“Why do you need all these?” Ethan asked after I crawled back to my feet.
“Because everyone is a suspect.” I grabbed the folders from him and fell back into Lynch’s leather desk chair. Ethan pulled the other chair up beside me, and we got to work.
“What exactly am I looking for?” Ethan asked as I handed him his first file.
“Anything that screams stalker, stabber, or cat mutilator.”
“You do realize where we are?”
My eyes slid to him, and his attention was consumed by the papers and the long night ahead of us.
Lingering too long in Jake’s file, an hour passed without so much as a hint in the right direction. After learning about his asshole father and criticizing mom, the only realization that hit me was the fact I may turn into a serial killer when I’d leave here. “This is pointless.”
“No, I think I got something,” Ethan leaned over, and I shone the flashlight over the file, “Jude’s in for murder.”
“Knew it,” I pulled the file from his hand and took a closer look. My eyes scanned over the details of the car crash Jude had been involved in. My hands shook and my eyes burned at what I was seeing. “For driving while intoxicated … ” my hand flew to my mouth, and I closed my eyes. “He killed his girlfriend, Ethan.” I shoved the papers to his lap. “I think I’m going to throw up.”
“Seriously?”
I curled over and rested my head between my legs. “Could you imagine?” I shook my head, “Shit, Ollie called it. He knew Jude couldn’t do something like that. I was so wrong about him.”
“Jett, don’t feel sorry for that wanker.”
“I do, I can’t help it. It could have easily been anyone. I can’t tell you how many times I drove while drunk off my ass, not once thinking about anyone else. Anything could have happened, Ethan. I was so fucking stupid. No wonder Jude acts like that. He’s punishing himself. Holy shit, he’s turned off his switch … ” I continued to ramble with my head between my legs and tears on the verge of falling.
Ethan’s hand landed over my back. “Listen, I’d love to make you feel better, but we don’t have time for this. Pull yourself together.”
Taking in a deep breath, I straightened my back. Jude couldn’t be the prankster. “You’re right,” I wiped my eye, “give me the next file.”
Ethan dropped the next one in my lap, which read Madilyn Wyser—also known as Maddie. I skimmed my finger over her description. Black hair? “Should say brown hair … ” I mumbled to myself. “They even got the height wrong, stupid wankers,”—Ethan chuckled at my side— “Birth mom deceased in childbirth, father gave her up for adoption. Foster home to foster home … ” I continued to ramble. “Whoa, listen to this,” I elbowed Ethan, “Mixed delusional disorder … see notes for more,” my finger ran down the page before I turned to the next, “Here we go, Madilyn is high functioning individual suffering from mixed delusional disorder: erotomanic, grandiose, and jealous … stalking, obsessive behavior, extreme sense of self-worth, and power … Madilyn scored higher than me in testing.”
My eyes bounced from the paper to Ethan. “Not to have a big fucking head, but I’m brilliant. I’ve never met anyone who scored higher than me.”
“Looks like you’ve met your match,” Ethan massaged the top of my head, “Focus.”
“Right,” I dropped my head forward and threw my palms in the air, “It has to be her. This is the perfect cocktail to create a prankster. What if she’s in love with Ollie and believes Ollie is in love with her too? What if this is some delusion she has in her head, and I’m the one obstacle standing in her way?”
Ethan flipped the folder closed in his lap. “It’s a start, but I don’t understand what everyone sees in the bloke.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Do you really want to know?”
“Nope,” he shoved the folder back in the drawer, “but we finally have a lead.”
Finally.
Months of pranks, and it had been Maddie all along.
“That’s what it feels like,” I whispered as Ethan and I walked back to my wing at nearly four in the morning.
“What’s that?” Ethan paused in the middle of the hall.
“That’s what the note said after she shoved me in the closet,‘That’s what it feels like,’What did she mean? Like being alone?”
Ethan raised a brow and shook his head. “I don’t know, Jett, but it’s late. You need to rest. You should go back to Ollie.”
“But you were looking forward to hanging out,” I pointed out. This entire time Ethan had rushed me to finish, and now we were standing in the middle of the hallway, and he decided it was too late?
“Who are we kidding? You don’t belong with me or anyone else for that matter. You should be with Masters. Go back to him. It’s fine. Maybe I got what I needed from this time we did get to spend together.”
