Guilty Secrets (Campus Love and Murder Sorority Eyes Romance Book 1) (15 page)

"At this time of night?"

I shrugged. "The world of journalism is twenty four seven."

He seemed unconvinced. He moved from Penny to J.C.

"Did you see the shooter?"

"No."

"Robyn has this anything to do with Madison?"

I reached for a desk lamp and flicked it on. I then let my eyes fall on the award shaped like a typewriter.

"It was his prized possession."

"Lot of good it'll do him now."

"I wonder..."

As Harry knelt over J.C, he called in the murders on his two-way radio.

I picked up the award and played with the keys. I typed out J.C's name. A small tray in the bottom, popped out. Inside was a familiar looking silver thumb drive with the symbol of the Knights of Kimberley.

I quickly put the thumb drive in my jeans pocket and closed the tray.

Harry glanced up. "Don't touch anything."

"Sure. Can I go home now?"

He clenched his fists and rolled his neck.

"I'll drive you home as soon as Dispatch sends someone to go over the crime scene. I'll pop by in the morning for a statement."

"Sure."

I waited until several deputies arrived and secured the crime scene. Then I left with Harry.

Once inside his blue and white, he let rip.

"Robyn, what the Hell were you thinking of confronting them without me there?"

"I don't need you to protect me."

"Clearly someone's got to have your back. They're getting desperate, Robyn. How much longer can you keep up this charade?"

"What does it matter to you?"

"I'm just trying to look out for you."

"Like you did Madison?"

He turned away and started the engine.

I fought down pangs of guilt over my harsh words.

He drove in silence. Outside my apartment building he pulled up.

"Harry, I didn't mean what I said. I'm sorry."

"One day you'll realize that the price of finding Madison's killer is too high."

He turned in his seat and faced me. His eyes glinted in the moonlight and seemed to undress me.

I fought down the desire to kiss his full pouting lips.

"Robyn, I can't lose you like I lost Madison. If you feel anything for me, then give up this witch hunt for other people's secrets."

I knew all he had to do was lean over and kiss me. I'd be powerless to resist. His one powerful kiss would have fought down all my suspicions about his involvement in Madison's death.

Our lips were inches away. I could taste his sweet breath on my lips, stirring deep feelings of longing. I couldn't breathe. Inside my mind, I was silently screaming for him to take me his arms and tell me I was a fool for thinking he could murder Madison.

But then, from the deep recesses of my mind, where all my guilt and self-loathing resided, a thought rose up and gripped me. An image of Madison dying alone in the night, without a soul to comfort her.

I heard myself say, "Harry, I can't stop hunting her killer."

He pulled back as if a wasp had violently stung his lips.

"Then Robyn, I can't see you throw away your life. We're done."

He turned away from me.

"It's over between us?"

"Get out."

I opened the door, stepped out and closed the door behind me. As he drove off, I felt like I'd lost a friend and any chance of something more profound. But a small voice in the back of my head said I'd just made another enemy.

In fact, I now realized I had zero friends I could trust.

Inside the apartment, Mai had gone to sleep. Brad had presumably gone back to his house.

I inserted the silver thumb drive into my laptop.

There were two videos on the drive. The first one popped up. Someone was apparently secretly filming Madison running through the woods. She was followed by Jason Drake.

He screamed, "I'm going to kill you, bitch."

Behind Jason, Brad was running hard. He shouted, "Jason, stop. Let her go."

The three disappeared into the trees towards the crashing sound of a waterfall.

I played the second video.

Madison's face appeared. She was in the river. The water fall was in the background. So she'd survived the fall and was trying to pull herself out of the water. She was reaching up to whoever was filming her.

"Please..."

A hand gun, the kind used by cops, a Glock nineteen, appeared at the bottom of the screen.

Madison's eyes widened.

"What are you doing?"

A gun shot rang out and Madison's head jerked backwards as she fell into the river.

I muffled my scream into a pillow.

Clearly, Madison knew her killer. The question that burned through me was this: did I also know her killer?

