“Did he ever speak to your sister?” asked Finn.
“As far as I know, only casually,” said Samantha wiping her nose. “He didn’t really speak to anyone. That’s what made the other day strange with his interaction with Willa. Morris is a nice-looking guy, a little older than the rest of us but he never once hit on any of us or asked us out.”
“You need some food,” said Willa. “I know it’s going to be hard to eat, but you have to take care of yourself first.”
“I didn’t eat this morning. I was so nervous about the exam. I should have known something was wrong with Ara when she didn’t show up. I was selfish. I didn’t want to miss my exam time and I was secretly cursing her out for making me feel distracted.”
“That seems natural,” said River. “Was she usually late?”
“No. Never. I’m the one that’s always holding us up,” she said with a pained smile. “It doesn’t make sense. If it was a gas leak, I should have died. Not her.”
Finn looked at his brothers and Quinn stepped forward.
“Samantha, the coroner doesn’t believe that your sister died from the gas leak. He’s going to let us know for sure, but he feels certain that she died somewhere else.”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” she said racing to the bathroom. Willa followed behind her and Finn turned to his brothers.
“We need to know every fucking move Morris made this morning. Check traffic cameras, doorbell cameras, businesses, anything and everything to try and find him. I need to find him.”
CHAPTER TEN
Samantha finally had to turn her phone off as the text messages poured in from classmates and friends with their sympathies. As they sat in the cafeteria, others approached, offering their condolences and support of any kind.
“Samantha, my name is Dr. Shepherd Wilde but just call me Shep.”
“Hello,” she said nodding at him. “I’m okay. I’m not physically sick.”
“I know,” he smiled. “I’m a psychiatrist and part of our medical team here. Not right this minute, but within a few days, I’d love for us to sit down and talk about your sister. I want to help you manage your grief.”
“Thank you,” she nodded. “It’s strange that I was hoping to specialize in psychiatric care.”
“Then we’re kindred spirits,” smiled Shep. “I’ll connect with you at breakfast in the morning to see how you’re doing but if you need anything at all, just let one of the guys know and they’ll get to me.”
“Thank you, Shep,” she nodded wiping her tears again.
“Samantha, I’m Gator. We were able to get in touch with your parents. We explained that you were okay, just very confused and grieving. They’re going to get the next flight out, which will most likely be in a few days due to a tropical storm.”
“I knew it,” she said shaking her head. “There’s always a storm there and it takes forever for them to get here.”
“Well, they’ll be here soon enough, honey,” said Gator. She nodded again with a pained smile.
“We know this is difficult and the timing sucks, Samantha, but we’d like to ask you some questions about Ara,” said Ham. The woman nodded, looking around the table. Willa was still seated beside her, holding her hand.
“Did your sister have a boyfriend or any male friends she was close to?” asked Ham.
“No. No boyfriend for sure. We had the same circle of friends but most of them live in other cities now. Ara-Ara and I did everything together. We shopped, ate, and went to school together. It’s only been in the last few months that she got a car of her own because we knew we’d be going to work at a hospital or clinic and might be on different shifts.”
“Was she nervous about anything? Did she act scared of anything or anyone?” he asked.
“No. No one. She was sweet. Friendly but not overly so. She never pushed the limits on things like that and was very careful. Our father is a former U.S. Marshal.”
“That’s good to know. Your father might have connections that can help us with all of this.”
“Her phone,” whispered Samantha. “I didn’t see her phone anywhere. Did someone pick it up?”
“I’m not sure. I would guess the police picked it up. Why?” asked Ham.
“Everything was in that phone. Her entire life. She recorded every lecture, every minute of her day, every appointment, even phone calls that were scheduled. If she was going this morning to meet someone for coffee and didn’t want to tell me, it would have been in her phone.”
