Page 20 of Bittersweet Revenge

Antoine chuckled. “Ah! That’s exactly what Tay said last night.”

Archie growled as Taylor swatted Antoine in the stomach, making him gasp.

“Careful, babe. I’m fragile,”Antoine said.

“And you’re an ass!” She glared at him. “Cut the crap.”

I rolled my eyes. No, we couldn’t afford a battle of testosterone now, not with this much at stake. “We need to hurry; the bell will go soon.”

Archie sighed. Reaching into his pocket, he extended a folded piece of paper to Antoine. “This is our list for you to look into.” He turned to me. “I added your librarian, even if it is a long shot.”

Antoine whistled, looking at the list. “Damn, that’s not just anyone on this list!” He looked up at us, his eyes widening with surprise. “The Astors?” I nodded. “Your father?” I nodded again. “Sheriff Whiteman?”

I looked at Archie, surprised to see the name on the list.

Archie shrugged. “If it was murder, it was covered up really well. The Sheriff, coroner... Anyone and everyone who touched the case.”

Antoine slipped the note into his pocket. “It might take a little while to go through the names on the list. I need to be extra careful and do it all myself.”

“It’s not like she is going anywhere, is she?” The bitterness in Archie’s voice was not surprising. He had lived with our mother.

I extended my hand to him and he took a couple of steps forward. He was reaching for my hand when he was nudged forward as the door was opened by Caleb.

“Ah, the Scooby Gang is in session. Sorry to interrupt.”He crossed his arms on his chest. “Anything I’m missing?”

“Where were you this morning? You missed the council meeting.” Archie turned toward him, blocking my line of vision.

“So what?”

“It was critical.”

Caleb scoffed. “What could be so critical at a High Schoolmeeting, huh? What will the prom theme be? Sorry to break it to you Archibald, but some of us deal with more important things.”

This intrigued me, especially since both Antoine and Archie looked surprised. I took it that this wasn’t Caleb’s normal behavior with them.

“What are we talking about?” Caleb asked, and the smirk that appeared on his face showed me he was about to inflict pain. I just didn't know who the recipient was going to be.How sad was it that I could recognize his moods just by the type of smile he was sharing?

“Maybe we should do a couple’s evening. What do you say? Oh no, wait.” He turned his icy gaze to Archie, locking onto his prey. “We can’t, Archibald Forbes is all alone,” he added before looking at Taylor.

Caleb knew, that much was clear. He knew that Archie loved Taylor even if that idiot refused to admit it and I would bet everything I owned that he had played a part in whatever had gone down between them.

Caleb was a gifted puppeteer, one who thrived on people’s misery especially when he was in pain, and I suspected that he was always in pain now that he’d lost Theo, now that I’d betrayed him after he’d dared showed me a little softness. I prayed for us all.

He extended his hand to me as the bell rang. “Let's go.”

I looked at his hand, which was, I knew, just as soft as it looked. Why did he want to hold my hand?

“Come on, sweetheart.” The word in his mouth sounding anything but endearing.

When I didn't make a move, he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the door.

“My fiancée just came back after a month in Paris. I missed her dearly,” he added with such a flat voice that he could’ve very well been reading a science manual. But then, I realized, it was all about appearances yet again.

I sighed with resignation and squeezed his hand. It would always be about appearances – forever.

The morning classes went by painfully slowly. I just couldn’t wait for lunch and hearing all about Taylor and Antoine.

I half-expected Caleb to demand I sit with him when we entered the cafeteria, but he didn’t. Was it because I needed alone time with my friend? I shook my head at the thought. No, of course not. It was probably because he needed to deal with some Kings stuff.

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