Chapter 12
Faye walked slowly down the sidewalk, taking a different route than yesterday. She suspected that Zantar’s guards were following her, but she hadn’t seen them so far.
Did she care? Not really. She’d said goodbye to him earlier today. He was flying home, he’d told her. But he expected to hear from her as soon as she’d finished her dissertation.
Yes, she anticipated sending him a copy of her dissertation. But was that enough? Not really. She wanted Zantar. She wanted to talk to him every night. She wanted to share her life with him, not simply send him her finished paper.
Wiping away the tears that spilled down over her lashes, Faye blinked and tried to focus on the sidewalk in front of her.
Maybe if she hadn’t been crying, or perhaps if she hadn’t been running late, or maybe if she’d gotten more sleep and wasn’t feeling so horrible that morning, Faye might have seen Scott approach her as she turned the corner on a building.
But none of that happened and Scott came out of an alley, grabbed her arm and yanked her into the shadows to pin her against the wall. It all happened so fast, she doubted that the guards had even noticed!
“Listen here, little sis!” Scott snarled, pressing her back against the brick wall. “You’re going to tell your boyfriend to sign a contract with Green Mining! Understand?”
Faye stared up at him, shocked at how his appearance had deteriorated just in the past twenty-four hours. Yesterday, he’d looked horrible. Today, he looked like someone had peed on him and lit a match to burn off whatever alcohol had been in the urine!
“I don’t understand!” she gasped, trying to reach up and touch her head. He’d pushed her against the wall so hard that her head had slammed against the bricks, making her head throb with pain.
“Tell your boyfriend to sign the contract,” he hissed, moving closer. His breath made her stomach roil, “Or I will release pictures of you with some of your little boy toy students!”
Faye’s hand stilled, the pain forgotten as she grasped the meaning of his words. “I’ve never done anything to my male students!” she hissed, horrified by what he was asking. “I’ve never even been alone with a student, not in my classroom or anywhere!”
He laughed, shaking his head. “Probably not, because you’re such a freaking prude! But ya know what? Technology is a wonderful thing, Faye! I can create pictures of you in the most compromising positions with as many males and,” he paused, his eyes lighting with anticipation, “and female students. Trust me, I know internet sites where women are doing things that would make a whore blush! And with your pretty face plastered on top of those sites, along with a few of those pretty boys and girls from their Facebook pages…!” he snickered, nodding his head, “Yeah, I don’t think that the school board will think their art teacher is the virtuous little priss-ass that you present to the world. Now what do you say? Play ball? Or will I have to get creative?”
Faye’s whole body turned cold with the horror of his threat. Could he really do that? Could he produce pictures of her doing…things…with her students? Dear heaven, he probably could! Scott had always been less than ethical, but she had no doubt that he could sink that low! Yes, he’d actually take pleasure in sinking her reputation with the school system! And she could then say goodbye to any PhD designation!
She shivered as she pictured her entire future going straight to hell, just because Scott could make up stories and create pictures that would all be lies!
He pulled back, sneering down at her. “And if that threat doesn’t convince you to help me out, think of your new boyfriend. He might be big, but I have ways to bring people down. A bullet in the head is a pretty easy way to remain outside of another’s fists!” Scott laughed at the horror on her features and tightened his grip. “I have resources, Faye,” he said with a snarling whisper. “I will shoot your boyfriend down the next time he gets out of his car. Or maybe I’ll kidnap him, chain him up like a dog and torture him before I get rid of him!” He nodded as if to emphasize his threat, releasing her arms and stepping back. “Tell him to sign the contract, Faye!” He started to walk away. “Green Mining. He needs to sign the contract by tomorrow.” He was nearly out of the alley when he called back, “And it would be best if he didn’t read the contract terms before he signed. Do something to distract him!”
Then he was gone.
Faye stood in the alley, no longer smelling the rotting food or the other disgusting scents. All she could think about was Scott’s threat. He could ruin her! He could destroy her future with just a few pictures. He didn’t even need to create pictures with her own students. An image of her with any teenager would destroy her life! No school system would accept her, no college would even touch her with that kind of horrific accusation hanging over her head. Even if the pictures were proven to be lies, schools would treat her like a pariah! They’d assume the old “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” adage. Or they’d assume that she was involved with unsavory characters, like Scott, and not want to bring that danger close to themselves in case it followed her.
And the threat of him shooting Zantar? The thought of Zantar being tortured for any reason, even for a moment, made her bend over and throw up her breakfast. Even when her stomach was empty, the heaves continued as the horror of Zantar being hurt in any way kept flashing through her mind.
No, she couldn’t allow Scott to hurt Zantar.
There was only one thing she could do!