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19
“Miss McFee, being an investigative journalist does not mean interfering with an active police investigation,” Dr. Williams sternly warns me, after hearing my thoughts on the campus drugging incident.
“I realize that, but what happens if this is a conspiracy that extends way beyond the campus walls? This could be a huge uncovering if I were to focus my attention on it. I can interview the girls and try to—”
“I am warning you now that it is illegal to tamper with an open investigation that is already on the police’s radar. Leave the professionals to do their job. They might be providing their own set of private investigators, ones with decades of experience to figure out what is going on.”
“Or they might just be doing the bare minimum because they think it’s not a serious problem,” I counter.
“Regardless, your job as a student is to write an actual article. Not to paint a conspiracy picture for the public’s eye. You need actual evidence. Actual interviews. An actual story.”
“Yeah and I had that last spring.” It was epic too.
“Are you going to keep living in your past or push forward to the future?” Dr. Williams asks.
He is right. I need to stop dwelling on the what-ifs and move forward.
“Thank you for your guidance, as always,” I say, getting up from the chair.
He places his glasses down on his polished desk. “I have faith in you, Miss McFee, that you will have a breakthrough.” He points a pen at me. “I can see determination in your eyes.”
“Yup, it’s not like anything major is riding on it,” I respond sarcastically. “Just my entire future career.”
* * *
I am ten minutes late when meeting Collins in the parking lot, due to my conversation with Dr. Williams about my assignment. I am nearly ready to give up and needed his pep talk to snap me back to my life goal. Claire thinks I have OCD when it comes to deadlines, but then I just remind her about “The Purge”—as I so eloquently like to call it—and she snaps back into not being such a brat. If anyone has OCD, it is her. I blame the Internet for Claire’s problems involving food. And Oprah.
“Good morning, ma’am,” Collins greets with a smile and a small nod of his head.
I stare at the new black vehicle in front of me. It is bigger than the Mercedes, with shiny hubcaps and tinted windows. The length is longer but doesn’t have the old-person vibe. I slip into the backseat with help from Collins’s strong hand. As always, his attire is professional and his hair is well-groomed.
“Just how many cars does Graham own?” I ask, looking around the luxurious interior. The privacy screen is down, and Collins can easily see my facial expressions in the rearview mirror. I can see his smirk and his gaze wandering up to do the mental calculation.
“Well, if we are counting his summer cars and the winter ones, I would say five, ma’am. Maybe more.”
“Such a waste for one man to have so many cars that he barely even knows how to drive himself.” Graham drove me home after the hospital fiasco. However, he usually relies on Collins to escort him.
I catch Collins’s snort at my joke, but he quickly recovers to hide behind his stiff statue-like persona. “I suppose, ma’am. But I assure you that Mr. Hoffman very much loves to be in the driver’s seat.”
Oh, I bet he does. A euphemism doesn’t exist for categorizing Graham; he is blatantly controlling.
“Does he have a family?” I ask. As soon as the words leave my mouth, I am surprised at how much I care. I do want to know more about the man. He is very intriguing.
“Mr. Hoffman doesn’t ever mix business with family.”
“But he has one?” I pry.
“Don’t we all?”
A sadness rushes over me, and I am transported to a time when that was true. I used to have a family. I had a brother who adored me and whom I adored as well. I had a mother who chose to suffer in pain just to have another coherent memory with her kids. I had a dad who was sober. It was the all-American family.
“Miss McFee, are you okay?”
I brush a tear from my eye and suck in a deep breath. I will never be okay.
“Where are we going? Where does Graham work?” Focusing on everyone but me helps.
“He is at Hoffman Headquarters Incorporated today, ma’am.”
