14
“Yep,” I grunted without looking up from my phone.
“Ezrah Warwick did not show up for our interview again,” he informed me, “and he is not answering his phone.”
“You need to discuss that with him,” I shrugged, feigning a lack of interest in this topic, even though internally I was annoyed that Ezrah had schooled me as to what to say to the detective, then was too chicken or lazy to go through with it himself.
Last time we spoke, he was planning to go, but obviously, something changed his mind.
I doubt he’d forget something that important, so it must have been deliberate.
I hoped the detective would move on, but no, he continued, “We checked at the gym he goes to and at his frat house on the hill, but they told us that he has moved into Morgana Hall, I believe, where you live. We pressed the buzzer, but no one answered, as I am told the hall is mostly empty, so would you mind letting us in?”
“He’s not in there,” I told him straight. “I thought he’d be at the Lud. Look, I’m not his minder, so…”
With that comment, I hoped he understood that I didn’t know where he was, but he probably didn’t believe me. I didn’t know what else I could say to convince him that I didn’t live in Ezrah Warwick’s pocket, nor would I want to.
“There’s no reason for Ezrah to avoid us, is there?” the detective pressed, and my eyes almost rolled into the back of my head.
“No, not all,” I lied, “Except for the fact that you know who his father is, so he doesn’t want to be pre-judged, guilt by association, and all that.”
“So, he’s got nothing to hide then?” the detective pressed, making me even more uneasy with him bearing down on me.
“Yeah,” I agreed, shaking my head in frustration.
He grunted, “Very well, and don’t worry about showing us around Morgana, we’ll ask security,” he said, “and take a look in his room.”
“There’s not much in there to look at because he only moved in like two days ago,” I argued, sticking up for the shithead, even though he was dumping me in it.
“We’ll see,” he stated, then he finally walked away, and I continued watching the motocross race until he was gone, then I messaged Ez again: wtf are u? The detective is going into your room.
Since there was still no reply, I returned to the motocross race. Afterward, I flipped through Ashthorn: Myths and Legends. The book was too full of mystical intrigue for my liking; I wanted hard evidence regarding my great-great-grandfather, not myths and folklore.
But then I came across a page titled The Treasure Under Ashthorn Stone.
More myths and legends, probably, but I read further anyway.
Our family was broke as fuck, and if it wasn't for the Warwicks, we’d still be living on the bones of our asses.
But I hated being reliant on them and hated even more being their paid lackey who had to spy on Adina while they were partying in the frat house.
Ashthorn Stone? According to this book, the stone is a chunk of black granite, transported from Brazil for my father’s maze garden as a centerpiece. According to this book, Ashthorn had a special relationship with one of his nieces and would hide treasure in the maze for her to find.
I paused to think about it. Could the niece be my grandmother? They didn’t give a name, and this story was completely new to me, so it could also be a tale. It was a rumor without substance, and that’s when my phone lit up, and Ezrah’s name flashed up on the screen.
“Yep?” I answered unenthused and shut the book while my mind lingered in the slab of granite.
“Doesn’t he need a search warrant?” Ez sounded angry.
“Maybe he’s got one. Is Adina with you?” I was more concerned about her location than the detective searching his room at Morgana.
“Yeah,” he exhaled. “She’s in the basement waiting for Sickle to come home from practice.”
“What the fuck is she in the basement for?” I stressed, half laughing.
“Because she was snooping around…which reminds me…you weren’t watching her,” he accused me, and I didn't care. We’ve put that under so much stress that I think we should back off. Besides, it’s not like she can take off again. Wherever she goes, we’ll always find her.
“I can’t watch her all the time. And you can’t talk. You weren’t watching her either,” I argued. “Anyway, what was she snooping around for?”
“Don’t know yet. We can’t get into the basement to ask her because Sick took the key,” he told me.
“Well, at least we know where she is,” I chuckled, opening the book again at the black granite rock.
I was only half listening to Ez as I read the story of how my great-great-grandfather hid an expensive brooch made of diamonds, believed to be worth 50 million dollars, and so the story goes, when she found the center of the maze, she searched under the granite rock for the treasure, only to discover that it was missing.
