School, Sex and Secrets II (School, Sex and Secrets #2) Page 8

  “What the fuck, Brad! Who the fuck was that? Was it someone from the club? You didn’t piss anybody off in there, did you?”

  He slowed down at a stoplight. “No, Vanessa, I didn’t! I don’t know who that was, but he better not come at me like that again! He doesn’t know who he’s fucking with!”

  I looked back and the car came charging towards us again! “BRAD!!” I screamed.

  The light turned green and Brad took off at a high rate of speed. “Obviously this motherfucker is tryin’ to hurt us! Hold on, baby!” he told me.

  I grabbed on to the side handle of the door, closed my eyes, and embraced myself for the worse.

  I opened my eyes just as the car came approaching us again at a high rate of speed. I screamed as I closed my eyes as Brad made a sharp left and did a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree circle! When I opened them, I saw that we were on the other side of the street going back towards the club. I looked at Brad as my heart was beating so fast that I could hardly breathe. He was looking straight ahead as if he wanted to kill this guy who was following us, but the only thing was, we had no idea who this was.

  Brad began to slow down, and I looked back and saw that there were no other cars in sight.

  “What the fuck! Who the hell was that?!” I asked.

  “I have no fuckin’ idea, Vanessa, but if he comes at us again he’s gonna get it!” he said, and then pulled his gun out of the side pocket of his door!

  I gasped! “BRAD! You can’t be serious, baby!”

  “If he fucks with us again he’s gonna get fucked up!”

  I looked back again; I screamed! “OH, MY GOD, BRAD! HERE HE COMES AGAIN!”

  He got his gun ready. “Get down, baby, NOW!!”

  I got down and as I did, I heard sirens. I got up. It was the police! Pulling over the car that was following us!

  We both cheered!

  “YEAH, MOTHERFUCKER! YEAH!! FUCK YOU!! THAT’S WHAT YOU GET!!” Brad yelled.

  “Oh, my God! I thought it was us that was getting pulled over!”

  “I knew it wasn’t. I was driving the speed limit. See how fast that motherfucker was driving trying to catch up with us? He was going so fast that he didn’t see that cop! He came out of nowhere!”

  “Serves that bastard right! I just wish we knew who it was,” I said.

  “Well, let’s try to find out,” he said, and then made a legal U-turn at a stoplight intersection.

  When we rode by them, the cop was all in front of the window so we couldn’t see who it was.

  “Do you wanna wait around to see who it is?” I asked.

  “Nah, because all it’ll do is start another chase and I don’t want that — I wanna get us home safe.”

  I smiled at him. “And I definitely want that.”

  We held hands as I still thought about the fact that it could’ve been someone at the club that was chasing us, but the car didn’t look recognizable. I couldn’t help but to think that John could’ve been behind this, whether he was the driver or paid someone to do it, or it could be that new secret person who’d sent me the secret text, blaming me for Natalie’s death.

  Brad got out his phone and pressed a number and waited for someone to answer.

  “Who are you calling?” I asked.

  “Marc. I want him to meet me at my house right away because I wanna talk to him about this . . . Hey, Marc . . . um . . . could you all come meet me at my house right now? I’m not there yet myself . . . Vanessa and I almost got ran off the road tonight by someone . . . No, we don’t know who it was — that’s what we’re trying to figure out . . . I wanna talk about this and so does Vanessa . . . Let Ava know what happened and that Vanessa is all right . . . You’re leaving now? Okay, man, see you in a few,” he said, and then hung up.

  I sighed. “I really wanna find out who tried to do this to us, too, because who’s to say that they won’t try it again? It could’ve been John, Brad.”

  “That wasn’t his car, Vanessa. I know that he’s the first person that we would suspect and I would, too, so that’s what I need to talk to Marc and now Zac about, to see what they can find out for me.”

  A half hour later, we were all sitting in Brad’s recreation room. Since his parents were home, Brad had the door shut and we had to keep our voices to a minimum even though their bedroom seemed to be miles away from where we were.

