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My pulse skips. “Yeah,” I admit. “Why?”
He doesn’t take his eyes off the road, but I can tell he’s thinking hard. “It wasn’t a normal college party.”
“No,” I agree. “Not even close.”
I lean back, watching the trees blur past. “I don’t get it. Why would some rich guy show up in Camden Hill, throwing parties for a bunch of college kids? It felt so…” I trail off, struggling to find the right word.
“Calculated,” Alex finishes.
I frown. “Yeah.”
The people there didn’t feel like normal partygoers. The way they moved, the way they watched, like they were waiting for something.
Like it wasn’t really about the party at all.
Like it was about who showed up.
Alex exhales, rubbing his thumb over the steering wheel. “I saw you notice it too. Those guys by the bar. They weren’t drunk. They weren’t even drinking. They were watching.”
A shiver creeps down my spine.
I nod slowly. “I noticed.”
“And Ryan?” Alex adds. “Maggie might think he’s just some finance guy, but I don’t buy it. He doesn’t fit.”
I glance at him, my stomach twisting. “What do you mean?”
Alex flexes his fingers against the leather steering wheel. “I know people like him.”
There’s something in his tone that makes me pause.
I study him carefully. “Like him…how?”
Alex doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he presses his lips together, like he’s deciding whether to tell me the truth.
“He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t end up somewhere like Camden Hill by accident.”
I don’t like the way that sounds.
I cross my arms, staring out the windshield. “Do you think Maggie’s in danger?”
Alex is quiet for a beat too long. “Not yet.”
I snap my head toward him. “Not yet?”
He finally looks at me, his dark eyes unreadable. “I don’t like people who pretend to be something they’re not. And Ryan? He’s pretending.”
A cold feeling washes over me.
I think back to the way he watched me in the café. The way his gaze lingered a second too long, like he was assessing something. And then the way the party felt off, like I had stepped into something I wasn’t meant to see.
I shudder. “Maybe I should talk to Maggie. Make sure she’s being careful.”
Alex nods, turning his attention back to the road. “Yeah. But be subtle. If Ryanisdangerous, we don’t want him knowing we’re onto him.”
The thought makes my skin crawl.
The car rolls to a smooth stop in front of my apartment complex. The street is quiet, the dim glow of a nearby streetlamp casting shadows across the pavement. I let out a long breath, my fingers still curled tightly around the hem of my sweater. My mind is still racing from the party.