Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Charles
“So this is a library.”
Zeke nudges Chad to make him shut up. “If you’d said that before you started dating Bailey, I’d probably believe you.”
Fair point. I know the two of them have late-night study sessions here. At least, I think they’re studying.
“Who else are we waiting on?” Robbie asks.
“This is it.” I’ve brought Bailey with me, and Zeke has Chad, Robbie, and Brandon.
“I thought you guys were bringing the people in your house you trust.” Robbie points at Bailey. “He’s the only brother you’d go to war with?”
“Well, that’s dramatic.”
“Is it? It feels accurate to me.”
Bailey and I exchange a look, but after how fast he reacted to the fire, I’m not completely committed to it. Robbie is … a handful. But maybe not without his good qualities too.
“I brought Bailey because he’s the only one in my house I trust when it comes to you Sigmas.”
“What about Sam?” Zeke asks, and there’s tone simmering beneath the question.
“I trust Sam, but for the same reason Larken isn’t here, they need to focus on the everyday stuff. I think we can all agree this isn’t a run-of-the-mill Tuesday night.”
There are murmurs of agreement.
It’s late, and I booked this meeting room in the back of the library so we wouldn’t be seen or disturbed.
The dean was right—people are already talking about how Sigma house set half of ours on fire and sent three of our guys to hospital.
Total lies, but the rumors weren’t helped when Anon posted a photo on the Dirt of our shed on fire with the Sigma letters sprayed into our stairs.
“So why are we here?” Brandon asks.
“Because we need a plan to weed this person out.”
“Zeke explained that part.”
Urg. Of course he did. I turn to him. “We said we weren’t going to mention anything until we were sure we wouldn’t be overheard.”
“We did. I was sure.”
“That’s the whole reason I booked this room.”
He smiles. “That was never in the specifics.”
My cheeks heat, and I glare daggers his way, even as my stomach swims with acknowledgment. It’s been almost a week since he fucked me in the locker room, and I’m starting to get antsy.
“Before you two start your foreplay,” Chad cuts in, “I wrote out a list of anyone I know who’s had issues with us before. From parties or friendships imploding—anything.”
That’s … oddly organized. “Thank you.”
He nods and hands it over as Zeke switches chairs to take the one next to mine. He leans in like he’s trying to read the list better, but his hand lands on my thigh.
“This is a good start,” he says, even as I’m trying not to swallow my tongue.
Bailey is on my other side, and I have no idea if he’s seen or not, but if he has, he’s quiet about it. The fact Zeke is taking the risk when I think Robbie’s head would actually blow off if he found out about us is incredible.
“I thought we already ruled out Carter,” I say, pointing at his name.
“Still think it could be him,” Robbie answers. “He didn’t buy a ticket to the bake-off, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
“True, but we’re trying to narrow down the list.”
When Zeke sits back, he unfortunately takes his hand with him.
“So the next question is how we do that,” Zeke says.
“Have you cross-referenced it with social media?” Brandon asks. “Most people keep track of their lives that way.”
Good point. “We’ll do that next.”
Robbie reaches for the list, and I hand it to him. He’s scrolling through his phone. “These two were working.” He points to two names. “And this guy broke his ankle last week. Plus, this one is away with family.”
Four easy names dismissed, at least. “That still leaves us with about twenty people. What are you going to do? Interrogate them?”
“If we need to.”
“No,” Zeke says. “We need a plan. Something to catch the person or people out.”
The six of us fall quiet. Last time Zeke and I tried to plan something, we’d ended up locked in a storage cupboard together.
“We all agree it’s this Anon person, right?” Zeke asks.
“Well, we cleaned the letters off the steps completely, and the photo definitely had them in it.”
Bailey shudders. “I can’t believe this loser was sneaking through our house while we were sleeping, and none of us noticed.”
Chad laughs. “We sneak around your house all the time unnoticed. You’d think you’d have better security by now.”
“Doesn’t help when someone keeps stealing the keys.” I side-eye him.
He throws me an angelic smile back.
“Okay, so.” I pull out my phone and make a list. “They’re familiar with your pranks, they clearly have something against you all, they’re creating events to make you look guilty, they’ve roped a bunch of people into supporting their claims, and they waited to strike over the weekend until the dean was in attendance. ”
“It was also the dean who found us when we got locked in that storage closet,” Zeke says.
Robbie perks up. “You were locked in a storage room? What? When?”
“None of your business.”
“Bro my god, dude, spill.”
