Her Striker by Charlene Raquel

Chapter Eighteen

 

 

Drew stared at the handwritten date on the back of the square scorpion card. That date was two days away. He had a feeling that the date did not refer to something happening during the day. It would most likely happen Saturday night. It was a Saturday night when he was taken from his bed. He wondered if that would happen again. He would be ready for them if it did.

He had a lot of time to think about it, and he was convinced that it was some sort of signal for an initiation into the secret society. His father would not have given it to him otherwise.

Drew had placed two calls to his father, and both of them had gone unanswered. Oliver Maxwell was probably pissed off that Drew had hit Gwen’s father and possibly embarrassed himself and the senator. He was on his own and would not get any information from his father.

A sound from outside his apartment caught his attention. He slipped the card back into his pocket and went to the front window. Grinning widely, he opened the door just as Gwen was about to knock.

“Hey, Sunshine. How were your classes?” Drew pulled her inside his apartment and swept her into his arms.

Gwen leaned up on her toes and brushed her lips against his briefly before pulling back. She almost laughed at his disappointed expression. “Hi. Where’s Dean?”

“Why are you asking about my roommate?” Drew pouted when she left his arms and went searching for Dean.

“I need to talk to him.” Gwen pointed toward the bedrooms. “Is he here?”

“He’s passed out. He stayed up most of the night talking on the phone to your roommate.” Drew narrowed his gaze. “What’s up?”

Gwen frowned but handed him the printout from the Bursar’s Office. “This.”

Drew scanned the page and laughed. “Nice. I don’t know why we hadn’t thought of that before.”

“Where’d he get the money?” Gwen wrung her hands.

“Nowhere. He zeroed out the account. This university has a huge endowment worth hundreds of millions of dollars. You should have gotten a real scholarship and probably did, but your dickhead father had other plans.”

“So, I shouldn’t worry?”

“Nope. Now get over here and greet me properly.” Drew walked backwards and lowered himself onto the couch. He crooked his finger and motioned her forward.

With a wicked grin, Gwen plopped down on his lap, straddling him. She took his face in her hands and claimed his lips.

Drew only let her lead for a few seconds before taking over and showing her exactly what a proper hello kiss should be. Sliding his hands under her T-shirt, he ran his fingers up her silky back, pressing her to him.

“Are you two going to do this all the time?” Dean grumbled from the hallway.

Drew glanced to Dean. “Probably.”

Dean headed into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and took out a soda. He guzzled half of it, belched loudly and joined Drew and Gwen on the couch.

Drew pushed his friend out of the way. “Dude? Do you mind?”

Dean leaned back with a grin. “Not at all.”

Gwen giggled and turned on Drew’s lap so she was sitting sideways, facing Dean. “I tried to set up a payment plan for my tuition today.”

“Oh yeah? How’d that work out for you?” Dean smirked as he stretched his long legs out in front of him.

“The woman gave me a hard time about asking to set a plan up now, but she’s allowing me to pay monthly.” Gwen had to tease the cocky look off his face. “It will be ten percent interest, but I didn’t think that was too bad.”

Dean shot to his feet. “Are you fucking kidding me? How the hell did that happen?” He stalked over to the kitchen table and opened his laptop.

Drew shook his head but kept quiet.

Gwen couldn’t keep her laughter quiet. It burst out of her, causing Dean’s head to swivel to her. His glare made her laugh harder.

“I’m sorry. I had to.” Gwen hid her face against Drew’s chest.

Dean shook his head and sat back down.

Gwen reached out her hand and squeezed Dean’s forearm. “Thank you for doing that. I don’t want you to get into trouble for me. I have that money Mrs. Hamby gave me, so I can pay for classes.”

Dean grabbed her arm and pulled her off Drew’s lap and onto the couch, enveloping her with his arms. “You’ve been through enough. You shouldn’t have to worry about paying for school. Keep the money. I have a feeling you’re going to need it.”

Drew pulled Gwen away from Dean. “Get your own woman. Leave mine alone.”

Gwen broke away from both of them. “I am not a toy to fight over. Dean, thank you for doing that. I really appreciate it, but please, please be careful. It doesn’t sound exactly legal.”

Dean shrugged. “I like to think it’s in the grey area. Sometimes you need to bend the rules a bit.”

Drew gave Gwen a pouty face.

She narrowed her eyes. “That doesn’t work on me.”

“It used to.” Drew reached for her. “Sit with me for a while. As much as I don’t want to talk about it, we need to discuss the Scorpio Society.”

Dean grabbed his laptop and placed it on the coffee table. “We should wait for Sam. She’ll be here any second.”

Gwen cuddled next to Drew on the couch. “She’s getting tuition credit for working in the computer lab. She was working out her schedule with classes and working at the diner.”

Dean jumped up, opened the door, and disappeared outside.

Drew chuckled and followed him out. “He thinks he’s slick by meeting her outside.”

Gwen tried to catch up with Drew. “What do you mean?”

Drew smiled down at her. “He gave us shit for making out on the couch. He doesn’t want me to give it right back to him.”

When Drew made it out to the porch, he saw Dean and Sam whispering, but not kissing. The disappointment on his face made Gwen laugh.

Gwen’s good mood didn’t last long. “What do you think is going to happen on Saturday?”

Drew shrugged. “I’m not sure. If it’s like other fraternities, probably drink entirely too much, suffer through a ridiculous ceremony, and have to listen to the leaders drone on and on about nothing I care about at all.”

Dean raised a brow. “I think this will be a little more involved than that. I was able to take a look at some of the medical examiner’s files for the students who died recently.”

Sam looked impressed. “You were able to break into the city’s records?”

Dean smirked. “Of course. It wasn’t hard. Anyway. There was a freshman girl three years ago who was found in the woods near campus. The original toxicology report stated that she died of cardiac arrest from a pulmonary edema due to a neurotoxin commonly found in a South American scorpion.”

Gwen sat up straight and began to wring her hands. “How would a college student die from a South American scorpion sting? Was it a lab accident?”

Dean rubbed the back of his neck. “The report had been deleted, but there was a reference to the original report in one of the notes’ pages, so I had to dig for it from the testing lab. That report has now been destroyed too, but I have a copy. The autopsy now says that she died of a drug overdose.”

Drew stood and began to pace. “Shit.”

Sam slid closer to Dean. “Was she from an affluent family?”

Dean scrolled through his notes. “Yes, her father owns a huge chemical company. He’s worth hundreds of millions.”

Gwen watched Drew pace. “Do we know anything about her? She would have been a freshman at the same time Sam and I were.”

Dean shook his head. “Not yet, but we should look into her.”

Drew stopped in front of the coffee table. “The Scorpio Society lets a scorpion sting initiates, and if they don’t die, they are in? What kind of fucked up group is that?”

Dean shook his head. “We don’t know that. We don’t have any conclusive evidence of anything yet. I’m looking into it.”

“We have two days to figure it out.” Drew went back to pacing.

Gwen shot to her feet. “What do you mean two days? What’s happening in two days?”

Drew turned to face her. “I think it’s my initiation.”