“I’d say I could talk to Dad about it, but he’s been even more close-mouthed than usual since that little confession of his.” I sigh and reach up to push some curls away from my forehead. “I still think he’s involved with Mr. Murphy and Mr. Dave. I just hinted the word cult when I stopped by yesterday, and he slammed his office door in my face.”
“It would make sense,” Spencer says, picking at a seam on my comforter. “The three of them working together to protect Chuck-let behind the scenes.” He looks up, the skin around his mouth tight with worry. “That’s what I think Jack was doing, when he came to get me at the cabin—he was protecting me.”
“Yeah?” Ranger retorts, and I feel the tension between them climb sky-high in an instant. There’s quite a bit of contention about Jack, and his role in Jenica’s death. Not that I blame either of them for the position they’re taking, it’s just hard to see them fight with each other. “Well then, if he’s so damn worried about you, why show up out of the blue on campus, disappear at the slightest hint of contention, and then ghost the fuck out of you afterwards?”
“Jack isn’t a bad person,” Spencer says, and there’s this sad but determined note in his voice that reminds me of that day in the hallway when he looked at me like I was a liar. Thinking about it makes my heart hurt, so I push the thought away. “He’s just a coward. It’s pretty clear to me that he’s scared of this … Fellowship of the Divine or whatever the crap they’re calling themselves. Rightfully so, I might add, considering the body count.”
“Let’s not grace them with a proper name,” I suggest, trying to break the tension. “Let’s call them … Fellowship of the Dirty Toilet Brushes.”
“What is it with you and toilet brushes?” Micah asks, getting an elbow in the chest from me as payback. “Let’s call them the Dick Cheese Initiates.”
“Dude, I just ate,” Tobias says, yanking on a tuft of his brother’s hair. “Now be serious for a second here: are we going back down in those tunnels?”
“No!” I shout at the same that Church says, “yes.”
He looks over at me and smiles slightly.
“You’re not, but I am.”
“Have you lost your mind?!” Spencer snaps, dropping the pillow he was using to hide his erection and rising to his feet. “I know I wasn’t there, but like, didn’t you guys learn your lesson the first time? You all could’ve died.”
“Send one of your parents’ security lackeys down there to investigate,” Ranger says, and Church sighs, like he expected this sort of response from his friends.
“This cult,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest and finally sitting down on the end of his bed. “They’re clearly made up of powerful families, families with resources that match my own.”
“Nobody’s resources match your own,” the twins murmur behind me, but only loud enough so that I can hear.
“This is a game, can’t you see it?” He looks up with this fierce determination burning in his amber gaze. “The people who are after Charlotte are young, inexperienced. They’re not hitmen, they’re not professionals. Think about it: the school board’s denied our requests for extra security. Why? Because they want this to be challenge. Jenica wrote it down plain as day: this is an initiation.” Church’s nostrils flare, and I realize then just how fucking smart he really is. He could run circles around the rest of us if he wanted to. “Even that quote about the foxes, the one from the Bible: Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that plunder the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom. It’s a metaphor.” He gestures in my direction. “Jenica, Eugene, Jason … Charlotte. They’re the foxes. The vineyard is the interests of the cult—whatever those might be.” Church stands up suddenly, clearly incensed over his speech, obviously frustrated that he hasn’t solved the entire murder-mystery on his own. He is way too hard on himself. “These families, they’ve sent their own in to do the deed, and I intend on meeting that challenge.” He moves over to the door, hand resting on the knob, and glances back, just once. “And if my parents taught me anything, it’s to protect the ones you love—no matter what the cost.”
Church disappears into the hallway and slams the door behind him.
I stand up to go after him, forgetting that I’ve still got the packer penis in my underwear. It flops out onto the floor and bounces over next to Church’s bed, ruining the dramatics of the moment.
Without skipping a beat, Ranger reaches down, picks it up, and stuffs it into his pants before standing up and pointing at the rest of us.
