Love, Lies, and Deception(44)

They both walked out and I shut the door behind them. Emily, Kristian, and Justin all stood staring at me. “What do you think happened now?” Emily asked, worried.

I shrugged, completely clueless, but I knew it was going to be something bad. “I don’t know, guys, I just don’t know.”

We all ate in silence, and the pizza weighed heavily on my stomach while I stared at the clock. Thirty minutes had passed and Alec still wasn’t back. “He’s not a suspect, is he?” Justin asked curiously. “I mean, how well do any of us know the guy?”

Exasperated, I rolled my eyes and replied, “No, he’s not a suspect and I know him pretty well. He’s barely been out of my sight since the bar incident.”

“You’d be surprised what people can do in a matter of minutes,” he countered back, shrugging his shoulders. “Just sayin …”

Thankfully, I was saved from having to argue with Justin when the front door finally opened and Alec strolled in looking ashen and pale. He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door. “We need to talk,” he muttered impatiently.

Sending an apologetic smile over my shoulder to everyone, I followed Alec out the door and down to his apartment. As soon as he shut the door behind us terror flowed through my veins at the sight of him. He paced across the floor, running his hands through his hair. Shivering, I wrapped my arms around my stomach.

“Alec, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me.”

“When you read the article about the girl who overdosed with me, do you remember her name?” he asked forlornly.

Closing my eyes, I pursed my lips and tried to remember. “Uhh … I believe it was Lindsey Carter, no wait … Carpenter? I can’t remember, why?” I asked nervously.

He hung his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Her name was Lindsey Carter.”

“What does this have to do with the dead girl we just found?”

He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. “The police found something on the girl’s body when they searched her.” My eyes went wide in alarm, and I motioned for him to continue. Nervously, he said, “They found a piece of paper on her body that had Lindsey’s name on it and a date.”

The bile began to rise in the back of my throat and I felt sick. “What was the date? What does this all mean?” I stuttered frantically. My palms were sweaty and my heart thumped wildly in my chest while I waited on him to answer.

Alec gazed warily at me. “The date was the day she died. It appears someone from my past has come back to haunt me, or better yet … seek revenge.”





After the recent news, Alec and I didn’t feel like going back upstairs to my apartment, so I texted Emily and told her that we wouldn’t be able to make it back. Alec was on the phone for most of the time while I sat watching some of his old surfing videos from when he competed. It was something to keep my mind off of what was going on. I was in awe of the way he moved across the swells.

Mesmerized by the television, I didn’t pay attention when Alec came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. “You do know you’ve been watching these videos for three hours, don’t you?”

I gasped. “Has it been that long?”

He laughed. “Yes, it has, but it’s okay. I’m glad you like them.”

I took the remote and shut off the television. “Who did you talk to?”

Alec sighed. “I called my parents, my lawyer, and one of my dad’s closest friends who happens to be a private investigator. He’s going to see if any of Lindsey’s family or friends is in this area. I don’t know how they could’ve found me.”

“Did she have a boyfriend that would want to get you back for her death?”

Alec shook his head. “No, she didn’t have a boyfriend, or at least that’s what she told me. Back then I didn’t care if the girls I was with had boyfriends, husbands, or other lovers, Marissa. I just didn’t care.”

“Well that’s comforting,” I snapped sarcastically. My jealousy flared, but I let it go, trying hard not to remember the pictures I saw of him with all those different women. “So what did your parents say?” I asked. “Do they want you back in California?”

When he didn’t answer right away, I knew what his hesitation meant … he was leaving. “When do you go back?” I asked softly, trying hard to hold back the tears that threatened to spill.

Alec stroked my hair and pulled it to the side so he could place a warm, gentle kiss to the back of my neck. “I need to get back there as soon as possible. I’m leaving in two days, but I want you to come with me.”

“What?” I shrieked, turning around to face him.

He took my face in his hands. “Come with me. I don’t want to leave you here.”

I frowned, wishing I could go. “I can’t, I have exams and graduation.”

“You can come after graduation, Marissa. You can bring your friends if that’ll get you to come to me. Just think of it as a graduation getaway. I can teach you to surf, and we can go sailing or whatever you want to do. We can spend the summer together, just you and me.”

“Where will we stay? With your parents?” I asked. I wanted to meet them, but I definitely didn’t want to spend my summer at their house.