Panic (Rook and Ronin 3)

“That’s cheating.”

“It’s an online math class, Rook. Everyone is cheating. It’s open book, anyway. What’s the difference?”

“I just don’t want help. I’d rather you check my work that I did last night and explain where I went wrong. I’ll take the test tomorrow night like I planned, my boyfriend down in Denver will wait and Ford can just butt the f**k out of my life. It’s none of his business, and just because he’s the one who pays you doesn’t mean you have to listen to him. I can pay you myself, you know. I don’t need his money.”

Gage is staring at me with another weird look.

“What?” I ask.

He laughs. Like loud.

“What?”

“I knew it!”

“Knew what?”

“Ford? The guy who hired me is Ford Aston, isn’t it?”

“Um, well, I don’t actually know his last name but—”

“Rich, pretentious ass**le?”

I laugh. “Yeah, that’s him.”

“And you drive a Shrike Bikes truck because you’re working for Spencer Shrike?”

“Yeeeahhhh…”

“Please tell me the guy you’re meeting in Denver tomorrow is not Ronin Flynn. Please.”

“Why?” My heart starts beating super-fast at the mention of Ronin’s name. “He’s my boyfriend, why?”

“Are you from here?”

“No, what’s that got to do with anything?”

He shakes his head as he laughs, then huffs out a long breath of air. “Well, I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but your friends are bad f**king news. And if I were you, I’d get as far away from them as you possibly can because they committed a high-profile murder a couple years back and walked away free and clear on a technicality.”

Chapter Nineteen - ROOK

I blow through the doors of Best Buy on College Ave on my way home from tutoring and before the greeter guy can ask me what I need I bark out, “Laptops?” I’m already moving down the aisle he’s pointing to before he can get the words out. Back in computers another kid wants to help me so I manage to say, “The best laptop you have, now.”

Ten minutes later I’m cruising back down College, my mind racing with wild imagery of my friends committing murder. I need to do some serious research and a phone browser just isn’t cutting it. Hence the laptop purchase.

I played it cool with Gage earlier. “Oh, that,” I snorted. “I know the inside story, it’s nothing.”

I’m pretty sure he saw through me because I’m a terrible liar, but it was all I had in me. My head was spinning the whole time. I told him I’d do the test tonight on his computer if he left me alone so I wasn’t tempted to cheat. I did take the test, but I definitely failed. That’s because the only thing on my mind was the f**king search page I pulled up and was glancing at on and off while I was trying to subtract negative numbers.

How the f**k did I never think to Google these guys? How? After all I’ve been through, how the hell did I not even once get curious?

Because Gage was not lying. I found an article almost immediately, but I didn’t want to leave a search history on his computer, and I don’t have my own computer at Spencer’s, I just use his.

So manic shopping spree through Best Buy at eight forty-five PM was in order.

I do not even know how I got myself back to Spence’s house, but here I am, sitting in the idling truck in the driveway.

The outside light goes on and Spencer peeks out the door. “Hey, comin’ in or what?”

I turn the truck off and grab all my shit and go inside.

“What’s all that?” Spence asks as I struggle with all the bags. I got an extra power cord and a battery and pretty much everything else the salesman said I needed just so I didn’t have to fight with him about it.

“Just a computer, you know I should have my own, right? I’ll need it for class.” I smile and make my way towards the stairs. “Well, I’m beat and we have a big day tomorrow, so I’ll see you in the AM. Night, Spencer!”

“Night, Blackbird,” he calls out softly to me. It’s like he knows. Something’s off with me.

Shit, shit, shit.

But when I get downstairs to my apartment and look back, he’s not following me, so I push through the door and dump all my shit on the new couch and then start tearing into the bags. An hour later my computer’s up and running and connected to the house wireless.

I wonder if they can see my browsing history remotely?

I’m a paranoid freak because of Jon. But I don’t have the patience. And besides, what would they do if I found out? I mean, seriously? They have to know that I’d stumble onto it eventually.

I plug their names into the search bar and I swear my heart skips when I see what the headlines actually say.

Brutal Slaying by Local Golden Boys

Boulder Seeks Grand Jury Indictment of Aston, Flynn, and Shrike

Golden Boys Walk!

I lean back on the couch after reading more than two dozen articles and let out a long breath. “Well, Rook. You sure can pick them.”

What should I do? Should I leave? Should I confront Ronin? Should I ignore it?

I run through each one—it would be stupid to just leave. I could, I have plenty of money, but these guys have been very good to me. And Ronin’s never lied about anything before. He told me all about Mardee and he admitted that they set Jon up. And I can’t confront them. I’m not a confrontational person, it makes me sick, actually. I can’t even imagine doing that.