It’s probably just another text from Becca.
As likely as that was, curiosity got the better of me and I unlocked the screen. There was another message from Becca but underneath that, three tiny letters, was a message from Caden.
Hey.
Hey. That was it?! I’d waited three days for a hey. Grumbling to myself, I typed the same thing back and pressed send, forcing myself to turn back to my computer screen, trying to ignore the sudden spike in my heart rate. Only seconds later my phone buzzed again and I pounced on it.
Did you want to come over? I might have found something more about Eli.
I tried to type slowly but my fingers flew across the keys. I was only replying because I wanted whatever he had on Eli. Nothing else. No awkward shoulder hugs. Nope.
A couple of seconds later I was shoving my laptop in my bag and walking out my door, glad that I’d at least changed my shirt. The drive over to the university campus seemed to take an age as I caught, it seemed, every red light in existence. I’d almost chewed through my lip by the time I parked and started the walk to Block 18. Caden was sat on the bench I’d been sat on the first time we’d met, and he smiled when he saw me, getting up.
“Hey.” There was that word again. I was beginning to hate it.
“Hi…” We walked the rest of the way to his block together in awkward silence. It seemed strange that I’d only walked up these stairs for the first time a little over a week ago. When we reached his room, I sat on his desk chair instead of Eli’s bed. I don’t know why. He lounged on his bed again and the room descended into an awkward silence. I looked at my lap.
Say something. Anything. This is so awkward.
Eventually Caden cleared his throat and my eyes snapped up to meet his so fast I almost gave myself whiplash.
“So, I found something this weekend. I was going through Eli’s side of the room, in case the police missed anything, and I found this.” He held out another folded sheet of paper. I took it, holding the paper gingerly before unfolding it. My eyes widened at the words imprinted across the paper.
‘Genetics Advancement Institute’
It’s the same as the paper I found in the warehouse.
This was more than just a piece of headed paper though; I started reading:
Dear Elliott Farrow,
My name is Amelie Starling and I am the Head of Administration at the Genetics Advancement Institute. We are a relatively small company and, due to the nature of our research, have kept ourselves out of the public eye. However, we have recently been made aware of your research and we would like to discuss it with you. We are very interested in the hypothesis you have been assembling and would like to offer you a place to advance your study with us here at GAI. Please find attached some more information about our company and the place we are offering you. We hope to hear from you soon.
Yours Sincerely,
Amelie Starling
I put the piece of paper down on Caden’s desk, my mind racing. GAI had offered Eli a place at their company. Had he said no? Is that why they’d kidnapped him? I was willing to bet that the email they’d sent was another attempt to get him to respond. That’s probably why he was so cagey about it, especially if he wasn’t sure what to do about it. I could see Caden watching me and I knew my face had probably revealed too much,
“Did you read it?” I asked him in a small voice. He nodded curtly,
“I was shocked to learn of something called the Genetics Advancement Institute even existing but judging by your lack of confusion, I don’t think I can say the same for you.” I looked away, aware that I appeared even more guilty but in reality, I was. I hadn’t told him.
“I’m sorry. I’d only just met you, I didn’t know if I could trust you with everything that I’d found out.” His mouth tightened and I felt even worse, “I know that I can trust you now.” He let out a snort,
“Oh, so it only took me risking my life twice to convince you. I’m so glad.” The words dripped with sarcasm and I felt my heart drop a little. I took a breath and tried again,
“Look, Caden, I’m really sorry. I’d made up my mind to tell you today but then you showed me that before I could. I know it will be difficult to believe me now, but I promise you, I was going to tell you what I know. Please don’t hate me.” I hated me.
Why do I care what Eli’s roommate thinks of me? I shouldn’t… And, when did I stop thinking of Caden as Eli’s roommate?
He stared at me for a couple more seconds, arms crossed but then his face softened, and a hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
“Weirdly, I do believe you were going to tell me.” He stood up, crowding the space in front of me. I pushed myself up out of the chair, my head only reaching his shoulders, wary of what was coming next.
Before I could say anything else, he was hugging me, my face pressed against the soft cotton of his shirt. I breathed in, enjoying the smell of his clothes. He smelt like the woodland after heavy rain. I relaxed into the hug, my arms linking around his waist, trying to ignore the thrill that ran through my veins as my arm lifted his t-shirt and brushed against the warm skin of his hip.
After what felt like no time at all, Caden pulled back, snapping my pine-trees-and-hormones haze. Reluctantly, I craned my head up, immediately wishing I hadn’t. His eyes bored into mine with an intensity that made every part of me blush. “I can see now why Eli was so protective of you. You’re very easy to like.” He murmured, voice husky as he stared down at me, a half-smile pulling one side of his mouth up. My brain wouldn’t let my mouth form words, the racing of my heart competing with the racing of thoughts that threatened to overwhelm me.
