Love, Lies, and Deception

by L. P. Dover

  Saturday had come and gone with no word from Detective Michaels, and with all the news vans parked out in the parking lot, Alec and I had stayed hidden. Alec didn’t want to be on the news and neither did I. It did, however, leave us stuck inside, but it was mainly Alec who couldn’t go anywhere.

  My exams were coming up and I needed to study, so Alec and I were spending the day apart. Reluctantly, I left his apartment and slowly walked up the steps to mine. Emily had a million questions to ask me when I walked through the front door, so I filled her in on everything and watched the surprise take over her face. It was so hard to keep secrets from her.

  “So, what you’re trying to tell me is that hottie from downstairs is worth millions? Damn, girl, you landed the jackpot,” Emily shrieked.

  “It’s not like that, Em. I couldn’t care less about that stuff, but we need to keep this quiet. Don’t go blabbering around campus who Alec is, okay?”

  Emily scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Rissa, we’ve been best friends since kindergarten and never once have I betrayed your trust. I’m not gonna say anything.”

  “Thank you,” I muttered gratefully. “Whatever’s going on is making it hard for Alec to stay here. The last thing he needs is another scandal.”

  “You’re right, he doesn’t,” Emily said brightly. “What we need is some fun. Get Alec up here tonight. We’ll order pizza and enjoy our last night before exams. Because after this week, it’s all over, baby. We’ll officially be graduating.”

  She skipped off and grabbed her cell phone off the kitchen counter, heading toward her room. “I’m going to call Justin and tell him to bring sodas and beer tonight. Why don’t you call Kristian and see when he’s coming in from Boston.”

  Hopefully, his weekend went better than mine.

  It sure had to be better than what it was like here. When I got to my room it felt good to be able to collapse onto my own bed and snuggle up to my favorite pillow. I snatched my bag from off the floor and dumped all of my books out in front of me so I could at least try to study, but first I needed to call Kristian. Pulling out my cell phone, I dialed up his number. It rang a couple of times before I heard his deep voice speak excitedly over the line.

  “Mare, hey!”

  “Hey, Kris, how are you? When are you coming home?” I tried to sound normal, to sound like I hadn’t just seen a dead body, but being the all-intuitive Kristian he knew something was wrong.

  “Uh-oh. I know that tone, baby girl. Something’s wrong isn’t it?” he asked worriedly.

  “Can you come over tonight? Emily and I want to have you, Justin, and Alec come over for pizza. Will you be home in time, say around seven? I’d love to hear about your weekend.”

  Kristian laughed and I could tell he was shaking his head over the phone. “Dodging my question, are we? Anyway, I’m actually in Lenoir right now so I’ll be home in about forty-five minutes. Do you want me to come by?”

  My heart constricted in my chest, and I actually felt a little pang of guilt at wanting him to be the one to comfort me. Was it bad that I missed him?

  He always had a way of soothing me, of telling me the things I wanted to hear while Emily, being the vibrant girl that she is, was always good at cheering up; they both had their own ways of helping me. Kristian could also help me study, and at the moment I needed his help more than anything.

  “Yes, please. After the weekend I had I really need you here. Would you mind stopping by?” I asked, trying not to choke up on my words. I didn’t want to tell him what happened until he arrived.

  Kristian sighed. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, and you can tell me what’s bothering you. I’ll make it all better … hopefully.”

  My chin trembled, but I didn’t dare cry. I wished with everything I had that he could make it better, but I knew he couldn’t. “Thank you, Kristian. Be careful on your way,” I said before hanging up.

  It was ten o’clock in the morning on a beautiful May day in the mountains. Everything was supposed to be perfect right now, but it all felt like it was falling apart.

  An hour later, Kristian knocked on my bedroom door and slowly peeked his head in. “Knock, knock,” he said, opening my door all the way. “I thought you could use a pick me up.” In his hands he held a half-gallon of chocolate milk and a box of donut holes. The smile on his face lit up when he saw me, and I beamed. He always had a way of making me smile.

