Chapter Thirty-Four Sam
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
SAM
My life has never been more complicated than it is right now.
I’m sitting in the living room across from Kane, Alex, Mountain, and Gracie, as they collectively wait for me to start the conversation. It would fall on me, right? I mean, I am the reason we’re all here.
Mountain sits next to me, his large frame expectantly comforting.
Alex is across from us, leaning against the dining room table with a beer in his hand.
Kane is settled next to Gracie on the larger couch, and I have to force myself to not make eye contact with him.
Not only did we just have sex right where Gracie is sitting, that question still looms between us: What if I can’t choose?
“So does someone want to tell me why I’m here?” Gracie asks, staring between the four of us, but no one answers. “What’s this all about?”
“It’s about what we found. The questionable details of my scholarship, the pictures we found, the articles. Someone knows, and they’re threatening me.”
Gracie’s eyes grow wide, nearly bulging out of their sockets.
“What?” She scoots to the edge of her seat, shoulders tensing, posture going rigid.
“I haven’t told you, but shortly after we found that article, I started getting very disturbing text messages.
At first, it didn’t register that it had anything to do with what we’d found.
It could have come from anyone. The whole team practically hated me.
Jackson. Christina. So I just ignored it and stopped reading them. ”
The boys shift awkwardly at that, regret written all over their faces. Even Bryden’s, when he was the only one who didn’t treat me poorly.
“I’m confused.” Gracie holds up a hand. “Why would we think these texts were from Christina or Jackson?”
I glance at the boys, taking a moment to find the right words.
“Jackson tried to drug me and when I reported it, the chancellor and coach protected him. Threatened to expel me unless I dropped the accusation and worked for the team for the rest of the season. And Christina? Well, why does she do anything she does? My guess is she is fully aware of what Jackson tried to do to me, and because she and him have that weird relationship, she chose to join in on the hatred.”
Gracie’s spine snaps straight, her eyes shifting awkwardly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“I’m fine, and I should’ve told you.” I fidget with my fingers.
“Last night, when Alex stopped by, it was because he had found information that tied my scholarship to the social club our parents were in. And while he was there, Jackson called. We only know it was him because Alex recognized his voice. But I don’t know if he was just trying to mess with me or if he’s the one that’s been calling all along.
The calls are always blocked, so I never could figure that out.
Then he showed up at practice today and everything got out of control, so I left and I swear someone was following me.
There was a black van, completely blacked out, and unmarked. ”
“Sam says they were tailing her until I showed up, must have scared them off,” Kane adds.
“Oh my God, Sam,” Gracie says, her voice full of sincerity. “That’s scary. So, we were right?” Gracie peers back to me. “The chancellor is involved, and something definitely went down with that club?”
“We think so.”
Alex nods, scratches his head before crossing his arms over his chest. “Yeah. Sam told me about my father’s name being in her file, so I snuck into his work computer. It wasn’t much there, but I found a wire transfer from the bank.”
“I don’t understand. What club?” Mountain, who’d been observing quietly, finally asks.
I catch Mountain up, filling in all the gaps.
“When we were looking up info on Sam’s mom, we found a photo of all of our moms. Which was a shock because she didn’t know her mother was a student at SKU,” Gracie interjects.
“Your moms?”
“Yeah. Sam’s, mine, Kane’s, Alex’s, and Christina’s. They were part of some club called the Aurelian Circle. But everything we looked up about it is either nonexistent or vague. It was shut down in ’05 after a student killed another student.”
“Wait. Killed. Who?”
My gaze darts to Kane’s. To tell Mountain anything more would be sharing something that isn’t mine to tell. Gracie knows, but only because she was there when I found out. And when I told Kane what we found, filled him in on his mother being named in Emily’s death, he didn’t take it too well.
And I get it. Everyone has a version of the people they love that they want to cherish, and in a matter of minutes, that viewpoint was altered. It leaves more questions that he’ll probably never get the answer to.
“A girl named Emily Croswell, and apparently the person who killed her was my mother,” Kane answers.
Alex shoots up, perplexed, but he doesn’t speak. The room quiets as we give Kane the space to work through whatever he’s feeling around that confession. After a beat, he opens up, sharing about his mother’s mental health struggles, and how hard it’s been.
And like the good friends that they are, neither of them questions him. Instead, Alex walks over to Kane and pulls him into a hug. I watch the tension leave his body as relief enters it.
“Sorry to hear that, bro,” Mountain says. “I can only imagine what that’s like, but know that we have your back. Always.”
Alex releases him, but we remain silent, none of us knowing what to say next. So much information has been shared and we’re still no closer to understanding it all.
“So what are we going to do? Clearly someone’s trying to scare her, and I’m convinced my father has something to do with it,” Alex says while taking a seat on the arm of the sofa.
“He does,” Kane blurts.
We turn our attention to him.
“Your dad is involved.” Kane stares at me, something akin to remorse steeped into the lines above his brow. Then he looks away, his shoulders slumped, fingers curling into fist. “A little while ago, he called me to his office. It was late and he wanted to talk.”
