2 Whispering (14 page)

Things were relatively quiet on campus over the next several weeks – at least as far as I could tell. Rafael had kept his word and contacted me at least once every couple of days – but he wasn’t exactly rolling in information. Our conversations were short and to the point.

Winter was long gone at this point in the season. Spring was not only here but also blossoming -- literally. We were well into April and Earth Day had arrived. On a college campus, that meant that everyone congregated on the lawn in front of the library to smoke pot and drink in public. Hey, I didn’t make up the rules.

Temperatures were in the 60s in the sun, so it wasn’t exactly hot – but it was a lot better than it had been only weeks before. Plus, anyone who has ever lived in Michigan knows that once it hits the 60s in the spring – it’s time to pull out the shorts.

Paris and Mark were still going strong and Laura, for her part, seemed to have gotten over their coupling. Or, perhaps, she was just hiding it better.

I was seeing less and less of Lisa. She was venturing out on campus more often than not and the last few times I had climbed the stairs to visit her she hadn’t been there. I didn’t think she wanted to remember her murder, so she was avoiding me so she didn’t have admit that she was scared of what she would find.

I know it sounds shallow, but in the shadow of the warm sun and the sight of the budding flowers I had let the dark thoughts of missing girls slowly dissipate from my mind.

Professor Blake had kept a respectful distance. Granted, if someone else had disappeared I wouldn’t necessarily know it, but Rafael said he hadn’t heard of anything happening. That was good enough for me. For now, at least.

“It’s such a relief to be outside, isn’t it?”

I glanced over at Paris. We had spread out a blanket on the library lawn and were listening to the music as we watched a couple of hipsters kick around a hacky sack a few feet away.

“We’ve been outside,” I reminded her. “Don’t forget those awesome astrology labs.”

“At least they’re almost over,” Paris conceded. “They’ve been better since we haven’t had to draw with mittens on our hands.”

“True.”

The lawn in front of the library was congested with people. It was like everyone had decided to celebrate spring together – and it was kind of a fun environment.

“I’m going to get something to drink,” I said suddenly.

“Alcoholic or non-alcoholic?”

“I haven’t decided yet. I’m going to just look around.”

“I’ll stay here and guard the blanket,” Paris said, laying back to soak up the rays. I couldn’t help but wonder if her pale skin could take this much sun – but I didn’t figure it was any of my business.

I perused the various booths around the library square. Most of the sororities and fraternities had erected small tents to sign up pledges for the next semester. I saw that Brittany was working her sorority’s booth. We hadn’t seen much of her over the past few weeks. She was tantalizingly close to being a full-fledged member of the sorority and her association with us was something she was trying to minimize during the home stretch. I didn’t blame her.

Brittany glanced up and saw me looking at her. I waved quickly and then walked away. I didn’t want to get called over there – not that an academic sorority would want me anyway.

I saw that Alpha Chi, Will’s fraternity, was recruiting a few feet away. Will wasn’t running the booth, but he was standing under the awning and drinking from a plastic cup.  He wasn’t the only one by the Alpha Chi table, though. Aric was there as well – and he wasn’t alone. That blonde I had seen hanging on him at the University Center was at his side.

I froze in place, looking around for somewhere to hide quickly. I didn’t have a lot of options. I hadn’t seen Aric in weeks and he had stopped calling me. I wasn’t bitter about it at all. What? I wasn’t.

Without even thinking about what I was doing, I slipped under Delta Omicron’s tent and hid behind Brittany.

“What are you doing?” Brittany hissed as she looked down on me.

“Um, I dropped my contact lens.”

“You don’t wear contacts.”

“Well, I’m thinking of starting.”

“Who are you hiding from?”

“No one,” I lied.

“You’re obviously hiding from someone.”

“Well then stop talking to me.”

“Why?”

“People will think it’s weird that you’re talking to the ground.”

“I’m not talking to the ground. You’re on the ground.”

“Stop drawing attention to us,” I ordered.

“Whatever,” Brittany muttered and turned her eyes forward again. “Welcome to Delta Omicron, where everything you’ve ever wanted is possible.”

