When Erik fought with Luis, he did it in a fight pit. Erik called it that. Like “The Pit” from the Dark Knights stories. Someone dangerous is pulled into a deep hole in the ground, beaten to death, and buried there.
My gaze bounces from Erik to Shane and then to Declan. Erik is hunting Casanova, and his friends are helping him do it.
Wait. Slow down, Arya.
I draw in a deep breath. Am I crazy? Or are they actually the latest in a long line of deadly student vigilantes? I may not be thinking straight. But deep down, I feel like I’m right.
My eyes shift to Camrynn. Does she understand what she’s really working on? Does Avery?
Erik told me he’s only moving contraband liquor now. Not doing violent work. Was that a lie?
“Heinrich’s on the list, huh?” Erik says, glancing at Cami.
“Yeah. Don’t you agree? Casanova is so smooth. He doesn’t leave much evidence. It doesn’t seem as if he would’ve just arrived on campus and started kidnapping women without a trace unless he practiced his skills before this year. Heinrich lives alone and before here, he lived in big cities where vulnerable women went missing. Plus, he’s been active in the GU community and is an expert at research. He could definitely have figured out about the tunnels.”
“The tunnels don’t seem to be panning out,” Erik says absently, moving left as he studies more names. “It makes sense to put Heinrich on the list. And the dean, good. Nyball is constantly trying to hamper the Casanova investigations.”
A chill runs through me, making goosebumps rise over my entire body. There are so many powerful men on the list. Eden and I have been alone with Dean Nyball in his office several times. Within arm’s reach. He has access to student records… where we live, our class schedules, our practice schedules too, and therefore, when we’ll be on campus after dark.
My skin is suddenly ice cold. I put my left arm across my bare stomach, trying to warm myself.
“What’s this column?” Erik asks Cami.
“That’s a list of Lambda Delta guys who wore Casanova roses or who have made jokes sympathetic to him. Working against them is that they’re young, like Taake. Have any of them had time to develop a process that’s so effective?”
“Michelangelo finished sculpting the Vatican Pietà when he was twenty-four. Started it as a teenager,” The Viking says. “We could have a savant killer on our hands.”
“One of the Lambda Deltas on this list is the son of one of my aunt’s closest friends,” Declan says, flicking a finger against the name Leighton Miller.
Cami nods grimly. “Declan says the LDK frat brothers sometimes behave like a pack when they’re aggressive. That made me wonder whether a couple of them might be working together, Lake and Ng style, to get the girls? Or even three of them working together?”
“Let’s hope not,” Erik says. “That would make the phone data useless. Move Leighton Miller up to the top. He’s already on my watchlist because he was involved in a dog-fighting scandal in prep school. The police found the remains of more than fifty dogs buried in the woods. Some were only puppies and the skeletons of quite a few suggested they didn’t die from the fights. Decapitated. Crushed skulls.”
“Jesus,” I gasp, shaking my head. This is all so sickening. How can they stand it?
The others’ heads turn to look over their shoulders at me.
“I’m out,” I say, grimacing. As I shove my empty bowl toward Avery, I say, “Can you?”
“Of course,” she says gently, taking the bowl from my hands.
Without making eye contact, I stalk over to the stairs and head up them. I wish I hadn’t stayed to listen. The systematic hunt for a serial killer? Murdered puppies? My stomach heaves. It’s too much.
I already knew Bray’s frat brothers were sick fucks, but this goes way beyond even that. Sometimes I hate this goddamned school.
Yeah, you need to get away from here.
24
ERIK
Twenty minutes later, Avery has taken a cue from Arya and left the room. The remaining four of us discuss our plans and divide the tasks. Reynolds doesn’t seem bothered by the tedium of comparing mobile phone records to abduction dates. Which is good because painstaking research is a cornerstone of what she’ll do as an investigative reporter. It’s also good because none of us wants a blond teenage girl heading alone into packs of depraved frat guys.
“I’ll help go through some of the phone records,” I offer.
“No, we’ll do it. We have a system,” Heyworth says.
Reynolds smiles. “Going line-by-line through hundreds of pages of spreadsheets has been a bonding experience for us. True crime date night,” she says with a wink.
