Hearing her name spoken once again, Elizabeth turns in the direction of Fallon.
“I’m sorry,” she cries and pushes away from Preston. “I can’t do this.” Frantically clawing at Preston’s grip, she breaks free and takes off like a bat out of hell.
“Elizabeth!” I shout after her which causes several people in the student center to glare at me. I can’t let her leave. I have to stop her. Before I’m able to make two running steps to chase her down, Preston shoves me back hard.
“I don’t think so, man.”
“Move, Preston. Get the hell out of my way.”
“Not moving. She’s clearly afraid of you guys.”
My phone starts ringing. I try to push past Preston again, and again he stops me. Enough of this shit. I raise my fist prepared to knock him out so I can go after Elizabeth, but Fallon jumps in and holds my arm in a death grip. “Stop, Ry.”
I yank my arm down and whirl on Fallon, fury and rage now directed at him. “Not a chance in hell. Don’t try to stop me, Fallon. That was Elizabeth.My Elizabeth! We’ve been searching for her for over a year, Fallon. A whole fucking year! And she’s beenhere.Jesus!”
“Yes, and clearly she doesn’t want to talk to you.”
“She acts like she doesn’t fucking know me!” I scream back at him.
Someone must have called campus police. Through the front glass of the center, I see two officers dismount from their bikes and walk inside. A girl behind the register points in our direction.
Fallon sees them as well. “Ry, let’s go, man. Come on.”
He leads me quickly to the back exit, Preston in tow. We then dart inside the campus library next door and Fallon ushers us up the stairs a few floors before opening the stairwell doors. Making sure that the coast is clear and no one is on the floor or near the stacks, we walk inside and head over to a sofa facing the wall of windows.
I start pacing in the front of the windows like a caged tiger, my emotions all over the place. “I don’t understand. How could the PI not know she was here? Where the hell has she been all this time?”
“You hired a PI? To find Elizabeth?” Preston asks me, absolutely confused.
I need to know exactly what Preston knows. Right now.
“How do you know Elizabeth?” I demand.
“Dude, I just met her like thirty minutes ago.”
“Keep talking.”
“I don’t think so. Look, I’m obviously missing something, and I don’t want to get involved. I’m just going to leave.”
Fallon crosses his arms and leans his hip against the sofa, a picture of pure relaxation and ease. Only his voice and eyes say different. “What you’re going to do is answer the man’s questions. You’re here on scholarship, right? Would be a pity if something happened to that.” Fallon’s tone makes it clear he’s not asking, he’s telling.
Preston’s face blanches. Good. He’s aware of Fallon’s reach around campus, his family’s reach. When Fallon said he was the king on campus, he wasn’t lying. He rules CU just like he did Highland High.
I wait, impatient for Preston to get on with it. “I approached her in the east lot a little while ago. I mean, she’s totally hot, so yeah.” I glare at him. He swallows. “Yeah, so, anyway, she was about to get in her car. The car is what caught my attention first before I saw her. I chatted her up, asked her to grab a bite with me. She said yes. That’s about it. Honest. Can I go now?”
“Did she say anything else?”
“Um, she bought her car in Seattle. That’s all I remember, I swear.”
“Give me your phone, fucker,” Fallon tells Preston, motioning with his hand for him to hand it over immediately. Preston enters his password and hands his phone to Fallon, no questions asked. Fallon sends himself a text from Preston’s phone and gives it back. “I’ve got your number now, and you’ve got mine. You see that girl again, no matter where or when, you contact me. Understand?”
“Yeah, I got it. Can I go now?” Fallon nods and Preston hurries to the exit.
My phone dings. Fallon just forwarded me Preston’s number as well. “So what’re you going to do now, hoss?”
“I need to find my girl.”
“What about Jay and Jules?”
