Blood Ties (12 page)

“It didn’t feel right.” Jen poked me and we looked up. Someone half hidden peeked his head out from behind a curtain in the darkened room I’d almost gone into. Shit. If we’d been caught, they would have stripped us naked, tied us up and made us sit in front of them during dinner, taunting, and throwing food at us. I’d heard the stories. Yeah, I wasn’t stripping down to my underwear for a bunch of frat boys.

I had a sudden revelation. I had them occasionally. “They stashed the composites at the hospital.”

“What? You’ve got to be kidding,” Logan whispered. “Why would they do that?”

“Tonight is a perfect night for a hit. They gave the lookout duty to the grunts, the pledges. Who would dare steal something from a hospital? Very slick.” I
grinned. “Perfect.”

“Perfect what?” asked Jen.

“We need a perfect distraction.”

“What?”

“Dunno. I’ll think of one on the way over.”

We piled into Logan’s car to go
home for a quick change of clothing. I didn’t own any dresses so I borrowed one from Jen. It was a sundress with large yellow, red and purple flowers. It was tight in the bust and too short but she helped me pour into it. The high-heeled red shoes and purse came from a donation, rather a theft, from down the hall. Jen wore an emerald sweater and skirt-set that brought out the green in her eyes. I wanted to wear hers, it covered more, but “paper” beat “rock”.

We drove to the hospital in Parker’s rusted out Oldsmobile. Their chatter was deafening in the enclosed space. They were excited but at the same time, freaked out about actually stealing something, well, except Parker. He just sat there with a smug look on his face.

I reminded them they’d already become thieves. I had to swear on my sister’s dead cat’s grave we wouldn’t be caught. So mobster movie cliché. What a bunch of wusses.

***

“Are you out of your mind?” Jen hissed.

Hell yeah I was crazy but she didn’t need to know it.

I gave them a scoffing look. “So it’s not the seventies. It’s retro. They’ll blame it on a fraternity, not on us dwellers.” Dweller is what they fondly called students who lived in a gerbil cage next to campus – a few hundred square feet containing a shower, closet of a kitchen, bed and toilet. Dormies had it worse. They were called GBs, short for gerbil bits. The little loose bits.

“No fucking way am I going to strip and run naked through the hospital for a God damn composite!” Parker yelled in the small space of the car. We cringed, holding our hands over ears.

“Fine, you made your point. Okey dokey, I need two volunteers,” I said, my ears ringing.

“You be one,” quipped Logan with a hopeful look.

“I’m supervising. Besides, it’s gotta be a guy.” He rolled his eyes. I returned a nasty look.

“I’ll do it,
” Dylan said quietly with an eager look on his face. There was complete silence while we stared at him.

“Yeah okay, now I need one more.”

Logan flicked his eyes back to Dylan with almost a glare. Yep, there was a little competition there. “I’m in.”

I slapped him on the back. “Good boy. Now let’s infiltrate. Remember, both the Betas and the Thetas are here.” It sounded like fish-speak. “No one will know everyone. Blend in
. If you get stopped, just ask what house they’re in and say you’re from the other one.”

“What am I?” asked Jen.

“A sorostitute.” She slugged me in the arm. “Okay, okay … you’re Parker’s date.”

“Do I need to be chemically inconvenienced?” asked Parker.

“Good idea, but don’t overdo it. They’ll catch on if you’re faking too hard. They’re masters at the craft.”

I leaned over and pulled the rear
view mirror towards me to check the lipstick Jen had made me wear with the dress. I had to say it looked good on me. I fluffed my hair. I froze, my fingers embedded in the thick blonde strands. I never fluffed. Alisé fluffed.

“Don’t you think I should practice?” Dylan asked. I pulled back from the mirror. There was something wrong with that boy.

“No, I think it will just come naturally to ya Dylan.”

Jen undid a couple of her buttons to show a bit more cleavage and began stuffing her bra with tissue. She glanced up and saw us watching her. “What?”

