Liar: A Dark College Romance (Hillcrest University Book 6)

by Candace Wondrak

  “Oh, God,” Declan exclaimed, quickly dropping it before looking embarrassed.

  See? I knew there was a dildo in there somewhere.

  Chapter Nine – Will

  My mom’s eyes were tired, weak. Wrinkles sat around them, along with the bruises. She sat beside me on the couch in the great room, taking my hand in hers. Her hair was piled on top of her head, and she wore one of her favorite dresses. “Will,” she spoke, squeezing my hand, “you’re a good boy. I know you think you’re protecting me, but your father is a good man. He’s not hurting me.”

  It wasn’t the first time she’d tried to tell me that. I might’ve been young, but I was old enough to know she was being forced to say these things.

  I said nothing, because what could I say to a woman who would lie to protect the man hurting her?

  “There are no bruises,” she told me pointblank. “Your father isn’t hurting me. We are all safe here, okay?” Mom gave me a smile, releasing my hand to lovingly caress the sides of my face, my cherub cheeks. “We’re Briggs. We’re one happy family. You need to stop telling your teachers that your father is hitting me.”

  And then, suddenly, it all made sense. Mom wasn’t protecting him. She was too frightened to ask for help. She didn’t want people to take Declan and I away from her. She wanted us to stay together.

  That day I swore to myself I would come up with a way to help her.

  I lay in bed that night, Ash fast asleep between Declan and me, and I lost myself in my memories. It was strange, how my mind came up with stories to explain things. Mom didn’t have bruises. I’d made them up, a reason to hate our father so much. I didn’t think I was delusional, but…what else would you call it?

  I’d hated my father from day one. Couldn’t say why. And now that he was dead, I should’ve felt relieved. I should’ve felt like my mission in life was accomplished. Our father was dead, his secrets in the open.

  But that was the thing…it wasn’t. My mission wasn’t over yet.

  Through the darkness, I stared at her. Ash. Fast asleep, her naked torso half-covered under the sheets. She was beautiful, and yet I knew her beauty would attract flies and snakes alike. Ash had been through so much, it was only logical to want to protect her now, to want to shield her from the world and its sleazy inhabitants.

  Like Sawyer.

  She’d told me that Sawyer had texted her, told me all about him wanting to cook us dinner next week, and I’d smiled and agreed even though I felt like pulling my hair out. The last thing I wanted to do was dress up and play nice with that skank. Sawyer would get his.

  I wasn’t proud of it, but while Ash and Declan were getting busy in the shower, I glanced at her phone. Went through her messages. Did a little digging to make sure she wasn’t hiding anything from me. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her; it was more like I didn’t trust anyone else.

  I probably read Sawyer’s messages to her a dozen times before I heard the water shut off and I had to act like nothing was going on.

  Sawyer…I had the feeling he was going to be a problem.

  This wasn’t me overreacting, was it? This wasn’t me obsessing. I didn’t obsess. I just…fixated on things sometimes, especially when those things involved the people I cared most about. And that was Ash and Declan. I cared about them more than I cared about myself. I would give everything to them, so no, I didn’t think it was wrong, or that I was overreacting.

  I would suck it up, go to this dinner with Ash, Declan, and Travis, and see. See how much Sawyer wanted her. There were lines I wouldn’t want crossed, and to keep them safe I knew I’d have to step in.

  Of course, Sawyer wasn’t the only one I had to watch.

  My mind would not shut itself off, so I slowly got out of bed, being as quiet as I could. I wore nothing but athletic shorts, feeling antsy as I cracked open the door and slipped out into the dark hall, heading to the kitchen. Food was the last thing on my mind, but at least it would pass the time. It was more than obvious I wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight.

  I peeked in the fridge, not wanting to make anything. Not really wanting to eat either, but I’d take eating and focusing on the food over thinking about Ash and how she seemed to lure in every single male she came in contact with.

  That was an exaggeration. A slight one. But it still stood.

