Devoted to Her (Dream Date Book 2) (31 page)

Erika was so close that Nathan could smell the scent
of her skin, and the perfume she wore. It wasn’t mouth-watering like Amanda’s,
but it was still attractive. Nathan couldn’t help caressing the skin of Erika’s
waist under her layers of clothing.

“I like you, Erika. But I liked you more when you were
less annoying. Maybe if you gave me some time and tried not to suffocate me,
I’d give you the time of day.”

Erika took a deep breath. She took a step back.

“I get where you’re coming from, Nathan,” she said,
taking his hand. “Don’t worry, I promise I won’t be a pest anymore. Do we start
as friends?”

Nathan was unable to keep the corners of his lips from
turning up. He nodded.

“All right. That means no kissing, okay? I need time
to come to terms with losing Amanda.”

“No problem. I’ll help you if I can.”

Nathan looked down at their conjoined hands.

“Is holding hands okay?” Erika asked.

“Yes, I don’t mind that. It feels nice, actually.”

Erika smiled in triumph.

“You still haven’t introduced me to your friends.”

Nathan gasped, turning it into a laugh.

“Yikes. It’s long overdue, isn’t it?”

Erika nodded, raising her eyebrow.

“You need to be less shy. I hardly ever see you
around. Every time we meet, it’s because we bump into each other or you sneak
up to me.”

“That’s because I’m the one that always has to seek
you out.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

Holding hands with
Erika, Nathan walked to his next class. Amanda and the others were nowhere in
sight by that time.

Amanda walked into the police station with Caldwell
and Medina. Hayden had called her during lunch time at school. He asked Amanda
to meet him so they could talk about the investigation.

“Ms. Tilley!” said Detective Sutton when an officer
brought Amanda to him. “Through here.”

Medina and Caldwell stayed behind while Amanda
followed Sutton further inside the station. He led her to a conference room.
Hayden was already inside, sitting next to a table.

“She’s here,” Sutton told Hayden when they entered.
The latter stood up.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Tilley,” Hayden greeted. He shook
hands with Amanda. “May I ask you how was your spring break?”

“It was fun, Mr. Hayden. Thank you.”

“Let’s sit down.”

The three of them sat. Amanda was at one long side of
the table, with Hayden and Sutton opposite her. A laptop was on the table in
front of Sutton.

“Has the culprit been caught yet?”

“No. However, we’re close to identifying her,” said
Hayden. “I’ve been working with the police department. They’ve looked into any
woman ages eighteen to twenty-six named Rebecca who attend Cornell.”

“The university agreed to help us after we told them about
the attempted murder,” Sutton added. “We found a bunch of students who fit in
our search criteria. After discarding those whose hair or skin color didn’t
match, we came away with five possible suspects.”

Sutton laid some photos on the table in front of
Amanda, upside down.

“We would like you to tell us if you recognize any of
these women,” Hayden told Amanda. She grabbed the photos and looked at each of
them. They were all your regular, everyday students. Nothing seemed to stand
out about them, except that one was sporty and another seemed reclusive.

“No. I don’t know them.”

“Are you sure?”

Amanda double-checked the photos.

“I think I’ve seen her a few times,” said Amanda,
showing a photo to Hayden and Sutton. “But we’ve never talked to each other. As
far as I know, she has nothing to do with my or Nathan’s friends, either.”

“Rebecca Meyer,” Hayden said, looking at the photo.
“I’ll check her background anyway.”

Sutton started typing on his laptop. He and Hayden
looked at the screen. After about a minute, they turned back to Amanda.

“What else do you have?” she asked.

“I’ve done a bit of research on my own,” Hayden told
her. “I took the liberty to look through your social network friends…and their
friends. I had a contact look through all those people quickly by discarding
any woman without Rebecca in their name.”

Hayden extracted four photos from his jacket pocket.
He passed them toward Amanda.

“Two of them are distant ‘friends of friends’ of
Marissa Velásquez’s. The other has ‘Rebecca’ as her middle name and is a
‘friend of friend’ of Oswald Taylor’s. The last one was a little harder to
catch.”

Amanda looked at the last photo. She knew that woman.
It was Nathan’s new girlfriend.

“What do you mean this one was ‘a little harder to
catch’?” Amanda asked. She showed Erika’s photo to Hayden.

“She has her name set as ‘Erika Jenkins’. This lady
ended up on my list after I found comments where people called her
Rebecca.”

“That means that either her true name is not Erika, or
that Rebecca is her middle name,” Sutton said. “I think the latter is much more
likely.”

“What do you know about her, Ms. Tilley?”

“Honestly, not much. We’ve met, but I haven’t spoken
to her directly. Nathan told me that he met Erika last Christmas. She was a
friend of his at first, but then she became interested in him. Erika is the
reason why Nathan and I broke up. I caught him making out with her.”

Hayden pulled out his notepad and wrote that down.

“So this Erika has reasons to want you out of the
game. She wants Nathan and may think of you as a very strong rival.”