Parker held out his hands to measure the expansion and she swatted them away. “Liz, you’ll stick out. Everybody notices you. They’ll know who you are.”

I looked at all of them and they nodded. “Well
okay, I’m playing myself, invited by a date that didn’t show.”

“Your ex-con boyfriend,” she said in an ominous voice.

“Yeah,” I laughed as I stepped out into the cold air. My first thought was to check that the cold wasn’t showing through the dress. I fluffed my boobs, checking them, making sure they were secure and not doing the muffin top thing.

“Shit!”

“What?” they yelled in unison.

Geesh.

“Dr. Marcheon’s going to be there.”

The guys swore under their breaths. A slow smile crossed Jen’s face. “So, your date ditched you. It’s perfect, you can see if he’s brought one of his own. If not, offer yourself up.”

“Yeah sure, like a bloody sacrifice. Why not suggest I strip naked and give him a lap dance.”

“Let’s,” Dylan quipped happily. I glared at him.

Parker and Jen went ahead of us as planned. He said something to Jen, then she turned and whacked him a good one with her purse. We heard her bitch all the way to the door for him to stop staring at her breasts.

When they were inside, I sent Logan, waited a few minutes, then Dylan. I followed them, wobbling in the red heels, swinging that red purse around without a care in the world.

It was Happy Hour in the atrium. It was a large glass enclosed room in the center of the hospital, the ceiling a giant skylight, complete with real trees and plants in oversized containers. Round pillars, painted a coral pink, encircled the rim of the room, giving it a Greek-Meets-Clinical Institution look. Scattered about were white linen covered tables and a wet bar set up to one side. It was packed with faculty and campus Greeks, dressed in their nice suits and sparkly cocktail dresses. He wasn’t hard to find. A crowd was eagerly hanging on to Dr. Marcheon’s every word, drinks in hand. It looked as if he was having a good time. He excused himself and turned his head towards me, searching the room.

I ducked behind a pillar and slid in behind a group that passed by, hiding behind them as they moved along. I snuck around to another pillar by the elevators. Sure enough, he’d walked to where I’d been standing. I glanced around the room. At the buffet table, Dylan was hand feeding a chemically impaired sorostitute in a tight black dress who tottered on matching stilettos. Logan talked with some frat boys, beer in hand. Jen and Parker were across the room, pressed up against the wall watching the crowd.

I used some others as cover as they walked past me and slid in behind a large plant to get a better view of the room. Dean Wilson had his hand on Dr. Marcheon’s shoulder, escorting him back to the bar. I peeked to the right holding on to a handful of leaves then pulled back when he looked my way. I waited a few seconds then looked again. He had turned around. The Dean had him cornered.

Jen and Parker casually slid around the edge of the atrium. I watched the movements of the “bros” waiting tables, serving up drinks and hors d’oeuvres. A couple of them hung together at the back wall,
quietly talking. They went out a door behind the podium. I sent a text to Logan to circle around to the right and Dylan to the left. They came out of the atrium and gave me a brief glance. I slunk behind another plant. I peeked in to check on Dr. Marcheon. I stood up on my tiptoes, searching the room. I stepped back, turned, and smacked right into Dr. Marcheon.

He
caught me before I bounced backwards.

“Miss. Aldridge, I didn’t realize you were
going to be at the gala tonight,” he said with a smile.

His scent floated into my face.
I stammered, “Well … ah … I was invited by this guy, last minute like, but he didn’t show.” I took a breath and shrugged my shoulders. “So, I thought, why not stay, it might be fun anyways. And wow, does that buffet table looks amazing.”

His eyes darkened and the smile slowly left him. H
is hands constricted around my upper arms and he drew me towards him. A small noise escaped me when a flush traveled across my skin like a lick of velvet. He abruptly let me go and stepped back.

I staggered, grabbing on
to the edge of the giant vase. My phone buzzed.

“I see,” he said. “I’m sorry to hear that. Perhaps you would join us. We have an empty seat at our table.”