  Ava sat by me as she held my hand, and Marc and Zac sat on another couch. Marc had told us that Ken had left with Veronica before Brad had called him and that’s why he didn’t come with them.

  Brad paced back and forth in front of all of us. “Look, I don’t want this shit to happen again, so Zac, I’m really gonna need for you to stay in touch with your uncle about what’s going on with Natalie’s case. Since you know that John killed her, we need you more than ever.”

  “No problem, man. Anything you need for me to do,” Zac replied.

  “John is obviously getting out of control. I can’t believe that it was not him tonight,” I said.

  “Baby, it wasn’t his car, but for some reason — I don’t know what it is — I believe that it could’ve been him now, too,” Brad replied.

  Everyone gasped!

  “But you both said that it wasn’t his car?” Marc said.

  “Maybe he used someone else’s,” Zac said.

  We all looked at him.

  “Think about it. He did leave early and didn’t call any of us to see if we wanted to hang out with him after he did,” Zac said.

  We all nodded at him, now having every reason to believe that it could’ve been him.

  “Then whose car could he of had?” Ava asked.

  “Who knows? If it was him, he probably stole it — I don’t put anything past that motherfucker now. He thinks he’s gotten away with killing Natalie and now he’s trying to hurt all of us because he’s afraid that we’re all gonna turn him in. Zac, see what you can find out from your uncle about any stolen cars for tonight,” Brad said.

  “I’ll do that — no problem, man,” Zac replied.

  “And Marc, see if you can find out what he did tonight after he left the club,” Brad said.

  “I’ll ask him first thing tomorrow; I don’t wanna make it obvious by asking him so soon. I’ll just see if he wants to hang out or whatever, or maybe show up at his house uninvited so he doesn’t have time to hide anything from me,” Marc said.

  “Sounds good,” Brad said, and then let out a deep sigh as he sat down on a reclining chair.

  I came by him and sat on his lap.

  We kissed.

  “Well, I’m glad to see that the two of you are all right,” Marc said with a smile.

  Everyone laughed.

  “Yeah, we are, but I’m still shaken up about it,” I said, being honest.

  “So am I,” Brad replied. “I can’t even imagine if that asshole — whether it was John or not — would’ve ran us off the road. I was more worried about Vanessa and our safety than I was for my car. A million-dollar car is nothing compared to one life, let alone two of them.”

  Everyone nodded.

  I smiled at him, and we kissed again.

  CHAPTER 12

  The next day, Marc showed up in the early afternoon at John’s house unexpectedly. He didn’t want to waste any time in wanting to find out whether or not John was behind this latest incident.

  The door opened.

  “Hey, man. What are you doing here?” John asked.

  “No reason, man. Just wanna know if you wanna hang out,” Marc said.

  “Sure, man. C’mon in,” John said, and then led Marc to the family room where he was watching a basketball game. “Can I get you anything?”

  “No thanks, man, I’m good,” Marc replied, as he noticed that there was a can of soda that John had right next to him.

  Suddenly, John took the can and threw it into the fireplace where he had a small fire going since it was cold outside.

  Marc watched John’s DNA burn in the fire. “Well, that’s unusual.
”

  “What is, man?”

  “Throwing a soda can into a fireplace to let it burn. Wouldn’t you just throw it away in a garbage can like the way anyone else would?”

  “Well, I don’t do it all the time. It’s not often that I make fires in the fireplace since it doesn’t get that cold much here, so when I do, I like to keep it burning when I make one.”

  Marc nodded as he found that this was a pitiful attempt to explain why he did what he did. He then cleared his throat. “Maybe I will take something to drink — just a soda if you got it.”

  “I always have sodas. My parents, not just me, are caffeine freaks,” John said, and then got up and went towards the kitchen.

  Marc gazed around the room as he tried to see if he could find any evidence of him killing Natalie; he didn’t see anything.

  John came back with the soda, but with a napkin wrapped around it.

