Callibet: Book 2 of The Bet Series

by Sienna Grant

  “First, let me say how sorry I am. I didn’t know what to do or how to act, and I had to detach. I know you think I was being a dick, but it was the only thing I could do.” I tried to move, but his grip was firm, and he held fast. “Please let me finish.”

  He waited, and I stared at him, chewing on my lip as I considered his request. “Okay. Go.”

  He smiled at me, but it didn’t quite meet his eyes. “There’s some stuff we need to talk to you about, but I need you to know, you’re not a suspect anymore.”

  “We?” I asked, and he swallowed again as he nodded. It made his Adam’s apple bob up and down in his throat.

  “Yeah, I… I mean the station.”

  “Ah, the collective we. So it’s not you telling me this as my ex, or as my friend or someone who cares about me, its Detective Farmer saying this. Okay, got it. You can go now. I’ve been duly informed.”

  “Callie, stop, please. Just listen to me.”

  “No. I’m done listening. I can’t do this right now.”

  “Please don’t do this, Calliebear.”

  His mouth hovered dangerously close to mine, and I could taste his breath. His fingers gently brushed away the tear that had fallen, and I knew in that moment that I needed some space from him. This hurt so much that I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t be near him for a while because he believed the very worst of me.

  “I need…” I began, wanting to move back, but my body was soaking up the comfort in his hold while my heart and head were screaming at each other.

  He moved closer and brushed my lip. “I’m sorry,” he muttered as he stepped back before our lips had a chance to lock. “You’re a witness in a case I’m on, so I can’t. As much as I want to kiss you, I can’t.”

  I wasn’t sure I even wanted him to kiss me. I wasn’t sure I wanted anything else from him ever again. How could I after what he’d put me through?

  “Chris, just go. Please. I can’t… it’s too much.”

  He nodded, and I pushed him away slightly with my good hand while I brought my braced wrist up and stepped back from him as his eyes lingered on it. Before he could say anything, my mobile started to ring, and he stepped back, walking from the room.

  His departure left me with a pounding heart and pain in my chest and my wrist.

  My mobile stopped ringing and then started again, but I took a minute before going over to it.

  It was a number I didn’t recognise, and I answered, thinking it might be Beth. She was a total klutz, so she might have dropped her phone in the pool or cracked it on the tiles in her hotel.

  “Hello,” I answered. There’s nothing but heavy breathing on the line. “Hello?”

  “Hello, Calindra.”

  “Sorry, who’s this?”

  “You don’t recognise me? I’m a little hurt.”

  “Should I know who you are?”

  “Yes. After all, my fingers were deep inside your tight, wet cunt two nights ago.”

  Wait, what? My head swam. That was the night Lou was attacked.

  “You did what?” My voice was low and shaky as I stumbled back into the wall, processing his words. He assaulted me. How had he done that? Why couldn’t I remember it?

  I… He… what?

  “Yeah. You taste delectable. Hasn’t anyone ever told you that?”

  Tasted what, me? My stomach rolled as his words sank in and I shook harder than ever until his next words scared the shit out of me.

  “I was sorry to see your wrist was hurt.”

  How did he fucking know my wrist was hurt? Did he know where I was? Was I safe at Beth’s? Fuck, how had he done all this? And most of all, I wanted to know what all of this had to do with me. How had he gotten my number? Why had he hurt Lou? Why wasn’t he being held for questioning? Why was he calling me? What did he want? My head was racing a million miles a minute as he spoke again.

  “Still there, Calindra?”

  His creepy voice came down the line and my jumbled head came up with one response to him calling me.

  “What do you want Finley?”

  “Ah, so you do know who I am! That’s a relief.”

  A relief. What. The. Fuck?

  “Why is it a relief?”

  My heart was pounding, and I wished someone was with me because I was about a second from collapsing on the floor My legs were shaking so hard they could barely hold me up, and I knew I was in way over my head with him. He was a total psychopath who’d already violated me, and he had me in his sights which scared the crap out of me.

