Chapter 76.

After experiencing his first day, Hutch was less enthused for his second. Even the pep-talk Casimir had given him, while dropping him off at the school, hadn't helped clear the gloom away. Because later that afternoon, Casimir, and Julian would be flying out to Utah overnight, and him missing school wasn't an option at this point.

This left Hutch to expect Celina when school got out. However, after another day of attempted learning and large amounts of confusion, Hutch made his way outside, zipping up his winter coat as he went, given the sudden unsettling feeling that had crept up his spine. Every nerve was vibrating, like static on his bones, warning him to the presence of something predatory. He could feel himself being watched, and it didn't feel like a friendly stare.

Purposely dropping his backpack, he shifted as he knelt and pulled up his hood as he went. He faked making an adjustment to his boot, before grabbing his backpack. As he stood up, he slung his backpack over his shoulder, and scanned the parking lot as he turned back to face it, attempting to make his actions seem as natural as he could.

"Nice attempt."

He heard a deep voice from behind him, causing him to abruptly turn on his heels and take a step back to the sight of Rod, Celina's bodyguard, mere inches from him.

"Crap, you scared me!" Hutch blurted out, clutching his hand at his chest, while his peers giggled and whispered as they passed him by.

Rod hmphed and lifted his hand, pressing down on the key fob he was holding, a 'beep, beep' emanating from a car in the parking lot, announcing it had been unlocked. With only a long suspicious stare that rotated from the front, to the corner of his eye, Rod walked away.

Hutch didn't like being caught off guard or being snuck up on, and yet, despite how aware he'd been of his surroundings, Rod had still managed to do both. Even more unsettling was how close Rod had managed to get, even with every alarm bell going off in Hutch's head, and what was worse, he was certain Rod knew that he had noticed his presence.

"Where's Celina?" Hutch questioned, as he moved to follow Rod towards the car.

"Working late," he replied, stopping between two cars, and opening the back passenger suicide door of the dark grey, Rolls-Royce Phantom. "Get in." It was an order, not a suggestion.

Lowering his eyes, Hutch did as instructed, and climbed into the back of the car; the door closing as soon as the last bit of him was inside.

The interior was a luxurious cream-colored leather, with dark wooden panels, and chrome accents. It was spotless. The only thing even remotely out of place, were the winter mats covering the carpet, due to the heavy snowfall over the last day.

In the console between the back seats, was a chilled bottle of ginger ale, and a letter with Hutch's name on it. Fastening his seatbelt, as Rod made his way into the driver's seat, he waited for the engine to start before picking up the note, although the only real indication of the car being on, was the faint sound of the radio, which Rod immediately turned off. Relegating them both to an uncomfortably silent ride.

Opening the envelope, Hutch pulled out the note, which better explained the situation, as Rod drove them out of the parking lot and down the road.

'Dear Hutch; Please accept this drink as a token of my apology. Business that only I could deal with has kept me from coming to get you, so I sent my most trusted security agent to deliver you to me instead. Rod's been instructed to take you home, and to wait for you to get changed. Dress casual, but nice, because I'm treating you to dinner. I want to hear all about your day. See you soon, Celina.'

Folding up the note, he put it back in the envelope and tucked it into the pocket of his coat. Picking up the bottle, he couldn't help but smile at her kindness, before cracking it open and taking a drink. He wasn't certain how she knew, but he had desperately wanted something sweet to drink, and that had hit the spot.

The ride back to the house was less than 15 minutes, and when Rod stopped the car in front of the garage, he put it in park and made no motion or indication, that he was going to get out. Screwing the lid back onto the bottle, Hutch set it in the cup holder, and reached for the door handle.

"I won't be long," he commented, and the door unlocked, just before he could grab the handle, causing him to internally shudder.

Exiting the car as quick as he could, he made his way into the house, never looking back at Rod, as he could still feel his cold stare boring a hole through the back of his head. It wouldn't take more than a few minutes for Hutch to get changed into something less school uniform and more business casual, opting for a pair of black dress pants, button down shirt, and one of the knit sweaters, Celina had filled his closet with. Forgoing the tie, as he had yet to learn how to tie one, and he was not going to ask Rod for any assistance.

After taking an additional moment to use the bathroom and comb back his hair, Hutch put on his dress shoes, and coat, and headed back out to the car, only to find it now facing the opposite direction. Maneuvering around behind the car, he opened the door and climbed back in, finding the outward swing of the door rather cumbersome to operate from the inside.

Once situated though, he fastened his seat belt yet again, and the long silent car ride to Cascel Tower began. Having a good idea of how long it would take to get there, and desperate for a distraction before they reached the end of the driveway, Hutch dug into his backpack and pulled out his math textbook.

Considering this was the subject he had the least issues with, he wanted to reread, at his own pace, what the teacher had covered in the class early that day. Unfortunately for Hutch, he gained no further insight, finding the extensive explanations more confusing than they needed to be. He'd always preferred just being told how things where to be done, as he could easily understand that numbers and formulas worked; numbers didn't lie, and the formulas were used to calculate different things. He didn't need to know the how or why behind any of it. To him, it had all been made so unnecessarily complicated.

Having made it to the tower, he put his book back in his bag, and let the anxiety inducing silence chase away the momentary sense of gratitude he felt for not having to read anything further, as they pulled into the ominously dark underground parking lot.

Rod took the time to back into the awaiting parking spot, before putting the car in park and killing the engine. Hutch lifted his eyes to meet Rod's in the rearview mirror. He could hear him breathing. But neither had yet to move. Their seatbelts were still on. The doors were still locked. And the tension was rising to unbearable levels.

Hutch wasn't certain if Rod was going to leap over the front seat to attack, or just pull out a gun and shoot him, but like his counterpart, Hutch had his hand on his seatbelts release, ready to move if need be. But there was something more at play between them in that space inside that car. The air of suspicion, distrust, and curiosity, wafted between them. Words were useless, they couldn't speak with the same depth, the way men like Rod did with their presence alone, and by now, he knew that Hutch could hear him. So, he was searching for the answer as to how it was possible, and Hutch was in no position to explain.

Instead, he cracked first, no longer capable of enduring the atmosphere, his level of patience having been reduced to that of his stupidly distractible, adolescent mind.

"What is it?" he snapped, looking away as he unfastened his seat belt.

At this point it didn't matter what Rod had to say, Hutch wanted out of the car, and as far away from that man as he could get as quickly as he could.

"You're like him, aren't you?"

Hutch froze, "Like who?" he questioned, his eyes shifting from the door handle back to the mirror.

"Casimir."

Closing his eyes, Hutch took a breath and replied, "Yes," knowing that lying to such a man was an exercise in futility. Rod already knew the answer, but for whatever reason he needed to have it confirmed for it to make any amount of sense.

Rod made no verbal response, asked no follow-up questions, and with only a faint nod, the doors unlocked. Hutch grabbed his backpack and the drink, and hastily abandoned the car, for the cold air and the damp concrete scent of the underground parking garage.

He felt like a rabbit, in the back of a cage, uncertain if his answer had rendered him a death sentence or some leeway, but with his back against the neighboring vehicle, he watched as Rod got out of the car, and locked the doors, before heading in the direction of the elevators, remarking, "Mrs. Salvador is waiting," with a casual wave of his hand.