Rogue Investigation Read online

  Because I can talk to Logan.

  I can make sure he’s not your partner.

  I opened my mouth, shut it, then cocked my head to the side.

  Why can’t you sleep?

  Maybe changing the subject would call him down, infuse him with an inner peace.

  I don’t like that Dalton wants to be your partner.

  Doesn’t make sense.

  Or maybe not.

  I rolled my eyes.

  Look, I need to talk to you about something.

  I can be there in twenty.

  I wanted to tell him my mother was sleeping and it was barely four in the morning. But what would that accomplish? Robert was going to be here whether I wanted him or not so there was no point in arguing. Instead, I shot him a thumb’s up and let out a dramatic groan, falling onto my back and clutching my pillow to my chest.

  Thankfully, Robert had the foresight to text me when he got here. He must have realized just how early it was. He had two cups of hot coffee, mine completely doused with cream and sugar, his filled only with sugar. He handed me mine without a word as he followed me down the hall and to my room.

  I shut the door behind us and Robert quirked a brow. “Are you sure you’re allowed to do that?” he asked.

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “My mom’s only worried about actual threats.”

  He frowned, taking a seat at my desk and spinning back and forth to the left and then the right. “What does that even mean?” he asked.

  “It means she doesn’t see you as a threat when it comes to dating me,” I replied, dropping to my bed. I stretched my legs out in front of me and leaned against the wall, trying to get comfortable, careful not to spill my coffee. “I know she said to have the door open before but she doesn’t really mean it.”

  “You don’t find me threatening?”

  “Robert,” I said, my eyes flashing up at him. “This isn’t what I wanted you to talk about.”

  “Right.” He crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at the wall behind me, up at a couple of my posters. “Look, I already told you the whole Dalton thing shouldn’t be -“

  “This isn’t about Dalton either,” I said. I stood up, throwing my legs over the side of my bed and began to walk the length of my bed, careful not to be too loud. “Do you remember what you told me? What the dean told you is going on right now with the…with them and how he found out about it?”

  He didn’t say anything, just continued to stare at me with a look of pure puzzlement.

  I sighed in exasperation. “About the traitor at the school,” I said in a voice just above a whisper.

  “Oh,” he said. “Sure. I remember.”

  “Well?” I threw my arms out, trying to maintain a cool head, trying to control my voice so my mother wouldn’t pick up my tone and wake up. “Has anything been done about it?”

  Robert cleared his throat, glancing at his feet, currently tucked in rare, pure black Nikes. “Look,” he said. “Stuff is happening but -“

  “Of course not,” I said, shaking my head. I began pacing again, forcing my hands behind my back and gripping opposite elbows. “Because why would we do anything important, hmm?”

  “Don’t do that,” Robert said with a wrinkle in his nose. “Sarcasm doesn’t become you.”

  “Eddie Ronin called,” I said. I stopped again, standing directly in front of him. Robert had never been very tall but it still felt weird looking down at him as I told him this. “That was the call from yesterday.”

  Robert placed both feet on the floor then set his left ankle in his right knee. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “Did you just say -“

  “You know I did,” I snapped. “I think it’s the right thing to do.”

  “You think -“ He cut himself off and pinched the bridge of his nose, slowly letting out a breath.

  “It’s not like we can look into this,” I said. I had recited these arguments in my head for the past forty-eight hours, and now that the moment was here to actually say them to Robert, they felt…weak. “We would draw attention to ourselves. No one would believe us. But if we hired Ronin -“

  “We’re not hiring Ronin,” he said. “The end. The matter is settled.”

  “But it’s not,” I said. “You’re shutting me down. You won’t even let me talk!”

  “And you won’t trust me enough to know what I’m talking about,” he returned, coming to a standing position. He stepped closer to me so we were inches apart, never once looking away from me. I could feel the heat and frustration roll off his compact body to invade my senses but I held my ground. “I know him, okay? And you don’t. You are not involving him in this. Do you understand?”

