or a shadowy figure. Several guards are bunched outside the booth at the gate, conferring and gesturing toward the school buildings. They haven’t caught them yet.
We stop outside Adrienne’s room and thank my bodyguard for escorting us back. Then we duck inside my sister’s room. I almost screech at the sight of a figure clad all in black standing in the middle of the room, a black knit cap pulled low over his head. His back is to us, and he’s bent forward over someone, the only glimpse I can get of small, white hands.
A familiar giggle is what stops me.
Busting up laughing, I lurch for them. “Oh my God. You scared me. How did you get back in here so fast?”
Mikhail swivels around, smothering a grin, pulling Adrienne with him.
She’s flushed and smiling shyly.
I’m pretty sure I just caught them making out.
“It was not difficult to sneak back inside the school,” Mikhail says with a wink. “Did they see my face on camera?”
Ricardo shakes his head. “No. I told you where all the cameras were located, didn’t I?”
“You did.”
“Mikhail, you’re the best. Thank you so much for doing this,” I gush, thrilled that our plan paid off.
“Did you acquire the footage you sought?”
My smile widens. “I did. Now maybe we can get to the bottom of this.” That’s my hope. If we can identify whoever was sneaking around campus during Christmas break, maybe it will be the lead we need to unravel the puzzle and identify Professor Rook’s killer. My gut is telling me that once we do that, our mystery will be all but solved.
Sitting at Adrienne’s desk, Ricardo downloads the videos and opens them. He scans through them quickly until he finds the footage he was talking about. The lights are dim, indicating that it’s late at night as a figure descends to the foot of the dormitory stairs and inches toward the classroom wing.
She keeps her face averted from the camera, but I recognize the confident, leisurely gait. The long curtain of black hair. The silvery bracelet on her wrist. “Gul?”
27
The wait staff at school have outdone themselves. The Eagle banquet room looks perfect with white roses and gold tablecloths. A girl couldn’t ask for a prettier backdrop for her eighteenth birthday. Well, actually I could—the swing club—but they were already booked for another private event.
Ricardo squeezes my hand. “Welcome to adulthood, mon coeur,” he says. “You look gorgeous.”
I flush under his compliment. I’d hoped he’d like my asymmetrical black cocktail dress, because I look fantastic in it. “Like you’re so practiced, with your two whole months of being eighteen behind you.”
“You know I make eighteen look fine,” he says, smoothing the lapel of his coat jacket and waggling his eyebrows at me.
Laughter spills out of me as I go up on tiptoes to give him a quick kiss. “You’re ridiculous.”
“And you love it.” He leans in to kiss me again, wrapping an arm snuggly around my waist.
“Um, are we interrupting?”
I break the kiss to find Adrienne and Mikhail standing in the doorway, her smiling and him eyeing the banquet room appraisingly. My sister looks enchanting in a frothy pale mint green frock.
Running my hands down the front of Ricardo’s jacket, I pull away from him and smooth my skirt. “Nope, not interrupting at all, but the party doesn’t start for half an hour.”
Adrienne steps closer. “We just wanted to see if we could help set up? Do you need anything?”
I scan the room, watching the staff working at the buffet table on one wall. The tables are arranged to perfection with low floral bouquets and gilded china. My favorite 1920s crooner’s voice filters out of the hidden speakers, weaving an enchanting spell over the room. “I don’t think so. We’re all set.”
“Where can we put the presents?” Adrienne whips a gift bag out from behind her back.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I say, taking the bag and setting it down on a side table. “I said no gifts.”
“Only because you return everything you get and exchange it for something else,” Cal says, sauntering into the room.
Adrienne’s eyes go wide. “Is that true?”
“Of course not,” I say, crossing my arms. It’s totally true. I try to steer my family members toward things I want or need, but they never cooperate. Something about it ruining the surprise. But the shy disappointment on my sister’s face right now makes guilt blink to life in my ribcage.
Ricardo chuckles. “What did you get her for Christmas?”