Page 91 of The Lies We Tell Ourselves

“No buts, kid. I don’t know you from Adam, so no dice. Pass me to Jamie.”

“Fucking listen.” My voice shook with the force of his fear. “Did you know Mr. Abernathy beat me up after they left? Put me in the hospital with a broken arm and concussion? Because I couldn’t tell him where Jamie and Selene had gone?”

“I did.” His voice was softer, filled with regret. “I’m sorry, kid but I need?—”

“Don’t you think I’d have given Jamie the damn phone if he was here?” I bellowed and broke. Tears flowed from my eyes in torrents. “I-I don’t k-know where he i-is…” My breath hitched, stealing my words as my world shattered around me. Memories of Jamie telling me what his dad had done to Selene flashed through my mind, along with all the times Jamie had unexplained bruises and split lips. I screamed because he wasn’t here to hold. If he wasn’t in my arms, he wasn’t safe. I didn’t know where he was. My heart splintered all over again, and all I had to cling to was thin air. I pounded my fist on the floor as if it would give me the answers I needed, only to be met with silence and my labored breaths.

“Dillon, we need to go.” My gaze zeroed in on B’s face. “We need to go. Now! I’ve messaged Mal and Ava to meet us at Jamie’s dorm.” I stared at him as his words flowed in and out of my ears. He could have been speaking another language as nothing made sense. I was numb.

I licked my lips, catching my tears on my tongue and blinked as if it had the power to clear the storm in my mind. Vivid image after vivid image bombarded me. Some were memories I could place, others were possibilities I didn’t want to think about. My whole body shook from the force of them, like I was being shot by a firing squad.

Buchanan’s eyes bored into me, trying to give me the strength of conviction I needed to keep going. He was trying to patch me up with Band-Aids, but I was bleeding out faster than he could plug me. He fisted the front of my suit jacket and shook me. “Get. The. Fuck. Up! You want to save him?” I nodded. “Then get up. The others are meeting us there.”

“How do you…?” I pushed up onto unstable feet and let him drag me through the door next to Jamie’s bag—the only one that wasn’t locked.

“I took the phone off you when you had your little meltdown and spoke to Agent Whitlock. He’s meeting us and already has men on campus searching for your boy.” I looked at him, my vision hazy from the water filling my eyes. “You good?” I gritted my teeth and nodded. I had to be. I would be for him.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-EIGHT

DILLON

Iwas out of the car before the wheels stopped and left the door open as I charged across the lot to the front of Jamie’s dorm building. I barged through people and ran for the elevator, but the doors shut just as I reached it. I punched the buttons, but none were coming down. “Fuck!” I shouted in frustration, pulling on my hair. I ripped off my stupid bow tie and threw it on the floor, crushing it under my foot.

“Stairs!” B yelled from behind me. I turned and sprinted to them, my heartbeat thundering in my ears as the steps blurred beneath my feet. I was singularly focused on my destination and my need to get him back before his piece of shit dad did something incomprehensible that Jamie couldn’t come back from. I needed my little crow to live. He was my air, my reason for living. I’d be an empty husk without him. There was no life without Jamie in it. I’d chain him to me if that’s what it took to keep him safe.

Adrenaline surged through my veins, and I vibrated with the overload to my system as I swung around another landing and pushed up the next flight of stairs. My legs burned, the muscles straining under the pressure. A stitch pierced my side, the stabbing pain increasing as I gasped for air, but I didn’t slow down. I couldn’t. Even if my body failed me, I’d drag myself up on my hands and knees. I’d keep going until my fingers were bloody stumps, worn down to the bone.

The door at the top of the stairwell flew open as I barged through it, making the crowd of people behind it jump. I stood frozen for a split second as I took in the sheer volume of bodies wedged into the tight corridor. I shoved men and women out of the way, ignoring their shouts of protest. I didn’t give a shit; they were in my way and they needed to get the fuck out of it.

A fat balding dude stood in front of Jamie’s door with legs spread and arms crossed over his chest. He shoved me as I tried to get past. “Can’t go in there, kid.”

A guttural growl tore free from me, and I spat in his face. “That’s my fucking boyfriend they’re discussing. Either you let me pass, old man, or you’ll end up on the floor.” I stepped into his personal space, backed him up until he hit the door, and gripped the front of his jacket, pulling his face to mine so our noses were almost touching.

“I wouldn’t do that, kid. I’m?—”

“I don’t give a fuck if you’re the next fucking messiah. You’re. In. My. Fucking. Way.” I punctuated each word with a sharp yank, making his head wobble like a rag doll. “Move, or I’ll make you.” I released him with a shove, and his head smacked into the door with a thud. A low groan slipped past his lips as he rubbed the back of his head.

“You little punk?—”

I snorted. “Fucking try me.” I raised my fists, adjusted my stance so my weight was on my back foot, and turned my hips so I could put my whole body into my punch.

In the next breath, the door opened and porky fell backward, landing on his ass with a shout. “What the hell is going on here?” A well-built older guy wearing a navy-blue jacket with wavy salt and pepper hair and a trimmed beard eyed me. His gaze roamed over me and ping-ponged between my raised fists. “Not the most intelligent person, Dillon.” His condescending tone made my skin itch, and my lips pulled back in a sneer.

“Fuck you! Daire, I assume?” The pompous dickwad grinned at me, and it drove me insane. My boy was missing, and this tool was impersonating the Joker.

“Maybe not as stupid as I thought. Get in here and talk me through what you know.”

“Hang on, I’m coming. Get out of the damn way, ma’am. I’m with…” Buchanan’s voice faded away as I cocked my head and looked more closely at Daire. His amber eyes swirled with anger and frustration. The tight set of his lips and the deepening crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes were the only indications that this situation was affecting him.

“Not without him.” I chucked my thumb over my shoulder to where B was fighting to get past a female officer without shoving her into the wall.

“Constantine, let him through. He’s one of the friends.” The grimace on his face made it look like the words had cost him, but if he had any brain cells in his head, he’d know we were some of his strongest leads.

“Well,” I pointed to the doorway he was blocking. “What are you waiting for?” He muttered under his breath and moved out of the way so we could enter.

“Thanks,” B said as we stepped into the room. He walked straight over to where Mal and Ava were curled up on Jamie’s bed and wrapped his arms around them. Their crying faces buried into his neck as he offered them a comfort I wasn’t capable of giving. I was filled with rage, everything tinged red.

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