Page 43 of Almost Beautiful (Beautiful 3)

The clock in the dashboard read 3:47 a.m. Our headlamps were one of the only pairs illuminating the backroads of Eakins.

We pulled into the apartment, and we both sighed, then trudged to the apartment. We greeted Toto, and then undressed and crawled into bed.

Abby lay her head on my chest, nuzzling my neck.

“It’s been a long day,” I said.

“Sure has.”

“Do me a favor, Pigeon.”

“Now?”

“Just … for future reference.”

“Okay …?”

“Don’t fall in love with Tommy. I won’t take it as well as Trent.”

“Deal,” she said, sleepy, and then her breathing evened out.

Chapter Ten

Compromise

Abby

IT ONLY TOOK ME THREEdays to find the two men who’d approached America and me at The Red—and who’d subsequently had their asses handed to them by Travis and Shepley.

I caught a glimpse of them as they made their way to a doorway at the end of the hall from my English Lit class. I paused to make sure it was them, and then carefully followed, being sure to remain unseen.

Once I reached the end of the hall, I peeked around the corner, watching Justin sit down behind a computer.

Ricky stood nearby, a stack of papers in his hand. He seemed to be dictating to Justin.

The room they were in was abuzz. Some students were hopping from one desk to the next, the others tapping away from behind their computer screens.

I leaned back to see if any signage was on the door just to make sure it wasn’t a small, out-of-the-way library I didn’t know about.

As I leaned in to try to hear what Ricky was saying, a girl I recognized from my statistics class shouldered past me.

“Excuse me,” she said, in a hurry.

“Wait!” I said.

She turned around, her expression a combination of aggravation and confusion. “What? I’m late.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I just switched classes, and I’m lost. Is this Ancient Greek Philosophy?”

“Switched classes? This late in the semester?” Thankfully, she didn’t wait for me to answer her question. “No,” she blurted out, annoyed. “This isThe Eastern Star.” When she saw that I didn’t understand, she sighed. “The college newspaper.”

My eyebrows shot up, and I mouthed,Ohas she turned on her heels to rush to her desk. I observed them for a few minutes, and then retreated down the hall to the exit.

Ricky and Justin were at The Red for information, that’s why they’d been waiting for Travis to come back. It was fortunate one of them was stupid enough to insult me before they could question him. They could be doing a story about The Circle. Or worse, Travis’s involvement in the fire.

I clenched my teeth, trying to figure out how I was going to stop them from running a story. Even speculation could get students talking when they’d originally declined.

College students might be hesitant to speak to the police, but a curious fellow student could potentially jar a survivor’s memory.