“Oh,” the woman said, sitting back down in her chair. “Thank you.”
“Well, since that’s settled, I guess I’ll just get out of here,” Taylor said, turning to gather his things. “I’ll see you next week.”
“Not so fast, Mr. Gordon,” Professor Whitmore said. “I still have a few questions for you, but I’m afraid this isn’t the time or place for that discussion. I expect to see you in my office this week, We need to have a little talk.”
His heart sank. He had hoped to just ignore the test and go back to his old ways, but it was clear that wouldn’t happen. “Okay, I guess so, but I’m really busy,” he said. “I didn’t cheat, you know me, I wouldn’t do that.”
“That’s what interests me the most,” Professor Whitmore said, studying him closely. “My office, Mr. Gordon, before the end of the week.”
Half an hour later, he walked into the fraternity house through the back door into the kitchen, dropped his books onto the table with a thud, then collapsed into a chair. His foul mood hadn’t improved on the walk home; if anything, it had only gotten worse now that he’d had time to think about what happened in class. He wasn’t used to losing control, but that was exactly what he’d done, and he wanted to be darn sure it didn’t happen again.
Forcing himself to relive it one more time, he watched it all unfold in his mind from a distance, trying to figure out exactly when the tides had turned. But that was a mistake; a few minutes later, he found himself thinking about kissing Ms. Torres. Letting out a groan of frustration, he reminded himself that he wanted nothing to do with women, at least not now. There wasn’t the time or money to spare if he wanted to reach his goals. Getting involved with someone would only drain both his energy and his bank account; he’d seen it happen toeven the best of men, and he wasn’t going to be one of them.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t hear Hattie come into the kitchen. “Oh, Taylor, you scared me, I didn’t see you come in,” she said, hand over her heart. “What are you doing home? I thought you had class all morning.”
“I didn’t have to stay so I came home to take a nap,” he said. “I didn’t get home until late last night.”
“More like early this morning,” Hattie said, shaking her head. “I don’t know about this new job of yours, you’re not getting enough sleep, and you’ve missed more meals than I care to count. You need to take better care of yourself.”
Feeling his mood finally beginning to swing, he got to his feet. “Thanks for worrying about me,” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “But I’m okay. I'm just a little tired, nothing that a good nap won’t cure, and when I wake up, I promise I’ll eat a big lunch.”
***Emily***
It was dark before Emily made it home that night and she took the stairs to her third-floor apartment one step at a time, so exhausted all she wanted to do was fall into bed. But the bag of groceries in her arms would have to be put away, she really needed to study a bit more, and on top of it all, her boss had requested a video call the second she walked in the door. She was beginning to wish that she’d refused this assignment instead of giving in like she usually did. She’d known from the very beginning that it wasn’t going to be as easy as the captain made it sound.
Juggling everything she was carrying, she dug her keys out of her purse and managed to unlock the door without dropping anything, then closed the door behind her with a happy sigh. Her apartment wasn’t much, but it was hers, andshe loved coming home every day. Tonight, though, her pleasure was muted by exhaustion. Dropping her backpack onto the couch on her way to the kitchen, she decided it was a frozen pizza kind of night and turned on the oven after she’d set the groceries on the counter.
While the pizza cooked, she put away the food, threw together a salad to make herself feel like she was doing something healthy, then went back to her bedroom to change her clothes. The timer on the oven was buzzing when she came back to the kitchen. Her stomach growled in response to the wonderful smell filling the kitchen and the sight of the bubbly cheese when she pulled the pizza out of the oven. She took her food and a big glass of iced tea over to the little table tucked into a corner of the room, then went back to the living room and grabbed her phone before sitting down.
Captain Strattler answered on the second ring, “Torres, you were supposed to call an hour ago,” he barked. “My wife is going to kill me for missing dinner again.”
“I’m sorry sir, but one of my classes went late, then there was a huge line at the grocery store, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” she said, thinking about the failed test and fight with Taylor Gordon. “I won’t go into any more details, but let’s just say I’m beginning to regret my decision to take this assignment.”
“Are you saying that you’re going to back out now?” Captain Strattler asked, a hard edge to his voice. “That would make me very unhappy.”
“I’m just telling you that I need a break tonight. Maybe you could not jump down my throat before even greeting me,” she said, then let out a long sigh. “I haven’t eaten all day, and it’s beginning to get to me. I’m going to eat while we talk.”
“I was hoping you’d be doing all the talking. It’s been three weeks, Emily, you should have something by now,”Captain Strattler said. “The mayor is crawling all over me for answers, but I still have nothing to give him. I was counting on you to get to the bottom of all this.”
“I’m trying sir, I really am. I’ve heard a lot of rumors, but nothing we haven’t heard before,” she said. “I’ll follow up on them anyway, it’s the only place to start but I’ve been trying to get caught up in class that’s taking a lot of my time.”
There was a long pause. “Well, I hope you get it all sorted out soon. I can’t hold the mayor off for much longer. All the businesses in town are suffering, and they’re blaming him. We need to figure this out and put a stop to whatever is happening on campus.”
“What makes you so sure that it not over?” she asked. “Diego is gone; maybe that will be the end of the violence.”
“I can see how it might look that way, but I have a feeling in my gut that there’s more going on than we’re being told. No one gives me straight answers when I ask questions, not the dean of the college, not the fraternities, and don’t even get me started on the runaround that I got from the regents. Not a single one of them would talk to me,” he said. “I just can’t wrap this up all neat and tidy like everyone wants me to, that’s why I need you. Something still feels off, and I need you to figure out what it is. Find a way to get close to one of those fraternities, I think that’s where we’ll find the answers. I’m counting on you, Torres.”
She let out a long sigh. “Yes, sir, I know, I won’t let you down,” she said. “I might have a connection to one of the fraternities, it’s just going to require me to do something I really don’t want to do.”
The thought of apologizing to Taylor made her stomach hurt a little,, but he was a Sigma, one of the fraternities involved in the violence on campus. If she could get close to him, he might give her the information the Captain wanted. She couldn’t help but remember the way she’d reacted to himin class and shivered when a tingle of desire spread through her.
“Just get it done, Torres, you’re a professional, it shouldn’t be too hard,” Captain Strattler said. “I expect some results in a few days, and I’d better not have to beg for a phone call next time.”
The line went dead before she could reply, and she sat staring at her phone for a few seconds, wishing she could call him back and tell him she was done and that she didn’t want the case. But it was her job and at least for now she owed some allegiance to the police force and the officers she worked with. She couldn’t just quit; she had to see the case through. I just have to make it a semester and a half, then it will be off to law school, she told herself, setting the phone down and turning her attention to the food in front of her, her hunger even more intense even though she was frustrated with the situation.
CHAPTER 3
***TAYLOR***
