Page 114 of Forever Defiant
Tiffany Preacher.
My pulse kicked. “She is,” I said quietly.
Savannah nodded. “I thought you’d say that.” She crossed to her bed and came back with her laptop. “I found her.”
I gaped at her. “What?” I couldn’t process what she was saying. “Why didn’t youtellmeimmediately?”
Savannah rolled her eyes. “I told you why. They’re my friends. If it’s something horrid that the whole department goes down for, their lives are...” She looked at me, sincerity shining in her eyes. “They work so hard, Hadley. They aren’t part of this, the majority of the students probably aren’t. They don’t deserve to suffer for it.”
“But you just said—”
She nodded. “And Tiffany didn’t deserve for this to happen to her. She didn’t deserve to be made to disappear. And whether Mason Sterling did it or not, we need to know.” She licked her lips. “They’re my friends,” she whispered, her gaze dropping to the laptop. “He might just be the guy I’m destined to spend my entire life with, and this might make that all blow up in my face.”
“But...” I stopped myself and looked at her.Reallylooked at her. She was risking more than I was with this, and I hadn’tstopped to think about that. “Hey, Savannah, if this is too much, I get it.”
Savannah looked up at me, determination in her gaze. “But an abuse of power is an abuse of power, and we need to speak to Tiffany to know exactly what happened.”
“And if it’s a complete cover-up, total corruption, and overall rotten to the very foundations?”
“Then we tell my dad, and he tells the NCAA, and if for some reason he doesn’t, then we do, and we watch them clear it out, and rebuild it.” She sighed. “But we need evidence — hard, irrefutable evidence.” She shook her head. “It’s nothing but hearsay if we don’t have proof that they’re doing very bad things and getting away with it.”
I watched her, excitement thrumming in my chest. “You’re all in.”
Savannah made a face. “Have you met me? I’m Savannah Cole. Of course I’m all in.”
I lunged forward and hugged her. “Yes, you are. God, I think I love you.”
Savannah hugged me back. “More than you love Dust?”
I pushed her away from me. “Now I just mildly tolerate you again.” I swatted her shoulder, stole one of my own Twizzlers, and grinned at her. “This is going to be good,” I said with conviction. “We’re going to shine a spotlight on them so bright, the bastards won’t be able to blink.”
Savannah went to say something, but her phone buzzed. She read the message, a frown forming. “Huh.”
She typed back a reply furiously.
“What’s happening?” I asked her, not sure I should disturb her.
“The three musketeers have a source,” she muttered. I watched her slide her feet into her sneakers.
“The three musketeers?” I asked her. “What source?”
“Some girl Dante and Dust know. They’re heading to Cardinal.”
I edged toward my shoes. “They have a source?” I slipped my boots on. “And they’re chasing it down?” I repacked my Twizzlers. “And we’re—”
“Following them, obviously.” Savannah looked around the room. “Come on. They’re already on the road.”
“Sneaky bastards.” I followed her out to the back and saw with some consternation that she had free parking. Her car was a newish model, pristine inside, and had a full tank of gas. Everything about it screamedSavannah.
“Did you tell him we’re coming too?”
Savannah snorted. “Nope.” She put the car in drive, and we drove away from her building.
“And how do we know where they’re going to be?” I asked her, wondering if she’d thought this through.
“Because my boyfriend is a little bit—” she pinched her thumb and pointer finger together — “of a control freak. He put the FindMe app on my phone. He has it on his.”
I swear, this girl just kept surprising me. “We’restalkingthem?”
