. After regarding me for another second, he added another two. “If your head hurts half as much as mine does, you’re going to want more.”

  I swallowed the four aspirin without complaint, sucking down the entire bottle of water in an attempt to quench my thirst, and then turned to Perkins. “Go.”

  Perkins reached into his pocket and pulled out a small baggie, handing it over to me. “Does that look familiar to you?”

  Aric peered over my shoulder as I looked over the contents of the bag. It was a silver necklace with a moon charm. It looked almost exactly like the one Aric had gotten me for Christmas two years before.

  I glanced at Aric, unsure. “It’s a necklace,” I said finally.

  “Do you know who that necklace belongs to?”

  “No.”

  “Well, we received a tip that it was your necklace,” Perkins said.

  “Well, it’s not,” I said, handing it back.

  “What does this necklace have to do with anything?” Aric asked.

  “It was found clutched in the hand of one of the victims found outside of the library,” Perkins said.

  “Uh-huh. And someone just called in an anonymous tip and told you it was Zoe’s?”

  “We received a tip that Ms. Lake had an identical necklace,” Perkins said. “We’re just trying to rule her out as a suspect.”

  “Is that why you have people parked outside of the house all of the time?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “What about the two guys who followed us to my parents’ house in Lansing over Christmas?” Aric pressed.

  Perkins shifted uncomfortably. “I … .”

  “Don’t bother lying,” Aric said. “My dad called and confirmed their identities with the department. There are certain safety concerns associated with strange men parking outside of a senator’s house for two straight weeks.”

  I knew that was a lie. Aric was playing with them.

  “Ms. Lake is a suspect in a murder investigation,” Perkins sa
id. “If it’s any consolation, the only report we got back is that you two seemed to enjoy your Christmas.”

  Aric grinned. “We did.”

  “Back to the necklace,” Perkins said. “How can you be sure that this isn’t yours?”

  “Because her necklace has an engraving,” Aric answered for me.

  “And how do you know that?”

  “Because it was my Christmas gift to her two years ago,” Aric said. “I’m the one who had it engraved.”

  “And what is the engraving?”

  “It’s our initials with a small heart,” Aric replied.

  “You had it engraved with your initials and a heart?” The other cop finally spoke, a haughty smile on his face.

  “Yep.”

  “Well, can we see this necklace?” Perkins asked.

  I shrugged, getting to my feet. “It’s in the bedroom.”

  Perkins made a move like he was going to follow me, but Aric shook his head. “No offense, but I’m not fond of the idea of another man in my girlfriend’s bedroom. It’s right there. She’ll leave the bedroom door open. You can stay out here.”

  Perkins frowned but remained seated.

  I found the necklace where I’d placed it the night before, on top of the mini refrigerator next to the bed. I returned to the living room and handed it over to Perkins.

  He studied it for a moment, comparing it to the necklace in the bag. “They’re not exactly alike.”

  “No,” Aric agreed. “I had hers specially made by a guy I know in Lansing. My dad goes to him for special jewelry for my mother.”

  “I didn’t know that,” I said. “You had it specially made?”

  “I wanted it to be unique,” Aric said. “I didn’t want you to have something that a bunch of other people had, too.”

  “And can this jewelry guy confirm that he made this piece for you – and engraved it?” Perkins pressed.

  “He can. His name is Michael Pacey. His store is located on Front Street. I don’t know the number right now, but I’m sure you can look it up. We’ll sit here if you want to call and confirm it – just so you can make sure that we’re not lying.”

  “I’m sure that won’t be necessary,” Perkins said.

  “I think it is,” Aric said. “I don’t want any mistakes. I don’t want anyone coming back after the fact and accusing us of calling Pacey to create an alibi.”