Page 37 of Eat. Prey. Love. (Apex Academy Capers #5)
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and the guys are being super secretive about their plans. I have to go see the evil bird bitch this morning, which is making my whole body rigid. Banjo is with me this morning, cheerily describing all the gifts he and the others have hidden for Raina in their new home. It makes me smile, especially because a grinning quokka is like a direct injection of happiness. His chatter is helping me calm my nerves, and by the time we get to the building, I feel like I can handle whatever she throws at me today,
It doesn’t hurt that I know Skelly will be sitting in to keep things on track.
“Have a good morning, Dolly,” the quokka says as he waves. “Don’t forget that Mr. Skelly will escort you to your next destination.”
I chuckle at the moniker, the image of a ‘Mr. Skelly’ in his suit and bowler hat invading my mind. “I won’t forget. Have a good day and hug the others for me, Banjo.”
“Aye, aye, Pirate Queen!”
My eyes widen at the new nickname and I head inside, hoping I’m not being promoted to royalty everywhere I go. I think I have enough shit to worry about at the moment without leading a prey revolution. “Just what I fucking need,” I mutter.
Stepping into the elevator, I tap my foot until I get to my floor, then head out to see the badger in question waiting for me. His large frame fills the hallway, but he’s smiling toothily as I approach. “Good morning, Miss Dolly. As agreed, I will be sitting in on your session once again. Are you ready for the shitshow?”
Laughing, I shake my head. “Not really, but I don’t have a choice. How’s Farley doing with the snooping?”
“The boss has all of our men on the ground working the trail. He’s even got a few new digital bloodhounds working on the trail this woman left during her lifetime. We want to use her pattern of abusive behavior and public bullying to show that she’s not who she claims to be.” He pauses and shakes his head. “It’s very frustrating to see so many people support someone this toxic. They are blind to the truth because they crave attention from online faux celebrities who don’t give a shit about their loyalty unless they need them to attack for their cause.”
“Even preds can be led like sheep, Skelly. I know that very well,” I say softly. “I saw it when I was friends with the Heathers, and I didn’t put a stop to their manipulations and horrid treatment of others. Some of this bad shit is my karma for that, I’m sure, and I deserve it. But the people who let them basically excommunicate me on nothing more than their word… those are the ones who scare me now.”
Skelly tilts his head. “Why is that?”
“Because they still don’t realize they were manipulated, and probably never will. Those are the kind of people who are following Rockland now, but likely even crazier. They’ll do anything to please her, and that makes them dangerous.” I bite my lower lip as I look at the door for a moment. “Even destroy the people around me for not shunning me like they do. So yeah, I worry about the blowback from that kind of mass indoctrination.”
He shakes his head, putting his huge hand on the knob. “You’re surrounded by allies, and those people always reveal themselves. No one in your life—your friends, your mates, your team—will let the morons get within a mile of you. Hold your head up and keep moving; trust the people who have your back.”
I blow out a slow breath, straightening my spine and walking closer. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
“I think there’s much to be said in regards to karma, whether you believe in it or not, Miss Drew.”
I arch my brow, pretending to consider Rockland’s words as I lean back in the chair. “If I don’t believe in it, how can it be of any importance to me?”
The truth is, I’ve been lying my ass off while Skelly watches the discussion, hoping to keep the crazy vulture from delving deeper into any topic. I don’t want her to find any other ‘gems’ to use in her manuscript, nor do I want to admit to anything she can use to discredit me. I have to reply when forced, keep my cool, and let her hang herself on the tapes Skelly records during our sessions. Unfortunately for me, she’s in prime form today; Rockland looks angry enough to rocket out of her chair into the atmosphere .
I wonder if someone is coaching her?
“Because you don’t take responsibility for your actions, Delores.” She leans back in her chair, a smug little smirk coming over her pointy face. Crossing her arms over her chest, her beady eyes bore into me as I look at her in confusion. “You sit there pretending to be innocent, but everyone knows better. That ridiculous badger and his mobbed-up cronies are no more than thugs-for-hire. Their maneuvers are stealing money from my pocket by holding up my publications and accusing me of spurious things like lying about the provenance of my works. Even the pieces not related to this are no longer selling as well as I’d prefer, despite my superior talent and skill, because you refuse to allow me to use my material.”
Skelly opens his mouth, but I hold my hand up as I gather myself. This is the most direct Rockland has been, and like the nasty bullying of the Heathers online, it’s still not quite enough to prove the vague defamation and libel being spread from them on social media. I need her to keep running her fat mouth so she digs a grave she can’t get out of. I know she will; the remaining Heathers will, too. People with their mental illnesses always show themselves eventually.
“Ms. Rockland, I’m not doing anything to you. In fact, if you weren’t forcing this contact with your stalker-ish behavior, you’d have no more space in my life or memory than a flea’s fart.” Her face screws up, but I continue, feeling the indignation rise in my gut. “But my team is doing their job—allowing me to live my life and not have the fruits of my emotional labor be locked in a cage by someone who does not own me or anything in my life.”