  “I just want you. Only you. I want you to know me. I want to taste your cunt over and over and make you mine. It’s really a shame poor Lou got in the way of you. If she hadn’t woken up, then she’d be fine.”

  My ears started to ring as I processed his words, and as my body started to tip sideways, my last thought was of Chris and how messed up things had got. Blackness filled my vision, and I passed out, dropping my phone onto the floor at my feet.

  Feeling ashamed and disgruntled, I left Callie’s room so she could answer her phone and went into the front room with her parents. Sitting on the edge of the couch, I joined my hands and hung them between my parted knees.

  “She’s stubborn, that one. She’ll come round.”

  “I doubt it,” I answered, looking at an older version of Callie. “Stubborn I can deal with, but I can’t deal with disgust. That’s exactly what I see when she looks at me.”

  The seat dipped at the side of me. Chris, you have to see where she’s coming from, surely. You believed she could do something so horrid to her roommate. Her friend.”

  The disappointed look on her mum’s face killed me. She had every right to be angry with me. I dropped my head into my hands and scrubbed them down my face. “I’m not very proud of myself. I wouldn’t blame her if she doesn’t forgive me, but I really didn’t have any other choice.”

  “Not having a choice and not wanting to believe there’s another explanation are two completely different things. I like you, Chris. I always have, but in this instance, I think you could have done more for Callie.

  She lifted an eyebrow and got up from the couch, leaving me with my own thoughts.

  As Callie’s mum walked away, I heard a thud coming from the back of the flat. I sprang up from the couch and jogged towards Callie’s room, shouting her name, but I got no answer. As I reached her room, I banged on the door and waited for an answer, just in case she’d just dropped something. The way she felt about me at that moment, I didn’t want to charge in there like a bull at a gate and have her pissed off at me any more than she already was. When I got no answer, I turned the doorknob and opened it slowly; you never knew what would come flying at the door.

  “Callie?” I called out softly. Still no answer.

  I pushed the door further in, and as the room came into view, I looked down and saw her slumped in a heap on the carpeted floor. “Fuck! Callie.” I dropped to my knees in front of her and pulled her onto my legs, softly stroking her cheek and calling her name over and over until her eyelids flickered.

  “Callie, sweetheart. Talk to me. What happened?” A frown creased her forehead, and she tried to move. “Hey, stay there just for a minute.” She relaxed against me again, resting her head in the crook of my arm. “Cal?”

  “F… Fin.” She breathed in before blowing out a shaky sigh. “Finley.” My heart raced a little faster and my stomach turned before I dared ask her what about him. He was the only other lead in the case, and hearing his name from her lips made me nervous. “That’s who was on the phone. He called me, Chris.”

  She moved this time and placed her back against the base of the bed. She wrapped her arms around her middle and dropped her chin to her chest. Her face was ashen, and dark skin circled her eyes.

  My fingers itched to touch her, but I wasn’t sure if she’d want me to. With the fear I saw in her eyes, I thought, screw it. I reached out slowly and brushed the hair from her face. “What did he want?”

  “He a
dmitted he’d touched me. He described what he did to me.” She turned and looked into my eyes. “I’m scared, Chris.” The shake in her voice was evident and matched the tremble in her hands. The protector in me wanted to go and beat the shit out of him.

  “Go on?” I growled through gritted teeth; my jaw was so tense I thought I was going to snap a tooth.

  She wrapped her arms around herself. “He said Lou was just in the way and she shouldn’t have woken up.” Her chin trembled as tears ran down her cheeks. I didn’t waste another minute. I pulled her into my arms and threaded my fingers into the back of her hair, holding her close to me. She went on to tell me the other things he’d said while I comforted her. By the time she was finished, I was ready to explode. I was going to take the little bastard down if it was the last thing I did.

  I let her cry against my chest for a little while longer, but I knew I had to get out of there and over to the station to update Reynolds and Summers on the new information.

