Grady’s attention shifts to the covered plants in front of us. “Looking at my project?”
Rolling my shoulders back to soothe myself, I put a hand on the nearest cloche. “This one’s yours? What are the coffee grounds for?”
“Studying the effects different substances have on plant growth. Pretty basic, but still interesting.” He runs his fingers over the glass domes, eyes locked on his plants. Then he looks at me.
I avoid his gaze, unsure what to do with the knot of unease tightening in my chest. “What’s the ice for? Watering as it melts?”
“Does it look like regular ice to you?” He points.
Now that he’s pointed it out, the ice doesn’t look normal. White vapor rises from it, swirling in the cloche. It almost looks like…
A balled up plastic bag pokes up from behind the bench. Leaning forward, I try to read the label. It’s dry ice.
Wait.
My mind flashes back to Ricardo unconscious on the floor. Eyes shut. Lips turning blue. Bodyguard Steve found a bag of dry ice in the AC vent that night. Bile rises in my throat.
Grady leans a hand on the edge of the wood bench, effectively barring me from the exit.
A chill slides down my spine. Did he do that on purpose? “Grady…”
“Yeah?” He leans forward, crowding his lithe frame into my personal space.
I take a step back.
He doesn’t move.
“When you said I wasn’t just a girl, what did you—?” My throat dries at the black look in his eyes. I never knew blue eyes could be so cold. Cruel. Shut off.
“I think you know, Charlotte.” He advances toward me.
In a flash, everything clicks. This entire thing wasn’t about Professor Rook. It was about Rhiannon. Grady’s ex-girlfriend.
Grady’s expression is ominous. Shoulders hunched. Jaw squared in determination. “Professor Rook sold her the drugs. So I ended him.”
“But… You weren’t even back from Austin yet.” As slowly as I can, I skim my hand along the bench behind me, grasping for anything to use as a weapon. My fingers come away empty, dusted with potting soil.
Grady’s hair brushes his brow as he shakes his head. “Come on, blondie. Ever heard of a private jet?”
My chest constricts. I have, actually, but Daddy doesn’t use them because of his “of the people” persona. No. When we fly somewhere we fly business class. I kind of admire him for it, and also find it irksome. I’ve seen those coach seats, and they look nice. But now is not the time to dwell on that.
Grady’s eyes slice through me like a hot scoop through cold ice cream. “Once I had Rook out of the way, I focused on the next target—Gul. I figured she spread those rumors about Rhiannon that got back to her folks. They didn’t let her come back to school this year. And then there’s you.”
Me? I’m the one who told Rhiannon to go to the professor in the first place. I was right to blame myself. And from the menacing look on Grady’s face, he does too. I lick my lips. I have to stall. Or I’ll be victim number three. “Did you see Gul on your way out here? She was supposed to meet me.”
Grady’s smile curls further into a sneer. Dark pools shade his deep set eyes. When he speaks, his voice is transformed. Infused with venom. “You’re such a liar. She’s not coming. I already took care of that loose-lipped cow.”
The anxiety that had lit in my belly grows into full-blown panic. Cold sweat makes my palms go clammy. “What did you do to her?”
Without taking his eyes off me, Grady reaches across the wooden bench and tugs at the plastic dry ice bag. It drags against the back edge of the bench as it comes free. “Doesn’t take long to suffocate someone. Had to do it to my hamster once, after it had a stroke. Turns out, people look a lot like that when they die. Bulging eyes. Clawing breaths.”
My eyes run over his arms, looking for signs of a fight. There’s nothing.
Grady’s got a long-sleeve black shirt on under his Dallas jersey. A white star against a silver background. The star snags at something in my memory, bringing it to the surface. A white star reflected in a pane of glass. “The video of Kenneth and Professor Rook. You took it, didn’t you?”
He taps a finger to his temple. Brandishes the bag with the other. “Two down, one to go.”