He grabs me by the throat and bends down to my eye level. “You’re hiding something, I know you are. And whatever it is, I’m going to drag it out of you. We’re going to continue our game, but this time you aren’t going anywhere.”
The hand around my throat tightens and I gasp for air, breathing rapidly. “I’m going to break you down until you confess. You’ll be the first princess to be put in American prison. Everything was fine until you showed up. One week of you in our lives and suddenly my brother’s dead.”
“I’d never hurt Heath,” I spit out.
He lets my throat go, and I jerk back gasping for air. His eyes darken as they stare into mine. “I’ll be the judge of that.” As he walks past me to the parking lot, he pushes my phone into my chest. I rush to grab it before it can fall.
Heath’s perfect face smiling ear to ear with his signature dimples pops in my head as I finally click Peyton’s name. On the second ring, he picks up. With a groggy note in his voice he answers. “Mera?”
“Peyton, is Scarlett with you?”
“Mm, no. Her bed looks slept in but she isn’t here. What’s up?”
“I need a ride, but if she isn’t there I guess I’ll have to start walking.”
“Wait, hold on. There you are! Is everything okay, Scar?” There’s a murmur in the background.
Peyton clears his throat and a little bit of the sleepiness leaves his voice, “Okay, we’ll come get you. Where are you?”
And then clear as day, I hear Scar’s voice. “She’s at the police station. Heath Goldsworthy is missing and if last night makes anything clear, Mera is the number one suspect for his disappearance.”
“I don’t even remember what happened,” I groan, massaging my forehead. This hangover is killing me.
“What’d she say?” I hear on the other end. “Hand me the phone.”
Scarlett sighs. “Girl, we got there right as you were taking him up the stairs, and we didn’t see you again the rest of the night. Hold on, we’ll come get you. Peyton, get your clothes on so we can go get her.”
They hang up and I’m left reeling. Just what the fuck was I thinking? What actually happened? I wish I could remember.
While I wait for them, I go to dial my sister. Even though she’s probably disappointed in me too, I just need to rant about how fucking unfair all of this is.
My call doesn’t ring once, going directly to voicemail.
That’s…never happened before. I guess I’ll have to call her later.
When I get back to my room, after being dropped off by Scar and Peyton, I feel completely drained. There were so many angry, sad, hateful faces, judging me when they don’t know anything.
The writing on the road is still there. It all seems so surreal, like something out of a nightmare.
I’ve never forgotten a night at home even when I’ve had a lot to drink.
If I go back to sleep, will I dream about last night? I flop down on my bed and push my face into the pillow. To get more comfy, I place my hands underneath it when I feel something strange. A rough texture hits my hand.
What is this?
I yank it out from under my pillow to find a crumpled piece of paper. This wasn’t here when I woke up was it?
What I find when I open it makes my jaw drop and my heart leap into my throat.
It’s your fault he’s dead.
No. No. No.
I cover my mouth and glance around. Goosebumps form on my neck and shoulders. Is this a cruel joke? How is it my fault? What did I do? This can’t be true.
I cover my face with my hands and breathe rapidly. I can’t. I could never hurt him or anybody. Someone out there knows. They have to know what happened if they wrote this. I need to find them.
God, I can’t breathe. I clutch my chest as my world seems to spin around me.
“Oh my God, Mera!” A hand moves over my shoulder to my back. “Breathe. Come on, look at me.” Another hand takes my shaking one and I finally glance over to see Brandie with her tight curls and sympathetic eyes.
“Please try to calm down, I’m sure Heath is out there somewhere. You fell for him hard didn’t you?”
She rubs my back in calming circular motions and I take a deep breath slowly.
“I wish I could’ve been around last night to act as your alibi, but I couldn’t even get in the room. I had to stay with Jamie and Kori last night.”
“I’m so sorry,” I say, wincing. “I don’t know why the door was locked. But I could never harm him or anyone else.”
“I know you didn’t. You’re too sweet for that. You and Heath were like two peas in a pod.”
Smiling wanly, I crumple the note in my hand.
If only everyone else believed me as easily as she, Scarlett, and Peyton did.
Chapter Six
Callan
When I get back to the fraternity, there’s a whole crowd milling around who grow quiet as I approach them going to the door. I throw scowls in their direction in case any of them are even thinking about talking to me right now.
Not unless they have any information about Heath. That isn’t likely though. They’re nosy asses trying to get all the latest. I throw the door open, stomping inside.
Someone had to have seem him.
I head straight to the foyer and find a bunch of guys milling around. “Where the hell is Rick?”
They point up the stairs and I go back to the stairway, heading straight for his room. Loud music is blaring on the other side of the door. The hell?
He’s just playing some tunes like everything is fine.
Opening the door quickly, I find Rick sitting on one of the beds and some other guy on the other, snoring away despite the noise.
Rick looks up at me with bloodshot eyes. “Callan, how could someone do this to Heath?”
“Listen, there’s no time to wallow around. Turn off the sad depressing shit and get busy. I need you to ask every single guy who lives in this fraternity about the last time they saw Heath. Once you have everyone’s answer, come find me.”