  “You are a life saver,” I cried, motioning him over. I grabbed the box of donut holes and popped one in my mouth, enjoying its sweet-filled goodness.

  Kristian sat on my bed, removing the text book from my lap, and handed me the chocolate milk. After taking a huge gulp of it, I sighed.

  “Do you need me to help you study?” he asked. “Or would you rather tell me what’s wrong? It wouldn’t have anything to do with the news vans outside would it?”

  Immediately, my chin began to tremble and I could feel the tears burning behind my eyes. Kristian scooted up on the bed and bumped me before he threw his arm across my shoulders. I laid my head on him and let the tears fall. “Oh, Kristian, it’s terrible. The girl who spiked my drink was found dead about a half mile behind here on the trail.”

  Kristian gasped. “Are you serious? What happened to her?”

  Tilting my head up to look at him, I cried, “I don’t know, Kristian, but I was the one who found her. I’ll never forget the way her dead eyes stared into mine.”

  He held me in his arms and rubbed his hands down my back while I sat there and sobbed. “It was terrible. The smell was awful, and the way she looked …”

  “Shh …” Kristian whispered, squeezing my shoulder. “You don’t have to go into details, Mare. I know it had to be horrible. What were you doing back there? I didn’t know you liked traipsing off through the woods.”

  I sniffled. “I usually don’t, especially not by myself, but Alec and I went for a walk and that’s when I found her.”

  “Do the police know what happened to her? Was she murdered?”

  Wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, I dried them off on my pants and shook my head. “They haven’t called to tell us for sure, but that’s what it looks like.”

  Kristian furrowed his brows, and chewed his lip. “I don’t know, Mare, this is really weird. The girl who drugged you shows up dead … what are the odds of that? It looks like somebody wanted her to keep her mouth shut.”

  I shivered. “That’s what I’m afraid of. I’m scared, Kris. What if we’re dealing with some kind of psycho killer who preys on college girls or something? I don’t think I can handle another attack. I’m a strong girl, but this time I might not have someone there to help me.”

  “Hey,” he murmured, turning me to face him. “Nothing is going to happen to you. If I have to sleep on your couch every night to make sure you’re safe I will. Exams are this week and soon we’ll all be moving away from here. Whatever’s going on here will be a memory.”

  Will Alec just be a part of the past?

  “I know,” I sighed, “and speaking of moving, did you tell Natalie about you coming to Wilmington?”

  He grinned half-heartedly. “Yes, I did. She wasn’t happy at first, but we’re going to work through it. She can’t make it to graduation, but she’s going to meet me in Wilmington when I go for my job interview.”

  “Oh yeah, that’s right! I’m so glad things are working out for you. I hate that I’m bringing you down with all the crap that’s going on.”

  “You’re not bringing me down, baby girl. I’m actually glad I came back early so I could be here for you.”

  Kissing him on the cheek, I took my book from him and muttered, “Thank you, Kristian, and now that you’re back it’s time to work. There’s a certain person I’d like to beat on the exams if you know what I mean.”

  Kristian chuckled. “Yeah, good luck with that.”

  We cracked open the books and after four hours of going hard, my mind was about to combust. Kristian was nodding off and eventually passed out
in a sea of biology notes. Yawning, I found my cell phone in the midst of those papers and texted Alec before I passed out.

  Me: Be here at 7. Pizza and beer.

  His reply was instant.

  Alec: Can’t wait. What r u doing?

  I glanced over at Kristian and smiled.

  Me: Just got through studying. Gonna take a nap.

  I conveniently left out the Kristian part.

  Alec: Ok

  Me: <3

  Alec: Make sure you dream about me ;)

  I was hoping beyond hope that I dreamed about him and not dead bodies. Crawling under the covers, I watched Kristian’s chest rise and fall with his steady breathing. I slowly began to nod off and was thankful that sleep was even coming to me. It was Kristian’s face I fell asleep to, but it was Alec’s that invaded my dreams.

