Twenty minutes later, I’m back in Dr. O’s office. My head is pounding like a hammer on an anvil, and I have a goose egg the size of a small island on the right side of my head that Tylenol can’t touch.
“Are you all right?” Dr. O, brow scrunched in worry, leads me to the cushy seat in front of the fireplace—in front of the stones hiding his safe.
“I’m fine,” I say.
He sits on the love seat, where he sat the night he told me he’d assigned Geri to plant drugs on me and that he knew that Caleb and I were involved with the Wolves of Hellsgate.
I perch on the edge of the chair, unable to relax.
“Mr. Moore says you’re declining medical care.”
“I don’t need to go to the hospital.” I smile. It hurts. But if I take the trip to urgent care, this goes from a few apes beating their chests to a security incident. Moore’s already filled out a report on my condition. We need to keep this as low-key as possible.
“Head injuries should be taken seriously,” he says.
The police report said she had head injuries not caused by the accident. I blink, trying to quiet the cannon fire booming in my ears.
“I have an iron skull.”
“Hm.” Dr. O is unconvinced. “Your classmates will be punished, of course.”
“Grayson’s not a classmate,” I say.
Dr. O’s fingers weave over his bent knees. “So he started this?”
Great. “I just meant that he’s not enrolled here like the rest of us.”
Dr. O is quiet, waiting for me to go on.
“Unless … is he going here now?” There’s no end to this con in sight. Matthew Sterling’s not being charged with covering up a murder, which means Grayson’s not testifying anytime soon.
Dr. O could keep him here indefinitely while he blackmails the senator. Which means more of tonight’s fun, I’m sure.
We just kissed. A lot.
If Caleb didn’t break Grayson’s nose, I will.
“For the moment.”
Excellent.
My mind flashes to Henry—to the look on his face when Grayson told Caleb we’d kissed. This job has turned me into a human wrecking ball, and Henry’s feelings have become collateral damage.
“Grayson’s become a problem, hasn’t he?” The director’s head tips forward. “I’m sorry you had to bear the brunt of it. I knew taking him in would have its challenges. I never anticipated it would become physical.”
“It’s fine.”
“I have a student with a possible concussion.”
“It’s just a bump.” I sound like my mom after Pete’s lost his temper, and it makes my head hurt worse.
“I have another picking fights who’s never shown a sign of violence.”
“Who said Caleb started it?”
Dr. O shakes his head. “So it was Grayson.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“And neither did Caleb. Grayson, however, was quite clear on his innocence.”
I’m sure he was. Grayson may act comfortable—especially with Henry—but he’s in survival mode, and he’ll protect himself first.
I glance toward the stones where I know the safe is hidden, thinking of Susan Griffin’s phone. I doubt he’s given up on that, but he’s tenacious, if a little naïve. He’ll have a backup plan.
“I need to let one of them go.” Dr. O’s exhale contains both relief and regret. “We have a fragile balance here. It’s my fault that’s been upset.” He glances up at the portrait of his sister, tension knotting his brows. “I can’t send Grayson away before he testifies, not with his father’s men hunting for him. After all he’s been through … it’s not safe.”
My stomach gives a hard twist.
If he’s not sending Grayson away, he’s cutting Caleb.
“Hold on,” I say. “You can’t take Caleb out of the program.” His family needs this. His dad’s feeding tube was just infected. He has pneumonia. He could be dying right now.
Dr. O presses his fingers to his temples. “I don’t know what else to do. His behavior’s been erratic. He’s fighting, and disappearing for hours at a time.”
Because he’s seeing Margot.
“I wish he would talk to me,” Dr. O continues. “I’m surprised he hasn’t confided in you.”
He can’t be surprised—he broke us up. Even if everything else got in the way, Dr. O made it clear our assignments come first.
Our assignments that involve digging around for missing interns, and planting money on our stepdads, and hiding pregnancies so we don’t face the streets.
My pulse is running too fast. Dr. O’s acting concerned, but it feels wrong. He wants Grayson to stay here until he testifies, but we both know that won’t happen anytime soon—not while Dr. O can blackmail the senator to change his votes. He needs Grayson, but Caleb …
Caleb finished his assignment with the mayor’s daughter. The Wolves nearly killed him because she found out what he did. Dr. O knew, and he kept security just out of reach when Caleb was attacked.
The director doesn’t need Caleb. At least, not as much as he needs Grayson.
My gaze flicks from my clenched hands on my lap to Dr. O’s peering gaze.
He’s hurt people.
He’s out of control.
People are dying.
I try to push Caleb’s voice from my head, but it’s too insistent.
“You know I care about my students,” says Dr. O, leaning forward, the way I have with Grayson when I’m trying to set him at ease. “And their families.”
My breath comes out in a huff.
His meaning is clear: he’s talking about Mom, about her job with Wednesday.
About what he’s done for me and what I stand to lose if I don’t play ball.
“So you know I don’t take these decisions lightly.” He rubs a hand over his chin. “Maybe it was wrong of me to ask you to see what Caleb’s been up to, but if I don’t know what he’s doing, I can’t keep him here.”
Sweat dews on my hairline. He’s putting this on me. Caleb’s fate, or Grayson’s. I press my teeth together, trying to quiet the throbbing in my brain, to think.
Grayson’s safe as long as he’s useful to Dr. O.
Caleb may be off the deep end, but he needs Vale Hall. His family needs it. I can’t let them sink just because Margot’s twisted his head up with lies and made-up reports …
Margot. That’s my play. I glance to Susan’s picture, to her fragile build and her pressed lips, hoping this is the right call.
“Caleb’s helping me,” I say. “He thinks he found a police report from your sister’s accident.”
Maybe it doesn’t exist, but right now it’s all I’ve got.
Dr. O goes still, his face grave. “Why didn’t you mention this before?”
“I haven’t seen it yet,” I say. “Matthew Sterling buried it with all the other evidence.”
Dr. O’s gaze flicks to Susan, then back to me. “What does this report say?”
I’ve never witnessed Dr. O’s rage before—I didn’t know he had it in him—but I can feel it now, just beneath the surface.
“Something about head injuries before the accident. I don’t know the details.”
“Because you haven’t seen it.”
“That’s right.” Panic slides an icy finger between my shoulder blades.
“Where did Caleb get this? I need to see it.”
I can’t tell him that.
“Some old contacts from his last assignment,” I say, forcing myself to hold his gaze. I need to tell Caleb this so he can figure out his story. “He had to do some digging, that’s why he’s been gone so much. We didn’t want to say anything until we knew for sure it was real.”
“I see.”
“He’s loyal to Vale Hall,” I say.
Loyal. The word hangs between us, setting my teeth on edge.
“And I doubted him.” Dr. O rises slowly, clearly rattled by this new information. “Thank you for telling me. You’re dismissed. Mr. Moore will take you to the clinic for an evaluation. I’ll feel more confident once a doctor takes a look at your head.”
His tone leaves no room for argument.
“What are you going to do?” I ask.
Dr. O stares into the dark hearth. “What I always do. I’m going to take care of my students.”