The room around us seemed to suspend in time as I tried to regain control of my own body and form some kind of comment. I didn’t get chance. Something changed in his eyes, something like hunger. Less than a breath later, his lips were on mine, soft and teasing. I kissed him back, dimly wondering at the back of my mind how I had ended up in this situation. I couldn’t really concentrate on that right now, not when he tasted of vanilla and cinnamon and when the feel of his mouth against mine was sending a fever dream of fireworks through my blood. Every part of me felt as if it was about to burst into flames and I didn’t care. I wanted to, if it meant this moment could continue.
Far too soon, he stepped backwards, breaking the kiss and I blinked after him, my brain apparently having short-circuited. His grin threatened to split his face in two, eyes creasing at the corners, the grey sparkling like a winter ocean.
Okay, now is the part where you say something. Literally anything. Even blinking would be preferable to staring at him like a rabbit in the headlights. Come ON.
He chuckled, the sound breaking the heavy silence, and flopped back down on his bed. I (finally) regained control of my own body and forced myself to sit back in the desk chair, hoping my face wasn’t as red as it felt. I think it probably was. I could tell he was enjoying this way too much, running a hand through his hair, the muscles in his forearm jumping as he did so.
The arms that were around you just a minute ago… Focus Ari.
Shutting the flytrap my mouth had become and pulling my brain out of the gutter it had fallen into, I shifted my attention back towards the letter on the desk and slowly the shock from the kiss wore away, replaced now by excitement from this new information.
“So…” his voice, still a little husky before he cleared his throat, sent a tingle across my arms, “Are you gonna fill me in?” I nodded, psyching myself up.
“A few days ago, I had some flashbacks to memories with Eli. In one of those memories, Eli received an email from GAI.” Caden’s eyebrows rose but he didn’t interrupt, “He was really cagey about it and wouldn’t let me see the rest of the email. When I tried, he deleted the email entirely. That was only a couple of months before he disappeared, and I figured that email wouldn’t be the first piece of correspondence he’d had. That’s why I contacted you because the most likely place he would have received it w
ould have been at uni and he would have probably waited until he was in his room to open it-”
“So, it made sense that I might have heard or seen something…” Caden finished. I nodded and continued,
“Obviously you hadn’t but when you mentioned his notebooks, I really hoped they might say something and then you found that address. Whilst we were there… whilst we were there, I found more than just needle. I also found a stack of papers with articles on embryo’s and stem cell research, the same stuff as in Eli’s journal and one of the papers was on the same GAI headed paper. There was also…” I shuddered at the memory, “a dead rat in a cage in that room. It had scales and feathers, like it had been experimented on, and there was a lot of dried blood.” Caden shuddered as I described the room. “I don’t know what it means, or if there is anything that can lead us to Eli, but that’s what I found and that’s what I didn’t tell you. I am really sorry.” I smiled hopefully at him, relieved when he offered a tentative smile in return, although he looked a little pale.
“I can understand why you didn’t tell me, I was just a bit hurt, I guess. I’d kind of…” as he trailed off, my thumping heart filled the silence. “Well, I like you Ari and I thought you felt the same way but when I found out you kept that from me, I thought you thought of me as just a means to an end. My fragile masculinity was a tad dented.” I laughed, enjoying the warm feeling that was spreading across my body. Given the kiss, and my reaction to it, I couldn’t exactly pretend I didn’t like him. We grinned at each other like idiots for a few more seconds, the room lapsing into a comfortable silence. Then, something flitted across Caden’s face and he frowned, looking behind me to the beige of Eli’s side of the room.
“What?” Hopefully this wasn’t where he told me he could see dead people. If that was the case, I was out of here. Good kiss or not. He considered me for a couple of seconds,
“What do we do now? I mean, we know that GAI are the key but, unless you’re keeping more intel from me,” he winked, “We don’t have any idea where they are or what to do next to find Eli.”
I’d been thinking the same thing the entire weekend.
“The only thing I can think of is going back to the building in the industrial estate and seeing if there’s any more information there about where they might have moved their lab to? We could go tonight.” I picked at the fading upholstery of the desk chair, pulling the now-grey threading as I waited for him to answer.
“Sure.” Risking a glance, I was relieved to see him smiling, “I’ll meet you at the Coffee Cup this time? That way it won’t look weird that you drive off with a strange man two nights in a row. I’m sure the curtain-twitchers are still abuzz with gossip from the last time.” So, he’d noticed. The joys of living in a neighbourhood where everyone knew everyone.
“Are you gonna be okay dealing with my tin can of a car?”
“I’ll have to manage. After all the owner of the tin can is very pretty, so that’s a bonus.” He followed up, with another contagious grin and a wink. I could feel the blush that I’d just managed to get under control creeping back up my neck and my ears, so I pulled my hair in front of my face, standing abruptly before I embarrassed myself any further. The bed sheets rustled as Caden stood up but I kept my focus on the door.
“Okay, so I’ll see you tonight? About 8?” The words rushed out of my mouth, garbled as I attempted to leave before I made any more of a fool of myself.
