25. Like Al Capone
CHAPTER 25
LIKE AL CAPONE
COLE
S ilence descends into the presidential suite.
The haunted look in Bay’s eyes breaks my fucking heart and pisses me off at the same time.
“He put a fucking roofie in your drink when he was watering it down,” Ryker finally bites out. “We’re all thinking that. Right?”
I know I’m thinking that, and by the look on Jagger’s face, so is he, but what matters is what Bay is thinking.
She looks at the ziplock bag on the bed as if the medication style bottles inside could leap out and bite her. “Yes, but…” she speaks slowly, struggling to accept the painful truth. “It doesn’t add up.”
Ryker’s jaw ticks, but he keeps his cool. “I’ve been doing the fucking math over and over in my head, Cinnamon. And I don’t see any other possible results.”
Bay shakes her head, twisting her hands in her lap. The fabric of my t-shirt rides up, exposing the creamy skin of her thighs. At any other moment, the sight of that would have made me want to pull her onto my lap and find out if my t-shirt looks just as good on the floor; but this isn’t the time.
“There are a few things I don’t understand,” Bay says, looking at each of us. “First off, we shared the same drink. Wouldn’t he be affected by the roofie too? And I was right there when he poured it into a different cup and then added the lemonade and more ice.”
I know she’s struggling to accept that someone she dated for years, a man she trusted with her secrets and with her body, could betray her that way.
I choose my words really carefully. “Did you actually see him drink? Or did he just stand next to you, holding a cup?”
She torments her bottom lip with her teeth, deep in thought. “It’s been a while since that night. But you’re right. He was talking so much and it’s possible he didn’t really drink. And he had his back turned to me while he was fixing the drinks. He was telling me he was adding lemonade and more ice to the margarita, but I’m not sure I really saw him do it.”
A painful lump forms in my throat. I would rather hack off one of my limbs than see Bay go through something so painful.
“It still doesn’t make sense, though.” Her eyes are huge and full of pain as she looks at each of us. “Why roofie me and then take me back to my room and sleep on the floor? Why take me out to breakfast the morning after? He would have had every opportunity to… to…” she swallows, as if every word was too painful for her. “He didn’t touch me that night. And before you ask, I’m sure. I was still in the same clothes I had on at the party, including my underwear. If he had done anything like that, I would know.”
Jagger is the first one of us who has the courage to touch her. He takes her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. “We’re talking about Topher. He’s a twisted motherfucker. Everything with him is part of some kind of scheme. He was flirting with you that night, right? I noticed you immediately, but he was stuck on you like a piece of hairy gum. Was he getting anywhere with you? Or were you trying to send him on his way?”
Bay sighs. “I didn’t hate the attention, but I had my eye on Cole. So I wasn’t being rude, but I was trying to cut the conversation short, so I could go find Cole and try to catch his eye.”
Fuck.
I clench my fists, wishing I had a fucking time machine. Bay could have been mine three years ago. “I had noticed you, too. I was waiting to see you by yourself to come and say hello.”
She lets go of Jagger’s hand to fly into my arms. “Oh, Cole.”
There’s something else that’s bothering me even more. “I’m so sorry, baby,” I murmur, holding her tight to my chest. “I can’t even think that Jagger and I saw him carrying you out of the bathroom. We asked him what was going on, but he said you were wasted and he was taking you home. We let him walk away with you because we thought he wouldn’t do anything stupid after we warned him he shouldn’t touch someone who is unconscious, no matter if you had been making out before.” I’ve never felt so guilty before. I should have stopped Topher. I should have found the Zeta president and had her take care of Bay.
She pulls back a little, so she can look me in the eye. “I think you and Jagger did save me. He probably didn’t try anything because you saw him taking me out of that bathroom. He knew he would get caught.”
On a rational level, I know Bay is right. But then, why do I feel so guilty?
I know the answer without the shadow of a doubt. I would do anything for Bay. I would protect her with my life.
“Cole,” she whispers, tracing my jaw with gentle fingers. “Seriously, I don’t blame you for not stopping him that night. He didn’t touch me.”
Regret coats my tongue, bitter and hot. “If I had stopped him, he wouldn’t have gotten to pretend that he was your knight in shining armor.”
