Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun (Finlay Donovan, #3)(53)

“The front door’s locked and my card isn’t working. I was on my way to try the other door, but apparently I interrupted something.” I looked between them.

“It’s nothing,” Joey said. “Just some punk kid who thought it’d be smart to sneak in. He’s lucky I’m feeling generous. I was just about to escort him off the grounds.” He jerked his chin toward the dorm. “Go inside. There’s nothing to worry about here.”

“It’s late,” I pointed out. “His parents are probably worried sick. I could take him to the infirmary. Get him some bandages for his hand. Maybe some hot chocolate.” All I needed was a few minutes alone with him to make sure he wasn’t in danger with Joey and figure out what he was doing here. I held my cell phone out to Cam. “You can use my phone if you need to call your mom or dad to pick you up.” Cam lived with his grandmother, but revealing I knew that could land us both in a heap of trouble.

Cam glanced once more at Joey.

“He can use mine,” Joey said.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?” I prompted Cam. “I’m happy to wait here until you and the detective have finished talking.”

He gave a quick shake of his head. “I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

“Let’s go.” Joey shoved him toward the parking lot. Cam pulled his hood over his head, dragging it low to conceal his face. His eyes caught mine, then darted to the dormitory windows above me before he turned away.

I gnawed my thumbnail as I watched them walk briskly toward the gate. Joey waved off the duty officer as they maneuvered past the barricade. Brake lights flashed as Joey depressed his key fob and deposited Cam roughly inside his unmarked sedan. He wouldn’t hurt Cam, I told myself—not after I saw them together. I tried to convince myself Joey would never be that callous—or that foolish—as his car disappeared from sight.





CHAPTER 20


After Cam and Joey left, I hurried through the back door of the dormitory and raced up the stairs to my room. Vero was in her pajamas, sitting cross-legged on her bed, staring at my computer on her lap. She tapped a key with a dramatic flourish, looking up at me with a triumphant gleam in her eyes.

Her face fell as I rushed to the window and pulled back the blind. “What happened to you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

The window was unlocked. No sign of forced entry. But there was a faint red smear on the frame inside. “Did you lock the window after Javi left the other night?”

“No. Why? What’s going on?”

“You’re never going to guess who I just ran into outside.” At Vero’s blank stare, I said, “Cam was here. He snuck through the fence and Joey caught him.”

Vero set my laptop aside. “You think he was here looking for us?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t exactly ask him. I only caught a little of their conversation before they got in Joey’s car and left.”

“What did he say?”

“Cam told Joey that he found something. I didn’t hear what.”

Vero stiffened. “You don’t think that little sneak blabbed to Joey about Ike, do you?”

“I don’t think so,” I said, remembering the last words Cam had spoken to me before Joey carted him off. You don’t have to worry about anything, he’d said, right before he’d glanced up at the windows of our dorm. “I think he might have been in our room. Help me look for anything out of place.”

Vero scrambled off her bed to help me search. We shuffled around the room, tossing aside blankets and clothes, searching under mattresses and pillows, opening drawers … At first glance, nothing appeared to be missing. My computer was on Vero’s bed. Vero’s phone was right where she’d left it while we were in class, charging on her nightstand. Our wallets were both present and accounted for. And as far as I could tell, nothing was out of … place.

I reached into the open gym bag beside my bed, withdrawing the notebook I’d been using to take notes during classes. A bloody handprint stained the cover. A torn sheet of paper slipped free of its pages, folded into a square around a tiny, hard lump. Cautiously, I opened it.

A gold tooth fell into my hand, bits of dried bloody tissue still clinging to its roots.

I dropped the tooth, stifling a gag. It plinked off the tile floor and skittered toward Vero.

“What the hell is that?” she said, leaping back to avoid it.

“I’m pretty sure it’s Ike’s.”

“I know that! Why would Feliks send it to us?” Vero rummaged through her toiletry bag and handed me a disinfectant wipe.

My skin crawled as I frantically rubbed the wipe over my fingers. “I don’t know. What does the note say?”

Vero pinched the corners of the paper and held it between us. Cam’s message was written in blocky, rushed letters.

The Big Man’s Losing His Shit. If You Think You Know Who Ez Is, You’d Better Come Out And Say It Soon Or Heads Are Gonna Roll. He’s Got Dirt On You And He’s Not Afraid To Use It. Also, Please Don’t Kill Me For Saying That.

With Gravitas (I looked it up),

C



“Something tells me we’re not getting any tomatoes,” Vero said, passing me the note.