of two spots. I facepalm. Clearly I was more drunk last night than I realized, parking like that. I’ll have to move it sooner rather than later, once everyone comes inside for class.
Maybe then I’ll be able to figure out why everyone is outside, despite the bone-chilling temperature this morning.
Interspersed between the rows of cars, people are gathered in clumps, whispering and casting wary glances toward the street. Several people in dark uniforms work in the road fifty yards away from the academy. First, a woman pauses near each of the small, numbered plastic markers to take photos. Another moves behind, taking swab samples and bagging them in individual containers.
My eyebrows furrow. Weird. They’re working right about where I ran over that tire, their plastic markers a lot like the ones they use in police shows.
Nearby, two men load a large, black bag into the back of an official-looking vehicle. It looks kind of like a body bag, but that can’t be right, can it?
I rub the sleep from my eyes and look again.
It’s definitely a body bag.
Oh, no.
Dread pools low in my gut. Someone else is dead?
My fingers shake as I pick up my phone and call my stepsister, but I tell myself it’s only because it’s freezing in here.
No answer.
Another attempt. No response.
Cal’s voicemail box is still full.
I dial my best friend, Genevieve, before remembering that she doesn’t get back from Belgium until this afternoon.
I clutch my robe around my throat, studying the crowd more closely. It’s a mess of students and faculty, but I don’t see my brother or my sister. Fear flickers in my chest. What if ...?
No, I can’t think like that. They’re safe. They have to be.
My eyes roam over the crowd again, and stall on Ricardo.
Something hot rankles in my belly, making my lips curl. I don’t have enemies because if I did, it might affect Daddy’s effectiveness as a politician. I won’t do anything that jeopardizes his career, and my own by extension. But if I did have a hate list, Ricardo would be at the top.
He must feel my glare, because he glances up toward my window.
I duck behind the curtain, praying he didn’t see me. I’d die if he thought I was checking him out. That arrogant playboy doesn’t need any encouragement. Why Adrienne is still friends with him, I’ll never understand. Yeah, he helped her out last semester, but he’s still too much to take.
Hot annoyance gets the better of me, and I glance out again.
Ricardo is still looking in this direction. When he sees me, he gives a flirty finger wave.
I wish I was a snake-headed goddess who could turn him to stone. But unfortunately all my glare does is make him laugh.
Turning away, I stomp across my room and get dressed. That cocky, obnoxious flirt!
But before I do, I try calling Adrienne again. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up!
A knock on my door makes me jump clear out of my skin. “Who is it?” I snap.
“Charlotte, it’s me. Adrienne. Can I come in?”
Relief floods through me as I hurry and fling open the door. “You’re all right,” I say, throwing my arms around her.
A beat passes as she stands there, shocked. I’m honestly kind of shocked too. This might be the first time I’ve ever hugged her. I am not a hugger.
Adrienne’s arms tighten around my back. “I’m fine,” she whispers. “I came to check on you. Have you heard?”
I pull away, looking back toward the window, not even self-conscious that she’s seen me in my ratty bathrobe. I must really like her, because nobody sees me in this thing. Not even Genevieve.
“Heard what?”
Adrienne closes the door gingerly, and crosses to the glass.
I don’t miss the wary expression she sends my way.
“What’s going on? Why are you treating my like a skittish animal?”
Adrienne bites her lip, and her face flushes. “It’s just that, it’s not good, and I don’t know how you’re going to react. I just want you to be okay.” She swallows, and her gaze grows steady on mine. “You haven’t been feeling the urge to… you know… buy any pills from Professor Rook recently, have you?”
My eyes widen in surprise. “Is that what this is about? You’re worried I’ll start taking uppers again? I told you. I’m done with that. Besides, it wasn’t like I took them that often anyway.”
Adrienne’s eyes drop. “Okay, if you say so.”
My brow furrows in annoyance. “What does that have to do with what’s going on outside? I saw