  Marc instantly found this very odd. “What’s with the napkin around the can, man? I don’t have the cooties!” he said with a chuckle.

  “I know, but I have another cold and I don’t want you catching it,” John lied, as he handed him the soda.

  Marc took it from him and watched how John wiped his nose with the napkin and then threw it into the fire as well. “So, why did you leave early last night?”

  John shrugged. “I just didn’t feel like staying anymore. That club shit is just getting old to me. I didn’t feel like looking at a bunch of half-dressed whores begging for attention from guys like us. I just wasn’t in the mood to stay. I don’t know why I even bothered to show up there.”

  “Where did you go when you left?”

  “I just came back here. I studied a little and then I hit the sack.”

  “You studied?! It’s winter break, man.”

  “Well, I wanna be a neurosurgeon, man, so I have to get used to studying all the time.”

  You better get used to being in prison all the time, Marc thought.

  “Look, I have a bright future and I’m not letting anything ruin it . . . anything,” John stressed as he gave Marc a very serious look.

  This made Marc nervous since he had a feeling that John knew that he’d killed Natalie but just wasn’t saying anything. “So, did you hear about what happened to Brad and Vanessa last night?”

  John looked at him. “No. What happened, man?”

  “Some asshole tried to run them off the road when they left the club last night. And he was trying hard, too, but he was no match for Brad’s million-dollar ride. They told me that he kept coming up all close behind them, but then he was pulled over by a cop when he was speeding trying to catch up with them. They said they couldn’t see who it was since the cop was all in front of the dude’s window.”

  John shook his head. “Damn, that’s fucked up. Brad didn’t tell me about it.”

  “You two don’t seem to talk as much as you used to — why is that?”

  “Well, ever since he’s been with Vanessa, he acts like he wants to be with her all the time. He’s been practically ignoring me and his other friends, man, including you. And you should really be mad considering the fact that you’re his best friend.”

  Marc sighed. “C’mon, man. Brad is still the same person. He hasn’t been ignoring any of us and you know it. We’ve all been acting different and been down because of Natalie being murdered. I’ve been down about it more than I’ve been showing since after all, she was my ex.”

  “Why should we all feel guilty about something that we didn’t do?”

  You’re the one who should feel guilty since you’re the one that killed her, motherfucker! Marc thought. He changed the subject. “Do you have any condoms, man? I ran out a few days ago and I just don’t have time to get any.”

  John looked at him since he was very on guard with why he was asking this since he thought back to the day when Brad wanted some condoms. “Yeah, man — up in my room in my top drawer.”

  “Be right back,” Marc said, and then went upstairs to John’s room. Once he got up to it, he slowly looked around it as he tried to find any evidence that linked John to Natalie’s murder, as well as anything that had his DNA on it. He looked at his drawer and sitting on the top of it was a speeding ticket. He looked at it, without touching it. He focused in on the date of it; he gasped. It was today’s date at around twelve-fifteen in the morning. This was the exactly around the time that Brad and Vanessa told me that they went past the car that was following them when it was pulled over while the cop was standing in front of it! This ticket wasn’t issued too long after, he thought. He looked at the make of the car, and noticed that it wasn’t John’s. He then looked at the street that the ticket stated that he was pulled over on. Yep! Same street that Brad and Vanessa said that they were on! Got you, motherfucker! he thought as he pulled out his phone, and then took a picture of the ticket. He put his phone back in his pocket and then opened the top drawer to get the condoms. He looked through his drawer and found a lot of condoms in the back of it. He took only two of them and then shut the drawer. He then looked down at the garbage can and saw tissues and soda cans in it — he knew that John’s DNA was all over these things. He reached down to try and grab one of the cans in it, but as he did, one of the condoms dropped into the garbage can. “Fuck!” he said quietly, and then reached in to get it. He looked up . . . .

  John was standing right over him giving him an evil glare!

  Marc jumped! “Shit! You scared me, man!”

  “Why are you digging in my garbage?” John coldly asked him while he kept his evil glare on him.

