20. Secret Partnership

20

W e spent most of the weekend comparing notes.

Chance had a lot of questions about the weeks preceding Daniel's disappearance. I had replayed them over and over in my mind so many times, trying to remember if anyone had been acting strange or if I'd noticed anything out of the ordinary, but I simply hadn't. I hadn't been looking for anything at the time, and I was more caught up in finals and graduation.

"What were you saying yesterday about the laptop Claire gave you?" I asked late Sunday afternoon.

"I can't get in."

"Why not?" I raised a brow.

"It's issued by the school. Claire thought she had his password saved somewhere, but she was gone before we had the chance to connect again."

"I have an idea, but you're not going to like it." I tapped my finger on my chin.

Chance cocked his head, intrigued.

"Milton Cox has access to all the passwords," I stated.

"So?"

"Milton Cox also has a habit of leaving his computer open when he leaves to grab lunch, or when he's distracted."

Chance narrowed his eyes at me. "Distracted?"

"I've noticed he's easily distracted around me."

Chance sported a lopsided grin. "That makes two of us, then."

I rolled my eyes.

"What about the photos you mentioned to Claire the night she gave you the laptop?" I tried to bring the conversation back to the task at hand and pretend that Chance's flirtation wasn't affecting me, despite the fact that it very much was.

"Ended up being nothing." He shook his head. "They were from his article last year about the drugs. But he wrote three other articles in addition to that one. Do you know who he pissed off when each one came out? I know he wasn't exactly without enemies. I just never thought any of the articles were serious enough to make someone want to hurt him." Chance's shoulders slumped.

"What could you have done?" Against my will, I watched as my hand reached out to take his, in comfort.

He nodded, squeezing my hand in return, and then refusing to let it go when I gently tried to pull away.

I sighed, but decided not to fight him on it. I definitely wasn't actually enjoying the feeling of my hand in his. And it most certainly wasn't giving me butterflies…

"A dorm monitor was fired over the drug article, but the last I heard, she moved back home to the West Coast. I asked Kenneth if he'd gotten any flak for the article during the faculty mixer. He said a little, but he didn't seem to mind, and if he did, he's the newspaper advisor and has final say, so he could have just refused to publish the article."

"I agree. And the other articles?"

"He wrote one about bribery and another on favoritism between certain students and faculty his sophomore year, but that was before I got here. I don't think he named any names, and I didn't hear about anyone being angry with him. If anything, it gave him a somewhat elevated status amongst the students, who seemed to be largely on his side."

"What if the students he was referencing were worried he would speak out and cause problems with college applications? Sometimes arguments can escalate quickly," Chance surmised.

"It's possible, but they seemed largely anecdotal without any hard evidence, which is why Daniel didn't print any names. It was more of an editorial with fact-based arguments, versus the other investigative pieces he did that were more hard journalism."

"And the last one?"

"The one about the scholarship students not receiving the same opportunities as the others?"

"Yeah."

"I mean, the administration and donors were definitely unhappy, but I got the sense they were more annoyed than anything. I remember overhearing the faculty talking about not biting the hand that feeds you." That was the last day I had tried to hang out in the faculty lounge and was only a few weeks after I'd started at Montgomery. They saw people like me and Daniel as nothing but dogs at their feet. It was disgusting.

"Who said that?" Chance's eyes flashed in anger.

"The headmaster."

"He's a piece of shit."

"Well, if he really cared, he could have easily found a way to kick Daniel out."

"I'm not so sure," Chance argued. "He was one of very few people that knew who was paying Daniel's tuition. There was no way he would do anything to piss off my dad. Half the school's funding comes from him."

"Geez." Even thinking about that kind of money being just something Thomas Roberts could throw around without blinking an eye was too much for me to stomach. "Did, umm, Daniel ever talk to you about what he was working on next?" I tried to stop thinking about how I'd be set for years with that kind of cash.

"Nothing specific, only that he was working on something big, but he liked to keep his work close to his chest. I just told him to be careful and to do his due diligence. Once I can get on his computer, I know we can find more."

Chance began tracing shapes with his fingertip in the palm of my hand, which was entirely too distracting.

"I don't even know who our potential suspects are." I swallowed. "They would have needed motive, means, and opportunity. I don't even know where to start."

"Winston has always been the highest on my list," Chance offered.

"After me," I deadpanned.