  Kristian woke me up around six o’clock and said I needed to call in the pizza … Emily’s orders. He ruffled my hair and left me alone in my room so I could freshen up. I called in the pizza, and since I had a little bit of time before it would be delivered, I changed out of my wrinkled clothes and added a tiny amount of makeup to my face.

  Since we were staying in, I settled on a pair of jeans and a black tank top. When I walked out of my bedroom, Kristian whistled at me from the couch and joined me in the kitchen.

  “Alec is definitely one lucky man,” he uttered, grabbing the napkins I handed to him.

  I smiled. “And Natalie is definitely a lucky lady,” I said back.

  Quietly, we both set up the dining room table with plates, napkins, and cups. Footsteps approached from outside, so I strolled over to the window to peer out and saw that it was Justin and Alec talking as they made it up the steps. Excitedly, I opened the door and was greeted with a smile from both of them.

  Justin spoke first. “Emily told me you needed some cheering up, so I brought the beer and your favorite Xbox game. Be prepared to get your ass handed to you tonight,” Justin bragged, even though everyone knew I always beat him.

  “Um … isn’t it me who usually wins?” I teased back. “Besides, everyone knows you talk big, but can’t back it up.” Alec and Kristian both tried to hide their laughs by coughing, but it didn’t stop Justin from flipping everyone off as he walked around the bar to the kitchen.

  “Okay, I see how you want to be. Now I’m definitely not going easy on you tonight,” Justin insisted, scowling at me and everyone else.

  Kristian clapped him on the back. “You’re such a sore loser. I, of all people, know how competitive that girl over there is,” he said, hooking a finger over his shoulder to point at me.

  “Don’t I know it, too,” Emily teased, shutting her bedroom door and joining us. “Luckily, we all love her.”

  Kristian winked. “That’s right.”

  Alec pursed his lips and snatched me up in his arms, claiming my lips with his, possessing me. Glancing at Kristian, Alec grumbled in my ear, “I swear, girlfriend or not, I’m going to have some competition of my own. I guess I just need to keep reminding him that you’re mine.”

  I sighed and rolled my eyes. “He’s happy with Natalie, trust me. You have nothing to worry about. We’ve slept in the same bed before and he’s never even touched me. He has a little more respect for me than that.”

  Biting his lip, Alec smirked and let his hands rest over my ass, pressing himself against me. Emily whistled from behind us, and I heard Justin mutter something about getting a room. Alec grinned wickedly at me. “I do, however, know what game I’ll be playing with you tonight, and it doesn’t involve the Xbox,” he whispered gruffly in my ear.

  He let me go and I tried desperately to keep the blush from creeping into my cheeks. Quietly, I pulled him over to the corner and asked, “Did you by any chance tell your aunt what was going on?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, she knows. Come to find out Detective Michaels lives a couple houses down from her. She was going to talk to him this afternoon. She also wants me to lay low for a few days until everything calms down, but of course, we already knew that.”

  “I agree,” I uttered. “I have a strange feeling we’ll be hearing from the police soon.”

  “Pizza’s here!” Emily hollered out when the knock came at the door. Alec and I smiled at each other and took a seat on the couch. The moment Emily opened the door, the smell of marinara sauce and garlic filled the room.

  My stomach growled. “Thank goodness. All I’ve had today was donut holes.”

  Alec chuckled. “Donut holes?

  Kristian sauntered into the living room and sank down on the loveseat across from us. “Yep, donut holes. It’s one of her favorite study foods. Well, that and chocolate milk, but I’m sure you knew that since you two are seeing each other now, right?”

  He had a smug look on his face, so I pierced him with a questioning glare, one that told him to stop what he was doing.

  Alec smiled and faced Kristian head on. Apparently, he wasn’t going to let his antagonizing bother him. “Actually, no, I didn’t know that. I would love to hear more about her though since you’re her friend. I’m sure you have plenty of stories you could tell.”

