The door swings open in front of me, letting in a wave of sunshine as I spin and slam my palms against it to force it shut.
The last thing I see before it closes is the trio of hoodie-wearing assholes staring at me. Turning, I find myself looking at a group of goth kids smoking cigarettes. I smile; they don't smile back. And I make myself walk as slowly as I can past them.
Nobody follows me out of the cafeteria, but whatever these psychos are trying for: it's working.
I'm scared shitless.
Intimidating me while I was at Adamson, sleeping in Jenica's room, exploring the girls' dormitory, that made sense.
This … doesn't.
What in the ever-loving fuck is going on?!“You have got to be fucking kidding me?” Tobias murmurs as Spencer paces behind him. Micah's sitting on his brother's left, while Church lounges in the background. Ranger gets up close and personal with the screen.
“Do you think your attackers were male or female?” he asks, mouth in a tight, thin line. He looks ready to kill somebody.
“Two males, one female, just like we thought,” I say, exhaling and rubbing my hands over my face. I reported the attack to the security office, but after searching the campus, there was no evidence of any wrongdoing. The security cameras just so happened to malfunction during the incident. Although they took my report, I could tell the two male police officers were skeptical of my story. Dickheads. “Do you think I should call my dad and talk to him about it?”
“Hell yeah I do,” Ranger snaps, closing his eyes and covering his mouth with his hand. He opens them again, those dark sapphire irises cutting straight through me. He's all the way across the country and yet, he could kill with that glare of his. “This is fucking serious.”
“He's not going to believe me,” I murmur, but Ranger gives me this searing look. I wonder if he really does think of me like a replacement for Jenica? I hope not, I think, shifting uncomfortably on the sofa in Monica's guestroom. That's how big this place is, the bedroom has its own fireplace and seating area. I hope they don't end up losing it to foreclosure like Micah implied.
“He will. He sent you away for a reason. He knows more than he's letting on.” Ranger exhales. “Have you had a chance to finish the journal yet?”
“I'm working my way through it,” I say, my mind drifting to Jenica. She really did write about some fucked-up things, but she also wrote down her fears, her hopes and dreams. Knowing she's gone, it's a tough thing to get through. When I read it, I always feel like crying.
“We've been digging into things here, but it's been quiet since you left. What I don't understand is why you'd get notes telling you to leave, only to have your attacker chase you down?”
“Could be a prank?” Spencer suggests, putting his hands on the back of Tobias' chair and leaning in. I inhale and breathe in the scent of the Kenneth Cole Black fragrance I purchased, specifically for these sorts of moments. His turquoise eyes catch and hold my attention. “Have you told anyone else about the notes or the attacks? Monica? That douche, Cody?”
“Nobody,” I say firmly. And really, that's not exactly their style. Monica is too mean girl, and Cody is … well, he's not all that smart. Subtlety isn't exactly in his wheelhouse.
“So the notes aren't necessarily tied to the attacks,” Church muses, leaning back in his chair and crossing his long legs at the knee. “We're looking for two different factions.”
“Someone was trying to protect you,” Tobias says, exchanging a look with his brother. Micah's brows go up. My eyes slide to Church, whose half-lidded stare and overly calm demeanor make me wonder. He locked me in the trunk that night; someone let me out. Someone who had keys, but didn't have to go into the house to wake Dad up. And that same someone was waiting to chase me with a knife, and yet …
“The first attacker, with the knife,” I blurt, the pieces coming together. My gaze flicks over to Church, but he returns my look with a cool stare of his own. “That's the note writer.” I snap my fingers, feeling all proud of myself. “I mean, if you were there with a knife, and you wanted to kill me, why not just do it as soon as you opened the trunk?”
“And there was only one person that time. The other incidents involved at least two people each time,” Ranger continues, taking out a notebook and writing this all down. I notice it's a pink notebook with gold edges, and a unicorn on the front. For a guy who tromps around in combat boots yelling at people all the time, smoking cigarettes, and sporting a chest tat, he sure likes cute things.