“How dare you! I’ve trained at the best schools, worked at the edgiest institutions… I am a best selling author with legions of fans ! What do you have? Nothing but exiled losers who pretend you have a shred of value to get in your pants. You’d be a star attached to my name, but without me, you’re a no talent whore with rich parents.”
My jaw drops and I just stare at the psycho sitting in front of me. She’s gripping her desk with her claws, her head bobbing on her long neck so much that her ratty bun is falling askew. It’s an image I’m never going to forget—a grown woman with so much unjustified ego and rage that she has to tear down another woman to feel better about herself. Someone so deluded about the reality she lives in that she’s lost touch with what has happened in her head versus what’s going on outside of it.
It’s terrifying, and I’m used to Lucille, for fuck’s sake.
“Ms. Rockland, this behavior is unacceptable.” Skelly stands, moving in front of me before he continues. “Not only is it unprofessional and imminently reportable to the licensing board and administration of the school, but it’s frankly pathetic.”
“Oh shit,” I mumble.
“ Excuse me?!! ”
The shriek makes my bunny ears hurt and I put my hands over them lightly just in case she’s going to continue. Skelly is completely unruffled, and while I’m not scared she’ll physically harm anyone, I have no idea what else this lunatic is going to do going forward.
“There’s no excuse for people like you, Carina.” The badger turns to wink me at me over his shoulder, then takes his jacket off, rolling up the sleeves of his oxford slowly. I’m unsure if he plans on beating Rockland’s ass or is just being intimidating, so I scoot to the side a bit to watch. “You see, we can research, too. The boss’s team got through all those secret layers someone built over your past.”
Rockland’s face turns white as a ghost, and a feeling of triumph zings through me. Whatever was hidden, she doesn’t want anyone to know.
This is her Achilles’ heel, and I cannot wait to hear what the fuck she’s been hiding .
“You, Carina Rockland, are not the success you want this poor girl and everyone in your sphere to believe.” Skelly gives her a sharp, fangy grin and she swallows hard. “No, you’re the disappointment of your family, and that’s why you’re languishing at the schools rather than being lauded with praise publicly.”
“That’s a lie!”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “No, it’s not. Your older sister is smarter, more accomplished, and your parents have always doted on her because of it—even as a child. The jealousy your mother engendered by making sure you knew you were second choice and would never measure up made you strive to be noticed, to be recognized, to be loved. But it never happened, no matter what school you attended or degrees and awards you received.”
I wince, knowing what that feels like, but also realizing I’ve never used my trauma as an excuse to abuse others.
“I don’t care what she thinks. She’s a self-centered old bat,” Rockland says, but her voice has a tremor that belies her words. “This session isn’t about my mother, anyways. It’s about your narcissistic, little bitch client.”
“Ah, the real Carina comes out. Yes, our investigators found ample evidence in your past of how you reeled in friends, using them for whatever you could squeeze out of them, and then discarded them while trashing them by every method and in every place you could.” Skelly smirks and shakes his head, picking up a book from her trophy shelf. “Like this book, where you cheaped out on your artist, stole their concept, and used it yourself to launch your first series. As usual, after a small amount of praise, you started leeching off others to get material for the next few books in the series, but pointed the finger publicly at anyone you thought was ‘copying’ your ideas.”
Holy shit. Farley’s outdone himself.
Before Rockland can retort, Skelly tosses the book and picks up another. “And this one, where you did almost none of the work and tried to blackmail the true writer into paying you extortion money. It’s out of print now, but you continue to defame that poor shifter years later.”
One by one, the badger goes through a litany of awful and unethical behavior, tossing the volumes on the ground until there are none left. I had no idea this chick was so prolifically awful to everyone she meets, but the facts the huge badger is spewing are obviously being hidden by some very careful PR campaigning. It’s years of pervasive abuse and shady shit swept under the rug that would certainly destroy her careers if it becomes public knowledge.
“You can’t prove any of this,” she hisses.
“ Au contraire , corpse licker. I can prove much of it and we’ve been compiling all the evidence very slowly to make our case. You’ll give us what we need if we wait, and when you do, I’ll be in the front row to witness you getting exactly what you deserve.”
Rockland squawks, then shakes her head. “You’ll never undo the damage I’ve done to her reputation. She will never be welcomed or invited at the tables of important people. My efforts won’t be in vain.”
I snort, shrugging a little. “I’m not aware of those ‘tables,’ and if they aren’t big enough for me to know about them, I don’t fucking care. Anyone who would exclude me based on your word is a fool I don’t need to meet.”
My giant bodyguard grins even wider. “Exactly. Plus, once we figure out who they are and what they’ve admitted—they’ll simply join you in the penalty box. Problem solved.”
Rising to my feet, I grab my bag and blow out a deep breath. “The loyalty you believe you have won’t extend past being legally liable, I don’t think. So be prepared to be ass out on that long branch by yourself.”
And that’s all I have to say about that.