Page 727 of Filthy Elites

Kelsey clung to him as she nodded her head. “I know. I thought that. It’s part of why I wanted you here.”

“Just part?”

“I wanted you with me. I feel safer with you here.” Kelsey pulled away. “I’m going to check on her.”

“Okay. Take your time.”

Adrian rubbed the back of his neck. Things were escalating but why go after Janie? Unless she wasn’t the target. Could they have been after Kelsey?

He glanced around looking for some sort of clue as to why this was happening. Greg had been with Kelsey both times her tires were damaged. He was not around when Adrian had his issues. But Adrian had seen Greg before his car was broken into.

Was Greg the common denominator? He righted the side chair and sat down, trying to piece everything together in his mind. Oh shit. He stood up. Greg had an older brother.

Kelsey and Janie came back into the living room. Janie was dressed in a pair of yoga pants and an oversized T-shirt.

Adrian tried not to wince when he saw her. The girl had been through hell. He jumped up and righted the couch. He looked around for the cushions, gathering them to place on the couch. Once it was set back up, Janie and Kelsey took a seat. Adrian returned to the chair. “I’m so sorry that happened to you, Janie. We’re going to find who did this.”

“No!” Janie shouted and began to shake.

Kelsey reached out for her friend’s hand. “The guy who did this needs to be punished.”

“He said I couldn’t tell anyone, or he’d come back and hurt us both worse.”

Adrian growled. “No one is going to hurt either of you. Janie. You need to tell us what happened. Did Graham do this to you?”

Janie’s eyes grew round. “How do you know his name?”

“I told him you had a date planned with Graham.” Kelsey gave Janie’s hand a squeeze.

Janie nodded. “I forgot I told you his name.”

Adrian pushed up from the chair and walked into the kitchen. He grabbed a few paper towels and a plastic bag. He opened the freezer and filled the bag with ice. He closed the bag, wrapped it in the paper towels and brought it over to the couch. He handed the makeshift ice pack to Janie. “This will help bring down some of the swelling.”

Kelsey gave her boyfriend a thankful smile. She hadn’t thought about an ice pack, but he did. She turned to Janie. “You need to tell us what happened. It will be good to get everything out.”

Adrian sat back down. “You're safe here. We won’t judge you, no matter what you tell us.”

Janie nodded. “Graham came over like we planned, and the evening started off great. I made chicken parm and he brought a bottle of wine. We chatted about all kinds of things, and he helped me clean up. We were going to have dessert when he got a text message. Things changed drastically after that. It was like a switch was flipped. He got all angry and demanded to know what I did with it and where I had it. I told him I had no idea what he was talking about. He stormed over to me and called me a liar.”

Kelsey squeezed Janie’s hand. “Go on. It’s okay.”

“Graham began to yell at me over and over to hand it over to him. That he knew I had it and that I needed to give it back. He said it didn’t belong to me and that others would come for it. He needed to be the one to retrieve it.”

“Did he say what he was looking for?” Adrian knew it had to be related to what was happening with him. There was no way it was a coincidence.

“No. When I asked him to explain, he started to get violent, throwing things. He tore apart all the books first. I told him he was crazy, and he lost it. He grabbed my arms and began to shake me. His grip was painful. I told him he was hurting me, and he tightened his hands.”

“You’re safe.” Kelsey ran to the fridge to get a bottle of water. She came back and handed it to Janie. “Here. Drink this.”

“Thanks. He wouldn’t let go even after I begged him to. I started to panic and began thrashing about. That’s when he hit me the first time. After that it was a blur. I kicked and scratched and punched. Whatever I could do, but it wasn’t enough. He knocked me out and when I woke up, he was gone, and the house was a wreck.”

“We need to figure out what he’s looking for.” Adrian rolled his head to crack his neck. “When you worked at the team house, did you take anything?”

Janie glared at him. “I’m not a thief! And I was forced to work there. I thought you knew that.”

Kelsey glared at him too.

“Whoa. That’s not how I meant it. I know you were forced to work there. I’m sorry about that. I didn’t know at the time. I wish I did. I would have helped you. I was asking if you took anything simple, borrowed a notebook or a novel or something.”

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