I could hear Brittany pushing papers across the top of the table she was sitting at and I could see a pair of feet on the other side of the table. Ugh, Payless shoes. Who goes out in public in Payless shoes?

“So, what can you tell me about Delta Omicron?” A voice asked.

Brittany launched into a litany of the sorority’s benefits – all of them academic – and she showed no signs of slowing. I figured I could sneak out of the tent without Aric seeing me at this point, so I straightened up behind Brittany. Unfortunately, the girl asking questions had been the one hanging on Aric at Alpha Chi’s tent.

“What are you doing?” She asked, looking me up and down dubiously.

“Exercising,” I lied.

“On the ground?”

“It’s the latest thing.” What? It could be. They come up with new things every week.

The girl looked confused. I had a feeling that was her perpetual state. Unfortunately for me, up close, she was even prettier than she had been from far away. She had long blonde hair, which stretched down to the middle of her back, and she had one of those bodies that you just knew came from genetics instead of hard work. I hated her on sight.

“What’s going on?”

I recognized Aric’s gravelly voice instantly. Could this get any worse? He stepped under the tent and regarded Brittany and me with a hint of a smile on his face.

‘Hi Aric,” Brittany said enthusiastically. “I’m trying to tell your girlfriend how great it would be if she rushed Delta Omicron.”

“That’s great, Brittany,” Aric said. He cast a look in my direction. “She’s not my girlfriend, though.”

I saw the girl’s blue eyes darken at his words. Obviously she thought differently.

“I’m Madisyn, with a y,” the girl introduced herself.

“I’m Brittany with two ts,” Brittany answered.

“I’m Zoe with a migraine,” I said sarcastically.

Aric grinned at me. “You don’t seem like the sorority type to me.”

“I’m not,” I said. “I’m just visiting Brittany.” That was kind of the truth – if you stretched it a few feet.

“I thought you were exercising?” Madisyn said suspiciously.

“I can do two things at once,” I shot back.

Madisyn looked between Aric and me and I couldn’t help but notice she didn’t seem to enjoy the intensity Aric was regarding me with. “What do you think, Aric? Should I rush Delta Omicron?”

“It’s up to you,” Aric said absently.

“I might have less time to spend with you,” she pointed out.

“Definitely do it then,” Aric said. I don’t think he realized what he had said.

I shot a victorious look in Madisyn’s direction. “You don’t want to spend time with me?” She pouted.

“Huh? What?” Aric finally turned to her. “What did you say?”

“I said that if I rushed a sorority I wouldn’t be able to spend any time with you.” Madisyn was going for flirty.

Aric looked uncomfortable. “I don’t think I should figure into your decision,” he said finally.

“Why is that?” Madisyn asked.

“I just don’t think I should be a concern for you.” Translation: She wasn’t one for him.

“Well, if we put in the effort it should be okay,” Madisyn quickly covered.

“I don’t think he wants to put in the effort,” I smirked at Madisyn.

Madisyn furrowed her perfectly manicured brow in my direction and placed her hands on her narrow hips. “What did you just say?”

“Do you need me to repeat it?”

Aric was at my side quickly, putting his hand on the back of my neck to stay me almost instantly. “Do you want to take a walk?” It didn’t sound like a question.

“Not really.”

“I think we should.” Aric’s voice was calm but his dark eyes were fiery.

“I don’t think Brittany can manage without me,” I lied.

“What?” Brittany looked surprised. “You’re not helping me. You just flew in here to hide. Probably from Aric.”

I turned to Aric with a fake smile on my face and refrained from the sudden urge I had to kick Brittany. “So, you wanted to talk?”

Aric led me out of the tent. I could feel Madisyn’s eyes boring a hole in my back as we wandered a few feet away.

“So, what’s up?” I asked evasively.

“I haven’t seen you in awhile.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“You’ve been hiding,” Aric pointed out.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You saw me with Madisyn at the University Center and you’ve been avoiding me ever since.”

“That’s a lie,” I protested. “I’ve just been busy.”

“You’re such a bad liar,” Aric chuckled. “Just for the record, I’m not dating her.”

“She seems to think you are.”