Bay sighs. “Maybe. Or maybe things had to go the way they did. We were both younger and immature back then. Maybe we would have been just a hookup. I was too focused on my academic and professional goals and one of the reasons Topher was right for me at the time is that he had that same focus.”
She’s right.
“Yeah, you were this power couple. And maybe,” I admit. “You’re right that I wasn’t ready to give you what you deserved three years ago. My focus was hockey, but I also wanted to party and hookup.”
Jagger intervenes. “That’s what I wanted too. I think our relationship evolved at the right time.”
Bay nods. “The universe sometimes works in mysterious ways. I think I had to kiss that particular frog so I wouldn’t let my princes slip through my fingers. There’s just one thing that bothers me, though. If Topher had those drugs stashed away in that secret compartment, do you think he used them on someone else?”
I consider her question. “It’s more than possible. We’d have to see if there have been reports. I’ve personally heard about two incidents. One last year and one sophomore year. Unfortunately, some of the victims feel ashamed and don’t report these kinds of things.”
She agrees with me. “Yeah. I didn’t report it either three years ago. I mean, nothing really happened to me. If I’m being honest, I don’t know if I would have had the courage to report if things had gone differently. I guess if he did it again, he was smart enough not to draw too much attention to it. Topher is a sociopath, but he isn’t stupid, he—oh my God.” Bay covers her mouth with her hands, her eyes wide and full of shock.
“What?” we all ask in unison.
Bay begins to shake her head, as if trying to convince herself about something. “Earlier tonight,” she says. “Topher offered to get me a drink.”
“Yeah, I was watching him from my table.” Ryker scowls.
“I really didn’t want to drink more because I was nervous about the speech, so I said no thanks. But he kept insisting. In the end I accepted just to get rid of him but didn’t really touch the Champagne he gave me. Then my speech turned into a shit show and?—”
“What?” I ask, unsettled by the haunted look in Bay’s eyes.
“When I ran out of the room, Topher followed me. He was being nice. He wanted to comfort me. He had an entire bottle of Champagne that he kept offering me. He said we should drink it together to drown our sorrows. I didn’t really feel up for it, but he was so insistent. I took a tiny sip, but the Champagne had a weird taste and after that, I only pretended to drink. Do you guys think he…”
Fuck.
Jagger is the first one to react. “If he had another stash of pills, it’s possible.”
Bay continues to shake her head, more distressed with every passing moment. “Maybe he didn’t have another stash. I caught him loitering by my door a few times recently. I just thought he was being a pain in my ass, as usual. But what if he came into the room when I wasn’t here to get more pills?”
I wouldn’t put anything past that fucker.
“Wait,” Jagger says. “Are you talking about this bottle?” He takes the bottle of Champagne on top of Bay’s desk. “You had it with you when I found you in the Dean’s office with that fucker.”
Bay nods, her eyes shiny with unshed tears. “Do you think?—”
We’re all thinking about it. That motherfucker must have put something in Bay’s drinks all night. We’re just lucky that she didn’t drink anything he gave her, or I don’t even want to think about what could have happened.
“We need to call the cops,” Jagger says. “Mumford has gotten away with all his shit for way too long. It’s time he pays for his behavior.”
I agree with him. “You’re right. We should call the cops and also alert the Dean’s office?—”
“About what?” Bay asks. “Before we get law enforcement and the school administration involved, we need to be sure that we have enough proof.”
Jagger insists. “We have that video, the pills. We have a bottle he put roofies in. How much more proof do we need?”
There’s frustration in Bay’s tone when she explains how she sees the situation. “You know Topher almost as well as I do. We’ve all seen him walking the line and talking himself out of more than one sticky situation. His dad is a big shot lawyer and Topher has learned from the best.”
Jagger sniffs at the bottle opening, as if that contained the ironclad proof we need. “If we give this to the cops…”
“He’s going to say he got the bottle from a table or at the bar. Unless someone saw him slip a roofie inside it,” Bay argues. “That isn’t proof of anything but that someone, at some point, tampered with that drink.”
She’s right and we all know it.
“But we have the pills, Nova. This was Topher’s room before you moved in.”
Bay demolishes that piece of evidence too. “He’s going to deny they’re his. Unless we can find a prescription or a receipt for them…”
“Yeah,” I finish on her behalf. “I doubt he got that shit from a pharmacy. Whoever sold it to him probably doesn’t issue receipts.”
