Page 733 of Filthy Elites

Greg glared at her. “An orange sticky note with numbers on it. It was hidden in the pages of my senior ethics book.”

Adrian scrunched his forehead. “You tore apart my ethics book and obviously didn’t find out. Did you check the books from the others in the team house?”

“I know you have it because I left it in your room. They weren’t looking into you as closely as they were me when Eric and Parker were arrested. I needed a safe place for it. I never expected you to take it and hide it from us.”

“I don’t have it. I’ve gone through that book and had to put the pages back inside the cover when you tore it open.”

Kelsey gasped and muttered. “You gave the book to me.”

“What?” Greg glared. “I knew you were hiding it.”

Kelsey shook her head. “No. My book was drenched with water, and I had a test the next day. Adrian gave me his book. I only read the chapter that the test was on. I didn’t flip through the book. It’s probably still there.”

Graham waved the gun at her. “Get it. Now!”

Kelsey paled. “It’s in my car at the dealer. I haven’t replaced my tires yet since Greg slashed them.” Kelsey took a guess it was Greg and wanted to bait him a little. “It’s sitting there waiting for me.” Her parents wanted to buy a new car. She just wanted new tires. It had been a fight she had been determined to win.

Graham pointed the gun at her. “You're going to get it and return here. You have one hour. If you’re not back, I will kill Adrian. Here’s a little incentive for you to hurry.”

Graham pointed the gun at Adrian and pulled the trigger. The bullet whizzed through the air and slammed into Adrian.

TWENTY-FIVE

One of Us

Adrian graspedhis shoulder as he fell to the floor.

Graham sneered. “I’m a pretty good shot so I aimed for the soft tissue area. Didn’t hit the lung, shoulder blade, or rotator cuff. He’s got a little over an hour before he bleeds out.”

Kelsey rushed to Adrian who was on the tile floor against the counter. “What did you do, you asshole! You could have killed him!”

“You’re wasting time.” Greg reminded her.

“I need to slow the bleeding before I go anywhere. I won’t bring back your damn sticky note if you kill him, or he dies.” Kelsey opened a drawer and pulled out a couple of clean towels. “Oh God, Adrian.”

Adrian winced. His shoulder was burning like hell, and he was slightly nauseous. He felt the bullet travel through his body and out the back. “I’ll be okay. Go get the book and they’ll leave us alone.” Adrian knew he was lying to her.

Greg had already begun to make a mess. They would make it look like a robbery gone wrong and kill both Adrian and Kelsey. He needed to get her away from there. At least she could be safe. He made a show of groaning and falling over to cover him landing on his phone. He needed to slip it to Kelsey so she could call Dominic and let him know what was going on.

Kelsey knelt next to him. Adrian used his good arm to pull her close to whisper to her. “Take this phone and hide it. Call Dominic. Code is 5 3 5 7. Love you. Don’t come back.”

Kelsey clung to him. “I’m not leaving you here.”

“Enough! You have two minutes, or I’ll finish him off and we can take a ride with you to the dealer.”

Kelsey tucked the phone into her waistband and pulled her shirt over it. She wrapped a towel around his upper body and shoulder. His weight leaning against the counter would help stop the bleeding from the exit wound. He would have to keep pressure on the front. She leaned over him. “I’m coming back for you. Love you.”

She kissed his lips and stood. “I need a vehicle to drive. Obviously, I don’t have mine.”

“Take my car.” Adrian groaned as he fished his keys out of his pocket. His hand fell to his lap from the exertion. “Be careful.”

Kelsey grabbed the keychain. “Please don’t do anything to make them shoot you again.”

Graham pointed the gun at her. “Make it quick. The longer you take, the more likely I’ll get bored and shoot him again. I wonder how many holes he can take before he bleeds out.”

Kelsey gritted her teeth. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a reply.

“If you call the police or tell anyone, we will kill him and then come after you. Hurry up.”

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