“Yeah sure-” I slipped out of the door before he could flash me another grin. I was definitely feeling embarrassed. It was like my brain no longer knew how to act around him now that I’d decided to trust him.
The door shut behind me and I breathed a sigh of relief, my shoulders relaxing. Shifting my backpack so it was more comfortable on my shoulders, I started making my way down the stairs, feet thudding on the worn-out carpet.
I should probably reply to Becca.
My hand went to my pocket to grab my phone, only to be met with the coarse material of my jeans. As realisation dawned, I let out a groan and spun around on the stairs.
Right. Act normal. Or less weird. Okay.
Back outside of Caden’s room, I stopped. His voice filtered through the door, talking to someone so I paused, hand falling back down to my side. Content to wait until he was done, I leant against the wall and tried not to listen until I heard my name come up. My stomach filled with butterflies.
“No, I know this wasn’t the plan but it’s how it’s happened. Yes, I’m being careful. No, I don’t think she knows.” Knows what? Who was he talking to? “She didn’t even question the letter and the address. She has no idea I planted them. Don’t worry, she won’t be finding Eli any time soon.”
The worn-out carpet beneath my feet was suddenly a lot closer. I blinked at the floor, realising my legs had given out. My stomach felt like a chunk of lead, all the butterflies crushed into dust and the heat in my face swept away as numbness hit. It didn’t take much to put the pieces together and realise what he was talking about.
Caden worked for GAI.
“I’m not going to be able to get out as early as I thought though. Yeah. I know. Look, I’ll do my best here and wrap it up in time to meet you guys in Kincraig.” Kincraig? I filed that away. Right now, I had bigger problems. Like the anger that was coiling in my chest; I tried to ignore it, tried to shut off the emotions that pressed in from all sides. I could use this information to my advantage. Unbidden, the kiss from only minutes before flashed into my head, the words he’d whispered.
That bastard.
Yeah, okay, I couldn’t ignore all the anger. I was pissed. He’d manipulated me into thinking I could trust him; worse he’d made me actually like him. The kiss had likely been a way to seal the deal; take advantage of the desperate girl with the missing brother that he…that he probably had something to do with. I suppressed a scream as my anger spiked, the coils curling deep and needling into my blood. I couldn’t believe I’d let myself fall for it; Jake had said he looked like trouble and he’d been more right than he realised.
My nails dug into my palms, indenting half-moons as I scrambled for a solution. At the moment, he was leaking information to them, so anything else I had, any other intel had to be kept to myself. I wasn’t even sure if what I’d seen at the industrial estate was real. He’d looked shocked but he was clearly a good actor. First things first, I had to get my phone back. I definitely didn’t want to leave him alone with it now. What if he’d already bugged it?
The room behind the door was silent again, phone call now finished so I took a deep breath, pasted a smile on my face, tamped down the rage and stabbing hurt and knocked. There was surprised shuffling from behind the door and seconds later his head poked out. A frown crossed his features as he realised who it was, and I could almost see him wondering if I’d heard, but he quickly returned my smile and stepped back.
“Back for more?” he teased. I raised an eyebrow at him.
You have no idea.
“Missing my phone. Figured I must have left it on the desk. Is it there?” My voice was even, unwavering, even though I felt like screaming at him and I was proud of myself for that. Luckily it didn’t seem like he suspected I’d heard him.
Probably because any sane person would be screaming at him. Or running in the opposite direction.
The door swung open as he wandered over to his desk and returned seconds later with my phone in his hand. I held out my palm for it, resisting the urge to flinch as our hands touched. It’s amazing what back-stabbing betrayal can do for… whatever we had been doing. His fingers stayed touching mine for a couple of seconds as he flashed me another grin and I made myself grin back, gritting my teeth against a wave of nausea. In my mind I was already down the stairs and out the door.
“I’ll see you tonight.” The wink that followed, that minutes before would have probably caused another blush, now made my skin crawl. Nodding, I grabbed my phone and turned on my heel, escaping to the comfort of the white-painted hallway. Even
the stairs seemed appealing, the grey-specked carpet a welcome sight as I rounded the corner. By the time I’d trekked across campus, the groups of people fading into the background, and made it back to my car, I was close to crying. It wasn’t because I was sad; I was hurt, yeah. I’d given my first kiss, my first proper feelings to an arsehole. But more than the hurt, I was fuming mad, but short of turning back and punching him, I couldn’t do much else.
Or can I?
On the phone he’d mentioned joining them in Kincraig. I didn’t know exactly where that was, but I could find out. If I prevented that, that would no doubt cause some issues. I wasn’t going to kill him, obviously, but detaining by imprisonment seemed like a good way to go. Revenge for the broken hearted and all that. A smile began to spread across my face as a plan formed in my head. I had the advantage of surprise; he had no idea I knew he was working for GAI. Plus, we were heading to an abandoned industrial estate building. I’d need to stop at B&Q. With a chuckle, I reversed out of the parking space and headed back towards town.
Under Loch and Key Page 8