Chapter 8
Xavier
I turn around and rush down the stairs again. I have to take care of this first, before it blows up in our faces, because Sunny isn’t the only one in trouble. If she’s implicated, so am I for helping her.
Fuck.
I need to tell her without making it obvious, but how?
I can’t just go up and talk to her. She’ll have plenty of reasons to kill me.
Should I leave more notes?
On my way down, I lose my footing and nearly fall down the last set of stairs. Instead, I bump straight into Orion Navarro’s pecs, headfirst.
“Ow,” he groans. “Watch where you’re going.”
“Sorry,” I mutter, as I quickly pull back. “Hey, you carry a notebook with you, right? Can I see it?”
He frowns as he pulls out his notebook from behind his vest. “Since when do you like poetry?”
I snatch it from his hands and go to the last page, which is still empty, and I rip it out.
“Hey! That’s expensive premium-quality paper.”
I hand it back to him and snatch his pen from his vest. “Sorry, but it’s important.”
“For what? You just destroyed one of my best notebooks.”
I start penning down the words. “I’ll buy you a new one.”
He peeks over my shoulder, making me all too aware of his breath on my neck. “At least let me see what you’re writing down then.”
I glance at him, and a blush spreads on my cheeks just from how impenetrable his eyes are when they’re locked in like this. It’s hard to look away while I’m trying to protect the note in my hand. “It’s private.”
“Private enough for you to steal a paper from my notebook?” He throws me a snooty glance. “I think not. Either you share or I will take that back, thank you.”
When he tries to snatch the paper out of my hand, I sigh out loud and say, “Okay, fine. It’s a warning for Sunny.”
He snorts. “Are you going to threaten her? I’m sure that’ll work out fine for you.”
“No,” I hiss, leaning in to whisper so the world doesn’t have to hear. “She’s in danger.”
His eyes widen. “What? What do you mean, ‘in danger’?” He leans in even closer, planting his hand on the wall beside my face. “Tell me. Right now. I must know.”
“A cop is snooping around campus, looking for a killer.”
His eyes widen. “That’s her, isn’t it?”
I nod.
“Well fuck. What are you gonna do?”
“I’m warning her. That’s what I’m going to do.”
“Oh …” His brows furrow, and a filthy smirk forms on his face. “So you’re the one who’s been leaving her notes without telling a soul.”
I’m nearly ready to smack that smirk off his face.
“I didn’t know you were the only one allowed to have secrets,” I retort.
He shrugs, then takes back the pen I stole from him. “I’m just saying, you’d better be careful about interfering with her plans if I were you. She doesn’t like being told what to do.”
“Yeah, well, neither do I.” I shove him out of my way.
“Wait, isn’t there something else we can do?”
“We?” I frown, stabbing his chest with my index finger. “There is no we here. There is me. And then there is you. And you’d better stay out of my way.”
“What do you mean? C’mon, we’re in this together now.” He wraps his hand around my finger, keeping it in place, and with every passing second, I become more and more aware of just how muscly he is. “We both know what she is, what she does. We have a common interest in keeping her safe.”
“That makes you my rival. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“Rival?” His eyes begin to sparkle. “What about friends?”
“We’re not friends,” I growl, retracting my finger. “And don’t tell anyone about this conversation we just had or else.”
I turn around and walk off, and he opens his mouth a final time. “But what if I wanna be?”
Sunny
I go to my motorcycle and grab my helmet, but when I notice the paper taped to my tank, I pause.
What the …
I tear the note off the metal and inspect it.
Detective Foley is here on campus for a killer. They’re looking for you. Be careful.
My heart throbs in my throat.
That’s the guy who found me.
I immediately scout my surroundings, ready to attack anyone who dares to come close, but I don’t spot anyone out of the ordinary. Students and teachers are everywhere, but no cops are in sight. But there has to be a reason this note was left for me … someone is trying to protect me.
Well, this is an unexpected turn of events. I knew the police would be investigating, but I never imagined it’d be that same guy who rescued me from the woods.
A smirk forms on my face.
If Detective Foley is so interested in getting to know me, maybe I should pay him a visit too.
I put my helmet on, jump on my bike, and race off campus. It’s not far to the police station, but it’s still broad daylight. I have to wait until the sun is down and no one is left in the office before I sneak inside.
I waste time at a local mall, getting my nails done and buying some clothes, before I eat some dinner all by myself, just for fun.
When it’s night, I finally make my way to the police station on foot.
I parked my motorcycle a few blocks down, just in case someone wanted to try to track me after I’ve broken in.
