Chapter 22

Trinity

My meeting with Sindia ran over the time we’d scheduled, but I felt a little better after it. It wasn’t what I’d hoped, but it made going to the police station to talk with the detectives about my case easier. I gave them the journal and sat there, answering the few questions that I could about what was inside. They didn’t seem to not believe me. They didn’t seem to believe me either, but they told me that if anything else came to mind that I should reach out.

I returned to Mark’s house, reviewing the information about the getaway that Sindia had sent me. When I got home and told my dad, he beamed at me. For the first time, there seemed to be some light and life in his eyes.

“About time!” He said. “I thought college students were supposed to be partying it up as much as possible.”

I shook my head. “How am I supposed to get through school then?”

“I don’t know what kind of party they’re going to have on that boat,” he said with a laugh. “But make sure to eat all the tasty snacks.”

I laughed and nodded. “I promise, so long as you go out and do something too. I’ll be gone for three days.”

He grinned. “I’ll throw at least one wild party.”

I rolled my eyes. “If wild parties involve football and giant bowls of chips, by all means. Just clean up before I get back.”

My dad did buy a lot of giant bags of chips. Apparently, there was a game that would be playing while I was gone, but I wasn’t sure if he would just be yelling at the screen with Mark or if he would invite people from work. Either way, I was glad to just see him with a little bit of spark in him.

Maybe I could broach him getting back into the dating scene in a year or two.

I ordered an Uber and headed back to the campus to board the bus that would take us up north. I wasn’t sure if the place was on the border of Oregon and California, but it didn’t matter. It was supposed to be some sort of remote and luxurious hotel from the photos.

It was more of a resort than a hotel established in a small town used mostly for leisure. Sindia was dressed in a cozy set of sweatpants and a thick coat, pouting as we settled into our seats on the bus.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I am a cold-blooded animal,” she said. “Southern to the bone. You northerners and all this cold is something I’ll never get used to.”

I laughed and offered her my coat too. She leaned into me and turned the heated jets of air more directly onto her, still shivering. We rode for several hours in quiet, through the night and into the morning. It wasn’t until after we took a pitstop, got something hot to drink, and got back on the bus that she looked like she had started to warm up.

When we finally arrived, it was almost midday the next day. We got off and headed into the resort to check-in. Sindia was most excited to be off the bus, but I wanted a shower. We parted in the hallway leading to our rooms. I couldn’t believe how nice the room was. It looked right out over the docks and had a balcony that was dusted with snow. It reminded me of the sight of the restaurant I used to work out of in Chicago that looked over the river and the skyline.

I hadn’t liked the job, but it had a beautiful view and good pay at the time. My phone rang as I started to unpack. I picked up my phone, thinking it was my Dad, but it was Mark’s voice coming through the phone.

“Hi, Trin’.” Mark said, “Look… I wanted to apologize for… being so impulsive.”

“I’d been… honestly trying to forget that.”

“… right… well, I’ll be gone for a few days. An assignment, so… be careful, okay?”

I set my jaw. “Anything else? You’re interrupting me unpacking.”

“Unpacking?”

“I’m on a trip sponsored by my university.”

“I—”

“Be careful. I’ve got it. I know. Goodbye, Mark.”

I hung up, irritated and on edge about it.

I shook it off and finished unpacking. I took a shower and changed before slipping my phone into my pocket and heading to join everyone down on the main floor.

“Trinity, our young shining star…”

I turned towards the dean of the program. Something about him sent my stomach rolling. He offered me a glass, and I waved my hand.

“Oh, I couldn’t. I’m not old enough to drink.”

“I won’t tell if you won’t…” he said with an easy smile. “I’ve been dean a long time. I know college kids drink.”

Before I could reply, Sindia came over to me. “There you are. I thought you’d gotten lost!”

The dean pulled back. She gave him a smile. “Sorry to interrupt. But I have plans to introduce my protégé around. Good for business.”

“Of course, Sindia…”

She pulled me away and out to the heated terrace. She turned to me with a serious face.

“Whatever you do, don’t end up alone with him.”

I glanced back and nodded as she led me toward a group of people about our age. They seemed to be talking about going into the wave pool at the resort.

“Is the water heated?”

“No, but it’s inside.”

Well, at least I wouldn’t freeze to death.

I borrowed a swimsuit from Sindia as I hadn’t packed one. It wasn’t exactly my style, being a string bikini, but we were two totally different sizes, and it was the only one that could be adjusted. She gave me a cover-up before I could even ask.

She smiled. “I wouldn’t throw you to the wolves.”

“I’m surprised you brought this.”

She shrugged. “It was for my leisure time at the pool after my colleagues were gone if I saw anything worth looking at, but you’re a student still. You get a free pass.”

We were only there for three days, but I swear it felt longer. I took to Sindia’s advice as much as possible, but somehow, the dean was always around. We were never alone, but he was always handing me a drink of some sort. Something in my gut told me not to drink it, so I carried it around and subtly got rid of it.

It didn’t take long to figure out that he was angling to get me drunk to sleep with me if he couldn’t get me to agree. He’d all but offered me a job right out of college in exchange for it.

I was glad that it was the last day. Everyone was sitting around the bar, preparing to either leave or go to bed to catch the shuttle back to the campus.

“I’ll take a Shirley Temple,” I said evenly.

“Two glasses of wine,” he said, coming up behind me. I shuddered and drew away as he placed his hand on my back. His eyes cut to me. My Shirley Temple came, and I took it, walking away, but I didn’t drink it. I searched the area for Sindia, but she was on the other side of the bar, lifting her glass and toasting with a man that I didn’t recognize.

I guess she’d found something to look at. She turned her head and lifted her hand, waving me over.

“It’s not often that a college student would reject a free drink.” I turned as the dean handed a glass to me. He took my glass out of my hand and put the wine glass in it. “Live a bit. Have you thought about… my proposal?”

I gave him a thin smile. “I have to use the bathroom. Excuse me.”

I tried to get to the bathroom, careful to set my glass down on Sindia’s table and give her a subtle shake of my head. She nodded, and I headed towards the bathroom after shaking hands with her male companion. I didn’t feel him following me, but I didn’t turn back to look. I slipped into the single-person bathroom and locked the door, breathing out.

My heart was hammering as I looked at my reflection across the way.

I needed to calm down.

I needed to get out there and stick to Sindia. I washed my hands, blotted the sweat from my neck, and opened the door slowly. I didn’t see him immediately.

I thought I was safe, and I left the area trying to get to Sindia’s table when someone grabbed me. The music in the bar was loud. A hand came up and covered my mouth.

I felt the man behind me and smelled his cologne. Before I could scream, something crashed further into the bar, and someone flipped over the bar.