  “I accidentally dropped one of the condoms in it, man; I was just gonna get it out of there, that’s all.”

  John continued to glare at him as he leaned over to look into the garbage can for himself, and he saw the condom still in its wrapper sitting in it; he knew Marc wasn’t lying. He reached in and grabbed it, and then put it on top of the drawer. “Gimme the other ones.”

  “Give you what other ones?”

  “The condoms — gimme the other ones.”

  “Why? You said I could have them — I only have this other one.”

  John went into his closet and looked inside a box. He took out a brand new box of condoms that had never been opened. He opened the box. “Here, take as many as you want. These are newer — I just got them last week,” he said, as he held the box open for Marc to take them.

  Marc nodded. “Okay, cool then,” he said as he took more than half the box, but at the same time wondered why John just didn’t hand some to him. He didn’t wanna get his fingerprints on any of the wrappers, he thought. “Thanks, man.”

  “No problem,” John replied while he stared coldly at him as he poured the rest of the condoms into his top drawer.

  He’s on to me — I better get the fuck out of here before he becomes more suspicious, Marc thought. “I’m gonna get going, man. I’ll see you later. I’ll let myself out.”

  “Okay, man. See you,” John replied while he kept his cold stare on him.

  Marc ran down the steps, but walked out the door to his car.

  John watched him from his parents’ bedroom window as he smirked. “Yeah, you better have gotten the fuck out of here!”

  As Marc drove down the road, he called Brad.

  “What’s up, man?” Brad said.

  “Hey, man, I just left John’s house. I can be almost ninety-nine point nine percent sure that he was the one who tried to run the two of you off the road.”

  “Are you serious, man? How do you know?”

  “I went up into his room to get some condoms and saw a speeding ticket on the top of his drawer. I looked at it, and the date and time and the street matched with everything you said.”

  “Shut the fuck up, man!” Brad said.

  “I’m gonna send you a picture of it right now. This shit is freaking me out about him, man! There was no doubt that he was the one who was following you two last night. Where are you at right now?”

  “I’m on my
way over to Vanessa’s house because I’m taking her out to lunch — you can join us.”

  “Cool, man, because I really wanna talk about this. Where are you going? I’ll meet you both there.”

  “To the steakhouse inside the casino near her house.”

  “Okay. I’m sending you the picture right now. See you there, man.”

  “Okay, man,” Brad said, and then hung up. He got the picture a few seconds later; he gasped! “That was him! Son of a bitch!!”

  CHAPTER 13

  At the restaurant, I sat next to Brad as Marc sat right across from us as I looked at the picture of the speeding ticket on Brad’s phone that Marc had sent to him. “It was definitely him. I wonder whose car he was driving?” I asked, as I gave Brad back his phone.

  “Who knows?” Brad said as he shook his head. “Look, John is just gonna get more dangerous as these days, weeks, and months go on. We have to find some way to get his DNA because I don’t want this to escalate into worse things. It’s bad enough that he killed Natalie and that Marie shot him for doing it, and it’s obvious that he wants his revenge on her and on Vanessa and me since he claimed that we stood there and did nothing to help him.”

  “Well, we weren’t the ones who had the fuckin’ guns, either,” I said.

  Brad put his arm around me. “I know, baby, but we were there. And I would’ve had my gun, not him, had I remembered to get it out of my car.”

  Marc shook his head. “Damn, I couldn’t believe it when y’all told me that shit! It seemed like it was something out of a horror movie!”

  “Yeah, it was fucked up. I felt like I was dreaming when everything was happening,” Brad said.

  “So did I,” I said, and then took a sip of my water.

  “Well, since school is gonna be starting in a few weeks, let’s all lay low when it comes to John. He’s really gonna be on guard when he’s around all of us because he knows that we’re trying to get his DNA, and he’ll literally kill all of us if he catches us tryin’ to get it from him,” Brad said.

  “Actually, I thought that was what he was gonna do to me when I was over at his house today,” Marc said.