I put on my gloves and an inconspicuous ghost mask that’s completely different from what I normally use so I won’t be recognized and connected to the killings.
I head to the back of the building and throw the hook I bought around the ledge, then tighten it, before I lift myself by the rope.
I crawl onto the ledge and make my way up to the only open window here.
After I’ve nudged it open far enough, I slip through the crack and glance around. The entire building is dark, which means everyone’s already gone home. Good.
I walk around on tiptoes, not making a single sound as I head to the door. I pull my mirror out of my bag, check my lips, then aim for the camera hanging in the hallway. I grab my gun and raise it around the corner of the door without revealing my face.
BANG!
The camera’s destroyed, and I head into the hallway beyond, checking each room for a name until I find the one I’m looking for.
Detective Foley.
I open the door and gently close it behind me.
Time to reveal your secrets to me.
I sneak around his office and filter through the papers on his desk, trying to find the case he has on me.
There is a whole stack of papers all referring to the Bones Brotherhood, and I sift through them to see if I can locate any of the targets I’m looking for.
When I find two of them along with their locations and workplaces, I pause and stare as a vicious smile creeps onto my face.
Well, this will come in fucking handy.
I lay them on the desk, take a picture with my phone, then return them to the stack exactly as Detective Foley left them. Focusing on the next stack of folders, I go through all of the papers about potential leads until I stumble upon a folder titled: RIVERA ET. AL.
I open it up, and my stomach drops at all the pictures of my family and all their friends, along with their surnames. Rivera, Torres, Navarro, Preston, Caruso, Fletcher, King, Reed … we’re all in here.
Why is he collecting such an extensive dossier on everyone?
Has he been keeping track of our movements?
I glance up and notice the board on the back wall, along with all the pictures of crime scenes that were found, including some bodies I don’t recognize. Must’ve been Silas Rivera going on a killing spree again. I know his family is just as disturbed as mine.
Still … I’m impressed Detective Foley managed to gather so much information based on a few simple murders. So obsessive, it’s almost unhinged. I like it.
I approach the board and look at it up close. He even found the crime scene in the alley next to the shop, but the body is missing. I left it where it was supposed to be found, but some fucker had to go clean it up for me.
But it’s the note next to the crime scene that makes me narrow my eyes.
It’s the same handwriting as the notes sent to me.
I pull off the pin and snatch it off the board.
Let me help you.
I read the words over and over again.
This wasn’t meant for the police. This was meant for me.
CLICK!
I hold my breath and glance over my shoulder.
Someone’s here.
I peek out the door and look around. There’s a light on in an office up ahead, to the opposite side of the room I entered through. Someone must’ve come back to pick something up.
There’s no more time. I’ve stuck around far too long already.
I check the light one more time before I rush through the hallway without looking back.
“Hello? Is someone there?”
I bolt into the room and jump through the window feet first, right before they enter.
Adrenaline races through my veins as I hang onto the ledge and wait for the time to pass. I can hear their footsteps getting closer and closer, and I hold my breath.
One.
Two.
Three.
Finally, the footsteps ebb away again, and I let go of the breath.
That was fucking close.
And exhilarating.
I put my hook around the ledge again, slip down the rope, then unhook it and run out of the alley while taking off my mask and gloves, tucking them into my pocket before I make it to the main street.
I unfurl my hair from the knot I made and put on a pair of glasses from my other pocket so no one will recognize me as I walk to my parked bike, get on, and race off.
Back to Spine Ridge University, where I will definitely grill the person responsible for leaving all those notes. Someone has been lying to me, and I know just who to stalk to find out the truth.
Orion
I pull my pen off the paper and take a sip of my wine, lamenting the days past. God, when Sunny ripped my notebook out of my hand and read it in front of her girl squad, I was about ready to die.
If only my heart had stopped right there and then, at least that would’ve been the perfect ending. But no, my godforsaken heart just started pitter-pattering like a downpour on an open sea.
I guess even my eternal death wish can’t beat the flustering hope she injected the second she told me my words were beautiful. Spoken like a true goddess.
Smiling, I take another swig before I settle the pen back down on the page again, invigorated by the memory.
Suddenly, a click near the window makes me look up. It’s dark outside, and I don’t see a thing with this desk lamp being the only light source in my room. Noise from a true Tartarus party downstairs makes it hard to focus. Maybe I imagined the sound.
Sighing, I turn back to my writing.
Only for my neck to be met by a blade.
Sunny.
“Move one inch, and you’re dead.”