“See,” Jeremy cried out. “She knows it’s him. Rainey, tell her that’s Stone. The Bedlam Boys set us up!”
“I—”
“That’s him. You know that’s him.”
“But I—”
“Tell her!”
“He doesn’t have a beard,” I shrieked, shoving the guy out of my face. “Yes, he looks like Jacques, but I’ve eaten breakfast across the guy every day for the last two months and I’ve yet to see his chin. This dude is as smooth as a baby’s butt.”
“That,” Josephine said slowly, “is what I said. This man is clean-shaven. Jacques Stone, who I also see regularly, is not. Want to know who does look very much like this man in the photo? Gael Stoll.”
“And you want to know who looks very much like Gael Stoll,” Jeremy mimicked. “Jacques Stone. Come on, he shaved! Obviously. That guy isn’t the well-behaved Poindexter he’s got everyone believing. He pops pills to keep those grades. I don’t put stealing tests past him. The Bedlam Boys printed up a bunch of red cards and posed as us. They’ve been coming after us since we got into this town. Now they’re trying to get us expelled.
“I’m not lying down this time, Dean. The Bedlam Boys have gone too far.” Spittle showered her desk. “Stealing and selling tests on our record? Expulsion? No other university will accept us. We’ll be lucky to get into a trade school. This’ll ruin our lives.”
“You should’ve thought of that before.”
“Before what? Before nothing. We didn’t steal those tests. Jacques shaved!”
“Do you have proof Jacques or anyone else is involved?”
“Rainey.” Jeremy bore into me. “You live with them. Tell her they set us up. They had it in for us since the start.”
I opened my mouth.
“Do not say a word, Miss de Souza.” She rose from her seat. “Mr. Ellis, I will not have you put accusations in this young woman’s mouth. The number is registered to you. The men in this photo have tattoos matching yours. I’ve found my culprits.”
“What is this? Why did you call her up here if you already made up your mind?” His eyes narrowed to slits. “Oh, I see.”
“See what exactly?”
“You’re with them. You know we didn’t do this,” he said, jabbing a finger at her. “You and the Bedlam Boys set us up. Roan trumps up an offense, and you have all the excuse you need to expel us. You and that spawn of yours do this often? How many other innocent people have you expelled?”
Shaking my head, I pinched the bridge of my nose. Oh, Jeremy. You do not help yourself.
“I beg your pardon.” Josephine’s voice was a low, dangerous hiss. “I will not have my integrity questioned. No one is targeting you, Mr. Ellis. You are here because the facts lead to you.”
“Just like you planned it, bitch.”
“Jeremy,” I cried. “Stop.”
“You first,” he said to Josephine. “Toss out your fake evidence, apologize, and let me get back to my test. If you do, I won’t have to fly in a team of fifty New York lawyers to sue your ass for everything I can think of.”
Face unreadable, Josephine took her purse out of the desk and pulled out a business card. She held it out to him. “A hotel suggestion for those fifty New York lawyers. The Magnolia has a great continental breakfast.”
I was so very far from the door, or I’d have snuck out a long time ago.
“Mr. Ellis, you are expelled from Bedlam University. Security will escort you from the grounds.”
“Fuck this!”
Jeremy slammed out of the office. The peaceful admission building woke up to his shouts and rants going straight down the hall.
Josephine and I looked at each other as his noise faded.
“Is there something you want to tell me, Rainey?”
“I don’t know anything about this,” I said honestly. “I don’t mess around with cheaters. You cut corners on a farm, and you’re begging to lose a limb or your livestock.”
She sighed, easing onto her seat. “If only everyone felt that way. This is the first time I can recall being disappointed in my students. Mr. Ellis should not have been expelled, because no one should’ve taken him up on his goods.”
“What’s going to happen to the rest of them?”
“Expulsion. There’ll be no more Crows at Bedlam University.”
JEREMY GRABBED ME COMING out of the building.
“You did nothing in there!”
I grabbed his wrist, stumbling back as his hold on my neck forced me against the wall.
“She expelled us! Expelled!”
I was calm—face neutral in his burning glare. “Let me go.”
“You are on their side! You—”
“You’re a fucking idiot,” I snapped. “You called me up to convince the guy’s second mom that some beardless dude in a baseball cap was him. Genius. Her son’s best friend. The son of her close friend, Judge Stone. She wasn’t going to believe that was Jacques without a hell of a lot more evidence.