He nods and I leave him to it, striding back down the hall and going up another floor.
I stop outside the third door and open it to find Noel, Tyrell, and Vincent talking quietly together.
They straighten when they see me at the door.
Noel speaks first, “We’re really sorry, man.” He twiddles his thumbs together.
Tyrell’s mouth twitches as he nods slightly.
Vincent rubs his forehead. “Is there anything we can do?”
I look between the three of them. “You can start by telling me the last time you saw him.”
“The party at ZDB,” the three of them say simultaneously.
Sighing, I run my hand through my hair. I figured that’s what they would say. If they knew something they would’ve been the first to tell me. "Right. That’s what everyone’s been saying. Just, let me know if you hear anything. I’m counting on you.”
I exit Noel and Tyrell’s room and go to the end of the hall.
To be courteous, I knock once and then open the door. There should only be one occupant in there right now. Silverstone looks up from his phone, leaning against the wall near the window. “If you’re looking for Vincent–”
“I’m not. I’m looking for you.” I walk straight for him and come face to face. “When was the last time you saw Heath?”
He studies my eyes for a few seconds. “Here, at AAA. I was at the Zeta Delta Beta party too, but I didn’t show up until later. I was hammered.”
“Fine,” I respond. Not that I expected him to know anything either.
My feet are almost out the door when he says in a low tone, “But Heath Goldsworthy knew how to keep a secret. Maybe it was one of those secrets that got him killed.”
In a flash I’m back in front of him, this time in his face. “If you know something, you need to fucking say it. What kind of secrets?”
A slow smile spreads across his face. “Oh, I don’t know. Someone’s bound t
o know though. Maybe the answers you’re looking for are closer than you think. One thing is certain though, I’m positive you’re barking up the wrong tree."
“She knows something. She has to.”
He shakes his head. “Believe me or don’t, but the truth always comes out one way or another. Now, get the fuck out of my room.”
Gritting my teeth, I stomp out and slam the door.
Fucking Silverstone.
The whole second week of school is lost to me. I skip every single class, anxious to hear something, anything, from the police or my parents. But there’s nothing but radio silence.
It’s been a week and no one has come forward. The most popular guy in college has just disappeared without a trace.
His phone was last pinged at the cell tower within the school’s vicinity. His phone is off, going straight to voicemail. The find my phone app says the last time his phone was on, it was at school.
The weirdest part of it all is his car. The black Camaro he loved so much is gone. It gives Collette and I hope that he’s just out there, driving and escaping all of this.
With his car missing, all airports, train stations, and bus stations in California have been checked. No sign of it. The housekeepers at my family’s other two homes in the states haven’t seen him.
He’s just gone.
Even worse, I feel something I haven’t felt in a while. Guilty. While I’m angry and upset, a tiny piece of me is glad. Happy even. That’s the fucked up thing about it.
It’s fucked up of me to be happy that now I’m the only son, and my father can only rely solely on me to take over his businesses when the time comes.
But I can’t let myself go that far. I can’t think like that because more than anything, I want Heath to be alive. Every time Dad doubted me, Heath was there to lift me up. He was there for every accomplishment.
That’s what I need to focus on.
The first football game of the season was last night. Usually, my brother’s time to shine as their star quarterback. It doesn’t feel right to go and see the whole team come out without Heath leading them. I can’t bring myself to do that yet.
My phone suddenly sounds off and I grab it from next to me on the couch.
Dad.
“Hello?”
“Callan, can you come over for dinner tonight? Pick Collette up too.” His voice is terse. I know I shouldn’t push it, but I do anyway.
“What’s going on?”
“Just be here in two hours.”
The line clicks.
Shit. Did they find Heath’s body?
Could there be any news? Is this why he cancelled lunch today? Not that I’m complaining.
I message Collette to ask if she knows what this dinner is about, but she’s as in the dark as I am.
At six, I pull into the Goldsworthy estate driveway and park my Lambo behind Mom’s pearly blue Land Rover.
“I hope this is good news and not bad news,” Coll muses, as we get out. “with any luck, they’ll be able to throw that klutz in prison.”
For a moment, Wil’s wide eyes and quivering mouth pop in my head from the police station and I shake it away.
The butler opens the door before we can knock. Passing the grand foyer and the double staircase, we turn right past the formal sitting area and head straight for the formal dining room. The table that can seat twenty is only set for four.
One chair per side of the table.
An uncomfortable feeling weighs in my gut as I notice the missing placement that’s always to the right of mine.
After pulling Collette’s chair out for her, I get seated in my own. A maid I’ve never seen before scrambles out, bringing tray after tray of dinner entrees. He went to all this trouble, but I could care less about this meal. I just need to hear whatever he has to say.
The moment she’s done, Dad starts to make his plate, cutting a piece off the baked chicken.
“Are you going to tell us or what?” I ask, staring at him so eagerly stuffing his face.
He stares down to the foot of the table and then looks at me. “Eat your food, son.”
“No. I’m not doing anything until you tell me what’s going on.”