Detective Sutton appeared to agree with Hayden.

“Erika is a beautiful woman,” Amanda argued. “She’s
never appeared like she wants to harm me.”

“You said you don’t know her,” said Sutton.

“Yes, but she managed to steal Nathan from me without
having to resort to violence. Kellan’s accident was weeks after Nathan and I
broke up.”

“So you don’t think Erika wants to harm or kill you?”
Hayden asked. He looked at Amanda closely.

“No. Erika strikes me as a conceited woman. She’s
never with a hair out of place. I can’t guess why she would get her hands dirty
to try to kill me over a boyfriend.”

“You’d be surprised what people would kill for,”
Sutton said to Amanda. Hayden nodded.

“We’ll investigate Erika Jenkins, too,” the latter
said. “What about any of the others? Do you recognize them?”

Amanda looked through the other three photos. She
didn’t know any of those women.

“No. I’ve never seen them.”

Hayden took back the photos.

“So, we’ll investigate these two Rebeccas,” he said,
pocketing the photos. “There is other news we have for you. We found the truck
used to try to kill you.”

“Was it abandoned?” Amanda asked.

“Yes. It belongs to a family in the city. They also
own a car. The parents were out while a teenage girl stayed behind. She was
listening to music, so she didn’t hear when someone broke into the house. The
thief stole the keys, took the truck for a joy ride, and left it behind,” said
Sutton.

“The thief evidently didn’t know how to break into a
vehicle, or how to hot-wire it,” Hayden guessed.

“So this woman stole a truck just to try to kill me
with it? Wow,” Amanda said, raising her eyebrows.

“That was clearly meant to make it harder to track her
down. No one has seen this woman so far.”

“Does she have anything to do with the other woman who
attacked Emmy and me?”

“We haven’t confirmed any relationship between them.
If only we could find out the truck thief’s identity,” Sutton said.

Hayden took a deep breath.

“For now, that’s all we have for you, Ms. Tilley,” he
said. The three of them stood up.

“We’ll keep in touch
with you,” Sutton told Amanda. She shook hands with him, and then with Hayden.

Holding the cue in his hand, Ashton made the first
strike. He was with Grecia, Claire, and Nathan at the local entertainment place
they frequented. It was the same one where they also played bowling.

“Not bad,” said Claire, who was playing against
Ashton. He’d sunk plenty of balls. Ashton made two more strikes before he
missed. Then it was Claire’s turn.

Nathan and Grecia were watching their friends play. The
two of them had already played a round against each other. Grecia had won, as
she was pretty skilled at the game. Ashton was proud of that.

“Come on, Claire. Let’s beat the boys,” she said.
Ashton laughed at that.

“Baby, I’ll show you that I can handle a cue just as
well as you can,” he told Grecia. She flashed him a sexy smile.

Ashton ended up winning that round. He pumped his
fist, whooping. Then he winked at Claire.

“I’m not good at this.”

“It’s just a game, Claire,” said Grecia. “Another
round, Nathan?”

Nathan thought about it, and shook his head.

“My head’s not really in this.”

“What’s wrong, bro? Just one more game. I want to see
my baby win again.”

Nathan couldn’t help laughing at that quip.

“All right. I’ll take one for the team.”

Grecia looked thrilled. She re-arranged all the balls
in the center of the table. Nathan tossed a coin to see who would go first. He
won, so he prepared to make his first strike.

At that moment, Nathan casually looked to a spot away
from where he and his friends were. He saw a pretty-looking blonde with her
back mostly turned to him. She reminded Nathan of Amanda.

I’m never going to love anyone else the way I love
Amanda Tilley.

“Earth to Nathan. Are you here?” Grecia asked. He
looked at her, confused. Nathan then realized that he still held the cue in his
hand.

“Oh. Sorry, Grecia.”

Nathan moved over the table before he chose how to
make his strike. He did it, sinking a few of the balls. Grecia watched him make
a few more strikes. When Nathan looked up and saw the blonde again, he missed.

“My turn,” Grecia said. Nathan handed her the cue. She
moved around the table. Ashton watched her with admiration. When Grecia was
across from him, she bent over on purpose to flash her cleavage. Ashton tried
to keep his expression neutral.

“The snow this winter was fun, but I’m not going to
miss it,” Ashton said. Claire’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, not knowing
what he meant. Grecia caught his meaning and chuckled.

Grecia won the round again. She did a high-five with
Ashton. Nathan surreptitiously looked around for the blonde. He then shook his
head. Nathan wasn’t supposed to get interested in another girl, even if he
could.

The four of them walked over to a table. Grecia went
for drinks while Claire went to the restroom.

“You’re still upset right? And I don’t mean about the
game. That’s obvious,” Ashton asked. Nathan didn’t meet his gaze. He was
staring at a spot on the floor, appearing absentminded.

“I saw Amanda today. Man, she is so beautiful. If
things don’t work out between us, I’m spoiled for all other women.”