  Not seeing anything that appetizing, I shut the fridge door and rested an arm on it, glancing down at a hand. I blinked, and for a split-second, through the darkness, I could’ve sworn I saw blood staining my palm.

  But then I blinked again, and it was gone.

  I wasn’t a huge fan of blood. I didn’t like how red it was, or how sticky it was. It’s why I used rope with Sabrina, why I didn’t use the knife I threatened her with. I hated stabbing my father with a knife, hated having to help my mom like that.

  So messy. The stains were impossible to get out of clothing, too.

  I couldn’t say how long I was there, staring at my hand in the darkness, but the sudden flick of a light on above me caused me to jerk, spotting Ash standing near the light switch. Her blonde brows were creased, and she blinked multiple times to adjust her eyes to the light, as did I. She must’ve thrown on one of my shirts, the fabric hanging just low enough to cover everything important.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, sounding half asleep.

  “Nothing,” I said, wanting her to believe me. If there was one person in the world I wanted to believe everything was fine, it was her. Granted, I hadn’t been my best self lately, letting jealousy and anger rear their ugly heads at every turn. I had to do better.

  A light smile crossed her face, and she stepped closer to me, tilting her head to accommodate the height difference between us. She was a rather short one, but she fit perfectly against my chest. Ash leaned her head against my pectorals, wrapping her arms around me. “I don’t believe you,” she whispered.

  She saw through me, but not all of me. I wondered what she’d do if she knew the truth, the lengths I’d go to to protect those I loved. Would she be proud of me? Would she fall deeper in love with me after hearing what I’d done, or would she hate me? Or, worse, fear me because she could be next?

  I would never hurt her. I never hurt the ones I cared about.

  Mom didn’t count.

  Wrapping my arms around her frail frame, I hugged her close. I could feel her chest rise and fall underneath my shirt, my own chest bare. There was nothing better than having her in my arms, where I knew, without a doubt, she was safe.

  “You know you can talk to me about anything,” she said, tilting her head to glance up at me, her grey eyes sparkling in the incandescent light. When I looked down at her, I saw sparkles in her eyes, a love that had no words. When she was with me, I had everything I could ever want.

  “I know,” I said, hating that I had to lie to her. Maybe, in the future, I could tell her everything. Maybe, once the others were out of the picture, I could tell her and Declan the truth. Declan would be upset at what I’d done, but he would come to understand I’d only done it for him. Sabrina had never been right for him, not with her sleeping with our father.

  Even if it was just once…once was too much.

  My hands moved to her neck, and I cupped her face as I lowered my lips to hers. Kissing her softly was like tasting eternity. I never thought, never imagined I’d ever come across someone that could fit into the broken crevices of my soul, not to mention Declan’s as well. Ash fit seamlessly, and she tasted like heaven.

  I hoisted her up, grabbing both legs as she wrapped her arms around me. I set Ash on the counter, her legs spread, her back arching and pushing her chest against me. The slow kiss gave way to a carnal lust only she could bring out of me. My cock practically sprang ready in my shorts, and I didn’t think, didn’t hesitate—I pulled myself out and guided my length into her, claiming her in my kitchen.

  Ash tore her lips off mine to moan. I rocked in and out of her, watching her body react to mine. She truly did call out to my
inner animal, to the beast I thought I had under control. She made me want to go crazy, in both the best and worst of ways. Ash was my light and my darkness, and I’d be damned if I let anyone else have her.

  It was as I fucked her, as I held her close and lost myself in bodily pleasure only she could bring me, that I decided what I had to do. Didn’t know how quite yet, but I’d think up a plan. Anyone sniffing around Ash was toast, but Sawyer? Oh, for that one I had something a little different planned.

  The week passed in a blur. I did what I had to do, got what I needed to get, and then, when Thursday came, I waited. You see, I knew Ash had been doing awful on her statistics, and I knew she wasn’t a B student. She wanted that A, and she’d do anything to get it, including heading into the math hall to visit a certain someone during their office hours.

