Finding Grace(60)

She picked up the bag and sat back down on the bed. Holding it on her knee, she sprang the plastic buckles and opened it up.

There was a folded T-shirt which she pulled out and laid on the bed.

What she found underneath made her gasp. Tiny bags containing powder and pills. Lying on top of what was clearly, even to her innocent eyes, packets of weed. She didn’t remove the drugs but poked past them with her fingers to discover two big fat bundles of rolled notes.

She grabbed the T-shirt and stuffed it back in, before re-fastening the rucksack and tossing it back where she found it.

Her heart pounded so hard on her ribcage she actually feared it might crack. Her breathing became laboured but dragging in huge gulps of air only served to make her feel light-headed.

Scenes presented themselves in her head; a slideshow of snippets that served as evidence to make sense of what she’d found.

The brief whispered conversations in pubs and clubs, often the pre-cursor for his frequent, extended trips to the bathrooms in such places. His generosity in buying drinks and wearing designer labels. His obsession with keeping the rucksack – his stock – close to him. His cryptic offer of a fantastic opportunity he wanted to speak to her about. The nervousness of those around him.

Did everyone know Stefan was a drug-dealer, but her? Was the whole group selling… or using?

Lucie felt bruised, releasing how readily she had trusted him. She had blindly invested everything she had in Stefan, to the detriment of her relationship with her dad and her studies.

But her own mother had died after a drug overdose. How can it not have occurred to her that Stefan was dealing? She’d told him how she despised people who sold drugs because of what happened to her mum. The signs – with hindsight – now looked so obvious. Even her father had tried to warn her about what could happen at uni, but she had laughed off his concerns.

Lucie realised she had unconsciously settled into a routine of attending just enough lectures to scrape by and avoid her tutors raising concerns. Her assignment marks had dropped, there was no denying that, but on Stefan’s suggestion, she’d used the excuse that she was finding the transition to degree-level work challenging.

‘I’m determined to work hard and improve my marks,’ she told her course tutor when he requested a one-to-one meeting and questioned the amount of work she was putting in.

Following Stefan’s instructions, she’d wept a little, mentioned how tough things had been back home with just her and her dad coping alone, and emphasised how getting her degree was the most important thing in her life. It had worked splendidly. The tutor’s attitude softened almost immediately, and she left the meeting feeling quite untouchable.

Stefan was so experienced, knew just what to say. How to lie convincingly. And now, she was beginning to see how he might have garnered such skills.

What a na?ve idiot she’d been to fall under his spell. But, she now told herself, no more. She should try and find out what she could and then do the right thing. That much was obvious.

Despite the severity of her hangover, the unexpected injection of adrenalin now served to motivate her to get quickly dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. She used a face wipe to remove her smudged eye make-up and secured her lank hair up into a scruffy topknot.

She pushed her feet into trainers, shrugged on her jacket and stared at the rucksack. Now she knew what it contained, its significance seemed to fill the room. She picked it up and tossed it into the bottom of her slender wardrobe, moving her knee-high boots in front of it.

Granted, it was hardly the best security arrangement, but if, for any reason, the house manager let herself in to check the room, at least the bag wasn’t in plain sight any longer.

She headed over to the library, not quite sure who she was looking for, but knowing that this was the best place to find someone from the friendship group.

Her stomach growled and yet she couldn’t entertain the thought of eating anything. She breathed in the fresh, cool air but instead of freshening her up, it made her shiver and she pulled her padded jacket closer to her.

The campus was quiet, most people either in the library or in lectures with the odd member of staff walking briskly between buildings clutching paperwork. Her heart seemed to lurch into her mouth when she spotted a marked police car crawling around the top of the drive. But it came to a stop outside the entrance to the main office and the two officers that got out didn’t even look in her direction.

She used her student key card to access the library building and made her way over to the main open study area. Standing near the entrance area, her eyes began to search for anyone from their friendship circle.

A waving arm alerted her from the left. Her head snapped over to where Gregg was trying to catch her attention.

Her heart warmed at the sight of a familiar face. Gregg had always struck Lucie as sensible and genuine and, right now, in the absence of people she knew well enough to confide in, she valued his opinion.

She picked her way amongst the busy tables until she reached him. The smile slid from her face when she saw his expression.

‘Have you heard the news?’ he hissed when she reached his small table for two, tucked away in the corner. ‘The shit’s about to hit the fucking fan.’

She stared at him, mute for a second as she realised her reaction was important. If she appeared clueless, Gregg might clam up.

‘Stefan had a call and rushed off this morning before he could explain where he was going,’ she said.