"We cannot, in good conscience, disburse funds when we aren't certain that you will be allowed to stay in the program," Dr. Gatskill explained.
"But I need to pay my tuition and rent!" I said. "I can't be late with either one or I'll lose my place in the class and be evicted from my apartment."
"I'm sorry, Ms. Pierce," Dr. Gatskill said. "It's truly unfortunate, but we have to follow university procedure on this, and part of that procedure is temporarily placing a hold on money to be disbursed."
"This isn't fair," I said as I looked at her helplessly. "If you find I'm innocent, then I'll have lost my place in the class anyway and I won't get to graduate."
"We'll do our best to work quickly, Ms. Pierce," one of the other administrators assured me. "I'm sure you can ask your family for help during this time."
I shook my head as I gathered my things and walked out of the room. My entire world was crumbling down around me, and I had nowhere to turn for help.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cam
I woke up the next morning with Alex on my mind. Over coffee, I planned the dinner I would cook for her and called to have groceries delivered on Friday morning when I got home. As usual, Tesla sat patiently waiting for me to get ready and drive her over to visit her buddies at the station.
"I'm going to bring a woman over on Friday night," I told her as I opened the passenger side door and motioned for her to hop in. "I want you to be a really good girl, okay?"
"Woof," she huffed as she impatiently looked over at the driver's side and pawed my seat.
"All right, all right, we're getting there," I said, shaking my head.
At the station, Tesla hopped out and ran into the lounge where she jumped on the sofa and licked Danny until he was laughing and crying uncle.
"Down," I said, pointing to the floor. She shot me a dirty looks she slinked off the sofa and sat at Danny's feet with her head on his knees as she stared up at him. I shook my head. "I think my dog is in love with you, Newsome."
"Wouldn't be the first one!" Mike yelled from the kitchen.
"Fuck off, Kelly!" Danny yelled as he patted Tesla and said, "They have no idea what they're talking about. Don't listen to them, good girl."
"Hear anything about Vangel's promotion?" I asked Mike.
"Yeah, I heard he's out blackmailing everyone he can in order to lock up the nomination process," Mike said as he stirred the eggs he was cooking. "That bastard is up to no good. Did he come after you?"
"Me? What would he have on me?" I asked with as much shock as I could muster.
"No clue, but he was laying it on thick earlier." Mike shrugged. "Just wondering who he's targeting."
"No idea," I said as I walked back to the locker room to store my bag. I'd just opened my locker when Victor spoke.
"Made a decision, Connor?" he asked as he peered around my locker door with his creepy grin.
"Yeah, I have," I said. "No thanks."
"What?" Victor's shock at my refusal to give him what he wanted was palpable. "You do realize that I'm going to spill the beans on your little security business, don't you?"
"Yep, I'm fully aware of that," I said without further comment.
"I'm going to ruin you and you're going to stand idly by and let me?" He laughed maniacally.
"No, Victor, I'm not," I said, fixing him with a steely glare. "You're not going to do shit to me, you little weasel. I'm going to report you to Chief and let him deal with your blackmailing bullshit."
"You have no proof of anything," he said nervously.
"The hell I don't," I said, moving closer. "I know that you've been spreading your poison all over this station. You went after Brian and Gavin, and I'm sure if I start grilling guys, they'll tell me all about your little plan."
"How do you know that?" he spat. "It's nothing but a rumor! You can't prove anything."