Mr. Ashthorn blamed the gardener for stealing the diamond brooch, had him arrested, the police searched the gardener's cottage, found no brooch, so they let him go.
The diamond brooch has never been found.
50 million dollars. There was no way in hell any sane man would hide a brooch worth fifty mil under a damn rock for a kid to find.
“Lev? Lev?” Ezrah bellowed down the line. “Are you there?”
“Yeah, what?” I pulled out of the book, yet I couldn't stop thinking about it. Anyone who read this book would’ve tried to find it, so I wouldn’t be the first, if it’s still there.
“Bro, are you listening?” Ez snarled.
“Yeah, sort of. Ez, just go see the fucking detective and get it over and done with. Do you want me to come over to babysit the Boleyn girl?”
“Yeah, you can come over if you want. I’ll be here for a while,” he told me.
“Hang on,” a thought occurred to me. “The detective said he sent someone around to the Lud, but said you weren’t there.”
“Maybe I was on my way there or something,” he sounded vague.
“Anyway, I’ve got to go,” I told him, losing patience with this conversation. “I’ve got a fifty mil brooch to find.”
“What?”
“Nothing,” I ended the call and left the dining hall to head to the maze. I needed something to take my mind off Adina, and a little treasure-hunt project was a good distraction between classes and assignments. While she was trapped in the basement of the Lud and out of trouble, I could explore.
It was getting late, so I returned to my room, grabbed my flashlight, and stuffed my bag with essentials - a knife and a mask, then pulled my hood over my head.
As I ran back down the stairs, I passed the kitchen and stopped dead at the scent of cooking food and poked my head into the room.
Empty. No one to be seen. It was as if they heard me coming and fled.
This was not the first time a mysterious, faceless person was cooking food in the kitchen.
Mila, on the third floor, and one other student, whom I didn’t know much about, were the only other roommates in Morgana, yet it was weird how they kept disappearing whenever I cruised by.
Except this time, they seemed to have forgotten their keys before they fled.
A bunch of keys attached to a silver pistol that I was familiar with, as they have two functions: a keyring and a lighter in one.
By the time I arrived at the maze, it was dusk, and the day was losing light. It took about thirty minutes to walk there, and there were moments when I felt someone was following, but there were many students still walking around, heading back to their halls before dark fell.
There was a picnic bench outside the maze entrance, lit by nightlights, and I stopped to turn back and gaze up at the rising hills, where I saw the Lud, a mini castle with the front porch light on.
I thought of her, Adina Boleyn, locked underneath, and a smile stretched across my dial.
As long as I knew where she was, I was happy.
My best guess was that she was snooping for her gun and knife.
I suspected she had a plan to take revenge on us, and if that were true, I would enjoy every second of it.
Adina is a Boleyn, her father’s daughter; she won’t go down easily.
With the sweatshirt hood over my head, I scanned the entrance of the maze and spotted a security camera, so I slipped a skull mask over my face, then strode between the night lights that lit up the entrance, turned left to find lights on the ground every few feet, guiding my way.
Unfortunately, the mask restricted my peripheral vision, but that was the risk I took to ensure I wasn't identified by the security cameras. I had no interest in doing anything illegal, but if by some miracle I found treasure under the black granite, then I didn’t want anyone to see who found it.
I knew it was a long shot and I knew I was dreaming, but that diamond brooch could be my ticket out of here.
I walked fast, turned a bend, and came across a dead end. Turning back, I banged into a group of girls who screamed in fright at the sight of my face. They disappeared quickly, but I could still hear them cackling, quickly growing distant as I walked in the opposite direction.
Footsteps pounded on the ground, and I couldn't see anyone, but students often come in here to smoke pot and play games, so I wasn’t too concerned.
Last season, the Yorks had a Halloween scare party in here, and we snuck in and had a blast. I was in my natural state when I was wearing a freaky mask because I got off on scaring girls.
Every scream and every squeal was a notch to my belt.