Immortal Secrets (3 page)

Friday marked my first full week in Lubbock. No one had shown up and tried to kill me yet. That made it a pretty good week in my book. I headed off to school with a sense of excitement. I was ready to find out who I would be partnered with on my History project. I was beyond hoping to get paired with Jeff or even with Brenda. At this point, I would be happy with anyone but Allison.

I took my seat in History and made a conscious effort not to notice or even look at Jeff Campbell. Besides, the last thing I needed was some guy complicating my life. After all, it was a guy that had gotten me into my current mess in the first place. I could easily ignore him for the three hours a week that I had to see him in class.

Once class started, Dr. Greene announced that the list of partner assignments was posted in the hallway outside of the classroom. We could check them once class was concluded. That gave me an hour to sit and wonder who I was partnered with.  Of course that was whenever I wasn’t too busy ignoring Jeff. He was looking particularly good today in a tight fitting polo shirt that highlighted his compact but muscular body. Not that I was noticing him, I was definitely ignoring him.

Dr. Greene let us out a little early so we could check out the pairings he had posted out in the hall. I was excited to go see the list but I was also dreading seeing the list. I made a slow walk out of the classroom and turned to check out the list. I found my name quickly enough and immediately lost all pretenses that I could ignore Jeff any longer. He was listed as my partner. My heart sped up. I looked around for him. This was my chance. I could talk to him about the paper and not seem like I was coming on to him. The only problem was that Jeff was nowhere in sight.

Chapter Three

I showed up for work at nine o’ clock Saturday morning. I was ready to get busy and stop thinking about my upcoming History paper or my writing partner. Apparently, Jeff was so worried about the assignment that he didn’t even bother to check who his partner was. I thought that maybe I just didn’t see him check the list. But I talked to Brenda after class and she said that she saw him walk out of the classroom and he kept on going without ever even glancing at the list. I had gone from excitement that Jeff was my partner to be concerned that I might be on my own as far as this paper was concerned.

The day went pretty quickly in spite of there not being a lot of people in the library on a Saturday. I was straightening up the newspapers and magazines in the basement and did not hear anyone come up behind me.

I heard a voice behind me. “Excuse me Miss, I am looking for some history books.”

I turned and saw Jeff Campbell smiling at me. “You know, some books on the American Indian.”

I tried to act putout. “I don’t know if I should help you right now. You didn’t even stick around to see who your partner was for the History paper.”

He gave me a little smile that said he knew something I didn’t. “I had some, shall we say, inside information on that. I knew you were going to be my partner.”

“I see.”

“So what time do you get off of work today?”

I could see where this was headed. “I get off at four o’clock.”

“Great, I was thinking maybe we could grab some dinner and talk about our paper.”

Apparently Jeff thought I would be so impressed with his attention that I would just automatically fall into his arms. “You must think that I am either extremely stupid or extremely easy. We could have talked about the paper after class yesterday.”

“Well, I was just thinking…”

“You were just thinking that you didn’t want to talk to me in front of your little girlfriend.”

“What girlfriend?”

“You know exactly who I am talking about. I already heard all about how you and her are an ite
m. What is it she said about me
? Oh yeah, that I was a tramp and needed to back off before I got my feelings hurt. I think I will pass on being your little weekend conquest. If you really want to talk to me about the paper, you can do so in class on Monday.”

With that I walked off in a huff. I didn’t want to hear anything else he had to say. Did all guys think that I was just their play thing? I was tired of egotistical men who thought they were exactly what I needed. I could decide on my own what I did and didn’t need. At the moment, I didn’t need Jeff Campbell.

I was still in a mood when I got off from work. Jenny picked me up and we had our usual ride in silence. Went straight to my room and fired up my laptop. I spent about thirty minutes sitting at my desk and pretending to do homework. I heard a knock at my bedroom door and saw Jenny standing there.

She came in and sat on my bed. “So, I was thinking about ordering some pizza. That sound good to you?”

I looked up from my computer. “Sure, that’s fine.”

“So, you feel like talking about it?”

“Talk about what?”

“Whatever it is that’s been eating at you since I picked you up.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. It’s just some stupid guy.”

“Is this someone I should be worried about?”

“No, he is just a guy in my History class. We are supposed to be working on a History paper that is due in a few weeks.”

“So he’s
not
doing his part of the work or what?”

“That’s not it. He showed up this afternoon and asked me out to dinner. He said it was to talk about the paper. I think he had something else in mind.”

“Oh, I get it. What is he, one of those real nerdy looking guys?”

“Actually, he’s really cute.”

“You were right to not go anywhere with anyone until I have a chance to check them out. Just give me his name and I will look into his background.”

“I didn’t even think about that part of it. I should have, but I didn’t. The reason I didn’t go is because I resented being taken for granted. I’ve been down that road before; I
’m not going to let any guy treat me that way
, no matter how cute Jeff Campbell is.”

Jenny stood up. “Listen, I am going to go ahead and look into this guy’s background. I do think that you might not want to date anyone until the trial is over. Some unpleasant things about you could come out during the trial.”

I nodded my head. “We both know that those unpleasant things are going to come out. What kind of guy would want to be with me after that?”