He glances at Collette. “Coll, do you think you could pass those mashed potatoes?”
She smiles slightly at him, and obliges. Under the table, I grip my hands together tightly. Just barely keeping my cool.
Collette clears her throat. “Dad, is there any news?”
He sets his fork done and sighs. “Unfortunately. This isn’t about your brother.”
I lean forward, setting my elbows on the table. “Then what’s the fucking point of being here?”
He turns toward me. “Your cousins. Two of them went missing last night. There was a house fire they believe Ava was in last night, but no remains have been found. And there’s been no sign of Lacey.”
“What?” What kind of fucked up shit is this?
Collette gasps. “No, please don’t let it be Ava.”
Mom gets out of chair and reaches Collette, wrapping her arms around her. “It is, and Lacey too.”
Over two hundred and four hundred miles away. And on the same night, she couldn’t possibly be responsible for them either.
“The police don’t think their incidents are related to Heath’s. Until they find a connection, his case is completely unrelated. There were no messages left for them, unlike the one written on the road for Heath.”
Collette sobs. “Ava and I were going to go on spring break vacation together this year. How could someone do that to her?”
I can’t help but laugh at that statement. Loudly at that. Everyone in the Goldsworthy family knows how spoiled and toxic Ava can be. She gives Collette a run for her money in the spoiled department. The wealthy in San Francisco are a different breed entirely. Ava must have run her mouth too much to the wrong person.
“No, the real question is Lacey. The nicest fucking one of us all. Genuinely nice. No one has a reason to target her.”
Collette’s mouth thins. “Why would anyone go after Heath too then?”
“Hell if I know, and that’s what I’m going to figure out as soon as I break that princess down.”
Dad slams his fist on the table, causing every dish to shake. He squares his shoulders and stares me down.“Absolutely not. You are going to stay far away from her. I wish they would’ve asked the other one, whatever her name is, to transfer instead?”
“Cate.”
Strangely, I feel a mild annoyance at him automatically assuming the same thing wouldn’t have happened with her older sister.
No. There’s no room for me to sympathize with her.
“Whatever. If she’s responsible for Heath’s disappearance, she’ll slip up and we’ll find out.”
“His murder, you mean.”
Dad glares at me and Mom gasps and holds her hand to her chest.
Collette snaps, “He’s alive. He has to be.”
But they’re all ignoring the statistics. Missing people are rarely found after 72 hours of being missing. He’s already been gone a week. His credit cards and his debit cards haven’t been touched. His house hasn’t been touched.
No one has seen or heard from him.
There’s no way he’s alive.
“I’ve had enough,” I mutter, moving my chair away from the table and standing up. “Enjoy your dinner.”
The messed up cocktail that’s the four of us together without Heath is too much to handle. Everyone else has no idea what happened to him, but one person does. She knows. I still don’t know if she’s lying about remembering or not, but one way or another, she’ll either tell me the truth or I’ll force her to remember by any means necessary.
The next day, bright and fucking early, I’m waiting in front of our history teacher’s class. Multiple students walk through the open door, but not me. No. I’m waiting with a full, big, plastic water bottle for her. I got the call from Collette that she’s wearing a white shirt toda
y.
She almost didn’t tell me after being pissed about our argument last night.
“Callan,” a voice calls in a sultry voice.
God, I can’t believe she followed me here.
All throughout high school, Ginger, aptly named for her orange hair, has wanted my dick. I never paid attention to her enough to know she’s rich. There’s no way she was smart enough to snag one of the few scholarships my father offers.
When I don’t turn around, she moves in front of me. “I’m so sorry about your brother, baby.”
I grunt in response and look over her head, waiting for those annoyingly shiny locks of pale gold hair.
Ginger, never one to be discouraged, prattles on about nothing.
Five minutes later, I see those locks bouncing with her every step closer to the classroom with Red and Tall Boy. Her eyes find mine as her friend murmurs and glances at me.
Wil freezes for a moment, with a hint of fear flaring in her eyes. Tall Boy moves around her, taking the lead. With a renewed sense of confidence, she steps forward as Red brings up the rear.
I glance down at Ginger and tilt my thumb to the side. “Think you could move over?”
She looks absolutely delighted to finally have my attention, but she doesn’t move fast enough, so I move her out of the way myself. She squeals at my hand touching her body momentarily.
“Hey, princess,” I say as Wil finally reaches me, in Ginger’s empty spot.
Vaguely, I hear Ginger makes a frustrated sound, but I could care less about her. I won’t be distracted from this.
Wil stops mid step and Red from behind her pushes her back. “Don’t fucking stop, Mera. Keep going.”
But it’s too late. My water bottle top is already unscrewed and I dump it right over her head.
Ginger’s annoyingly loud laughter erupts, almost making this moment less enjoyable.
It turns out the shocked expression on Wil’s face is more than enough to keep me entertained. Red yells, “What the fuck!.” Red moves in front of her, using her body to shield and push her into the classroom with Peyton.
The Princess and the Bully (Goldsworthy University Book 1) Page 8