  I looked him up on Hillcrest’s website. Took a while to find him, since all he went by was Corey, but I eventually found his full name. Corey Weinberger. And since he was technically faculty, his office location was listed in plain view on his page online.

  The first time I’d come by his office when he wasn’t there, I came to check it out. It was a busy hall, and I immediately noticed the cameras inside the building. Another day I tracked him to his car. He was a creature of habit, I’d learned, always parking in the same place.

  The night I saw Ash go into that hall and stay there for over an hour, I knew something had to be done. The dinner with Sawyer was this Saturday, less than forty-eight hours away now, but that left Friday wide open.

  Friday was the day.

  Chapter Ten – Ash

  To say I was a bundle of nerves about tomorrow would be under-exaggerating. I was totally freaked out, hardly got any sleep at all last night. Hell, I even put Declan’s tongue-skills into overdrive, wanting to overload my mind with pleasure and lull me into a sleep, but that didn’t work. All of the orgasms in the world couldn’t put me to sleep. I was too nervous.

  Which was just silly, because it was Sawyer. Sawyer didn’t merit any kind of nervousness, did he?

  I did miss seeing his face more often, though. His smiles—the real, full things, not those half-baked smirks he was so good at giving—were heart-stopping. Even his humor, which, at times, was aggravating beyond all belief, I missed.

  Damn. I really did have it bad for Sawyer, didn’t I?

  I headed across campus, my classes done for the day, returning to my dorm room. Campus had been wild with gossip today, but I hadn’t paid much attention to anybody else or whatever their supposed problems were, too buried in my own. In fact, I was so lost in my own thoughts that I failed to notice the police cars parked in front of my dorm building.

  Humming to myself, I wandered to the elevator, hitting the up button. Usually I took the stairs, but taking stairs would require focus. I was too out of it to do much of anything. Even the combination of breathing, blinking, and walking was giving me trouble. Forget stairs or skateboarding.

  Once the elevator let out on my floor, I stepped out, turning to head to my room. Declan should be there. If anyone could calm me down, he could—though he’d been trying all week. I was afraid my nerves were simply getting the best of me, as they sometimes did.

  But hey, at least no more panic attacks, right? No more bodies.

  My legs stopped the moment I spotted Declan standing in the hall, talking to a pair of female police officers. His dark brown eyes darted to me, and whatever he was in the middle of saying froze on his lips. The two women turned to look at me, and for a quick moment, I was thrown into a flashback.

  Officer White and Officer Melendez, the exact same two women who’d questioned me about getting hit by that car, who were supposed to investigate Will’s stabbing. Melendez was even on my case about Ray.

  Shit.

  What were they doing here?

  No way they could’ve found Ray. Travis assured me over and over that his family took care of it, that there would be no body to find. No, this couldn’t be about Ray. Was it about what happened with Will and Declan’s dad? Wait, that was in another district, not Hillcrest. That couldn’t be it, either.

  What the hell was this about?

  I resumed walking, meeting the officers with a smile. “It’s been a while,” I said, glancing to each of them. Declan, meanwhile, seemed to shrink into our room, looking pale, like he was going to be sick.

  Fuck. Did something else happen?

  Melendez turned her dark stare to me. She looked the same as she did before: her uniform neatly tucked in, her brown hair twisted into a low bun, not an ounce of makeup on her face. Beside her, White only frowned at me.

  “We’re actually here for you, Ash,” Melendez spoke. “Can you come down to the station with us?”

  I glanced at Declan before answering, “If this is about Ray, I haven’t seen him.”

  Melendez nodded. “We have a few questions to ask you. It’d be easier at the station.” Down the hall, some of our neighbors poked their heads out, curious.

  Right. Standing in the hallway while talking to two police officers would only create more rumors.

  “Sure,” I said. Declan was about to say something, but I cut him off, “It’s fine. I’m sure I won’t be long.” And if this was about Ray, if they’d somehow realized that I’d been in that house with him after Halloween, I was fucked. Had to own up to the consequences.