  “But -“

  “No buts.” He cocked his head to the side leaning forward but only slightly, almost as though he was leaning closer without doing it directly.

  I dropped my eyes to his mouth, to the way it tuckered into a frown. I hated that I was the cause for his clear frustration, but I couldn’t help it.

  “Then what do we do?” I asked in a low voice. I inched closer to him though I didn’t know why I did. He pulled me to him like I was a boomerang.

  “Nothing,” he said.

  “We can’t -“

  “We can and we will,” he insisted. He swallowed, his eyes now on my mouth.

  I thought for a second he might kiss me.

  Stupid.

  Robert wasn’t going to kiss me. Definitely not after what I told him.

  “Don’t contact Ronin again, Lara,” he said.

  I jerked back at the sound of my name in his mouth.

  His eyes filled with regret, but when he blinked, it was gone. His face hardened like stone.

  “We’ll figure this out,” he said. “But we’ll do it my way. Do you understand?”

  I didn’t answer and I didn’t think he expected one.

  It wasn’t as though I had a choice.

  Chapter Three

  The next few days passed by without much preamble. I avoided Robert as much as I could and he seemed inclined to do the same. Charley and I went shopping Friday afternoon. I didn’t actually have the money to buy anything but she got a bunch of candles and gifted me one called Fairytale. I was surprised by the gesture, especially since I wasn’t a candle person, but I appreciated it nonetheless.

  I stayed indoors over the weekend. There was a small storm. I hung out with Mom and listened to the rainfall. I ignored the fact that I had yet to delete Ronin’s message from my voicemail. I also ignored the fact that Robert had yet to text me. We didn’t go more than a few hours without some form of communication, but three days?

  By the time Monday rolled around, I was yawning every other moment, drinking coffee to try and wake myself up. Sleep had been fleeting at best. My mind kept warring with itself - help potential victims from being victims by contacting Ronin or going against what Robert thought was best.

  After my father, I felt like a victim, like something had happened to me. Then, I realized it was about more than just me. That invasion, those casualties, happened to our world. It was a violation on an international level, and now there was a chance it might happen again.

  Was I morally responsible to do what I could about it?

  Or was I jumping to the worst possible outcome simply because my personal worst outcome had happened and I wanted to make sure it never happened again, to me or to anyone else?

  I reached Robert’s lecture hall, brushing hair out of my face, undecided as to whether or not Robert’s trust in me was enough to ignore the traitor within our midst. It could be anyone, I realized. Anyone. And that scared me more than I cared to admit.

  Before I could walk in, Dalton Rogers stood in front of me, blocking my entrance. I tried to go around him, but he continued to stand in front of me.

  I frowned. I was in no mood for this.

  “What do you want, Dalton?” I demanded.

  “Logan wants to see you,” he said. At least there was no cheeky response. Nothin
g about my charming morning personality or how I needed coffee to soothe my crankiness. “Right now.”

  I opened my mouth, but Dalton shook his head once, jaw locked. There was no way he was going to let this go, and it wasn’t like I could fight him. Besides the fact that I couldn’t fight at all, Dalton was big and bulky. I was pretty sure his muscles had muscle. I wasn’t getting around him.

  I sighed. “Fine,” I said. “But after, you’re buying me a coffee.”

  “Didn’t sleep much?” he asked as we began to make our way to the field. “You look like shit.”

  “Gee, thanks,” I muttered sarcastically, tossing my empty coffee cup in the nearby trash can. I adjusted the strap of my purse before tilting my head to the side and stretching my neck. I did the same thing to my other side, then rolled my shoulders back. “We can’t all be blessed with good genes. I’m sure you wake up just like that.” I gestured at him. “We can’t all be as pretty as you are.”

  He cocked his lips into some kind of smirk, his blue eyes sp[arkling. “You think I’m pretty?” he asked.

