Read Online Close: A New Adult Thriller by M.H. Young - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: M.H. Young
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statement.”
Now I really was mad. “What?” I snapped, my face flushing bright red. “You don’t believe me?” My heartbeat skyrocketed, and this time it had nothing to do with his piercing blue eyes.
Drew made a turn onto campus. He pulled the car over to the side of the road. He put it into park, and turned to me. “Nothing’s changed. pretext calls maybe only work out half the time. If that. They’re a way of settling things quickly. If we can get the guy to admit to it, and present him the evidence then he usually takes a plea. It saves the...,” he stopped. “It would save you having to go to court and take the stand. I’m sorry, Laura, I truly am. He’s obviously not as dumb as he looks. Guys like him are usually pretty cunning.”
“So what does that make me?”
Drew blew air out of his mouth. “It makes you someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s all.”
I decided to change the subject. We weren’t going to get anywhere. I knew that logically he was right. It was worth a shot. I already had an idea what taking the stand would mean; being called a liar; having every single word I’d said picked over; being told that I had somehow led him on, that I was a slut, that I had somehow deserved it.
“When are you going to speak to John and Kish?” I asked.
“Soon. Tomorrow probably.”
I stared straight ahead. “I’d better tell John then.”
I opened the car door.
“Hey, where are you going?” Drew shouted after me.
“I can walk from here.”
Feeling angry, and ashamed, and stupid, I kept walking. A campus security car drove past, a campus police officer with salt and pepper hair staring at me. He pulled up next to Drew’s car and stopped. I could hear Drew talking to him.
I didn’t stop. I was hungry, and tired. All I’d done was sit in a room talking, and then made a call but I felt like I’d just finished running a marathon.
I could see my dorm building up ahead. When I looked back Drew was gone. The campus police car was parked, the nose facing me, the cop no doubt, at Drew’s request, making sure I got back safely.
It was all too late, I thought.
Nineteen: Drew
I slammed my hands against the wheel of my car. I wasn’t angry at Laura, I was pissed at myself. I should never have asked her to make that call. There was no way an operator like Bentley was going to fall for something so lame. Guys did, but they were usually husbands or boyfriends, men who felt so confident in the control they exerted over their victim that, who were so arrogant, that they would never even suspect that we knew what they’d done.
Bentley was different. I was almost certain that what he’d done to Laura hadn’t been a one-off, an isolated incident. It had been way too calculated. I had met a few people like Bentley before, and to them something like this was a game.
If he hadn’t been sure the call was being recorded, there was no way he was going to implicate himself so easily. He was going to make us get him the hard way. And now even that was doubtful. I wasn’t sure Laura was up to going through with all of this, and even if she was I couldn’t count on the DA prosecuting. A lot of DAs liked cases they knew they could win, and this was far from one of those.
And yet if we didn’t do something, he would do it again. Maybe not this week, or next, or next month even, but at some point his sick craving would get the better of him.
I was already paying the price for getting too close to Laura. I could already sense how I felt about her beginning to cloud my feelings.
A cop would have tried to guilt into her moving ahead, used the ‘next victim’ line for all it was worth. But driving her home, I just didn’t have it in me. How could I live with myself if I kept shattering this beautiful, delicate creature over and over again?
I slammed my palms against the wheel again, so hard that I felt the sting. I turned around and started back towards the campus.
Now I really was mad. “What?” I snapped, my face flushing bright red. “You don’t believe me?” My heartbeat skyrocketed, and this time it had nothing to do with his piercing blue eyes.
Drew made a turn onto campus. He pulled the car over to the side of the road. He put it into park, and turned to me. “Nothing’s changed. pretext calls maybe only work out half the time. If that. They’re a way of settling things quickly. If we can get the guy to admit to it, and present him the evidence then he usually takes a plea. It saves the...,” he stopped. “It would save you having to go to court and take the stand. I’m sorry, Laura, I truly am. He’s obviously not as dumb as he looks. Guys like him are usually pretty cunning.”
“So what does that make me?”
Drew blew air out of his mouth. “It makes you someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s all.”
I decided to change the subject. We weren’t going to get anywhere. I knew that logically he was right. It was worth a shot. I already had an idea what taking the stand would mean; being called a liar; having every single word I’d said picked over; being told that I had somehow led him on, that I was a slut, that I had somehow deserved it.
“When are you going to speak to John and Kish?” I asked.
“Soon. Tomorrow probably.”
I stared straight ahead. “I’d better tell John then.”
I opened the car door.
“Hey, where are you going?” Drew shouted after me.
“I can walk from here.”
Feeling angry, and ashamed, and stupid, I kept walking. A campus security car drove past, a campus police officer with salt and pepper hair staring at me. He pulled up next to Drew’s car and stopped. I could hear Drew talking to him.
I didn’t stop. I was hungry, and tired. All I’d done was sit in a room talking, and then made a call but I felt like I’d just finished running a marathon.
I could see my dorm building up ahead. When I looked back Drew was gone. The campus police car was parked, the nose facing me, the cop no doubt, at Drew’s request, making sure I got back safely.
It was all too late, I thought.
Nineteen: Drew
I slammed my hands against the wheel of my car. I wasn’t angry at Laura, I was pissed at myself. I should never have asked her to make that call. There was no way an operator like Bentley was going to fall for something so lame. Guys did, but they were usually husbands or boyfriends, men who felt so confident in the control they exerted over their victim that, who were so arrogant, that they would never even suspect that we knew what they’d done.
Bentley was different. I was almost certain that what he’d done to Laura hadn’t been a one-off, an isolated incident. It had been way too calculated. I had met a few people like Bentley before, and to them something like this was a game.
If he hadn’t been sure the call was being recorded, there was no way he was going to implicate himself so easily. He was going to make us get him the hard way. And now even that was doubtful. I wasn’t sure Laura was up to going through with all of this, and even if she was I couldn’t count on the DA prosecuting. A lot of DAs liked cases they knew they could win, and this was far from one of those.
And yet if we didn’t do something, he would do it again. Maybe not this week, or next, or next month even, but at some point his sick craving would get the better of him.
I was already paying the price for getting too close to Laura. I could already sense how I felt about her beginning to cloud my feelings.
A cop would have tried to guilt into her moving ahead, used the ‘next victim’ line for all it was worth. But driving her home, I just didn’t have it in me. How could I live with myself if I kept shattering this beautiful, delicate creature over and over again?
I slammed my palms against the wheel again, so hard that I felt the sting. I turned around and started back towards the campus.
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