Chapter 33 #2
Jacob sighs. “Mr. Walker will be back on Monday, my uncle has someone tailing him in London, but when he gets back to campus, he’s all ours,”
“Why doesn’t your uncle just interrogate him?” Corden asks while typing away on his computer.
“He isn’t the head; he can’t do what he wants to. There are orders to follow, and he has already pushed the boundaries for us more than once,”
“So, what do we do now,” Piper takes a sip of coffee, her hands no longer as shaky as they used to be.
“Well,” Asher leans forward. “We have Jacob’s guy watching him right now in London.
Corden is watching the cameras to his room and the hotel while also waiting for Bishop to send over everything he has on him.
Once he gets back on Monday, me and the boys will go question him while you,” He points to me.
“Stay with Piper, Max will be on the door, Corden you stay with them as well, just in case,”
“I want to go with you!” I demand. “I have questions of my own,”
Asher grabs my hand. “Please stay with Piper. You are the only one we both trust and I can’t have her anywhere near him if he is the one, we are looking for,”
“If we tail him on academy grounds, he might lead us to where he took the girls,” Daylan inputs.
“I know Jacob’s guy can’t come past the gates so he can’t do it for us, but we should try and stick to the shadows for a few days.
Don’t go in all guns blazing on Monday. We need to be smart about this because we don’t know how many people are really involved.
Taking out one might not solve our problems here,” He looks at Asher’s and a silent conversation happens between them.
My brows furrow but I decide against questioning it right now.
“Good idea,” Asher nods.
“I just want this all to be over now,” Piper’s voice is soft as she crosses her arms around her stomach. “I want everything to go back to normal again,” Jacob doesn’t pull her into him as usual and the guilty look on his face is so obvious, I am surprised Piper hasn’t said anything.
“Okay, I have sent the files and information Bishop sent over to my brother and he is putting everything else on hold and working on this,” Corden shuts his laptop but opens his phone.
“I have all the camera’s set to my phone; Mr. Walker can’t make a move without us knowing about it.
So…” He stands and collects his things. “We are all going to head into town and grab some lunch and a bevy,”
“I have some work to do,” Jacob tries to excuse himself.
“No, you don’t. I already checked everyone’s timetables, assignment hand ins and sport schedules. We all have nothing until Monday. We all need to let off some steam. Come on,” Corden pleads.
I know we have a million other things to do, but an afternoon spending time with the people I have come to care about, does seem like the kind of thing I need right now.
Asher shrugs at me leaving the decision up to me.
“I’m in,” I stand.
“Me too,” Asher grabs my coat and his from the chair.
“I’ll come for a bit,” Daylan pushes his arms through his dark blue peacoat.
“I’ll go if you go,” Piper’s pleading eyes meet Jacobs.
He groans. “Fine,”
I chuckle to myself. As if he would ever say no to Piper.
***
The town outside of Marrowton Academy is small and quaint but spectacular in its own way. Old grey stone building’s line the small, cobbled streets and each shop has only one display window next to a slightly crooked, brightly painted door. The grey skies only add to its cosy charm.
All afternoon Asher has held my hand tight as we meandered through shops full of tat. No high street brands would ever think to put their store here, but the small boutiques are more than enough for the small amount of residents who live here.
When it starts to drizzle, we all take shelter in the small pub at the end of the street. The Hollow Lantern.
“They do a mean steak and ale pie here,” Corden beams as he opens the door for us all.
The inside is exactly how I expected it to be. Small and darkened due to the lack of windows, but the fireplace and wall sconces give it a cosy feel. Everything is mismatched and hanging onto its last legs, even the alcohol behind the bar looks ancient.
We take a corner booth that is red velvet lined, or was, before a million arses wore it down to nothing.
We all take off our jackets and order a pint, even Asher who I assumed only consumed expensive whiskey.
We sip and chat while Corden demolishes his pie, which does indeed look and smell divine.
The conversation is easy, and I can’t remember the last time I felt this content.
And to think, if my father didn’t send me here, I wouldn’t have ever met these people who are fast becoming important to me. Even Jacob.
We are about to order one more round when the door opens, letting the cold air in and breaking the vibe entirely.
I have a direct view of the door, so when I freeze at the girl beelining for us, everyone else turns to inspect.
