Betrayed in Blood

Chapter Twenty-Two

Camilla tapped her foot on the concrete, flicking out droplets that blended with the heavy rain. She didn't mind the rain—it ensured that most other students wouldn't be outside to witness her—but she did mind that her boyfriend wasn't answering the phone.

After a few rings, he finally picked up. "God, Zach, where are you?" Camilla snapped, not bothering to greet him.

"Calm down, I'm pulling into the school right now," he replied. "I'll be in the alley in a minute. There's nobody nearby, right?"

"Nope, not a single person has passed by since 4 o'clock, so almost an hour. And nobody is parked by this alley."

"Okay, I'll be there in a second." He paused. "I love you."

Camilla cringed. "I love you too."

She promptly hung up the phone, tightening her hood even more. Another benefit of being in the rain was that she could be anonymous and it wouldn't look suspicious. For what she had planned that evening, secrecy was crucial. It was risky being somewhere so open, even though it was an alley, but it was the only chance she had.

For over a month, Ava had been investigating the newspaper committee from the inside. It had taken a couple of weeks to gain their trust; being on the cheer team with Camilla worked to Ava's disadvantage initially. But she and Camilla worked to spread the news that they hated one another, and soon enough it reached the committee.

Ava was only present at their meetings that took place every Thursday, but she was not an official committee member. The same, she discovered, was true for Amy Gardener. Sometime after the rally for Camilla's innocence, the committee had made contact with Amy and made a sort of alliance. It seemed that Amy had people on her side, after all.

What Ava discovered after making her own alliance confirmed Camilla's fears: the committee had a plan while hiding their claims against her.

They knew keeping their knowledge a secret put them at risk of being attacked, especially after admitting their accusations. But, from how Ava explained it, the committee intended to bait Camilla. Even before advertising an interview with her, they set up a system to keep themselves safe even when separated. Every day, the three official members met up and left the school together. As soon as they were home, they texted one another updates, and checked each other's SnapMap locations every hour. If they weren't where they were expected to be and didn't answer the phone, the other committee members would call the police.

To anyone else, the system would seem absurd. But to Camilla, it was infuriating. It took weeks just for Ava to find out their plan, and another week for her, Camilla, and Zach to come up with a plan of their own. Finding the perfect time to act on it was another story. It had to be a Thursday, after one of their meetings, on a preferably rainy day so that few students would linger on campus. And though it took a while, their opportunity had arrived.

From one end of the alley, a black truck pulled up, blocking the parking lot past it from view. Recognizing the truck as Zach's, Camilla hurried over. The moment he parked, he rushed just as quickly to meet her.

"Babe!" he called, suffocating Camilla in a hug. The knife in her pocket taunted her instinct to stab him.

She shoved him back, snapping in a whisper, "What are you thinking!? You know how much is at stake today, so shut up!"

Zach's expression fell. "Sorry, I just... I never get to see you. I missed you."

Camilla made no comment. Unlike with her peers, she felt little need to pretend to care for Zach, someone who likely knew her, the true her, better than anyone else. However, he was still useful to her, so she had to lie a bit.