Alex frowns. “About what?”
“He had a video of you and Sam outside the admin building.”
“That’s how you knew about Alex kissing me?” I say in a whisper, but not low enough. All eyes point to me, and I feel the moment Mountain grows a little uncomfortable.
“Shit. Security cameras,” Alex mutters. “But what did he call you for?”
“He asked me to keep Sam away from you. Said that she was digging into some stuff that could get her hurt and he didn’t want you to get caught up with her. Asked me to watch her.”
As soon as he starts to explain, memories of the night he showed up at my dorm drunk off his ass rush to the front of my mind.
Now it makes sense. I couldn’t put it together that night how he knew or why he was acting the way he was.
My blood boils, the anger starting to fester. He played me and I fell for it.
“So all this time he knew we broke in. But why did he ask you? Why not just come to me? Or go to Sam?”
Kane shrugs. “He knew about Sam’s and my history, about our mothers both being patients at Wyndmoor around the same time. Figured because I knew her before, I could convince her to stay away from you.”
“All this time, you knew I was in danger and said nothing?”
I can’t believe him. All that talk about having me, about keeping me safe, and the whole time he’s known. I don’t know if it’s the lie that hurts or that I fell for it. I jump to my feet and move toward the kitchen, needing to put some much-needed distance between Kane and me.
“Sam. It’s not like that.” Kane stands and reaches for me, but I jerk away. “I didn’t tell him anything and I was never going to. I don’t even think I fully believed him. But I got a weird vibe and told Sam to stay away.”
“We all keep secrets, Sam,” Gracie chimes in, stopping me in my tracks. “I get this came out of left field, but you can’t really blame him when you’ve done the same. The look on Mountain’s face tells me he didn’t know about any of this until this very moment.”
“It’s not the same.”
“It’s not much different. You didn’t share because you didn’t have all the information. He was doing the same thing. And while I get it, I think none of us knows what we’re dealing with and we’re just trying to piece it all together.”
“He knew that Chancellor Richardson was watching me and said nothing.”
“He’s telling us now. Give him the benefit of the doubt. Just like they’re all giving you.”
I sigh. She’s right. It doesn’t feel like it at the moment, but she has a point. This isn’t mine or Kane’s fault. It’s much bigger than us.
“All right.”
Kane and I stare at each other, knowing we’ll need to talk after this.
“We need to break into my father’s personal computer.”
We all turn toward Alex in disbelief.
His gaze bounces between us. “The way he keeps his home office locked down, we’ll find what we’re looking for in there. I know it.”
“What?”
“We can’t.”
“How are we supposed to do that?”
Our questions and statements fly out in rapid succession.
“The party at my house.”
Groans of protest erupt through the room.
“Listen. I know it’s crazy, but it’s the perfect time to do it. He’s going to be distracted with the guests.”
“Okay, say we do this. What’s your plan?” Kane asks.
“While the party is going, we sneak into his office. We’ll have to be there, including you, Sam, since you’re technically a member of the team. We can get in and out without anyone noticing.”
Seriously, what is with this guy and his love for breaking and entering?
“If he’s as uptight about his office as you say, how are we supposed to get in?” Kane inquires.
“I know the passcode.”
I roll my eyes, throwing my hands up. “Of course you do.”
“Look. If we want to figure this out, that’s the only time we’ll be able to.
If he’s already aware of the break-in and the files you took, then he’s probably got people watching.
But he doesn’t know that we know, and he won’t suspect we’d be bold enough to do this.
The house would be packed, and with people all over the place, he’ll never notice that we’re missing. ”
“I don’t know, Alex,” I say, shaking my head. “This is crazy.”
“Do you want answers or not?” he deadpans.
“Why do you want to do this?” Mountain interjects.
Alex looks at him for a beat. “That bastard has made my life a living hell, so sue me for wanting to get back at him.”
Kane winces at that, and shifts awkwardly, peering around as if to make sure no one notices. But I do.
“It’ll only work if we’re all there.” Alex points his gaze at each of us.
“Well. Good luck with that,” Gracie adds as she nervously runs her hands over the front of her jeans.
“All of us, Gracie. You’re as much a part of this as the rest of us. We need a lookout and distraction. And it’s not like you haven’t been to these before,” Alex continues.
“Well, that was then and this is now. We can get caught. Get expelled.”
“We won’t.” Alex pauses. “Not if we all work together and do our part.”
“He’s right,” I finally join in. “I don’t necessarily like it, but how else are we supposed to find out what’s going on. All of our moms were in that photo, which means this involves each of us. Something happened all those years ago and they are working really hard to keep it hidden.”
She shakes her head again.
“Please. You’re one of the few people I trust here, Gracie. Don’t make me do this without you,” I beg.
She sighs, staring at each of us before finally nodding. “Fine. But, we better not get caught.”
Alex perks up, bouncing on his toes with excitement. “All right. So this is how we have to do it.”