  Having a serial killer as an ex was a serious drag.

  “Not long at all,” White replied. She had one hand hooked in her belt, where her badge rested beneath her coat, along with her gun. Her blonde hair was down, braided and off to the side.

  I shot Declan a look before leaving with them, and in thirty minutes I sat in a sterile white interrogation room, a familiar sight. A camera hung in the corner of the room, its red light blinking, telling me it was on and recording. A two-way mirror sat near the door to the hall, and I wondered if anyone was watching me.

  What the hell was this about?

  I shifted in my seat, for a split-second wishing Markus was here. That man was scary as fuck, but he could handle people well, and police even better than that. Wouldn’t want to be caught dead on his bad side, though.

  Alas, I was alone. No Markus, no lawyer, no help. I really had to be careful of what I said.

  When the door opened, I looked up, meeting Melendez’s eyes. She carried a file, and she let out a sigh as she sat down across from me. “You’re always in the thick of things, aren’t you?” she asked, as if I already knew what this was about.

  And I didn’t. I was so clueless it hurt.

  “I’m sorry,” I spoke, light and hesitant. I leaned on the table, fumbling with my jacket’s sleeves. “What’s this about?”

  “Corey Weinberger.” Melendez pulled a picture out of Corey, the grad student who taught my statistics course. “Do you know him?”

  “Yeah,” I said, studying the picture. His cute face looked even dorkier than I remembered it being, plastered with a smile for the camera. This obviously had to be the picture taken by the school for his Hillcrest ID or something. No one ever took a picture like that willingly. “I’m in one of his classes.”

  And then I realized Melendez wouldn’t be asking about him if everything was okay. Something happened.

  Shit.

  “When’s the last time you saw Mr. Weinberger?”

  I answered immediately, finding no reason to lie, since there were probably cameras all over the building: “Last night. I went to his office hours. I’m having trouble in class. I don’t really understand the—”

  Melendez took the photo of him back, digging through the file as she cut in, “At approximately what time did you last see him?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe six-thirty?”

  “His office hours are until six. Mr. Weinberger didn’t want to get home?”

  “He said it was fine if he stayed late a bit,” I said, suddenly feeling itchy. So very itchy. This was all too familiar; I instantly wanted to be sick. Somehow I knew Corey
wasn’t okay, and when Melendez showed me another picture, I knew it for a fact.

  Corey was dead.

  The picture Melendez showed me now was of him, his body on the pavement in what looked like a parking lot. I couldn’t see a wound, but there was a large bloodstain on the pavement under him. He laid face-down, only his left eye visible with the way his neck was angled…and that eye was still open. Had he even been alive when he’d hit the ground?

  “He was found late last night, dead in the parking lot near his vehicle. Time of death is about six-thirty,” Melendez said, taking the picture from me. Good thing too, because I couldn’t stop staring at it.

  He was alive less than twenty-four hours ago. I was the last person to see him alive. Neither fact made much sense in my head, and I must’ve worn my emotions on my face, for Melendez sighed.

  “We’re talking with his family and his friends, but no one knows anything about any enemies he might’ve had. The area where he parked his car was a blind spot of the university’s security cameras.”

  “I don’t know much about him,” I said, wishing I was alone right now. Wishing I could press pause and rewind this day, or even fast-forward it. “I don’t know who could’ve done this—”

  “You see, that’s where I have a theory.”

  I looked at her. Melendez and her theories…sometimes steered too close to the truth.

  “Ray Ruiz has been quiet,” Melendez said, pointing to me. “And you were the last person who saw Mr. Weinberger alive. What we know about Ruiz is, he’s not afraid to hurt anyone he thinks is getting too close to you.”

  Right. Because of Will.

  “You haven’t seen Ray Ruiz? Or heard from him?”

  Melendez’s question snapped me back into reality, and I met her dark eyes. “No, I haven’t.” I also knew for a fact Ray was dead, which meant…which meant Corey’s killer was still out there. Was yet another person dead because of me?