Dead Politician Society

Chapter 47: Matthew

Matthew rolled around to look at the alarm clock. Noon. He hadn’t stayed in bed this late for years.

He turned back toward Annabel. “So what do you want to do today?”

“You’re kidding, right?” Her lips curled in irony. He’d never noticed how cute they were before. They pushed out from her face so invitingly he leaned over and kissed her.

He took her hand and smiled to think of what it had recently done for his cock. “Why would I be kidding?”

Annabel laughed. “If we were at my place, you’d have been gone before I woke up. Where did this spending the day part of our relationship come in?”

“When you trusted me with all that stuff last night. It meant a lot to me.”

He brushed a fallen strand of hair behind her ear. She looked so pretty this morning, the way the sun caught her red and blond highlights.

“So my reward is a whole day of Matthew?” Annabel rolled her eyes before meeting his. “Do you really think Utopia Girl is one of your students?”

He sighed. “I was worried already. What you’ve shown me cements it.”

Her eyes shot wide open. “You mean you already had a student who you thought might be this killer? I should have come to you before. We could have saved a life, even two.”

“I didn’t know which student. Still don’t.” Matthew thought of Clare rummaging through his office. Was she looking for more SPU cards to leave with the dead politicians, frame the club? Or was it worse than that? Was she an undercover cop, targeting Matthew as her prime suspect?

“Oh.” Annabel relaxed. “So what made you think…?”

“Well…you know how those letters were signed by a secret society?” Should he be telling her this? “I founded the SPU when I first came to U of T.”

“You mean it’s a real thing? The Society for Political Utopia?” Annabel propped her head up on one elbow.

“Each year, I’ve chosen the handful of kids who remind me most of myself at their age. Not necessarily who hold my views, but kids who are passionate about change. Only instead of feeling unimportant and not listened to, like I did, I wanted these kids to see that what they say and do can make a difference. Starting now, not twenty years after they graduate.”

“Matthew, that’s amazing.”

He shook his head. “I got sidetracked by my ego.”

“We all get sidetracked by our ego. That’s what our ego is, right?”

“I’m supposed to be their role model and I led them into murder.”

“You didn’t lead them there on purpose.” She eyed him carefully. “Right?”

“Of course not.”

“So don’t blame yourself for your good intentions. Maybe together we can solve this.”

“When did you get the first email?” he asked. “The fake obit about Hayden Pritchard.”

“Tuesday morning. I opened it when I came into work.”

“And when did you contact the police?”

She shrugged the shoulder she wasn’t lying on. “I showed my boss and she called the police right away, I think. They were interviewing me in under an hour.”

“What time of day was that?”

She looked at him strangely. “I got to work just before 8 a.m. Why are you asking?”

“Because that little bitch is a cop.” Shirley had asked him to take Clare into his class that morning. The timing was perfect.

“What little bitch?”

“Clare.”

He got out of bed and studied his face in the en suite mirror.

“Who’s Clare?”

Annabel started to gather her clothes from various locations on the floor.

“A student. I think she’s undercover.” He splashed water onto his face. “You want to go over to the island today? Rent a couple bicycles, act like tourists?”

“Why not? Let’s pretend for a day that you actually like me.”

“What?” He returned to the bedroom holding an open can of shaving cream.

“I know we can’t do this forever.” Annabel slipped a slim leg into her thong. “But sure, for today, let’s pretend.”

“Annabel!”

“Don’t be upset. I like you. I’m not mad.”

“Then why are you being insecure?” He set down the shaving cream and sat on the unmade bed.

“I’m not being insecure. I’d be foolish if I was secure.”

“I really like you. I was hoping we could start to step things up a bit.”

She did up the clasp on her bra. He loved watching her back arch as she did that.

“Last night—this morning—didn’t we have such a good time together?”

“Yeah.” She wriggled into her J Brand jeans. Her ass looked fantastic in them. “I shared some information, then we had better sex than we’ve had in two years. And this morning, for whatever reason, your human side is wide awake and you’re craving some kind of real connection. That’s nice. It’s sweet. It won’t last.”

Matthew sighed. He couldn’t win.

“Look, for whatever reason, I still want to date you.” She sat beside him, half-dressed, on his bed. “So let’s do it. Let’s go to the island. Rent some bikes. Pretend we’re in love.”