Air.
That was an air tank and a mask…
Then the man vanished and the door closed above me. It was definitely a door. I couldn’t move, I was all curled up, my arms were tied to my legs or maybe my feet. I was having a hard time determining that and my head was swimming with pain.
But I had on an oxygen mask and I was in—a crate? A coffin?
Panic threaded through me and I tried to struggle but nothing worked and the pain flared more spots against my eyes, not that I could see shit inside the dark—whatever the fuck this was…
Tears burned in my eyes.
I should have just woken up Ramsey.
Four
LACHLAN
“Mr. Malone,” the dean said in his stuck-up, holier than thou, dickish voice. “I’m unclear on why you’ve called campus security and myself out here for a student who hasn’t missed any classes that we are aware of over—tossed coffee cups?”
The note of warning in his gaze wasn’t lost on me. Campus security had asked a handful of questions. One of them had gone to check with the baristas at the coffee shop to confirm that Ace had been here.
After a cursory scan of the area, the other just wrote up a report. The dean had shown up five minutes earlier, incensed. He didn’t quite slam out of his car, but he’d dismissed me with a look and glared at Ramsey.
“Dean…” Ramsey began, his shoulders squaring as he lifted his chin. He might be dressed in sweats and looking like he’d just rolled out of bed, but he didn’t hesitate to meet the dean’s gaze.
“Because I pissed her off again,” I offered, sliding right in and yanking the full weight of the dean’s irritation right at me. Frankly, I didn’t give a fuck what he thought about me. He wasn’t my dean. I was in the college division, so he could suck my dick. “We had a fight, nothing new. But she called me this morning, said that the three of us should talk.”
“And why would Miss Crosse need to speak to the three of you, Mr. Nash?” Man could make your name sound like an insult. It was a skill. My father could make it sound a lot worse. If he wanted to throw his verbal dick around, I’d get Dad involved.
“Because we’re her stepbrothers,” Ramsey said, his irritation rifling every syllable as he shot me a look. Yeah, he wanted me to stay out of it. No can do. If he gave Mayfair a reason, he was going to fire Ramsey.
Not saying he didn’t deserve it, but that was the least of our problems right now.
“I believe I asked Mr. Nash,” Mayfair said, his expression granite. “Mr. Malone, you were warned about Miss Crosse.”
“And cleared,” Ramsey reminded him. “If you want to rake me over the coals for that again, fine. But right now KC is missing…”
“You haven’t established why you believe this.”
Oh, I was going to slug him. What a fucking dick. “Tell you what, you shut up, and I’ll play the message for Mr. Creglin.”
Murray Creglin, head of campus security, had just gotten out of his car. His guys straightened up as he approached, and Mayfair seemed even more annoyed. Maybe the stick up his ass left a splinter.
I liked that kind of karma for him. As it was Creglin looked at the dean, then us before he settled his attention on Ramsey. “Have you found Miss Crosse?”
“No,” Ramsey said. “She’s not answering her phone. It goes straight to voicemail. Not even a ringing attempt. Guys inside said she was here and she bought coffee, then she headed this way.”
Mayfair opened his mouth, but Creglin simply held up a hand. “You are here as a courtesy, they are witnesses. Please wait.”
Well, at least he said please, but Mayfair looked like he sucked on a wasabi-infused lemon.
“How did you know to look here?” Creglin asked, his stern, no bullshit expression a reminder the guy actually used to be a real cop once upon a time.
“I had a voicemail from her,” I said, lifting my phone. I hit play on the message and ignored Mayfair, whose dark expression promised retribution.
Yeah, I’d like to see him try.
The sound of her phone falling, the muffled struggle, and her scream had Creglin’s expression tensing. Every time I heard it, I just wanted to punch something. Of all the days to have stayed out all night.
Jonas needed a pick me up, so I’d taken him into the city for a night out, some games, and a break from school. Ever since Ace cut him off, he’d been in a dark place. If I’d been here…
“Play it again,” he ordered, so I started it over at full volume.
Both of the campus security officers who’d already been here closed in, and they shifted, their gazes moving over the area as if they were trying to place where she’d been too.
“No sign of her phone?” Creglin eyed his guys.
“No sir, just the coffee cups. There’s spilled coffee and chocolate. Didn’t see any signs of blood, but—it may be under the coffee.”
My stomach sank at the very idea of blood. I really should have fucking been here. Been there when she came out, if nothing else, I could have walked over here with her.
“We found a piece of her phone,” Ramsey volunteered the section, then motioned to where we’d found it.
“Check the CCTV,” Creglin ordered, but he was already scanning the buildings.
“Nothing points right at this lot,” one of his men said and Creglin scowled.
“Why not?”
Neither of his guys answered, but I had an idea. “Probably because someone paid to have them aimed elsewhere. This is a good spot to hook up.”
Ramsey sighed as Creglin snapped his focus to me. “Are you implying you paid off one of my men?”
I snorted. “Nope, not even inferring it. It’s an open secret. If you can’t get lucky in your dorm and you have a car, this is a good spot at night. Hardly anyone patrols this area, cause the shop is closed and admin buildings are shut down. There are no cameras over here for the same reason.”
Rubbing his jaw, Creglin studied the area. “Pull all the footage from an hour before to an hour after,” he ordered his men. “From every camera between here and the dorms, and every single one over there. Maybe we get lucky…”
“That’s a lot of footage,” one of his men said and Creglin shot them a look that shut them up and they hurried away.
“Are you calling the police?” Ramsey asked.
“Of course not—” Mayfair began.
“Not yet,” Creglin cut him off and then gave the dean a long look. “This is a security matter, not a political ass kissing one. Miss Crosse’s safety is more important than your reputation.”
Creglin was officially my favorite.
“That said,” he continued almost like he had to grind his teeth before he could get the words out. “I need to investigate more before I involve local police. Technically, this is our jurisdiction—however if we do believe a crime has been committed or that she’s been removed from the campus against her will… then we will do what is needed. I may have more questions for both of you, so don’t leave campus and be where I can find you.”
“We’ll be at my dorm,” Ramsey said. “I want to check with her friend and former roommate…”