Jagger’s face falls when he realizes that Bay is right. “But at least we could use that memory stick to get him kicked out of Gamma Delta Tau. It isn’t even close to what he deserves, but?—”
She puts the final nail in the coffin of Jagger’s theory. “He’s gonna deny he knew anything about it. He’ll say he gave the stick to his predecessor and blame Travis for not deleting the videos after he sent them to the central chapter.”
We’re silent again. We can argue about it as much as we want, but Bay is absolutely right. Topher has been getting away with his bullying, hazing and blackmailing for years. This time is no different, despite the material proof in our hands.
“So what?” Ryker raises his voice. “Is he getting away with it? What the fuck would have happened if he hadn’t bumped into Jagger and Cole outside that bathroom at the rush party? Or tonight, if Jagger hadn’t found you? Who’s saying that he wouldn’t have convinced you to drink that Champagne? Who’s saying that he wouldn’t have become violent if you turned him down? He could have fucking raped you, Bay. He’s been trying to do it since the day you two met.”
One single tear slides out of Bay’s eyes, creating a wet track on her perfect skin. “I know. I’m thankful he didn’t. I’m thankful I have you guys.”
Ryker’s fists are clenched to his sides. “You do have us. And I’m sure Cole and Jagger agree with me that we would do anything to keep you safe. This is why,” he says, marching toward the door. “I can’t let Topher get away scot free. I don’t give a fuck our proof wouldn’t hold in a court of law. I’m just going to teach that motherfucker a lesson. We’ll see how he’s gonna keep this shit up after I’m gonna break every bone in his body.”
I can’t say that I disagree with the sentiment. Topher deserves to get his ass kicked. It’s been a long time coming.
“Ryker, please don’t.” Bay grabs his arm. “If you hurt him, the only one who’s gonna get in trouble is you.”
My teammate’s jaw is ticking, his eyes full of dark fury. “I’ll gladly get in trouble, but that fucker will never hurt anyone else ever again. Especially not the woman I love.”
“Ryker, he’s not worth it. Please. You’ll end up in jail.” She surrounds his waist with her arms, stopping his advance toward the door.
“But you’re worth it, Cinnamon. Don’t you understand?” he turns around and his expression softens as he looks at our girl.
“I know,” Bay agrees. “I love you, Ryker. And rather than seeing Topher get his ass kicked, I want to be with you. Please let this go.”
I see the moment when Ryker relents and I don’t blame him.
“You’re right,” he sighs. “It just doesn’t sit well with me that he gets to be such a piece of shit creep with total impunity.”
Bay’s blue eyes go from Ryker, to Jagger, to me. “I’m not saying that I want to let him get away with it. We just need to hold on to the evidence we have and wait.”
“For what?” I ask.
“That he fucks up too royally to get away with it.”
Jagger sounds skeptical. “Do you think he ever will?”
She nods. “I’m sure he will. Look, I’ve put my trust in Topher for years and I’ve been blind. But once I realized how many lies he fed me and how he treated everyone around me, I couldn’t stop seeing him for who he really was. Topher is a narcissist, and he thinks he’s smarter than anyone. He’ll never follow the rules because he thinks rules are for everyone else. He feels like he’s better than others and rules don’t apply to him.”
I think Bay is right, but I don’t understand how she plans to punish her ex. “Yeah, he said exactly that countless times. That the law is for the masses. The upper one percent don’t follow the law, they make the law.” Quoting that asshole leaves a bad taste in my mouth. “But what does it mean for us?”
“We need to be patient and have faith in his arrogance. It might not be for breaking the Gamma code of conduct, or for being a creep who would slip a roofie into someone’s drink. But one of these days, he’ll fuck up so badly that he won’t be able to cover his tracks. And we’ll be there and we’ll make him pay. A little like Al Capone.”
We all look at our girl, slightly confused.
“Come again?” Ryker asks. “What does a 1920s gangster have to do with Topher?”
Bay is serious when she explains. “The law could never nail him for all his crimes. In the end, they got him for tax evasion. So we just do the same to Topher. Next time he does something wrong—and he will—we’ll be there to make sure justice is served.”