I stepped out of Jenny’s car in front of Holden Hall on Monday morning. I felt a little better than I had Saturday night. I took a deep breath and headed into the building. I would have to face Jeff this morning. That is, unless he was too much of
a coward to show up
. Eventually I would have to get along with him long enough to get this History assignment done.

It turns out that Jeff wasn’t a coward. He was waiting for me outside our His
tory classroom. I picked up my p
ace and tried to look confident and controlled as I approached him. I was fully prepared for this confrontation. I had no doubt that Jeff would do what all guys do. He would try to turn the whole thing around and try to make me feel like I was the one who caused the problem.

Jeff stepped right into my path as I got close to him. “Hey Lisa, you have a second?”

I was unwilling to give an inch or show any weakness. “I guess so, but make it quick.”

“I just wanted to apologize for Saturday. You were right, I was inconsiderate.”

I was a little surprised and unprepared for his surrender. “Well, I guess I could have been a little hard on you.”

“I probably had it coming. I would like to talk to you about our project though. Maybe there is a time we could meet today?”

“Look, I get out of English as ten. Could you meet me in the student union at ten fifteen or so?”

He paused for a second. “Okay, I can do that.”

With our meeting time settled, we both headed into History class. Jeff went back to ignoring me and I pretended to ignore him. Almost everything was the same as the week before. Jeff and I did not speak during or after class. Allison continued to give me dirty looks. The only difference was that Brenda was not in class today. I figured she must have overslept.

After another boring lecture in English, I headed for my meeting with Jeff. I was ten minutes early and a little surprised that Jeff was already there. I entered the student union through the entrance closest to the library. Jeff was waiting just inside the doors.

I still wasn’t sure I was ready to forgive him. “I’m here, so let’s talk.”

He looked around. “Okay, but can we walk while we are talking?”

I shrugged, “I guess, you need to be somewhere?”

“I just want to keep moving. It will keep your watchdogs from hearing everything we say.”

I was feeling uneasy but we started walking through the student union. “What watchdogs? What are you talking about?”

“Maybe we should wait until we walk outside to continue this conversation.”

We walked out the front of the student union and started across the parking lot between the student union and the administration building. “Okay, we’re outside. What are you talking about?”

He looked almost amused. “I mean the guys that shadow you wherever you go. I am going to take an educated guess and say that they are with the marshal service.”

I felt a chill run down my spine. I started looking around for any sign of someone watching us. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Oh, now I get it. They didn’t tell you that they were following you did they? That explains why they have to scramble from time to time. They aren’t sure where you’re going are they?”

I could feel the anger rising inside of me. Being followed was not part of the deal. That bothered me but so did the fact that Jeff had spotted them. “You have a way too active imagination. What are you some kind of English major? You’re obviously very good at creative fiction.”

“You don’t have to tell me the truth.”

“Uh, the truth is that you are
crazy
. Look
,
you asked me to meet you about the History paper that we are doing.”

“Oh yeah, the History paper. Listen
,
I know you work tomorrow afternoon. So I was thinking we could have a working lunch tomorrow to discuss some ideas. I have some thoughts and could bring them in written form. Maybe you could jot some things down as well.”

We stopped walking once we got to the administration building. “So what is the bottom line on what you wanted to tell me today? Other than that you have a heck of an imagination and are a little weird?”

“The main thing I wanted to tell you is that I would prefer if you met me without your marshal friends. I am sure that the lady marshal that drives you to school can make that happen.”

“That is my Aunt Jenny. Don’t worry though, it will just be little old me at lunch tomorrow.”

Jenny picked me up from school at noon. I had half a mind to confront her the second I got in the car. I decided I would wait until after we got home. Jeff was suddenly a huge problem. How much did he know about me? Was he telling the truth about there being additional marshals following me? Even if he was right, how did he know that? Jeff looked like he was twenty one or twenty two. There was no way he was older than twenty five. The only good thing was that I was pretty sure that if he wanted to kill me, I would already be dead.

I waited until the middle of the afternoon to confront Jenny about whether or not there were marshals on campus. I had already figured out that my boss at the library was probably a marshal. I could live with that. It wasn’t exactly in line with the deal I had with the Justice Department, but I could live with it. If there were other marshals following me around, that would be a different story.

I walked into the living room and sat down beside Jenny on the couch. She didn’t seem to take any notice of me. She was working a crossword puzzle and was totally unaware that I intended to drop a bomb on her.

“So Jenny, I have a question.”

She kept working her puzzle and didn’t look up. “Sure, what’s up?”

“Just exactly how many marshals do you have following me around?”

Her head popped up. “There aren’t any other marshals involved in your case. You know that.”

“No, I know there are not supposed to be any other marshals or federal agents involved in my protection. We have a deal.”

“I’m sure it’s your imagination, but I can check into it if you like.”

I was not buying her act for a second. She should have hit the roof at the mere thought that someone was following me around. “That’s okay. Jeff was the one that thought I have marshals following me. I’ll just tell him that isn’t the case. He can just chase his own tail trying to prove me wrong.”

She looked alarmed. “Isn’t Jeff the guy from your History class?”

“Yeah, he said he spotted them and that they have a hard time adjusting when I go somewhere they don’t expect me to. He even said his guess was that they were marshals.”

“He needs to drop this and you need to stay away from him.”

“He’s right, isn’t he?”

“Lisa, it’s for your own good.”