Treacherous (8 page)

I flinched. She was
mad at me. What did I do? I couldn’t help but feel anger and little
bit of jealousy towards Frankie. Only this morning Charli and I had
made out in her kitchen, and now she was with Frankie? I know we
weren’t together, but still. I felt it was my right to protect her.
It was my job
, after
all.

Suddenly, feeling the
urge to question her about what had happened this morning, I threw
my phone onto my bed before I could do anything stupid.

“
Act
professional, Nathan. Professional. You must not let your feelings
get in the way of your job,”
I told myself as I headed into the bathroom to take a
shower. I often gave myself pep talks before heading out on a job,
and tonight would be just that, a job. I had to find the suspect.
But as I slipped under the steaming water of the shower, my mind
slipped into thoughts of Charli. Charli pressed against my body.
Charli on the kitchen counter, her legs around my waist… No, I
couldn’t let myself have these types of thoughts. She was my
assignment. I had to turn it off.

Twenty minutes later,
as I was heading out, I told myself that I was doing this tonight
for Charli.
That
thought
I allowed my brain to
keep.

* * * *

I arrived at the
North side Dormitories at approximately 8.45pm. I was early, so I
lingered outside to try and better formulate my plan. My cover
story was that my girlfriend, Annika
, had taken ill, and I was coming in her place, offering
apologies. I hoped it would work. When I headed inside, I was sure
I had found the correct floor, the door was open, and other
students were mingling in the hallway. I slipped inside.

There was already music playing inside
the dorm, and I edged my way through the growing crowd. All the
bodies inside the small dorm made the temperature inside rise by
several degrees. I was already beginning to sweat, despite the cool
night.

“
Hi, do I know you?” a
girl asked from behind me. I turned, and I was met by a familiar
face. “Nathan, nice of you to come.” It was Mia.

“
Mia…” I had no idea
what to say. Had she known all along that we were going to the same
party? It must have been what she had meant earlier.

“
Still can’t find
Charli?”

“
I spoke to her.
You’re right, she is with Frankie.”

“
Knew it. I’m sorry,
Bud. Why don’t you relax and grab a drink. The party’s about to
start.” She winked at me and walked away. When she was gone, I
couldn’t help but feel unsettled about her. Something was off about
that girl.

Charli

I poured wine into two glasses and
handed Frankie one before returning the bottle to the rack.

“
Thanks. Come and join
me on the couch.” He said, sitting down. I picked up my glass and
followed him. I sat down at the edge of his mustard yellow couch,
leaving much space between us. After what he had told me, I
couldn’t help but be cautious now. I smirked when thoughts drifted
to my Mum. I wondered what she would think if she saw me now,
kissing two boys in one day. She would probably blame Mia
again.

“
What are you smiling
about?” Frankie asked, moving closer. He reached over and wiped the
edge of my upper lip with his thumb. “You had a bit of wine there,”
he admitted when I gave him a questioning look.

“
Oh, nothing. I was
just thinking about what my mother would say about us.”

He laughed. “I’m getting the impression
she wouldn’t approve.”

“
You’re right, she wouldn’t.”
All the more reason to do it
, I said to myself as I leaned over to kiss him. His lips
were warm and tasted of red wine, making them even more addictive.
Frankie sensed what I wanted and stopped the kiss to take our
glasses and put them on the coffee table. He then took my face
between his hands and kissed me more passionately. I sighed and we
sank back into the couch.

Nathan

I didn’t normally
drink while on the job, but I knew if I didn’t, I wouldn’t fit in.
I grabbed a light beer and walked around the small apartment.
Thoughts of Mia and her words kept annoying me. Could she somehow
be involved? If she were involved with my main suspect, it meant
Charli was in an even bigger danger than I first thought. The
throbbing bass died and someone tapped a microphone, causing
everyone in the room to go quiet.

“
Listen up, everyone.
Tonight, we have a new member to initiate.” I looked around for the
source of the voice, and found Mia standing by the DJ table holding
a microphone. A wave of cheering commenced, and it almost deafens
me. I covered one ear. Being partially deaf in that ear from a gun
accident probably didn’t help.

“
We all know how fun
it is to be initiated, right? Well, let’s show Nathan a good
time.”

I suddenly felt naked as everyone in
the room turned to look at me. I swallowed and faked a smile.

“
Bring out the goods,”
Mia shouted.

As all the students formed a circle
around me, making me piggy in the middle. One side of the circle
parted and two semi-naked girls walked through into the centre of
the circle and stopped in front of me. What the hell was going
on?

“
Now, Nathan, I’m
assuming you’re not gay?” Mia snickered.

I didn’t answer. All I did was look
straight past the two scantily clad girls.

“
Come with us,
Nathan.” one of the girls said, taking my hand.

“
Where… where are we
going?”

“
Somewhere more
private.” She winked at me and led me out of the circle.

I swallowed hard and followed. This was
going to end really, really bad.

Chapter
Fourteen

Charli

Frankie’s hands found
their way underneath my shirt, pushing it up. His hands were warm
but rough. While his lips were at my ear, his fingers found the
beginning of my bra, and they didn’t stop there. They crept up and
over my bra where they encountered the soft mounds of flesh that
were my breasts. Oh God, I hadn’t wanted anyone, or anything more
badly than I wanted this—him—right now. I moved a little to make
myself more comfortable.

“
Are you okay? Am I
squashing you?” he asked.

“
No. I’m fine. Don’t
stop, Frankie.” I pulled him back down against me. He kissed me
once more, and then moved back into a crouch. I thought he was
going to leave, so when I saw that he had only moved so he could
take off his shirt, I was excited.

