This Fearless Girl (St. Clary's University #2) - E. M. Moore Page 0,77
for you?”
“I can come see you.”
“Why are you interested in the treasure?” I ask, pinning him with a stare and going for the question that’s been plaguing me ever since he showed up on ATVs with Lance in tow. “I get me. I even get Lance Jacobs, Stone, and his friends. But you, it seems so out of character. You’re running a whole gang, overtaking others. It seems like your life is pretty full without it.”
“Let’s just say I’m doing it for an old friend.”
“And this friend is?”
He smirks. “In due time, Dakota. But let’s also say that I hate it when the big guys win.”
“Aren’t you a big guy?”
He laughs. The sound is so shocking that it catches me off guard, but it’s also a nice laugh. It’s not menacing or threatening. He’s absolutely found humor in what I said. “I may have scraped and scratched my way to where I am now, but believe me, I didn’t come from a big family. I’ll never be one of them, and I don’t want to be either. They know no bounds to what they’ll do. They look out for only themselves and their bankroll. They don’t know a thing about honor.”
His nostrils flare, and I breathe in sharply. He sounds like me. Or I sound like him. That’s exactly something I would’ve said about the Jacobs. Exactly what I would still say about Lance.
“I’m having the small Clary paper pull their headline from today and post a better one tomorrow,” Cole informs me. “For your sake.”
I can’t figure him out. For a second, I think that maybe my dad knew Cole, but that can’t be. My dad didn’t know anybody, and that’s how he liked it. He especially wouldn’t be caught dead hanging out with someone like him.
Usually when people do nice things for you, you say thank you, but I can’t bring myself to. First of all, it scares the shit out of me that he has that kind of pull with the paper. Second of all, I’m not sure I should be thanking the type of person Cole is. He would’ve ordered his guys to hurt Wyatt and Lucas if I hadn’t done something. I absolutely know he would’ve. Otherwise, what was all that shit? He wanted me to get the information we had on the treasure. He wanted it for himself, right?
“I see your mind working.”
“Just confused,” I acknowledge. “None of this makes sense.”
“I can see how you would think that. If you need any resources to help you find the treasure, let me know. I have a wide range of expertise at my fingertips.” He stands. “You should be getting home now, huh? You have school in the morning.”
He reaches out, and I slide my hand into his. He gives it a quick tug, and I get to my feet. He’s true to his word. He doesn’t start anything. He doesn’t do anything sinister. He walks me to the door. “Good night, Dakota. I’ll see you again soon.”
He pulls the door open for me, and I walk out. Wyatt immediately starts forward. The two guys who were watching the elevator start forward, but my cowboy shoulders past them. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” I say, a creepy crawly feeling working its way up my spine. It bothers me that I can’t figure Cole out. I don’t understand why he does what he does, and that makes him the most dangerous.
“Hey!” one of the guys calls out, running after Wyatt.
Behind me, Cole steps from his room. “Stand down,” he demands. The guy, who I guess is a guard, immediately stops. I peer over my shoulder at Cole who nods. “I’d be doing the same thing if I were away from her for that long.”
Wyatt narrows his gaze at him before he puts his arm around my shoulder, leading me back toward the elevators. “Let’s get out of here. Lucas and Stone are blowing up my phone.”
The two guys who drove us here call the elevator. The doors open, and we get in. From our vantage point, I can see Cole standing where he was when he called off his guy. He nods at me, and the doors close.
Wyatt doesn’t talk as we take the elevator down, get in the car, and head back toward the airport. His fingers fly over his phone, mine buzzes, too. I pull it out to find a couple of texts from Lucas and Stone. I write them back, telling them that I’m fine, but