“She seems to think she can wear me down if she just hangs around long enough,” Aric corrected me. “That’s not dating.”

“I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to date her, bulimia is hot,” I bit back cruelly.

“She’s not my type.”

“What? You don’t like someone that’s not smart enough to look both ways before crossing the road?”

Yeah, when I go bitchy it’s hard to rein it back in.

“Let’s just say my interests are more varied,” Aric said, fixing me with a pointed gaze.

Despite myself, I felt a little thrill rush through me. Crap. I opened my mouth to answer him, say something appropriately flirty, but no words came out. Aric watched me expectantly.

Thankfully for me – at least at that moment – a loud scream emitted from the crowd on the other side of the tent and no words were immediately necessary. Aric and I followed the sound of the scream to see what was going on. There was a brunette girl standing next to the trees on the far side of the library common and she was shaking.

Aric walked up to her haltingly. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s a . . . a . . . a body.”

Things deteriorated pretty quickly after that. Most of the crowd dispersed in rapid succession. I figured anyone with pot didn’t want to be around when the cops got there – and even those that didn’t have pot didn’t want to hang around. No one likes the cops.

Unfortunately, since I was in the center of things from the get-go, I didn’t have the option of fleeing. I saw Mark leading Paris away from the scene across the library common. She paused long enough to meet my gaze from afar. I motioned for her to leave, though. There was no sense of dragging her into this.

Aric put his arm around me as we waited for the cops to show up. The warmth and weight of his muscular arm was actually welcome thanks to the sudden chill of the afternoon. Unfortunately, the minute I saw the detectives when they arrived, I recognized them.

“Crap.”

“What?” Aric asked, his eyes following my line of sight. “Do you know them?”

“Those are the two cops that came to the dorm after Tara died – or disappeared,” I said. “Well, from their perspective, died.”

The two detectives – one younger, one older – were talking to a uniformed officer at the edge of the common. The officer pointed in my direction. When the detectives looked up, I could tell they were surprised to see me.

“It looks like you made a good impression on them,” Aric said with a smile when he saw the older detective frown in my direction.

“I always do.”

“You don’t have to tell me that twice.”

“Are you picking now to flirt?”

“What? Wrong time?”

“We’re standing next to a dead body.”

“Yeah. I noticed.” Aric wrinkled his nose.

“Ugh, you can smell her can’t you? That’s that wolf thing.”

“It has its drawbacks,” Aric agreed.

“Oh, crap, they’re coming over here.”

The two detectives made their way over to us. They didn’t waste any time with pleasantries. “You’re the girl who was roommates with the dead girl last semester.”

“That would be me,” I said blithely.

“You seem to find trouble,” the older detective said. I had deemed him Officer Obnoxious the last time I had met him. It seemed to fit. I couldn’t remember his real name – if I had ever heard it in the first place.

“I think it finds me,” I corrected him.

“And you are?” Officer Obnoxious turned to Aric.

“Aric Winters.”

“Winters? Any relationship to the state senator?” The detective looked suddenly concerned.

“He’s my father.”

“And you found the body?” Officer Obnoxious had no intention of showing his sudden discomfort – even though you could discern a change in his demeanor almost instantaneously.

“No,” Aric said. “She did.” Aric pointed to the still shaken brunette that was talking to a couple of other officers on the other side of the library common.

“And she is?”

“I have no idea,” Aric shrugged. “I’ve never met her before.”

“And what were you and miss . . . I’m sorry, I can’t remember your name,” the detective said.

“What is your name?” Aric interjected.

“Why?” The detective visibly blanched.

“Just for my own . . . edification.”

“I’m Dale Perkins,” the older detective said finally, pulling his solid frame up to its full height. “This is Tim Warren.”

“Nice to meet you.” Aric didn’t sound like it was all that nice.

I couldn’t help but be impressed at the way Aric interacted with authority figures. It was almost as if he was looking down on them. I supposed he learned it from his father. I had to hand it to him, though, it worked. Both detectives had gone from snarky to contrite in five seconds flat. They were suddenly on the defensive.

“This is Zoe Lake,” Aric reintroduced me to the officers.