  I placed my lips on the top of her head and left a lingering kiss. “Cals, sweetheart. I have to go. I need to go to the station.” She nodded against me and lifted her head, looking at me. I closed my hand around her cheek and teased her hair with my fingertips. “I’ll call back in on you later.” I unfolded myself from her around her and stood up. I had to stop myself from kissing her again. I left her on the floor, made my way to the front door, and slipped out without saying goodbye to anyone.

  On entrance to the station, I asked the front desk sergeant where Summers would be, and as usual, he was sitting on his lazy arse in his office. I punched my code into the keypad for the security door and made my way up the stairs and down the corridor until I reached his office. Without knocking, I burst in.

  He spun around in his chair, ready to rip me a new one just for walking in. I raised an eyebrow, waiting for it, but it never came. The bastard knows better.

  “Come right in, Chris.”

  “I've got some information you might want to hear.”

  “Oh yeah?” He sat up a little straighter, pushed his forearms out onto the desk, and leaned on them.

  “Yeah. Brown called Callie. Told her he only hurt Louisa because she woke up and saw what he was doing to Callie.”

  “And you want me to use this?”

  “Why the fuck not?” I felt my brow furrow in a scowl.

  “Chris, fuck me. It’s circumstantial, mate. Unless you heard that phone call, it’s his word against hers.”

  “With the evidence we already have, how is it circumstantial? We can question him about it. Why the fuck is he still out there anyway?” I was pissed that he was shutting me down at every avenue. Did I feel guilty about treating Callie the way I did? Yes.

  Did I feel guilty that I didn’t believe she was innocent? Fuck yeah, I did, but I was in a position to make it right. I could get a win-win out of this case. I could make it up to Callie if she’d let me, and I’d get to put away the sick bastard that hurt my cousin and Callie.

  “I’m going to prove to you that Brown did this.”

  “I think you’re pinning too many hopes on it being Brown because you’re too close to it. I think I should ask for you to be taken off it. Reynolds can take over. You can do the background work.”

  “Are you fucking joking? You need me on this case.”

  “Chris, you shouldn’t even be involved. You’re too close to the victim and the witness. I mean, what the fuck? You’re off the case. You can investigate from here. But from now, the interviewing gets done by me and Reynolds.”

  “Do the paperwork?” I asked.

  He studied me closely and lifted his chin. “Tell me, how did you find out about the phone call?”

  Shit! “Callie told me. I was at her place. Well, her friend's place.”

  Narrowing his eyes at me, he shook his head. “And you say you’re not close to the case. Look, Chris…” he rubbed his hands over his face before looking me in the eye, “be on the case from here. You’re a damn fine researcher. You can mole into anything. Just leave the rest to us.”

  I could feel the frown form deep into my forehead as my mouth twisted up, and I thought on his words and his request. He was right, I was a good mole. And I was a good investigator, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. Instead, I let out a loud sigh to let him know I wasn’t happy, but finally, I caved. I nodded, and a grin pulled at the corners of his mouth. “But I’m telling you now, if you miss even the slightest detail or shut me down on anything, I’ll be back on the case, literally.”

  “Deal.”

  He stretched his arm across the desk, and I shook his hand.

  At least now I could go and see Callie and make it up to her.

  Chris left, and I sat with my mum for a few hours, shaking as I tried to build up the courage to call Beth. With shaking fingers, I dialled her number as my mum went out to get some supplies and my sister and dad went home. Beth was on her honeymoon, but I didn’t feel like I could go back to my flat while he was still out there.

  The ringing went on and on, until Beth’s chirpy voice came down the line.

  “Hey, you.”

  She sounded happier than I’d ever heard her, and part of me didn’t want to burst that bubble. I wasn’t about to spill while she was on her honeymoon, but I was calling to ask her if I could stay in her flat.

  “Callie, you still there? Did you butt dial me?”

  I heard her giggling, and it was a million miles away from what I was feeling. I couldn’t find the words to say.

  “Charlie, stop.”

  I cleared my throat and gathered my strength to lie to her. No way was I going to ruin her honeymoon, so I was going to tell her that there was a leak or something.

