Page 18 of Surge

Chapter Five

Twenty-four hours.

I slammed my locker shut and pinched the bridge of my nose. Maybe I should look into independent study until everything blows over. I hadn't been able to focus at all in class thinking about my mom and the impending deadline set by the Tritons.

The evening before, I had gone to the police station, but they had been no help, saying that if my mom told me a date of return, I needed to wait until twenty-four hours after that date.

When I burst into tears, the officer took down some information and said he'd see what he could find out. I wasn't holding my breath.

Even worse, the morning news reported that, after an investigation, it had been discovered that engineers on the oil platform had reported the need for necessary fixes to the oil wells, but they had fallen on deaf ears.

Where was Robert Kline in this whole mess? No one knew. He had taken his private jet and vanished. The Federal Aviation Administration was still investigating where the plane had gone.

"You know what you need?" Aiden appeared beside me and slung his arm around my shoulders. "A night of fun. You. Me. Ivy. This Friday. Football game. Bonfire."

I groaned. "And how is that fun? They will be there, won't they?" I pulled open the door to the aquatic center and stopped to look at him. "It's bad enough that I have to do the coverage on swimming."

We entered the lobby area of the state-of-the-art facility. Most of the major high school swim meets were hosted there because of it. Even the lobby was impressive, with a giant snack bar and sitting areas with big screens.

I thought it was a bit much, but the swimming program brought in big money, not only for our school, but the community as well. Finn West was also one of the donors that helped fund it being built.

"Why can't Jax do the swimming coverage?"

I took my camera out of my bag as we entered the main facility. The swim teams were already training and I had a hard time keeping my eyes off the shirtless, muscular male forms. "He can't take pictures while swimming. I hate to say this, but the main photos should probably be those three."

As we got closer, the Tritons glanced in my direction and then their heads went together. They hadn't been in the water yet, but it looked like they were just getting ready to go in.

"Girl, I can't tell if they just gave you the stank eye or bedroom eyes." He plopped into a cushioned chair. "They are fine though. Maybe their kink is being dominant alphas and they want you to fall to your knees in submission like an omega wolf."

"I think their kink is being utter assholes." I dropped my bag on the ground next to him. "Being hot isn't an excuse for the way they've been toward me. I don't care who they are or how much money they have."

They'd have to buy me a thousand roses and a five-carat diamond for me to even consider one of them. Not that any of them were interested in me. They were just trying to mess with me and break me.

"Have you told them that?" Aiden cocked a brow and then smirked when I just stared blankly at him. "Be firm with them. Guys like them will take advantage of weakness in a heartbeat. Put them in their place."

I turned and moved closer to take photos. The yearbook had excellent cameras and zoom lenses for me to stay a safe distance from the pool. Even being close to it was making my breath hitch a little.

Swimming was one of the more difficult sports to get good shots of because of the water. I started snapping photos of the swimmers in the water and those standing around preparing to get in.

I zoomed in on the Tritons, who were still clustered together. Jax handed something to Morgan and he put it in his mouth. I held the button down to take burst shots, and not a second later, Jax handed the same thing to Blake.

Whatever had just happened, I had captured it, and an odd satisfaction washed over me. They surely wouldn't take drugs in plain sight, would they? Drugs would certainly explain how they dominated the pool like they did.

I stayed for another fifteen minutes before calling it a day. I didn't need to stay for the whole practice. The real magic would come when they had a meet.

* * *

"What doyou mean she turned her car in?" I clutched my phone in my hand and felt the instant need to throw up.

"She was leasing it and turned it in to the car dealership. They gave her a ride to the airport. They don't remember much other than she seemed sad. I'm going to reach out to the airlines tomorrow and see what they say. Do you know of anyone she had issues with?"

"No, but the oil spill..." I sighed and propped my elbow on the kitchen table where I had been working on an assignment. "There are some guys at my school who have been threatening me."

I filled in the detective on the past week and he said he was concerned. He suggested I speak to the administration or the school counselor so their parents could be contacted.

I'm sure that would go over well.

There was a reason they were called the Tritons. They were virtually untouchable. Their parents invested a lot of money into the school, including the upgrades to the facilities and to academic and sports programs. We were essentially a private high school without tuition.

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