Page 86 of Cruel Prep (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 1)

Caleb mumbles something about a doorknob, but no one calls him out on his obvious lie because at the same time, footsteps approach.

I jump up, half expecting Hell Princes to be riding up on his.

Then I see the familiar shape.

It’s not the Hell Princes, but it might be just as bad.

It’s Officer Ingram.

He aims his flashlight right in our eyes, sweeping from one to the next. “Gentlemen.”

“I have no idea where these beers came from,” Viktor says sarcastically, holding up his hands and dropping an empty can at his feet.

“We’re conservationists here to clean up the litter from the parking lot,” Caleb adds sarcastically.

Ingram sighs heavily and turns his light towards me. “I’m not here to bust you all for underage drinking. If I did that, I’d never have time to do anything else.”

“Hear, hear.” J.C. lifts his can in salute and drinks deeply. The other guys all resume their previous positions, comfortable enough around Ingram to know he can’t really touch any of us.

I, however, hold position, arms crossed over my chest. “Then why are you here?”

“To talk to you all,” he says. “About young Mr. Martin.”

“Dallas Martin? What do we know about him?” Noah asks, dark eyes narrowed.

Out of all of us, he is the least comfortable around Ingram. Blackmail or not, he is leery of everyone.

“That he can’t fight to save his life,” Caleb says, giving a quick one-two punch in the air.

Viktor slaps Caleb’s arms out of the air. “Bad choice of words, idiot. He’s in the hospital right now after getting his ass kicked.”

“I fought him last year. That’s all I meant.”

“Is it?” Ingram asks, looking from Caleb to me and back again. “Because he got hurt pretty bad. Almost killed, the doctors say. He’s lucky to be alive.”

“We don’t kill people,” Caleb answers. “We’re not bad guys.”

Ingram’s eyebrow rises. “Lily DeVry’s mom would say differently. She still calls once a week to see if I’ve found out anything about the people who attacked her daughter.”

“Have you found anything out?” I ask. I’m careful to keep all emotion out of my voice.

The cop shrugs, looking off towards the dark horizon. “Like the rest of the force, I know Nico Barber was rarely very far from his best friends. Where he was, the rest of you were, too. But so far, there’s no proof of that.”

“Because we didn’t do it,” Caleb and Viktor say in unison, looking at one another in surprise. They are the only two who are ever surprised by how similar they are.

Ingram twists his mouth to the side in uncertainty. “I suppose the truth will all come out eventually. Either way, the DeVry girl’s attack and now Dallas Martin… It’s not a good look, fellas. Two strikes. A third one might cost you boys dearly.”

The idea that the accidental injury to Dallas could be what finally brings the long arm of the law down on me and my friends is absurd. We’ve done a lot of stupid things over the years—a lot—but maiming Dallas is not one of them.

“I think it’s time for you to go patrol the rest of your beat, Officer,” I say grimly. “Crime never sleeps. Especially not in Ravenlake.”

“Right,” Caleb chimes in. “Keep sniffing around here, and we’ll lawyer up, pig.”

Ingram snorts, spits on the ground, but says nothing. He keeps his eyes skewered on me for a moment longer.

Then the flashlight swings down and he saunters away, whistling quietly before disappearing altogether.

Ingram didn’t say anything specifically bad, but I didn’t like his tone one bit.

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