A grin broke out on his face. "Yeah, after you." He threaded his fingers through mine, sliding his thumb back and forth across my skin.

Finally having had enough, and sick of being turned on by such a shameless flirt, I pulled my hand back into my lap, away from his reach.

Chance shook his head, holding back a chuckle. I hated that he knew exactly what he was doing to me. I think he also knew that even if I pulled away, I didn't want him to stop.

"Just think about it." Chance leaned back in his seat. "He was here when the first girls went missing, which is already suspect, but he had a lot to gain by getting someone like Daniel out of the way. He was making him look bad and exposing the underbelly of the school and all the corrupt people greasing the wheels."

"Just because he was here when those other girls went missing doesn't mean he had anything to do with it," I countered, feeling a little ill standing up for someone like Winston.

"No, but he has a reputation for being a creep around women. You even said it yourself that he's made sexist comments to you before."

"Being a misogynistic asshole doesn't make you a killer." I felt like he was taking it a step too far on pure conjecture, with no real evidence. "Don't make me defend him, but we need solid proof, not just our opinions."

"I know." Chance sighed, pushing his chair back from the table before standing. "Let's go grab some lunch from the dining hall. I need a break."

I'd been meaning to bring something up to him sooner, but I was worried I'd shatter the tenuous alliance we were slowly building, so I'd been gathering the courage to say something.

"Wait," I called out to him. He was already heading for his fire escape.

Chance turned around.

"I've been thinking—"

"Uh oh," he joked.

"Shut up." I couldn't help but laugh at the jab.

"Go on," he encouraged me to continue.

"We both agree that whoever is doing this is at Montgomery?" I asked.

He nodded.

"We also agree that they're aware of what we're doing, enough to know that Claire was helping you. Which means they likely know why you're really here—"

"Violet, my lovely muse, where are you going with this?"

I narrowed my eyes at the new nickname. "I don't think we should let anyone know we're working together."

He cocked his head, not understanding.

"We need to keep up appearances at school, where I've been very vocal about my dislike for you." I eyed him nervously, unsure of how he would take my suggestion.

"You're right."

I straightened. "I am?"

Chance crossed his arms over his broad chest. "Yeah. The faculty definitely knows, and I'm sure some students are aware—plus, you rarely eat at the dining hall. We should go about our business as usual and keep our investigation between us…"

He paused.

"That means you can't talk to Lenny or Jolene about anything," Chance finished hesitantly.

"I wouldn't involve Lenny, but I don't think I can lie to Jolene—she'll know something is up. Plus, she helped me figure out who you are—or were. She's going to ask me what happened on Monday. What am I supposed to say?" I didn't disagree with him, but I felt guilty not including her in some capacity.

"You don't have to lie to her, but maybe just don't tell her the whole truth," he suggested.

"So I shouldn't tell her you've been stalking me and taking creepy pictures?" I held up the folder he'd given me.

He shook his head, amused. "Never going to live that one down, am I?"

"Not ever."

"I know she's your friend, but we need to be careful. We can't trust anyone. She's too close to the headmaster."

"She wouldn't tell him anything," I argued.

"Not intentionally, but her desk is right by his office. And other than you, he's the only person who knows I'm a Roberts. I'm sure he's wondered what my motives were for applying to teach here." Chance wasn't going to budge.

"I'm not good at lying." I slumped against the table.

Chance paced back to me, leaning against the table. "Don't look at it as lying. You're only keeping information from her to protect her, and to protect us. She would understand." He placed his hand on my shoulder. "We can't risk her knowing anything, especially if it means she could become the next target."

I let myself look up into his darkened eyes. He was trying to protect all of us.

"Okay…"

"When can we get into the records room to check on those missing girls without worrying about running into Jolene or any of the other admin staff?"

"We'll have to wait until tomorrow night—the staff is usually all gone by nine."

"Not tonight?" Chance asked anxiously.

"Too many students around. Remember they have evening study sessions on Sunday nights in the dining hall."

"Shit, I forgot. Okay, Monday night it is." He took a beat. "I'll go grab us food."

"I have some tests I need to grade." It wasn't that I didn't want to work on the case anymore, but it felt like we were at a bit of a standstill.

"You don't mind if I'm up here, do you?" he asked sincerely, giving me an out if I wanted to be alone in the lounge.

"No, I don't mind."

Somehow, Chance Harper was weaseling his way even further into my heart.