My phone buzzed again. I swallowed noisily. “Ah, well, thanks but I probably won’t be staying long. I’ll just grab a bite and leave.”

“A shame, but I understand. Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find us.”

I tried not to stare at how his gray silk slacks molded perfectly to his ass as he walked back to the party. I leaned around someone blocking the view of that masculine perfection, the hem of the back of my dress bunched up in my fist, holding it down to keep from flashing anyone. I teetered on my high-heels, leaning in.

I almost fell over when Logan grabbed my arm.

“Liz, how come you weren’t answering?”

“Busy, I ran into Dr. Marcheon.” I shivered and rubbed my arms where his hands had grasped me.

Logan was excited, his face flushed. “There are four of them hanging outside this room in the back. It's gotta be there.”

I had everyone meet us by the elevators.

“Logan thinks he found them. Jen, you and I are going to swing by and check it out. Logan, Dylan, look for some exits, make sure they’re clear. Try not to run into any security guards. Parker, go get the car and bring it around. I’ll call you and let you know which exit we’ll take.”

They took off and Jen and I went to the right side of the hallway that encircled the atrium. I watched the party through the glass until it gave way to a solid wall.

“I saw you with Dr. Marcheon,” she teased.

“Yeah.” I rubbed my arms again.
They felt as if they were burning. “He invited me to join their table.”

“Do it!” s
he hissed. I ignored her and turned away to look down the long hallway lined with portraits. She grabbed me. “What is wrong with you? He’s the campus McDreamy. He’s just invited you to sit with him and you’re blowing him off? Just stay here after we get what we came for. Just do this, please, for me?”

“
Do I have to remind you about the rules?”

“Rules
smules … we’re all adults. We can vote, we can die for our country, we can screw whom we want.”

“God Jen,” I hissed. “I’m not interested
in him and he has nothing more than a professional interest in me.”

She snorted.
“I saw the way he looked at you. What the hell did you say to him?”

I
glared at her.

As we walked past the east exit, Logan gave a thumbs-up.

Maybe she was right about me. His face had only been inches away from mine, close enough to kiss. It was – oh hell. I was falling for him like everyone else. I groaned and smacked the wall. I was an idiot. I had to suck it up. Mind over matter. I was done with it, the whole thing. He wasn’t Michel.

Jen was watching me. “Don’t even ask,” I growled.

We drew close to where Logan had directed us. Four guys, dressed in khakis, white shirts and ties were joking about what they were going to do to the Delta Sigs when they were caught red-handed stealing the composites. I gave Jen a flick of an eyebrow and a satisfied smile.

“Hi ladies.”

We stopped in front of them. “Hi,” we said in unison.

“Hey aren’t you Liz Aldridge? We’ve seen you around.”

“Really,” I replied almost dryly. I stuck out my hand and he introduced himself. Like usual, his name disappeared a second later. “What are you guys doing out here, aren’t you supposed to be helping inside?” I shucked off his hand that had become glued to mine.

“We’re
just hanging out, hoping two beautiful women would walk by.”

I held back a snarl of my upper lip at the canned flattery. Jen squeezed my hand to play nice. I introduced her. She did a little hair swish and gave a sappy look to the one next to her.

“So do you two have dates tonight?”

I opened my mouth but Jen piped up, “Yes, but Liz’s date blew her off.”

I turned to her and ground my teeth. She continued, “I have a date with me, but it just so happens the both of us are free tomorrow night.” She gave them a flirty smile, batting her heavily made-up eyes. Purple shadow, purple eyeliner, purple lipstick. She matched her hair. It looked good on her.

“Jen, have you forgotten Eddie’s coming into town tomorrow?” I warned her through clenched teeth.

She caught her breath and widened her eyes. “Oh, sorry, I forgot. Yeah, she’s going to busy … for a while.” She turned to the one on her right and whispered with great flourish, carefully enunciating each word. “He just got out, you know, the big house. They haven’t seen each other for five years.”