“I hear you, bro. I feel just the same about Grecia.”

Nathan tapped his fingers against the top of the
table. He wanted to go out there and find Amanda again.

“I never thought Amanda wouldn’t believe in me. Erika
just made me kiss her without my consent.”

“That’s not grounds to condemn you. Have you talked to
her?”

“Yes, without much progress. I was going to visit her
while we were in Joliet. I even talked to her parents about it. Unfortunately,
I saw her with Christopher.”

Ashton frowned.

“Christopher went to Joliet? Hmm. That’s not good.
What were they doing?”

“They were too close for my comfort. Until today, I
feared that Amanda may have moved on.”

“Why?”

“They kissed. Actually, Christopher took advantage of
her, but it was still a kiss.”

Ashton’s mouth opened wide.

“That’s got to be a mistake. Amanda really did kiss
Christopher?”

“I saw them, Ashton.”

“That’s odd. I thought…”

Nathan looked at his friend questioningly.

“Grecia says that Amanda has been playing Cupid for
Judith and Christopher.”

“Hmm. Looks like Cupid is thinking about shooting
herself with her own arrow. At least one of us isn’t going to be suffering
anymore.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way. If you can’t have
Amanda, there are still other girls out there.”

“Yeah. Would anyone replace Grecia for you?”

Ashton looked toward the spot Nathan nodded to. They
saw Grecia and Claire walking toward them.

“Hell no.”

Nathan gave Ashton a
sympathetic glance.

For some time after returning from work, Amanda had
remained alone in her bedroom. She felt guilty about having let Christopher
kiss her. Amanda liked him. She found him pleasant, funny, and even a bit
attractive. However, Christopher didn’t inspire the feelings that Nathan did.

I might forgive him just to end my misery,
Amanda thought to herself.
Christopher should be
with Judith, my friend, not with me.

Amanda didn’t want to betray her best friend. She
decided to make things clear with Christopher the next time they met. Amanda
could tell that he liked Judith quite a bit, too. She often caught Christopher
stealing glances at Judith when he thought no one was looking.

Restless, Amanda stood up from her bed. She paced
around the room, thinking of what to do. Her mind was too haywire to
concentrate on homework. Just as she was walking toward her desk, Amanda heard
knocks on her door.

“Ms. Tilley?” Caldwell asked. Amanda went to open the
door.

“What’s up, Caldwell?”

“I got a call from the hospital. Hughes returned from
coma earlier this week. He’s only just woken up now.”

Amanda covered her mouth with her hands. She was
starting to cry with joy.

“He’s alive!?”

Caldwell nodded, smiling at Amanda’s attitude. She
bounced on her feet.

“That’s the best news I’ve had in a while. Let’s go
now, please!”

Amanda started to dash toward the living room.
Caldwell cleared his throat. She looked back at him.

“Um, you’re forgetting something, Ms. Tilley.”

Amanda’s eyebrows furrowed. She then looked down at
herself and saw that she wasn’t wearing shoes.

“Oh. Oops. I didn’t notice.”

Amanda went back to her room to put on a pair of
comfortable sandals. She then met Caldwell in the living room.

“Medina is getting the car ready, Ms. Tilley.”

Amanda nodded. She grabbed her purse from the sofa and
followed Caldwell outside.

The car had barely parked when Amanda got out and dashed
toward the hospital. Caldwell hastily followed after her. Medina remained in
the car.

Amanda walked straight to the receptionist.

“Hi. I need Kellan Hughes’s room number, please. They
told me he just woke up.”

“One moment, please,” the receptionist said. She
consulted the hospital records for a moment.

“Indeed, the patient is awake now.” The receptionist
gave Amanda the room number.

“Thank you!” said Amanda. She turned around, finding
Caldwell behind her. “Follow me.”

Amanda and Caldwell took an elevator. They then walked
through several corridors before arriving at the room where Kellan was. She
knocked.

“Just enter,” Caldwell said. Amanda pushed the door
open. She walked forward slowly, not knowing what she would see.

Amanda took her first glance of Kellan in several
days. Contrary to what she’d expected, he was reclining in bed. Amanda thought
he would be worse, with a bandaged leg suspended in midair. He did look pretty
battered, anyway. His left arm was in a sling. Part of Kellan’s face was
covered with bruises.

“Oh, Kellan,” Amanda said, feeling pain at seeing
Kellan so badly hurt. At the sound of her voice, his eyes opened slightly. He
looked upward first, and then tracked around the room. When Kellan spotted
Amanda, he tried to smile.

“Amanda.”

Holding back tears, Amanda walked to stand next to
Kellan’s bed. She touched his hand. He squeezed her fingers feebly.

“It’s great to see you back,” Amanda said. “You don’t
know how worried I’ve been about you.”

“It’s…okay,” Kellan said. He tried to make his voice
as strong as always. “I don’t regret…saving you. I would never forgive
myself…if someone harmed you…and I could have prevented it.”