What Sinners Love (Sinners of Hawthorne University 3)

My head spins, anger clouding my mind.

Alan knew. Motherfucker, he knew I would go to the police. Did he let me escape? Did he let me escape just to show me how fucking powerless I am?

Somehow, I doubt that. He’s past the point of teaching me lessons or sending veiled warnings. He was ready to outright kill me, so why would he let me escape? I think his move out of this bunker was reactionary, not planned.

Not that it helps any at the moment. He still managed to cover his tracks.

I turn to look at the officers, each man combing the area for evidence that isn’t even here.

How many of them are in his pocket? How many of them have been bribed not to take me seriously, to turn a blind eye to anything he does?

By the time we make our way back out, I’m absolutely fucking sick. The Sinners and Max waited behind with Banning while I went down into the bunker, and the sun glints off Elias’s blond hair as he reaches forward to help me out of the duct. I want to vomit up the coffee and whiskey I spent my morning drinking, along with the eggs and half a bagel I managed to eat.

“Shit, Soph,” Declan murmurs. “You’re as pale as a sheet.”

“Well, did you find anything?” Gray demands, turning to face the cops who came into the bunker with me, his eyes narrowing.

Banning also looks expectantly at the men who followed behind me.

Flicking off his flashlight, the younger officer says, “Miss Wright’s story adds up. The bunker, the vent, the tunnels. It all matches her description.”

“But?” I blur

t, sensing the word coming before he speaks it aloud.

He turns to me, grimacing. “But that doesn’t necessarily prove anything. The place is completely empty. There’s nothing that puts you here.” He looks at Gray. “And there’s nothing that puts Alan Montgomery here either.”

My heart stops beating in my chest, my limbs growing numb.

Goddammit. It can’t be over so quick. We can’t have failed already. Do they even believe me, or are they just playing along?

Declan grips my arm, his fingers digging tight, and I can’t tell if he’s doing it to keep me from passing out or to keep me from reaming out a cop.

“If you’d like, we can assign a few officers to keep an eye on you for a couple days until you feel the threat has lessened,” Banning says. “But we can’t do anything about it beyond this.”

“Like I’m fucking going to let that happen,” Gray growls, stepping forward. The younger officer blanches slightly, glancing at his superior. “Sophie is telling the fucking truth. She’s not lying about this. So you’re going to drive your ass over to Alan Montgomery’s house and talk to him.”

The younger officer looks toward Banning, as if asking what to do. Gray looks like he’s ready to beat the shit out of all of these guys, but I know he’s just playing every card he’s got at his disposal, throwing around the weight of his family’s reputation and power.

And it seems to be working.

“Fine.” Banning looks like he regrets coming to work at all this morning. “We’ll look into Alan Montgomery.”

As he finishes speaking, he glances my way. He doesn’t say anything to me, but I can clearly read his expression.

The only reason he’s going along with this is because he believes Gray’s threat. If I didn’t have the Sinners on my side right now, I’d be fucked. Just another girl from the wrong side of the tracks whose word doesn’t measure up against the money of a man like Alan Montgomery.

I press my lips together, biting back a sharp response. As long as the cops question the man who held me captive, I don’t care why they do it. It doesn’t matter if they pursue this case because they take their jobs seriously or because they just want to get the Sinners off their backs.

They’ll talk to Alan.

Now I just have to hope he slips up and says something he shouldn’t.

7

After climbing back into Gray’s car, we follow two of the squad cars through the foothills and onto the highway. All three of the Sinners had to throw their weight around to get the cops to agree to let us come with them, and to be honest, the fact that they did let us come makes me nervous about how well they'll handle this investigation.

If the police can be bought, then it'll all come down to who's got the most power and influence. And Alan has us beat on that count.