Jacob’s rare smile melts off his face as he turns white, his eyes flashing between Piper and the redhead nearly at our table.
“Maybe we should go,” Daylan tries to distract everyone.
“Wait, why? We were just about to get another,” Corden asks and I kick him to shut up under the table.
“Ouch. What the fuck,” He looks my way and I mouth stop talking.
Piper doesn’t see that though, as she is already staring daggers at the redhead, her lip upturned in disgust as she gets a little closer to Jacob in the bench seating.
“Jacob, can I talk to you?” Stacey’s voice is steady but the glint in her eyes is all knowing. I have a bad feeling about this.
“Not at the moment,” He tries to make it sound friendly, but the tension in his jaw is anything but. I catch the sweat on his brow forming and he attempts to move slightly away from Piper, the act causing a flash of hurt on her features before she shoves it away.
“It’s important,” Stacey raises a brow, her fake smile showing teeth.
“Can we talk about this later. Please,” The panic and pleading in his voice is something everyone around the table catches onto.
“Why don’t we,” I go to stand and let everyone on my side of the booth out, no one should be witness to this. Especially Piper.
“No, we can’t cubby,” Stacey snaps. Piper almost growls.
“Don’t call me that,” Jacob says through gritted teeth.
“Why not?” Stacey’s face takes on a cruel manner, glancing between Jacob and Piper. “You would think that the mother of your child would be able to call you anything she wishes,” My stomach drops as gasps spill out around the table.
“For fucks sake Stacey,” Daylan groans as Jacob sits mouth wide and frozen.
“What does she mean?” Piper whispers from beside him. He doesn’t answer. Asher’s hands clench and unclench on the table, his face fighting to remain impassive.
“Jacob,” Piper says louder. “What does she mean,”
He turns to her, face pleading as he tries to speak, but every time his mouth opens, nothing comes out. Piper’s eyes fill with tears as her body trembles.
“Oh, he didn’t tell you,” Stacey laughs and I have to hold back my hand from reaching out and slapping her in her freckle filled face. “I thought the two of you were best friends,”
“Stacey,” Asher finally speaks. “I would be really careful how you speak to my sister, and how you approach the rest of this conversation. Or you and me are going to have a problem,”
Stacey takes the warning and clears her throat. Piper and Jacob are still face to face, a million unsaid things hanging between them.
“Stacey’s pregnant,” He finally whispers. “And its mine,”
Piper sucks in a breath and her hand shoots to her chest. Daylan reaches out and holds her shoulder for support. Asher looks away from the vision of his sister’s heart breaking before him.
“When, and how long have you known?” She demands, her voice steady as tears stream down her cheeks.
“I am four and a half months along and I told him two weeks ago,” Stacey states abruptly and I sneer at her across the table.
I thought Piper looked devastated before, but this is past that.
She is completely and utterly destroyed.
The last little twinkle in her eyes that she held tight onto after the kidnapping dies out and the tears stop as she realises the timeline.
“Piper I…” Jacob moves to grab her hands in his, but she flinches back and shakes her head.
“Don’t,” She begs and I decide that’s enough. This should not be happening in public. I told him to tell her, to make it on his terms. Now she feels blindsided along with everything else.
“Right,” I stand and take Asher’s car keys and he lets me. “That’s it. Were done here Stacey, you managed to do what you obviously planned on doing. Piper we’re leaving,”
She stands silently and Daylan gets out to let her past.
Jacob stands to follow.
“You sit down,” Asher demands. “We need to talk,” Jacob, just as defeated as Piper, sits and places his head in his hands. The rest of the table sat in silence.
I bend down and give Asher a kiss. “I will take her to my room. Come over when you are all done,”
He nods but his focus is on Piper. Checking, assessing. Worrying.
“I’ve got her. Don’t worry too much,”
We leave quickly, making sure to avoid Stacey as she stands trying to talk to Jacob who ignores her. After buckling Piper into Asher’s, way too expensive for me to drive, car. I race back to the Academy.
Holy shit. It’s only month two in my first term at Marrowton and it has been nothing but drama, secrets and heartbreak.
I still need to confess about Marlowe, which I was going to do tonight, but with all this coming out I will have to postpone things again.
Argh. Tomorrow. I will tell Asher first thing tomorrow.