“Why did they change the plan?” Dakota asked in a raw voice.
My fingers shook as I tried to refresh the page for an update. “They didn’t. Weston told me it would happen on campus last night. They’d beat, threaten and then get out as soon as possible.”
“Well, he must have lied,” David said from the living room. He had the remote in hand and started turning up the volume.
“Last night, it’s believed that two university coaches, Axe Crawford and Bill Sanderson, were taken by force from the campus,” the announcer said. “Security footage showed the men being dragged, one by one, into an unmarked vehicle. There have been no ransom demands yet. We’ll keep you updated as the story progresses.”
“That’s awful, Gene,” the co-host lamented before segueing into another story.
“Pause it,” I ordered David. He clicked the button without question.
“Why would he do something so reckless?” Dakota asked while running his fingers through his hair. “The plan was already high risk.”
“Rewind,” I instructed David. “To the beginning of the segment.”
David looked like he wanted to protest. We were silent as we watched the video rewind. The security footage popped on the screen again. David played it and I listened closely.
“Onebyone,” I repeated. The two guys looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Look at the footage. That’s Lawrence in the hall. The shoulders are too curved to be Weston’s. Why would they take Axe and Bill one by one when there’s two of them?”
“You don’t think Weston was a part of the abduction.” David studied the screen with his fingers on his chin.
“No,” I said with surety. “It makes no sense. We knew Weston’s motive. Beat them to scare them. He could do that on campus. They had plenty of time and privacy in a room on the third floor of the gym. We just met Lawrence. Who knows what that guy really wants?”
“So, what does that mean? What do we do?” Dakota asked.
“Nothing,” David decided while backing away from the TV.
“He’s right,” I agreed and looked at Dakota’s solemn face. “We stick to the plan. Lawrence is the only one who went off script. We clean this place and then leave. Back to campus.”
David shook his head. “It’ll look suspicious to our roommates if we show up together right after this. Some people saw us with Lawrence, so they’ll ask questions and we won’t have a strong enough story. Let’s go to the next town over. Say we needed to escape for the day and bum around some mall. Get cameras to see us at a bank or something to confirm we weren’t with Weston and Lawrence today.”
“And then?” Dakota looked at us with wide eyes but started moving towards the can of disinfectant wipes.
“We don’t talk about it,” David told us with a stern voice. “Not in private or public. Once back on campus, we keep this between us. If we’re questioned, we’ll say yes. We saw Weston and Lawrence together at the frat party. But,nothingelse.”
I nodded in agreement and hurried to join Dakota in the cleaning. We were frantic. Wiping every surface that could have Weston’s or my fingerprints. David yanked his hoodie on when he took out the trash. Dakota pulled his car around the back of the house for me to load my bag into. Once I locked the door, I placed the key behind the broken light switch, like Lawrence showed me.
“What about Weston? Should we try to help him? We know where he’s going,” Dakota said when I slipped into the passenger’s seat. David went back inside for the last bag.
“We can’t risk it. Not now. He’ll be fine,” I assured with a nod. I wanted to believe it. I needed to believe it. He would. Weston was smarter than people gave him credit for. He’d be safe, and I’d hold out hope that his name would stay untethered from the story.
David quickly slipped into the back seat. “Let’s get out of here. Drive slow. Hurrying will draw unnecessary attention.”
“You sound like you’ve been in a cover up before,” Dakota joked without a smile.
“Maybe,” David shrugged and clicked on his seatbelt. I curiously peered at him through the rearview mirror. He winked back.
“Relax,” I reminded Dakota as his hand lingered on the gearshift. “We got this. We’re on a team. Remember?”
He took in a deep breath. “I remember.”
David slapped his hand on Dakota’s shoulder and gave him a comforting squeeze. “Drive. Don’t think, man. Just drive.”
Dakota nodded and pressed on the gas. He turned the car in the highway’s direction. With every mile we put between us and Lawrence’s house, we felt more comfortable. We drove and drove until we could barely see straight. And then we drove some more.
Time would only tell if the miles we covered were worth it.
Chapter 40