  “Beth, uh, is it okay if I stay in your flat?”

  There was a moment of silence before she spoke again, and I heard Charlie in the background.

  “Sure. Of course it is. Is something wrong?”

  My heart hammered loudly in my ears as I tried to make my voice sound cheery and normal, but I could hear the lie in it, and I was sure she could too.

  “No. It’s all good. There’s a problem with my electrics and it’s going to take a few days to sort, so I need somewhere to stay.”

  “Okay, what about Lou? Is she sorted? You can both stay if you need to.”

  I glanced down at my arm and my throat clogged with tears as I tried to tell her Lou was okay. “She’s fine.”

  My voice wavered, and I heard her say something to Charlie, but I couldn’t make out the words. “Callie, are you okay? Did something happen with Chris?”

  “No. There’s nothing between Chris and me, not anymore. He’s made it clear that he doesn’t like me like that now.”

  I closed my eyes at the wave of pain that crashed over me because of Chris, Lou, and everything that had gone on, but I knew I needed to stay strong for a little longer. I had to lie to her so she would enjoy herself and not come running back.

  “I’m sorry, babe. I’m here if you need to talk. You can stay at mine as long as you need to. You know that.”

  My eyes spilled over and I sniffed as a tear fell. Beth heard and sighed down the line.

  “You’re really hurting over him, huh?”

  My heart burned as I remember how cold he was, how unfeeling, and I tried to swallow the anguish over it, but it must have come out in my voice.

  “I’ll be okay.”

  “You want me to come home? I will, you know?”

  “No, you’re good. Go enjoy yourself and didn’t worry about me. I’m fine.”

  “Ross Geller fine? Or actually okay?”

  My heart knew I was probably more Ross fine, but I brushed it off and told her I was actually fine. As the call clicked off, I leaned back and heard the sound of the door clicking closed, and I spun to face it.

  My eyes widened when I saw Chris standing awkwardly with coffee cups. His eyes glistened as he stared at me.

  “Callie,” he said in a hoarse voice as he stepped into the ro
om.

  “What, Chris? What do you want?”

  He swallowed and came over, handing me some coffee and sitting beside me. His gaze focused on his hands as he sipped his drink, but he didn’t speak.

  “Callie, I… can we…”

  My body stiffened when he touched me, and he dropped his hand and leaned back, running his fingers through his hair. For a while there was silence, and then he turned to face me. “Callie, I…” He must have seen something in my eyes because he stopped and scrubbed at his face before he sighed. “I’m off the case. I’m so sorry. Do you want me to go?”

  Part of me wanted to say yes, but the fear of being alone, of Finley finding me, overwhelmed my senses and I shook my head.

  “No. You can stay, but you have to promise me one thing.”

  “What? I’ll do anything.”

  “Keep your distance from me. I can’t deal with it right now. I need you as a friend.”

  His face fell, and I saw the pain in his eyes at my words, but he nodded and sat back, staring at the TV.

  He flicked it on and put on Gilmore Girls. He knew it was one of my favourite shows, so having him beside me and watching Rory jump off the tower with Logan reminded me I was okay. I was safe and Finley probably, hopefully, didn’t know where I was. God, I really hoped he didn’t. I tried to block it out, but now I’d thought about it, it was in there like an ear worm.

  Just as the thought crossed my mind, my mobile chimed with a Snapchat message. I opened it and clicked on it, thinking it was probably from Beth, but it wasn’t.

  He can’t be with you all the time. Beth’s house isn’t as safe as you think!

  My gasp alerted Chris, and he snatched my phone from my hand, staring down at the message. He quickly took a photo of the message and stood up, pacing around.

  “Come on.”

  He grabbed my hand and tugged me to my feet until I collided with his warm body and his hand wrapped around my waist.

  “We’re going back to the station and then you’re staying with me.”

  “Chris, wait. No, I can’t.”

  “You can and you will. I’m not letting you out of my sight for a minute until that animal is behind bars.”