CHAPTER FORTY ONE

The next morning I woke early. With a hot coffee I climbed the stairs to the roof and fresh cold air. A parapet of red brick ran along the perimeter of the roof and allowed space for a narrow walk way.

An icy wind ripped the autumn leaves of magnificent burnt orange and crimsons off the trees.

I heard a rumbling noise. I glanced over the parapet and down to the street. Large haulage trucks traveled through the dawn mists out towards the lake.

"They're for the Ice Palace."

I jolted and dropped my hot coffee. I spun around and slipped backwards. A hand appeared out of the orange fireball that was the rising sun. Someone grabbed my wrist and pulled me into their arms.

I blinked as I looked up into Brad's worried expression.

"Can't lose you before the party."

"Thanks. What party?"

He held up a sealed gold envelop and handed it to me.

"It wasn't easy, but I got it."

I tore it open and pulled out a stiff card in gold lettering that read:

The Knights of Kimberley formally invite Robyn Loxley to the Grand masked Winter Ball on the 7th of this month.

Your carriage will arrive promptly at 7:30.

Brad peered over my shoulder at the invite.

"Loxley? That was Madison's surname."

Realization crept over his face.

"Shit, Robyn. You're Madison's sister."

I swallowed hard.

"My secret is out."

Brad shook his head. "Don't go."

"I must."

"After what happened to Madison?"

"Especially because of Madison."

"But why? What can you possibly achieve by throwing away your life?"

"The Winter Ball is the end game."

"What do you mean?"

"It's where Madison's killer will show themselves."

"And you'll be his next victim, Robyn."

"You'll be there?"

"Of course, but I can't protect you if the Red Queen orders her knights to take you."

"Unless you help me, Brad, you'll never be free of the Knights of Kimberley."

He nodded "For Madison's sake I will try to protect you, but..."

"I know. It's on me. What did you mean when you said the trucks were for the party?"

"They're building a palace on the lake."

"Where'd they get the money for that?"

He shrugged. But in his eyes I could see he knew the answer.

Together we watched the mist snake out from the far shore and Kublai Khan's house. As it slithered over the lake, the water appeared to freeze.

Brad pointed to the lake. "It's freezing on cue just as the knights planned."

"What do you mean?"

"For each ball the Knight's freeze the lake with technology developed by Khan's bio engineering research division."

"He can freeze a lake just like that?"

"He's a genius. The technology is still in development. Harmless to the environment in its current state, although it’s still too volatile to ship in containers."

"How do you know all this?"

"I interned for a year at Khan's research and development division as part of my studies at Kimberley."

"How volatile?"

"Excuse me?"

"How dangerous is it?"

"It has to remain cool. Exposure to intense heat or even too much oxygen can cause it to explode. Yes, very dangerous. So it’s kept in special cooling vats under the lake."

"Is that so, Brad? Then we must make sure nothing untoward happens to the ice makers before I learned the truth."

"If you're thinking what I think you are, then you're crazy."

"You want to be free of the Knights, don't you?"

Brad swallowed hard and nodded.

"What's your plan?"

"Once I’m absolutely certain I've identified who is behind all the secrets and killings and found the evidence that buries them, I'll need you to help me escape the ball."

"And if you can't get away with any evidence?"

"Then I want to blow them all to Hell. Every last one of the Knights of Kimberley. Send all their dark secrets to the bottom of Lake Kimberley."

CHAPTER FORTY TWO

After a shower where I found plenty of green gunge in secret places, I dressed and went to the kitchen.

I heard two male voices.

As I walked in I saw Brad with Harry. They abruptly looked up at me and suddenly both stopped talking.

I didn't know where to look. For a second I allowed myself to believe he had come to apologize. Then I berated myself for wanting Madison's betrayer and possible murderer in my life. I took a deep breath and returned his hard gaze.

Harry cleared his throat. "I'm here for your statement about last night."

It was all business with Harry. He wrote down my story. But in his eyes I could tell he didn't entirely believe me.

He typed up my statement on a tablet and handed me a marker to digitally sign it.

"A copy will be automatically emailed to you."