“
Are you sure you want
this now?”

Was I sure? I don’t know. Did I want
it? Yes. Should I do it? No.

Again,
I shut off my conscience and
listened to what my body wanted. I let Frankie strip me of my
clothes.

Nathan

The girls led me into a bedroom at the
end of a short hallway.

“
Nervous, sexy?” the
red head asked, stroking my arm. I shivered.

“
No.”

“
We can do this anyway
you want.” I almost smirked. That was what I sometimes said before
an interrogation.

“
What exactly are we
doing?”

“
It’s your lucky
night, sexy. What do you want to do?” Before I could protest, the
girl with the bleached hair ripped my shirt from my torso and
chucked it aside. As the red head began stroking my back, the
blonde began running her hands up and down my abdomen.

“
Mm. I like a man who
works out,” said the blonde.

“
Um… thanks. Look,
this isn’t really my scene. I have a girlfriend…”

“
Well, it’s her loss.
Isn’t it? She’s missing out on all the fun.” Before I knew what was
happening, the red head pushed me down on the single bed and
climbed on top of me.

Shit.

I had to get out of
here, and I needed to find Charli.

“
Jac, get me the
stuff,” said red head. The blonde, ‘Jac’, reached into the side of
her knickers and pulled out a small, transparent satchel of white
powder. Drugs. They were going to snort drugs in front of
me.

Raised Christian, and being a cop, I
was anti-drugs. Should I sound the alarm and blow my cover, or go
along with it in hopes they’ll let me go? I was torn.

“
Let us show you how
this it’s done, hot stuff,” Jac said.

“
I don’t do drugs,” I
announced, hoping.

“
But this is part of
the initiation ritual. If you refuse, then you won’t be initiated.
Simple as that.”

It was now or never.

“
What if I don’t want
to be initiated?” I said suddenly, sitting up. The red head’s bare
breasts were almost in my face, so I pushed her off me, and I got
off the bed.

The two girls looked
at each other, dumbfounded that I had refused. I quickly found my
shirt and put it back on. Most of my buttons were gone. I found my
leather jacket and slipped it on, zipping it up. As I walked out of
the bedroom, I heard someone call out, “there will be
consequences.”

Yes, there will
be
, I thought to myself,
smiling as I ran out of the apartment.

Charli

His hands explored every inch of me
from my breasts to my toes. Nowhere was untouched by Frankie. He
kissed me everywhere, igniting the passion and setting me on fire.
I burned with desire for him.

“
Frankie,” I
shuddered.

“
You’re shaking,
Charli.”

“
I’m fine. Come on.
I’m ready.”

“
Are you sure?” He
teased me by circling my breasts with his finger.

Was I?

Before that question could be answered,
we were interrupted by a knock at the door.

“
Shit,” Frankie swore
and looked around.

“
Don’t worry about
them. Pretend we’re not here,” I said, trying to pull him back to
me, but he was distracted now. “Frankie?”

“
Go and answer the
door.”

“
Are you
sure?”

“
Yes. I can’t do this
if I know there’s someone on the other side of that door who could
possibly hear us.”

“
Shit. You’re right.”
I got up and went in search of my clothes. All I found was
Frankie’s shirt draped over the end of a nearby chair. I slipped it
on and headed to the door. Like mine, Frankie’s room also had no
peephole. I cursed the lack of a peephole again before opening the
door.

Who I found on the other side was not
who I was expecting. Or was I?

“
Nathan?” I quickly
looked over my shoulder to make sure Frankie couldn’t be seen. He
had disappeared, but I quickly stepped out into the hallway with
Nathan.

“
What are you doing
here? How did you know where I was?”

“
Coming to make sure
you’re okay. Mia told me where his apartment was.” His eyes trailed
over my body, taking in my appearance, my lack of clothing,
Frankie’s shirt. “Are you with Frankie?”

“
What? No.” The
question had caught me off guard. I crossed my arms and leaned
against the doorframe. “Why do you care, Nathan?” I tried to
flatten out my bird’s nest hair. Fidgeting with my hair was one of
the tell tale signs I was lying. Nathan seemed to know
that.

“
Don’t lie to
me.”

“
Tell me why you care
so much?” He had moved closer, but I pushed him back against the
opposite wall.

“
I… because I do. I’m
worried about you, Charli.”

“
Well, don’t. I’m
almost twenty-one, I’m a big girl.”

“
I know. But Frankie…
“

“
Frankie,
what?”

“
Look, there’s stuff
you don’t know about him, things he’s not telling you.”

“
Like, what?” I
crossed my arms over my chest again. I was sure Nathan was just
jealous.

“
I can’t tell you
here. Will you come with me to my room so I can tell you in
private?”

“
No, I can’t. You
can’t just come over here and pull me away from my boyfriend and
tell me to come with you.”

“
Boyfriend? Charli,
he’s not your boyfriend.”

“
Whatever, Nathan.
You’re just jealous.” I headed back to the door, but he grabbed my
wrist.

“
Charli,
please.”

“
No, Nathan.” I tore
my wrist away and re-entered Frankie’s room, slamming the door
behind me.

Chapter
Fifteen

Nathan

Charli was in denial.

She had delusions of
being in love with Frankie. Either that or he had brainwashed her.
I was now certain my suspicions were correct. It was clear. I had
to do something. Running my hands through my hair, I groaned in
frustration and headed back to my dorm to make a call, or a
few.

* * * *

“
Yo, what have you got
for me?” said Mark when he answered. It was his signature
greeting.