Page 53 of Hunt

“Fine,” I walked down the hall, and as I walked down the stairs, Callum the Hulk was coming up.

He hesitated when he realized it was me, and looked like he would run back down again. I liked that I made these two brainless fucks nervous, but it bothered me that they weren’t being straight up with me. It also fucked me off that I couldn’t trust them anymore because they once were good friends, but now they’re my enemies.

I couldn’t contact Riley because she had no phone, so I drove to her dorm once I climbed back into my car. When I discovered she wasn’t there, I went to the Science Library and found that weird girl there. What was her name? Katerina or something.

Unsurprisingly, she was sitting alone. She opened the book on the table, jotting down notes, and was startled when I approached. “Do you know where Riley is?”

She sighed and glanced up briefly from under her glasses. “You need to get off her back,” she answered coldly, making it obvious she didn’t like me—like I cared.

“You didn’t answer my question. It’s important. Do you know where she is?” I pressed, annoyed at her defiance.

“I’m not her babysitter,” she barked as if exhausted, her eyes low, as she looked at her book.

“Someone broke her phone. Do you know who did that?” I had Shaun’s version and now wanted hers. Eventually, I’d get to the truth.

Again, without looking up, she answered, “I already spoke to your friend. Byrne. I don’t know how she broke her phone and glasses because I wasn’t there.”

“Glasses? Her glasses broke, too?” Rage slithered down my back, and as an automatic response, my hands clenched into fists.

“Didn’t Byrne tell you that?” she stated sarcastically. “I thought you two were best buds. Partners in crime, shall we say.”

Man, she was a weirdo. “Look, I know you hold contempt for me-”

“No, I don’t. I have no feelings toward you at all. Numb. That’s it. Numb,” she interrupted.

“I genuinely don’t care, however, if something happened between Shaun and Riley, I want to know,” I snarled at her.

“It has nothing to do with me. Speak to your friend about it,” she hissed, shooting me a black scowl.

“It’s Riley I care about here. So whatever information you have about what happened to her, you’ve got to give it to me,” I asserted, hoping she’d believe me.

“No, I don’t,” she snarled at me. “I don’t have to giveyouanything.”

“So, she just dropped her phone on the floor and it smashed into three pieces? She wasn’t pushed or hit?” I challenged her because I thought the worst, and the truth was important. “And her glasses miraculously splintered on her face?”

“I don’t know because I wasn’t there,” she snarled.

“Tell me what you do know then,” I pressed again because she knew more than she was letting on.

Evidently, everyone involved was lying about some details or holding back information. The only way to get to the truth was to weigh up the information given to me. It was starting to do my fucking head in.

“I told you,” she exhaled, glanced over my shoulder when two students walked our way, spotted me, then walked down another aisle.

“When did you see her?” I was giving her the third degree. Since she knew Riley’s glasses were broken, Riley either confided in her or saw it happen.

“After she walked out of the library,” she replied after hesitating for several seconds, deciding how much she would tell me. “She looked shaken up.”

I nodded slowly as the fury flooded into my fists. “Anything else you want to tell me?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Right,” I mumbled. “Thanks. And if you see her, tell her to…” I trailed off because she didn’t have a phone, so she couldn’t contact me. “Forget it. I’ll see her tonight.”

I started walking away, then glanced back as she seemed interested in the shelves nearby. When she noticed I was watching her, she dropped her eyes again. Curiously, I peered down that aisle and saw no one, so I could only guess she was daydreaming or something.

I returned to her table and confronted her: “You have a habit of turning up at exactly the right moments. It almost seems manufactured.”

She was taken aback by my comment and tried to dismiss it. “We’re roommates, share some of the same classes, so we’d be in the same circles,” she clarified, unconvincing me.

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