When he left I asked Brad what the two of them were talking about.

He shrugged. "Guy stuff."

"Really?"

"I used to be his fencing instructor."

"So you were talking about fencing?"

He smiled, stood and headed out. "Don't forget to R.S.V.P."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

A minute later, Mai rushed into the kitchen as I was preparing coffee.

"Robyn, I just heard."

"Heard what?"

"You're going to the ball, right?"

I nodded.

Mai's old smile I knew and loved returned.

"It's only three days away. We need to prepare."

"Can I borrow one of your dresses?"

She shook her head.

"Mai, it doesn't have to be one of your nice silk ones. And this time I promise I won't ruin it."

"No, Robyn."

"OK, I see how it is. Never mind."

"No, silly. You can't borrow one of mine, because you'll need a ball gown."

"A ball gown?"

"And mask." She sat down by her tablet. She patted the chair next to her. "We don't have all day."

"For what?"

"To design your ball gown, silly."

"You’re kidding? Can’t I just rent one?"

"Too late. All the best ones in your size will have gone. Besides, this one has to be extra special."

"Why?"

She fixed me with a weary look. "Robyn, all eyes will be on you whether you like it or not. Now, what's your favorite color? I think you'd look amazing in..."

Two hours later, Mai looked very pleased with herself. She had designed a fairy tale dress fit for a princess. The idea that I could even look at myself in something like that was crazy. Let alone go to a ball in it.

Eight coffees later, she turned to me in her seat and asked, "Show me your ballroom moves."

"My what?"

Her brow furrowed. "You can dance, right?"

"Sure. Sort of..."

"What does that mean?"

"What's to know about dancing? You just stand there, wave your arms a bit and if you have anything worth showing off; shake it."

"I'm not talking the nightclub shimmy around your hand bag. I mean full-on ballroom dancing. Waltz, foxtrot, tango..."

I swallowed hard and felt my skin burn.

"You mean like with feet? Coordinated?"

Mai nodded. "Thought as much."

She dialed her cell phone.

"Who are you calling?"

"Your Sorority is coming to the rescue."

I felt my eyes bulge out on stalks. "Oh, no. Tell me you're not calling them."

The smile I had recently grown to hate crossed Mai's face.

CHAPTER FORTY THREE

My head was about to explode. Two days of watching the Wilson sisters arm in arm, spinning around the living room floor, and then listening to their snickers as they watched Mai and I try to emulate their elegant steps.

When the dress arrived on the day of the Winter Ball, I called a time out on the dance lessons.

Mai had worked through the night to produce a red silk princess ball gown. The Wilsons stripped me down to my underwear and I stepped into the dress. Mai pulled it up my body. Around my chest it was tight. At my waist it flared out to the hem in a bell shape.

Mai and the Wilsons practically carried me to a wall mirror.

Mai Ling lifted my hair off my shoulders and smiled.

I shrugged. "Pretty bad, right?"

Charity snorted. "You're such a bitch, Mai."

"What did I do wrong?"

"You made cherry girl the most beautiful dress."

She turned her back and grabbing Virtue's arms she shouted, "I won't forget this."

Charity slammed the door on the way out.

I looked at Mai, "I can’t figure out the Wilsons. Especially Charity. One minute she hates me. The next she she's helping me and the next she hates me again."

Mai smiled. "Maybe she's in love."

"With me?"

Mai laughed. "No, idiot. With Harry."

"She can have him, with my blessing."

Mai pulled a face as if I'd made a bad smell.

"Seriously, Mai, I'm done with officer Hotness."

Mai shrugged. "Doesn't much matter to Charity."

"What do you mean?"

She accidentally on purpose bumped into Harry. "Hinted not so subtly that she was in need of an escort to the knight's Winter Ball."

I felt my stomach back flip at the thought of seeing Harry at the ball on Charity's arm.

"And?"

"And, Robyn, Harry turned her down."

"Oh?"

"Oh? Is that all you can say."

"What should I say?"

"How about acknowledging that Harry is obviously head over heels for you?"