“Where did you get that ring?” Her voice trembled.
I looked down at the ruby ring and back up at her. I had a lot of explaining to do.
“The gun, the folio and now this ring. Where the hell have you been tonight? I was worried sick about you. Just what the fuck is going on?” She cried out.
Chapter 14 – Amber
Istaredathimfor what seemed like an eternity. I could almost see his wheels turning in his brain as he scrambled for some excuse to give to me.
He walked over to the kitchen and poured himself some tap water. He almost drained his glass and then he filled it again. He turned and looked at me, stalling for time.
“Do you want anything to drink?”
“No. I’m fine. I just want answers.”
“Okay. You’d better sit down.”
I didn’t particularly want to sit down as I’d been sitting around waiting on him all night. I was absolutely furious with him and a part of me thought I should just leave, but the other part of me wanted to stay and wanted to know what the hell was going on.
I sat down on the sofa and waited as he went to his bag and brought out the folio.
"I take it you were talking about this folio? Why were you going through my things?”
“I woke up in the middle of the night and you had disappeared. You didn’t answer your phone. So I began to look around the apartment to see if I could find any clues. I didn’t expect to find a folio full of dead people and a gun.”
My blood was boiling, I could feel it. My heart was beating so fast and there was rushing in my ears as I felt my blood pressure rising. I waited for his response.
He looked down at the folio and opened it. He turned it to a page and threw it down on the coffee table. He pointed at it.
“I knew him. I knew him from back home. He was my good friend since high school and I know he’s not the type to kill himself, so when I found out about his apparent suicide, I decided to look into it. Then I found out about all the other people who died and started making connections that there was something wrong here at this school.”
I looked down at the photograph to see a handsome young man with blond hair, cut down in his prime. “How did you get the police reports?”
“Come on, you know who my family is. I have connections.”
He went over to the coffee table and leafed through the pages.
“Paul Robertson was a cocky bastard. Star quarterback, incredibly wealthy, had everything going for him. There was no way he would commit suicide. I knew him well enough to know that. He didn’t deserve to die at such a young age. I needed to find out what happened for my own piece of mind. That’s why I’m here.”
“And why do you have a gun?”
He hesitated then looked over at the desk where the gun was. “I brought it for protection. In case I found anything out and got myself into trouble.”
“This whole thing sounds ridiculous. What do you think you’re going to be able to do against the people involved in this? If we’re right and they’re responsible for all those deaths….” I trailed off with despair. “And now you have a ring the same as Adam’s. Where did you get it?”
He sat down beside me on the sofa. “I was abducted from my bed and put into a van and driven out into some woods, where I was initiated into The Order.”
“You’re an initiate? But how?”
“It’s mostly due to the fact that my parents are extremely wealthy, and I would naturally have access to their wealth over time. So, Professor Owens wanted me in The Order so he can use my contacts and my influence.”
My mouth dropped open in shock. I couldn’t quite understand what he was saying. “So, you’ve joined them? Now you have the ring?”
He nodded his head in agreement. “And a cloak and a mask.”
“This still doesn’t make sense. Why would you go and join them if you know they’re involved in your friend’s death? And what about Adam? Why do you have Adam’s information?”
“Because when I came to start my post-grad program, I heard rumors of Adam’s suicide and I thought it was worth investigating it, just in case there was a connection to Paul’s death. And I was right, because when I got the reports and looked into it, his death seemed suspicious too.”