“And what is your relationship with Ms. Lake?” Officer Perkins asked.

“We’re . . . friends.”

“Friends?” Officer Perkins raised his eyebrow suspiciously. “Nothing more?”

“I keep trying,” Aric said without guile. “She’s playing hard to get, though.”

My mouth dropped open in surprise. Detective Warren started laughing. “They always play hard to get. Trust me, though, they want to get caught.”

“Isn’t that the excuse date rapists use?”

Aric shot me a look with a clear message: Shut up.

“So, what were the two of you doing here?” Detective Perkins returned to the topic at hand.

“It’s Earth Day,” Aric said. “We were just hanging out with everyone.”

“And you didn’t notice the body until that girl did?”

“No.”

“What happened after your attention was drawn over there? Did you touch the body?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“It was pretty obvious she was dead,” Aric said simply.

“How?”

“Her neck was at an odd angle and her eyes were frozen open. Oh, and she was gray. She’s been there for more than a few hours – a few weeks is more like it.”

“You noticed all of that?” Detective Perkins asked.

“It was hard to miss.”

Detective Perkins nodded like he agreed with Aric, but I could tell he was suspicious. “What do you think happened here?”

“I have no idea,” Aric said. “I’m not the cop.”

“Detective,” Officer Obnoxious corrected him.

“I’m definitely not a detective,” Aric agreed.

“We’ll need the two of you to leave your contact information with us,” Detective Perkins said after sizing Aric up for a few seconds. “Then you can go.”

“Great.”

Once we were on our way back to the dorms, I finally let out a shaky breath. “What do you think?”

“I think someone snapped her neck.”

“Did you recognize her?”

“No, did you?”

“No.”

Aric glanced down at me as we trudged along the sidewalk. “What are you thinking?”

I took the opportunity to tell him everything that had happened over the past few months. When I was done, he was infuriated. “You’re unbelievable. Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?”

“I was mad at you.”

“You were mad at me? I called you a hundred times to talk to you and you let all of this slide because you were mad at me?”

“I was really mad.”

“Dammit!” Aric exploded.

“Oh, calm down. I told you now. Are you trying to tell me you didn’t know about the disappearances on campus?”

“No, I knew. I just didn’t know that you knew.”

“I’m a fountain of information,” I sniffed.

“You’re a fountain of bullshit,” Aric corrected me.

“You say potato . . .”

“What does Rafael think?” Aric interrupted me.

“He doesn’t know. He thinks the older disappearances are tied to the new ones, too. He just doesn’t know how. He said he thought things were going to start escalating soon, though.”

“I would definitely call this an escalation.”

“Why do you think the body was dumped on campus?”

“What do you mean?”

“No other bodies have ever been found.”

“None of the disappearances in 1975 had bodies?” Aric looked surprised.

“You didn’t know that?”

“I guess I did, but I never realized that I knew that.”

“Well, they didn’t.”

“This is the first body.”

“The first.”

“Out of eight disappearances.”

I counted in my head. “Yeah, eight.”

“So there were five in 1975 and three so far this year.”

“Yeah. What do you think that means?”

“I have no idea.” Aric shook his head. We had arrived at the dorms.

“So, what now?”

“Now?” Aric arched an eyebrow and moved in closer to me.

I couldn’t stop a shiver from running through my body at the predatory look that had suddenly washed over his face. I found myself pressed up against the glass doors and Aric’s mouth was crushing mine before I even realized what was happening.

It was a brief and intense kiss – and it was over far too soon.

Aric pulled away and ran a hand through his dark hair with a reluctant sigh. “Now you’re going to start taking my calls and we’re going to figure this out.”

I couldn’t find my tongue to answer him. I was worried it was still in his mouth.

“Now go upstairs,” Aric ordered with a sly smile that let his dimples come out to play.

“You’re not the boss of me,” I snapped back. I had found my tongue.

Aric smiled at me knowingly. “Please.”

“Fine.”

I turned to enter the building and found Paris standing there and holding the door open for me. She looked Aric and me up and down and then smiled. ”It looks like your afternoon got a heck of a lot better.”