I bolt from the house,down the driveway, and directly toward campus. At the bottom of the driveway, I get lucky. There’s a car. It slows as the driver spots me waving. The window lowers as I skid to a stop beside the vehicle.
“Need help?” A kind-looking older redhead smiles at me from the driver’s seat. It’s obvious from the expensive-looking suit she wears that she’s on her way somewhere. But it still can’t hurt to ask for help. Nothing in our instructions said I couldn’t hitch a ride or use another means of transportation.
“I need a ride to campus. Can you take me?”
“Everything okay?”
“Yes, just in a hurry.”
She nods and unlocks the door with a click. “Sure. Hop in. I’m actually going to a function on campus tonight.”
I grin, glancing back up at the house. “Perfect. Thanks so much.” Any amount of running that I don’t have to do will help. I pull open the door, hop in the car, and we take off.
“So, what’s the rush?” She glances at me as we traverse the long road that leads to campus.
I bite my lip. I’m definitely not supposed to divulge any information about our initiation—and this woman seems like she might be a faculty member. A professor, maybe? “I’m late to meet a friend.”
She peers at me out of the corner of her eye. “I see.”
I give a little flourish of my hand. “You see, it’s sort of a game. Would you mind dropping me at the football stadium by chance?”
“I don’t mind at all.”
The remainder of the drive to campus is quick, and before I know it, I’m exiting her sleek sports car, elated that I caught a loophole. I give her a little wave as I turn and dash toward the huge Kingston University lion which stands at the entrance to the football stadium.
My assumption is that the clue refers to Friday night football games under the lights and the roar of Lions, KU students, alumni, and fans, as the football—the pigskin—flies through the air. I hope like hell I’m not wrong because I don’t have any other ideas as to what else the riddle could possibly be about.
Before I get too close, I do a full 360-degree turn, looking for Bridger. If he doesn’t know what the clue means, I don’t want to share the answer. He was ten minutes ahead of me—but he probably ran. So… he could be close. And Taggart, even if he ran fast, he’s still five minutes behind me.
Coming down a slight incline, I cautiously approach the statue and glance around again, completely paranoid. I chew on my lip as I circle it, finally finding what I’m looking for on the pedestal the lion statue stands on.Yes!I approach, but as I get close, I realize the pedestal is probably five feet off the ground. Now that I’m standing at the base, I can hardly see the cards on top. I grip the stone, pulling myself up on tiptoe. I stretch but can’t quite reach. “Fuck,” I hiss. This sucks. I try to boost myself enough, but I can’t quite reach.
Dread smacks into me the second I sense someone has come up behind me, and I missed it because I was so intent on getting to the cards, which aren’t somewhere a female of average height is going to be able to get to. I exhale slowly as I allow my gaze to swing warily to the side. My heart sinks.Shit.Taggart figured out the clue, too. As I look on in utter dismay, he reaches up to grab a card. He glances at the distraught look on my face, and without much hesitation at all, picks up a second, handing it to me.
My lips part, and I stare at him for a full three counts of my hammering heart. I gasp out, “Thank you.”
Sweat dots his forehead, and he shrugs. “No problem. I was going to go into the stadium to look in there, but you saved me that step. It’s the least I could do.”
“But you didn’t have to.”
“Yeah, I know.” He winks. “I’m hoping you’ll remember that if you spot me in need of help later.” His gaze darts to the side, scanning the area he just came from. “Bridger has no fucking clue. I saw him wandering toward Kemper Hall. You know it?”
“Yeah. That’s not so far from here. What’s he thinking?”
“I dunno. Probably the pig clue. Maybe he’s busting into a biology lab to look for some fetal pigs as we speak.” He huffs out a laugh. “We should get away from here before he realizes he’s sent himself in the wrong direction and comes this way.”
“Yep, agreed.”
We sprint side by side, and I point toward some bushes. We duck behind them, squatting down so we’re out of sight. Scrambling to pull out the second card, I meet Tag’s stare as he brushes his unruly waves of dirty-blond hair out of his eyes. “Do you think it’ll be obvious when we’re to head back to Hawthorne Hall?”
I take a deep breath. “No idea.”
“Let’s get on with it, then.” He squints hard at his clue. “Shit. It’s dark over here.”
I pull my phone out of my back pocket, tapping the flashlight app. Bright light shines on both of our cards.
Along the pebbled pathway,
lost among the leaves,
