“Hmm, I suppose so.” Sabel never takes her eyes off mine. That look of suspicion is still etched into her features. I don’t like it. She’s hiding something. I’m about to question her motives when she snaps out of it, standing from her chair.
“Good. I’m glad that’s cleared up. I hate to see what the panel would have done to her had she remained an outlier.” A half grin appears on her smug face. She’s baiting me, but I don’t bite. I do a quick once-over of the room, noting where she might keep classified documents. I pocket the information for later.
“Good thing we’ll never have to find out,” I say, standing. I have to get the fuck out of here,now.
“You’re dismissed.” She waves a hand at me, walking over to her filing cabinet to store the interview notes. I’m gone before she can turn around.
? ? ?
Too much.
Too much has happened today, and I’m too wound up. I have to do something. I have to get it out before it consumes me entirely. Before giving it a second thought, I pull up my database to see what lowly criminals have been on the radar these last few months. I need to find one that I can quietly target. I’m done abiding by Sonus’ rules, and I won’t get caught.
I check in with Callum to make sure Raithe is doing okay, and he lets me know that Raithe is stable. Cal sends a text that Brian is suturing Raithe’s lacerations and giving him fluids for muscle exhaustion from the electrocutions. He’ll check back in with me a little later and also lets me know that Kai showed up to his first therapy session and it went great. I make a mental note to check in with Kai soon.
I grab my helmet, throwing it on as I climb onto my bike, and race back home. Once I make it back to my place, I take a quick shower and watch as Raithe’s blood on me mixes with the warm water, runs down my skin onto the shower floor, and swirls down the drain. This is my fault. It’s alwaysmyfault. I feel the guilt gnawing at my insides as I finish up showering andget dressed, throwing on a pair of black sweatpants and a black pullover with the hood up. I make it to the slums of Hollowcrest in perfect timing, just as the sun is setting over the horizon.
17
Sloane
After leaving Professor Reilly standing in the parking lot of Books and Brews, I came to work. Yes,work. After what happened, I need to find a way to distract myself. The lines that Professor Reilly and I drew for our relationship were blurring. I hate how badly I wanted to erase those lines clean off of planet freaking Earth. So, I’m currently sitting at my desk at work.
“Sloanie. Hey! How’s that piece on music theory going? Making any headway?” Alex asks, walking in from his morning meetings.
“Well, I kind of need to talk to you about that,” I respond.
“Oh no. I know that look. What happened?” he asks, walking over to the coffeepot to pour himself a cup, probably his third one today. The guy’s got an addiction.
“Um, I’m going to need to scrap it. It’s not what I was thinking. There’s no story there. I … I don’t know why I thoughtthere was. I’m sorry,” I say, giving him my best puppy dog eye apology face.
“Aww, Sloanie.” He pauses. “Wait. Don’t completely scrap it yet.”
“I just told you that I don’t have a sto—”
“Yes. You do. You just don’t havethatstory. But what if you still unmaskVan? I mean … not physically unmask him but get closer. Find out his desires, his fears, why he writes the music, why he hides behind it, if he finds solace in it. You know … all thedeepshit.” Alex grins like he knows he’s onto something. Maybe he is, because the thing he said about finding solace strikes a memory.
“Hmm, now that you say it, theydidplay this song at the meet and greet, that kind of resonates with that. It was a pretty upbeat song, but the lyrics were so …not. It was like they were begging people to remember that themusicis what matters.” I pause, thinking. “Yeah … maybe the fame of it all isn’t what they expected it to be? Maybe Van doesn’t like all the attention.” Now I’m the one lost in thought.
“Yes, see. I knew your gears would start turning. Run with it. You’ve got this.” Alex pats me on the shoulder and returns to his desk to work.
? ? ?
I spend the next couple of hours preparing an outline of questions for an interview that I’m not even sure I’ll be granted. Now that I think about it, I don’t even have a way of contacting Reverb or Van. There’s also Sabel. I don’t want her to assume I’m still investigating anything related to the music. I’m supposed to be walkingawayfrom this, not running toward it. Story of my fucking life.
I remember the invite to the meet and greet that Lydia had,recallingsomethingon the back of it. Maybe it was a number or something else that I could use to track Reverb down. I need to catch Lydia up on all of my professor drama, anyway. So, I shoot her a text.
Sloane:Wine and vent sesh at my place tonight?
Lydia:Um, duh! You know I’m a sucker for the gossip, and I neeeed to know. Is this about that hottie professor? (;
Sloane:Maybe….
Lydia:BITCH! I can’t wait. See you at 7?
Sloane:7 sounds great. Oh, and can you bring that meet and greet invite? I need to look at it.
Lydia:Um, sure. So….cryptic. I love it! *kiss face emoji*
