Page 46 of Drunk In Love
Everyone gasps in unison as the first story is the arrest of Harry Cooper. The anchor advises of the lockdown at the college. The End Elitism coalition has handcuffed themselves to various structures all over the campus and were refusing to move. The camera pans to Harry yelling into his bullhorn with his free arm, “End Elitism now!”
“Who is that?” Harlowe asks.
Max and I try filling her in on how we met the teen, his connection to Cecily, and the assignment we were working on.
The next shot is of the police using a tool to cut through the throng of protesters and trying to move all of them while many are shown resisting arrest. Then there’s a shot of Harry being tackled and handcuffed by police and campus security before he’s hauled away.
“Do you still think he’s innocent?” Maxwell asks, turning away from the TV.
I shake my head. “Never thought he was completely innocent, but now I have more questions.”
The phone in my hand is ringing. A number I don’t recognize. I could let it go to voicemail, but Harry’s arrest and Friday’s date with Zach have me on edge. I answer.
“Hello?” No response at first, but then I hear someone clearing their throat. “Ms. Blake? It’s Franco, and I think I have some information that can help you.”
CHAPTER 16
Maxwell
Turning away from the news station, I watch Kam as she backs away from the four of us who are speaking about Harry’s arrest. The news segment ends and goes to commercial, and I move closer to hear what Kam is saying. Her face is filled with surprise.
Who could she be talking to?
She places her fingers at her temple, indicating that the conversation is stressing her out.
“Okay, okay. I’ll be there. Thanks for reaching out. Okay, bye.”
Kamaya checks that the call is disconnected before looking up at me. “You’ll never guess who that was.”
My first thought is maybe its Zach reaching out to her after the date on Friday. “Who was it?”
“Franco. He saw that Harry was arrested and wants to talk to me about what he saw before leaving Financial Journal.”
“Why now?” I speculate.
Kamaya shrugs. “Not sure. He’s finally coming around; I don’t want to take that for granted.”
I got what she was saying. With assignments like this, we had to tread lightly. Since none of us were official law enforcement, we couldn’t get warrants or force anyone into speaking to us.
“What time are we going to meet him?”
Kamaya makes a face like she doesn’t want to inform me.
“Here’s the thing. He wanted to meet me alone.”
“What? There’s no way you can meet him on your own! We still don’t know much about this guy and what he’s capable of.”
“I know, but—” Kamaya says.
“Kamaya, I don’t think this is a good idea. We don’t know what this man can do. I don’t feel comfortable with you going alone.”
“Come with me, Max. I didn’t really want to go by myself anyway. We’ve been working on this assignment together from the beginning. Now this is our chance to resolve this once and for all.”
“What time does he want to meet?”
“Later this evening during his break,” Kamaya says. “He always works late evenings, he says, since he helps to take care of his sick father during the day. He didn’t want to meet at Milano’s again. Instead he asked to meet at Columbus Park a few blocks away.”
I viewed the time on my watch. We still had several more hours before Kam and I were due to meet Franco.