  I rolled my eyes. “Oh, please,” I said as we stepped off the trail in order to cut across the field. “Don’t act like you don’t know. There’s no think about it. It’s a fact. You’re an attractive person based on the scientific notion of aesthetically pleasing qualities. You know, symmetry and high cheekbones.”

  Dalton barked out laughter, and I realized the sound wasn’t entirely unpleasant. “You must be exhausted,” he said. “You’re actually being nice to me.”

  “I’d be even more nice to you if you got your head out of your ass,” I said. I glanced up at the sky. Though there wasn’t any rain yet, the sky was still grey. No clouds, though. I shoved my hands in the middle pocket of my hoodie, trying to avoid especially wet patches of grass since I was in tennis shoes rather than any sort of boots. “Why do you hate Robert so much?”

  “Hate Robert?” Dalton sounded genuinely perplexed. “I don’t hate Robert. What gave you that impression?”

  “Does this have to do with your dad?” I asked.

  “My dad?” he asked.

  It was only then that I realized I was talking too much. I needed to let him answer a question before I kept yammering away. On top of that, I wasn’t supposed to know much of anything. I needed to keep my mouth shut before Dalton realized Robert told me more than he might be supposed to.

  “Look,” Dalton said, shaking his head. We reached the training facility, and he moved quickly so he could open the door for me. I murmured a thank you as I stepped inside, him following me. “I don’t hate Robert. My issue with him comes from his arrogance. You work with him, right? I’m sure you see it. And that arrogance got my best friend killed.”

  I glanced up at him. “Vic?” I questioned.

  Dalton nodded once, back to clenching his teeth.

  I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. My first instinct was to defend Robert because I genuinely didn’t think Robert would do anything to risk any one’s life, even if he was arrogant and prideful. But I didn’t know the situation. And my defense was only going to make things worse because Dalton was going to believe whatever he was going to believe, regardless of what I had to say about it. Plus, I already did defend Robert in class about this issue. My feelings on the subject hadn’t changed, and bringing them up again wasn’t going to do any good, especially now that I knew Dalton had a personal connection to Vic. It would be best if I didn’t say anything else on the matter at all.

  “Why do you want to be my training partner?” I asked instead, just as we reached the door to Logan’s office.

  Dalton didn’t answer. He knocked on the door and waited. I didn’t have any other choice but to do the same.

  There was a pause before the door cracked open. A disgruntled sigh could be heard before the door was open all the way and a rather disheveled Logan stood to the side, pinching the bridge of his nose.

  “You look like you had a hard Thanksgiving,” I said as I walked through.

  I expected a smartass retort but Logan said nothing. Instead, he moved to his desk and all but collapsed into it, resting his face in his palms.

  “You okay, sir?”

  I looked over at Dalton, not bothering to hide my disgust. Really? Sir?

  I turned back to look at Logan, who didn’t look all right at all. Not because he was injured, but he looked…exhausted. I almost would have guessed it was some kind of hangover but I didn’t think Logan drank to excess. He seemed to be as in control as he could be, at least from what I had seen of him.

  Dalton took a seat next to me.

  “You wanted to see me?” I prodded, arching a brow.

  “Yeah.” Logan dropped his hands so they rested on his surprisingly vacant desk. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

  I blinked. “Excuse me?” I asked.

  “Sir, that’s no way to talk -“

  “Shut up,” he snipped, not even looking at Dalton. “You’re the one that came to me and requested she be put in your training team. You wanted to be the one to show her the ropes. First, she ain’t ready. Can barely do a ten-minute mile on a good day. Secondly, she told Robert who told me not to let you do it in the first place.”

  I blinked once, twice. “Wait,” I said slowly. “Wait. What is a training team?”

  “Here we go,” Dalton muttered.

  “That’s what you need clarification on?” Logan asked through a growl.

  “I’m just trying to process,” I returned. “What makes you think I told Robert I didn’t want to be part of Dalton’s team?”

