Page 14 of Devious Gambit

“You’re welcome to leave.”

I felt his eyes scrutinizing my face again, so I turned away from him. “Why are you always alone, Rhys?”

His question struck me like a three sharp daggers to the heart. “Why are you always with people, Mr. Ed?” My pet peeve is when people answer questions with a question, and I just broke my own rule.

“It’s a genuine question. Is it shyness? Social anxiety or something?”

I sighed. It was actually nice to be asked. I watched the bird continue to peck amongst the dead leaves, before answering, “Um…I revel in the peace and quiet. I guess it keeps me balanced.”

He nodded as if he understood, but I doubted it. I wanted to open up his skull to see what he was thinking. Chances were, he’d written me off and I could hardly blame him. Not that it mattered.

“There is two-fold silence – sea and shore,” I recited, under my breath, “body and soul. One dwells in lonely places.”

“Isn’t that Edgar Allen Poe’s Silence?” Mr. Ed stated, and I almost slid off the bench in shock.

He stood to leave me in my tongue-tied state and having the last word, he uttered, “Don’t you know you should never judge a book by its cover, Rhys.”

SIX

Jace

“Where were you on Friday 3rd December around ten PM?” Detective Mathias asked me. A little bird told me she was the lead detective investigating the historical rape photos, and was the detective who arrested Robert Fontaine for the murder of Geoff Sweeney. Busy lady. Our dean brought the Bloodz members in for a meeting to inform us that a detective will be visiting the Vault to ask questions about Friday. At least it gave some of us time to make up a story.

“I was hanging in University Square,” I answered. She chose the smaller living room to the right of the grand entrance as her interrogation quarters. Bodies hovering behind the closed patterned-glass double doors kept catching my eye. It was obvious they were trying to listen in.

“Who with?”

“Stacey McMillan, a couple of her friends, and Cody Harrington.”

“And Stacey McMillan is your girlfriend?” she asked.

“Nah, we’re just friends.”

“And she’ll corroborate with your story?” the detective asked.

“Well, yeah, she was there, so… Do you think I’m making it up?”

“How long were you and your friends in University Square for?” she inquired.

“Maybe thirty minutes or so. It was cold and we were heading back to the Vault. We had a big game the next day and Cody and I didn’t want to stay up too late.”

“Did you drink alcohol that night?”

“No. I don’t drink the night before a game.”

“What about the others?”

“Cody wasn’t drinking either, and the girls are Hawks Cheerleaders and they were having a slow night too. We go slow Friday night and go hard Saturday night after the game.”

“I see. Did you win?”

Sore point. “No. Our weakness is away games.”

“You have away games for the next few weeks?”

“Up until Christmas Day.”

“Okay, thank you.”

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