  Kristian rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. A gleam sparkled in his eyes when he spoke, “Oh, I have plenty of stories I could tell, but that’s the joy of dating right, to get to know one another? Take for instance, your likes, dislikes, fears, and all the in-between stuff. I’ve spent years getting to know her, and if you’re interested in getting to know the real her you’ll find out yourself. You can’t always have things handed to you, can you?”

  Kristian smirked and lifted an eyebrow at Alec before guzzling his beer and leaving us. Alec was just as shocked as I was. “You know, if he didn’t have a point I probably would’ve flown across the room and beat his ass.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, I was getting nervous there for a moment. You looked like you were about to explode. ”

  Alec shrugged. “I’m working on all of that. I haven’t gotten into a fight in a really long time, and I don’t want to start now; especially, with your best friend. Although, I still stand firm about guys and girls not being able to be just friends. He doesn’t look at you like you’re just a friend.”

  “You have nothing to worry about,” I said before leaning over to kiss him. “He’s just looking out for me.”

  “Well, he better watch out, Marissa. My tolerance only goes so far,” he admitted.

  Everyone had already started digging into the pizza, so Alec and I got up to fetch our plates. I was about to grab a slice when a knock came at the door. Exasperated, I glanced at Emily and asked, “You did send a tip with the pizza guy, didn’t you?”

  She scoffed, showing me the pizza in her mouth. “Of course! I gave him an eight dollar tip.”

  I put my plate down and answered the door, surprised to see Detective Michaels pacing around outside. “Detective Michaels, what are you doing here?” I asked. The warning in my gut screamed loudly when I saw the expression on his face … something was wrong.

  He peered over my shoulder and acknowledged Emily, Kristian, and Justin with a nod before locking his gaze onto mine. “Good evening, Marissa. I’m sorry for the intrusion, but I really need to speak to Mr. Holden. When he didn’t answer downstairs at his apartment, I decided to check up here.”

  Alec came up behind me. “Is everything okay, Detective?”

  “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to speak to you outside,” he insisted.

  Alec nodded and squeezed my arm before kissing me on the forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

  They both walked out and I shut the door behind them. Emily, Kristian, and Justin all stood staring at me. “What do you think happened now?” Emily asked, worried.

  I shrugged, completely clueless, but I knew it was going to be something bad. “I don’t know, guys, I just don’t know.”

  We all ate in silence, and the pizza weighed heavily on my stomach while I stared at the clock. Thirty minutes had passed and Alec still wasn’t
back. “He’s not a suspect, is he?” Justin asked curiously. “I mean, how well do any of us know the guy?”

  Exasperated, I rolled my eyes and replied, “No, he’s not a suspect and I know him pretty well. He’s barely been out of my sight since the bar incident.”

  “You’d be surprised what people can do in a matter of minutes,” he countered back, shrugging his shoulders. “Just sayin …”

  Thankfully, I was saved from having to argue with Justin when the front door finally opened and Alec strolled in looking ashen and pale. He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door. “We need to talk,” he muttered impatiently.

  Sending an apologetic smile over my shoulder to everyone, I followed Alec out the door and down to his apartment. As soon as he shut the door behind us terror flowed through my veins at the sight of him. He paced across the floor, running his hands through his hair. Shivering, I wrapped my arms around my stomach.

  “Alec, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me.”

  “When you read the article about the girl who overdosed with me, do you remember her name?” he asked forlornly.

  Closing my eyes, I pursed my lips and tried to remember. “Uhh … I believe it was Lindsey Carter, no wait … Carpenter? I can’t remember, why?” I asked nervously.

  He hung his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Her name was Lindsey Carter.”

  “What does this have to do with the dead girl we just found?”

  He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. “The police found something on the girl’s body when they searched her.” My eyes went wide in alarm, and I motioned for him to continue. Nervously, he said, “They found a piece of paper on her body that had Lindsey’s name on it and a date.”

  The bile began to rise in the back of my throat and I felt sick. “What was the date? What does this all mean?” I stuttered frantically. My palms were sweaty and my heart thumped wildly in my chest while I waited on him to answer.