Page 27 of Surrender to Me

Chapter 16

My phone buzzed against the nightstand, loud enough to wake the dead. You’d think that on vibrate, it would be quiet enough. Not with my phone.

I quickly answered it, trying not to wake Owen. “Hello?” I asked.

“Riley,” Lisa said. “You need to come here, now.”

I told her I’d be there soon, then clicked off the phone. I wasn’t going to question it. Lisa wasn’t the type of person to play games, so I knew it was important. Owen stirred as I got out of bed. I pulled on my jeans quickly.

“What’s up?” he asked with a sleepy, cracked voice. His dreamy smile could’ve melted me right there if I let it. How was the man able to look good even waking from a dead sleep? But then the thought crossed my mind that he was hiding his true self. Maybe the dreamy, sleepy smile was a way to fool me. My expression dropped.

“Lisa called saying I had to get down there,” I said. He sat up, cracking his toes as he did.

“I’ll go with you,” he said.

“No.” His eyes questioned me, and I shook my head. “I need to do this alone.”

Two police cars were parked on the street, the sight of which made my stomach sink. The front door of the gallery was propped open, but I could see the carnage from outside. Tiny shards of glass sparkled on the ground, pieces of plaster and wax toppled on each other. Arms, a mouth and nose, the broken melted wrist. Red spray paint streaming across, like the statues were bleeding. Years of work, my work, my heart and soul, destroyed.

Lisa was rubbing her temples and nodding as she spoke to the police. I sat down next to the pieces of the glass sculpture cracked into five large chunks with tiny shards broken off here and there. I ran my hands over the pieces, letting the sharp ends dig into my palm.

“Hey,” Lisa said softly. She touched my back. It was the first time she had ever been affectionate towards me. “Are you all right?”

I shrugged. “Not much I can do, is there?”

“Answer the questions,” she said. She nodded at the police. “We know who it is, but they still have to ask the standard—”

“Wait, you said you know who it is?” My mind lept to Poppy, the image of her tossing her head back as opened the can of paint.

Lisa looked at me with a bit of surprise, like she was shocked at my reaction. “You know that asshole from yesterday who said the glass series was generic?” She rolled her eyes hard. “I have security cameras. That idiot should’ve known that.” She sighed, looking towards the door. “You can salvage this,” she said. “Use the pieces to make something else.”

“I know,” I said.

She walked over to her office in the corner of the gallery. The police asked questions, like whether I had enemies or if anyone had made any threats lately. I mentioned Michael and the destroyed film and photographs, and they let me know that they had the footage from the cameras and would be taking care of Lauder shortly. I asked if they would be notifying the Foundation since this was related to the school. They said that they would inform the campus police, but that Lisa had stated she would be letting the other faculty know.

I called Michael and it went straight to voicemail. “You do know Lisa had cameras set up, right?” I said. I groaned. “Haven’t you done enough?” I hung up, and like a damn curse, the angry tears started welling up. A text message pinged my phone.

Owen: Is everything all right?

Of course not, I thought. Everything is all fucking wrong. I wanted to call Michael a thousand different horrible names, but a headache came over me, making me feel exhausted. Owen’s name flashed on the phone’s screen, signaling an incoming call, but I had no energy to take it.