We were walking alone in the Barrens. Liam could have killed me, if he was one ofthem.I never would have seen it coming. Or was he worried about someone else in the boulders, watching us?
Chapter Twenty-Two
In which everything falls to complete shit.
Cormac…
Looking back, this would be the day I would target as when everything fell to complete shite.
Mala disappeared. Everywhere I was on campus, she was not. I’d long ago gotten her number for the iPhone she was forbidden to have at the Academy. She dinna answer my texts, other than a quick,I’m trying to figure a few things out. I’ll report to the Dean with anything I learn.
My girl may be a spy, but her ‘tells’ are all clear to me, even in text form. She’s upset, and she won’t ask for help with whatever’s going on.
Not that I have any spare time.
“We have another dead student.”
“Who?” I was on my fourth cup of coffee when Helen called.
“Morgan Wilson, Assassins division. He was stabbed, by at least two assailants.” Her fury is vibrating down the line. These are her students, under her care. I know it’s cutting deep into her.
“I’m on my way.”
Striding through campus to the medical clinic, I see the anxious huddles of students, whispering, watching each other. The campus gossip network has been working overtime.
Laosie, with all her other stellar and (sometimes) dubious talents, is assisting Dr. Giardo with a quick autopsy. “See here?” she murmurs, “The blade entered at the base of the neck. Severed the spinal cord instantly.”
“Quiet work,” he says with grudging admiration. “No defensive wounds. I’m going run a blood test for alcohol or drugs.”
“When you go to a college where there’s a full bar in the dining hall, I think the alcohol’s a given,” she shrugs.
Dr. Giardo spots me and scowls. “Well, something needs to be done about this,” he says, gesturing peevishly at Morgan’s body.
“Agreed,” I say, jaw tight. “What else can you tell me?”
“He was alone in his suite,” Laosie pulls me away from the autopsy to speak quietly, “his roommate was staying over in a girl’s room.”
“I’ll take them both in for questioning,” I murmur, “she could have invited him to avoid witnesses or he could have set Morgan up. Let’s pull in the residents of the suite next to his.”
“Meet you in the Dean’s basement in thirty minutes,” she nods, looking at Morgan’s body again. He was a big guy, sturdy. But he looks small and frail under the harsh examination lights. “What a feckin’ waste.”
“What do we know?”
Helen is rubbing her eyes, and there’s a carafe of coffee and a half-empty mug in front of her.
Pouring myself a cup, I crack my neck. My preferred angle to question a suspect involves a lot of looming ominously. It’s very effective but hard on my neck.
“His roommate and the girl were both scared shitless. I believe Kevin. He said Marie invited him over and one thing led to another. He looked too grateful to be lying.”
She snorts inelegantly. “And Marie?”
“Laosie is running through some material she found on the dark web, something about the girl’s grandfather. This is her first year and there was some question about her admittance?”
“Yes, her older sister was granted admission first, but she was in a serious car accident last spring. Marie was just as qualified, so we gave the spot to her,” Helen explains.
“Maybe her older sister wasn’t willing to do what Grandpapa wanted,” I say, stroking my beard. “I started a garrison in the storage area under the gym. We can hold up to thirty people there securely. I’m holding Marie and letting Kevin go. What about Liam?”
She frowns. “While the student building walls are quite thick, his bedroom is on the other side of the wall from Morgan’s. He would have had the best opportunity to hear a struggle. He claims he didn’t hear a thing.”