“Spill what?” I ask. “Anon tricked us into waiting for them and then locked us in.”
“So they had a key,” Brandon says. “And knew which doors wouldn’t unlock from the inside.”
Hey, that’s also a good point. I jot that down too.
“And they knew enough to try and set up Charles as the one posting.”
“Are we still sure it wasn’t him though?” Robbie asks.
Before I can answer, Zeke does it for me. “Yes. We’re sure. And I don’t want it brought up again.”
Robbie nods. “Okay. So basically, we have a whole lot of nothing.”
“Could still be a Kappa,” Chad says, then holds up his hands at my shitty look. “What? You hate us, and you obviously had access to your own house.”
I shake my head. “Anon knew that you guys always tease me about parameters, and none of my brothers know that.”
Bailey sniggers beside me.
“Well, none except him. And besides, if this person had access to school keys, unless they’re some Bond villain or shitty rom-com star, there’s a high chance they’re in a position with access. Either janitorial or TA … something that requires them to need after-hours access.”
“Plus, I don’t think any Kappas own a pair of Ultraboosts.”
I point at Zeke. “That’s a good point too. At least in the house, I haven’t seen any.”
“Ultraboosts?” Chad asks.
“When we were locked in,” Zeke clarifies. “They were wearing a pair. Probably new.”
That gives the others something to think about.
I look through the list and try to figure out if there are any links, but I come up blank. “The only connection I can make is trying to get us in trouble with the dean.”
Zeke tilts my phone to look over it too. “The dean did say he got a ton of requests about judging, right?”
“He did.”
“But I’m the only one who emailed him.”
“He said hundreds.”
“Chuck …” Zeke pins me with a look. “How many college students do you know who care whether the dean is there to judge a dumb frat contest or not?”
Literally none.
“We need some public way for the dean to be back on Greek Row,” Robbie says. “Clearly this person wanted the dean to witness that shit.”
“What?”
“If it was me”—he points my way—“don’t look at me like that. If it was, I would be looking for every opportunity to piss the dean off and put you on his radar. Like how we’re trying to do that but in an opposite way.”
“And failing,” I mutter.
Zeke kicks my foot under the table.
“We … we really want to do this?” I ask.
“Why not?”
“It’s …” I suck in a breath. “We’re not qualified for this. We have no idea what we’re dealing with. We have Nationals there for a reason. Shouldn’t we get their buy-in on how to handle it?”
Zeke shakes his head. “No. No Nationals. They’re a last resort only.”
“The dean said to make sure we’re keeping our noses clean and not getting into trouble. We graduate soon. A plan to catch this person in action is smart, but, I mean, they set something on fire last time. What if they go too far and someone gets hurt?”
“That’s why you have me,” Brandon says gently. “We’ll make sure it’s safe.”
I look around helplessly. “Anyone have ideas, then?”
“Actually, I do.” Chad rubs his hands together. “How do you feel about a joint executive sleepover?”
Robbie groans. “More time with Kappa bitches?”
“More time to show good faith. Kappas and Sigmas working together. You want your auction, let’s do it.
That night, we’ll hold a silent auction at Sigma house, and all the brothers will volunteer up time or expertise or whatever for people to bid on, and any of the Kappas who don’t have an executive position will have to conveniently be out of the house too—Charles, that’ll be up to you to organize.
The next morning, we have the dean livestream reading out the winners.
If fucker McGhee is smart, they’ll plan something for then.
We’ll leave discreet cameras set up all over Kappa house to try and catch the person as they’re up to … whatever it is.”
I glance at Zeke, who shrugs. “Simple but effective.”
It is. Except I’m going to be expected to spend the night in their house, not jumping Zeke’s bones. However will I manage?
“Might as well give it a try. It’s not like we have any other plan.”
Chad sighs. “That’s exactly the reaction you want to your master plans. It’ll do, I guess.” He turns big eyes on Bailey. “I thought it was frat as fuck.”
Bailey pats his cheek. “It was incredible. Bestest plan you’ve ever had.”
“That’s better.”
Robbie shoves Brandon. “Why don’t you ever tell me I have the bestest plans?”
“Because to have the bestest plans, you’d have to plan. We all know you make shit up as you go along.”
“Aww, you do know me.”
I watch them a moment before turning to where Bailey is petting Chad and then to Zeke, who’s smirking at me like he can read the very thought in my mind.
Dear god. This is our A-team.
We’re fucking screwed.