Aftermath

Ch 127: Water Hazard

Sang

As Gabriel circled the parking lot, I stared ahead from the backseat, watching as the sheets of rain splashed against the windshield. 

Once upon a time, I used to like the rain. But now, it terrified me, bringing back memories of the shower. When we had walked outside to find that it was raining, Gabriel rushed off to pull the BMW as close as possible, and Victor had stayed close, distracting me with small talk. Once the car was close, I had bit my lip and clutched Victor's hand as I tried not to let the thirty seconds of rain affect me. We were all a little wet, but somehow I had made it to the car without incident.

"Where the fuck is Kota?" Gabriel grumbled. "He should be out here by now. I told him to hurry."

"Just keep circling the parking lot," Victor advised. "And give Kota time. He had to put everything up and relock the door; it probably took a few minutes."

Shaking his head, Gabriel turned to start another circle around the lot.

"Slower!" Victor admonished.

"What, do you want to drive?" Gabriel complained, though he slowed down to a crawl.

"Yes, I do!" Victor snapped. "But as Dr. Green said, I'm not allowed to right now, so it's up to you."

"Relax," Gabriel said. "I drove North's Jeep, didn't I? I'm really a good driver, I swear."

"But you're inexperienced driving in the dark and the rain," Victor pointed out.

"How can I ever get experience if no one lets me drive?"

I scooted forward to interrupt. "Victor, are you sure you got everything you needed?" I asked.

"Yes, Princess, I got everything—or I will, thanks to the sniffer," Victor said. "It might take a day or two to sort out, but if it's there, we've got it."

"I'm so proud of you!" I exclaimed.

Victor tried to dismiss the compliment. "Kota deserves a lot more of the credit than I do. He's the one that discovered what was going on; for that matter, he's the one that planted the sniffer."

"I gave you a compliment," I said, smiling in the darkness. " Just say 'thank you.'"

Victor laughed. "Thank you."

"That's better," I said with a giggle.

His amusement faded. "I hate that McCoy's involved with all of this. I suppose after last semester, it's not really a surprise, but I checked him out after the bombing. He has a firm alibi; he was caught on an ATM camera about ten minutes afterward in downtown Charleston."

"Do you really think he did all of this shit just to get his job back?" Gabriel asked.

"I was wondering that too," I said. "Couldn't he get another job somewhere else?"

"Actually, he did," Victor answered. "As of a few weeks ago, he was the assistant night manager in charge of produce at a grocery store in Charleston."

"Oh," I said, surprised. "That's a big step down."

"It is," Victor agreed. "Ashley Waters was McCoy's third vice-principal position, and he lost it. No one was willing to take a chance on him after that, especially at his age and in the middle of a semester. Based on what we overheard tonight, getting his job back might be part of his motivations for the bombing, but I wouldn't be surprised if one of them—probably Frenchie—realized that Hendricks was up to something that equaled a significant payday."