"I know you didn't."
"How did she find out?"
"It's a long story Kathleen. Can we talk about it later?"
"Oh, oh yeah." Sera could hear the unhappiness in her voice, but there was nothing that she could do to ease it. "Um Sera, the door to the room is broken. What if it was him? What if he came here? I should call campus security and..."
"No!" Sera nearly shouted.
"But what if he came here?"
"He didn't."
"Sera..."
"Kathleen please, there is nothing to worry about. Liam broke the door last night. I was so upset after Jacob called that I accidentally locked myself out." She was normally a horrible liar, but suddenly they were pouring off her tongue as if she was accomplished at it. She had never felt so awful before.
"Oh, okay. Well that's good then. I'll just have maintenance come and fix it. Your sheets are gone too, but I guess I don't have to ask what happened to those if Liam was here," she added with a laugh.
Sera winced as she vividly recalled Jacob's body wrapped within those sheets. "No," she mumbled. "No you don't."
"Are you sure you're all right?"
"I'm fine," she answered tiredly. "I'll be back later today, okay?"
"Okay. If you need anything, call me."
"I will," she promised.
She hung the phone up and tossed it back to Mike. He placed it on the desk and turned to face her, a look of admiration on his face. "Well," Mike said. "It's good to know that you think fast in a pinch."
Sera rubbed at her pounding temples. "I hate lying," she mumbled.
"You're going to have to get used to it." Liam and Sera glared at Mike. He held up his hands in surrender. "Well you are!" he protested. "And trust me it doesn't get any easier. Wait till people start to ask questions about what happened to Jacob. I just hope that no one knew he was coming here, or saw him."
Sera hadn't even begun to think about that. Her mind had been too overwrought with everything else that was going on, to even begin to wonder what would happen when Jacob was reported missing. "I doubt he let anyone see him," Liam said. "He came here for a reason, and he wouldn't want anyone to be able to testify against him."
"But he might have told someone. He might have even told Michelle," she whispered.
"No, he wouldn't."
Sera spun toward him. "You can't know that!"
He clasped hold of her hands. "No, I can't," he said. "But we also can't know if he told anyone. Worrying about it now isn't going to do any good. If something happens, we'll worry then. Okay?"
She searched his face before nodding her consent. "What about the body?"
"I'm going to take care of that," Mike answered. "Speaking of which, it's getting pretty late. I'd better go."
"Thanks Mike," Liam said.
"No problem. I'll let you know how everything goes."
He climbed to his feet and left. Sera turned to look at Liam, her hopelessness radiated from her body. He pulled her down onto the bed with him. "Things will be all right," he assured her. "I promise."
She lifted her head to look at him. Her eyes burned into his as she leaned down and kissed him. "I don't want to think about it anymore," she whispered. "I don't want to think about anything right now."
She kissed him again, her mouth warm and lush against his as she opened to him. His passion built rapidly as she melted against him. He rolled her over, resting himself on top of her as his mouth savaged hers. He needed her with a hunger that was nearly consuming him. His hands roamed over her body, relishing in the feel of her warm skin as he hastily shoved her shirt up.
