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“You’re more than welcome. I kind of wanted to see for myself that you were okay after last night, and I didn’t think you’d appreciate me staying over to keep an eye on you.”
I grimace. “I was really wasted. I’m so sorry if I made a fool of myself.”
“Are you sure it was just alcohol?”
“Yes…why? I don’t do drugs.” I scrunch my nose up in distaste.
“I didn’t mean to imply that you did. What were you doing downstairs at the club last night?”
“I was looking for the toilets. Jess has said earlier that they were downstairs.”
“They are. You just used the wrong staircase.”
“I figured I would find them eventually but so many doors were locked and I was…”
“Yeah?” He prompts gently when I trail off and don’t continue.
“I don’t know. A bit worked up I guess. I got really hot and overwhelmed, my vision wasn’t the best and I was just trying to get out of the crowded space. I guess I wasn’t really paying too much attention.”
“Is there any way your drink could have been spiked?” He asks. I stare at him but there’s no trace of humour on his face. He holds my gaze with a deadly serious expression.
“What? No. My friends bought all my drinks for me. Why would they hurt me?” I frown, remembering the last shots I did. Didn’t Steph say they were from her boyfriend and – “Rob.”
“Who’s Rob?”
“I did some shots last night that were allegedly from my friend’s boyfriend and my flatmate, Rob.” I pull a face. “He’s a bit of a creeper.”
Anger flashes across his face so fast I swear I imagine it then he nods. “It makes sense that something was put in your drink. You were pretty out of it when I found you and just walking up the stairs today wiped you out. That’s not a sign of a normal hangover.”
I nibble my lip, considering what he’s saying. He’s right, it is possible of course, but why? I could confront Rob when I return to my dorm perhaps.
“You say I was out of it when you found me, but I think I found you,” I say, trying to address the elephant in the room.
Hector sighs. “Not that out of it then. I guess you have questions.”
“What were you doing down there?”
“Working.”
“Giving a PT lesson?”
“I occasionally work the bar at Trinity’s when they’re short staffed.” He smiles ruefully at me. “I was restocking when you crashed through the door and passed out in my arms.” I frown. “What?”
“That’s not how I remember it.”
“What do you think happened?”
“I crashed through the door and interrupted a…meeting…of sorts. I remember hearing several voices, including someone saying to get rid of me, then there was a man begging and a gunshot—”
“Whoa, that’s quite a story.” Hector’s eyes are wide, shocked but completely sincere. “I wonder what drugs were in your system.”
“No. I wasn’t…this isn’t some sort of drug induced hallucination, Hector! I know what I saw.” I shake my head. I do know what I saw, don’t I? I’m sure of what I heard at least. The guys were fooling around with guns from such an early age, I got used to the noises and sounds. I even snuck out and shot a couple of rounds once when Zie left his pistol in my room. It had a silencer on it, hence recognising the distinctive sound last night.
“I’m not sure, Odile. I think if a gun went off in that room, I would have heard it. It was pretty quiet down there.”
“Exactly. Quiet enough that I wouldn’t have misheard.”
“But you were really drunk, disoriented and possibly drugged. Maybe your perception of these events is slightly off.” His tone is calm but I can sense pressure behind his words. He wants me to agree with him, to let this go, but I can’t.
