Magone said dryly, “I think that’s enough for now, but we might need to question you further in the not-so-distant future.”
“No problem,” I said too eagerly, immediately regretting it.
As soon as I was free from that room, I was disoriented walking out into the hallway in the Business School, yet it took me a few seconds to figure out which way to go. My head spun, and my skin crawled, so I retreated into the nearest bathroom to sit down in a closed stall to gather my thoughts.
Ezrah Warwick killed that man. Ezrah Warwick killed that man.
They’re all in it. Lev, Nicolae, and probably their jock friends were all in on it, covering each other’s backs. Sticking together in an impenetrable bond.
But why? What did that poor guy do to deserve the wrath of Ezrah Warwick?
Sitting on the toilet, I leaned forward, propping my elbows on my knees and dropping my face into my hands as my breath grew heavy and uncomfortable in my chest. My eyes were dry, even though I was emotional, and as the rational part of my brain started to take over, I plotted what I should do next.
I had to leave. There’s no way I can stay here.
Then I remembered my dad had called and rummaged around in my shoulder bag for my phone. The scabbard that held myknife was still thankfully. Where else would it be? God, I needed to calm down and think rationally about this.
Just as I fished out my phone, the door squeaked as someone entered the bathroom and stepped into the stall next to mine. Dad left two voicemails, but I didn’t want to listen to them until I was alone.Two voicemails?
It must be an emergency. The man barely knew I existed most days, so receiving two messages in the space of thirty minutes was particularly unusual. Why didn’t he send a text message, though?
As soon as the girl left the bathroom, I checked both voicemails, and it was my father’s voice telling me to call him ASAP. He was fuming, but restraining his anger, which made it a hundred times worse. Speaking from experience, anger rarely roused in my father, but when it did, and you didn’t want to mess with him, you’d always come off second best.
Excited chatter filled the bathroom as several girls walked in, and I thought it best to leave to find a quiet corner somewhere to call Dad. Aware that Lev and Ezrah knew my class schedule and might be seeking me out, I kept my head low, my eyes alert, and my hand rested on the knife in my bag.
I quickly ran down two flights of stairs, and when I reached the ground floor, I stepped outside and turned a sharp right, keeping to the back passages. I turned a sharp right and kept closely to the wall until I found a quiet corner, then swiped my father’s number.
My head was bulging with thoughts and worries as an ache appeared at my temples from my clenching, waiting for my father to answer.
Finally, “Addie?”
“Dad, what’s happened?” I breathed.
“Pack your bags. I want you home. Now.”
33
“Why?” I panicked in response to the tone of his voice,which was scaring me as it was an odd mix of restrained anger and shame. “What’s happened?”
“A grave matter that it’s inappropriate to speak to you about over the phone,” he replied sternly and without warmth.
“Dad, I’m unsure I can leave because there’s a police investigation going on.” I educated him, especially since I was on the carriage as the victim, which made the other students in Carriage D and me prime witnesses.
“I’m well aware, and I have organized for your release until Monday, when you must return to school. They’ve given you aspecial pass because I explained that it was a family emergency.” The fury in his tone dissipated the more he spoke, and I relaxed a little.
“And is it? Is it a family emergency?” I pushed, hoping he’d give me a clue as to what was so terrible.
He continued, “I have been informed that the train leaves at 3 PM, and if you go to campus administration and speak to Diane, then you’ll receive that special pass that she signed off for you. Someone will be there to pick you up at the Morrisville train station to drive you back home to Richmond.”
“Wow, you have really put the work in,” I said as echoes of laughter rang out, bouncing against building walls, so I couldn’t see where they were coming from.
“Well, no, Natalie organized it all,” he corrected me. Natalie was his PA. At one point, I thought they were having an affair while Mom was sick, but the only evidence I had was his absence.
As she lay dying, he’d stay late at work with Natalie to close a deal or whatever, spending my mom’s last days with his PA, and I kinda hated him for it. But my mom’s last words were for me not to take it personally, as Maxwell was never good at the emotional side of human nature.
And I promised myself that if I ever got married, my husband would be good with the emotional side of human nature and stand by me until the very end. Like I would stand by him through thick and thin.
“Naturally.” I was tempted to ask if Leslie, my stepmother, was jealous of much time he spent with Natalie, but it wasn’t a good appropriate timing.