  “Maybe because that’s what he told me when he instructed me to remove you from it,” he said. “A team is literally a team, people you train with, you get to know, you develop a relationship with. It’s a crucial element to learning your physicality and to start trusting those you work with in a physical capacity.” He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re not an idiot, Lara. You know how important it is to learn and understand the people you work with. Just because Robert has you isolated in that lab doesn’t make it less true. But there will be other areas where you and Robert won’t be working together. And Dalton volunteered.”

  “Why?” I craned my neck so I could look at Dalton. “Why do you want me to train with you?”

  “Because you and Robert are close,” Dalton said. “I don’t want you to…to have his arrogance rub off on you.” He pinched the bridge of his nose the same way Logan had, cocking his head to the side. “This isn’t coming out right.”

  “No,” I agreed. “It’s not.”

  “I just, you’re smart. And clearly, as a scholarship kid, you’re here for a reason. It’s easy to get sucked up in Robert’s orbit. He’s charming, he’s rich, he knows exactly what to say to get what he wants. And I don’t want you to fall for it.”

  “Why do you care?” I asked. He was talking to me like I was an insipid fool who fell to her feet whenever Robert looked my way.

  “Because it’s not just about you,” he said. “Or Robert. Or any of us. We’ve already seen that hubris gets you killed. And if you’re smart enough to work with Robert, it’s easy to start believing his bullshit. I figured if you were on our team, it would help balance you out, give you a different perspective.”

  I hated that his words made sense.

  I hated that I could feel this genuine aura radiate from him. Because he meant what he said. It was obvious. This guy - the dean’s son - didn’t even know me and he seemed to care about me and how I developed here.

  I mean, it wasn’t about me. He might not care about me, per se.

  But he cared about the academy. About the people.

  I turned to Logan. “And you’re saying Robert told you to stop it from happening?” I asked.

  “He wanted you pulled from Rogers’s team,” Logan said, moving back and forth in his chair. He tapped his thumb against his desk. “You want me to follow through with that? Because I can. You’ll have to be on
a team. Eventually. But it doesn’t have to be his.”

  “No,” I said. “Don’t move me.” I stood up, cracking my knuckles one by one. My fingers were tense from gripping the chair, my face pinching so tightly I was sure it was red.

  “Where are you going?” Dalton asked. He wasn’t demanding or accusing. He slowly slid to a standing position.

  “I’m going to straighten this out,” I muttered, heading for the door.

  Robert was going to learn he couldn’t just rearrange my life whenever it was convenient for him.

  Chapter Four

  Instead of barging into the lecture hall, I waited until class was over. I nodded at Charley, who gave me a wave before she headed to the building across the way, basket in hand, probably on her way to Dr. Dickbag.

  Speaking of which, he might be someone to talk to about this whole traitor thing. From what Robert told me, he had personal experience with the gods. Traumatic, personal experience.

  Maybe I wouldn’t ask him after all.

  Then again, if it helped the school, if it led to figuring out who the traitor was…

  I shook my head. I needed to stay focused on the task at hand. Maybe I would ask Charley later if she had made any progress on obtaining a working position as Dr. Dickbag’s shadow the way Robert all but instructed her to. If she had an in, I might be able to talk to him about it. Right now, I needed to have a conversation about Robert and personal boundaries. Anything else could come later.

  I had no idea what I was going to say. I bunched my arms across my chest and began to walk up and down the small, stone staircase that led up to the lecture hall. I probably looked like an asshole who had no idea what I was doing, but I didn’t care.

  I was burning.

  I was pissed.

  I couldn’t even think straight.

  I wasn’t sure how much longer I was there, waiting for the room to spill out. When I finally stepped inside, I wasn’t surprised to find a couple of girls standing in front of Robert, probably asking dumb questions and batting their eyelashes at him. Part of me couldn’t blame them. He was kind of a celebrity the way Elon Musk and Christian Steel were, but Robert had a natural charm that only added to his allure.