A few college kids lounged around, watching TV, talking on the phone, drinking beer—even though there was no alcohol allowed in the dorm.
“What do I do?” Nova asked in a nervous hiss.
“Just get him to admit to something we can arrest him for,” I said. “Preferably conspiracy to commit murder.”
She trembled with fear.
"Look, we’ll be right down the hall, watching the whole time. If anything goes wrong, we’ll pull you out. But he's not going to do anything here.”
She sucked it up, nodded, then spun around and marched down the hallway with determination.
JD and I huddled around my phone and watched the feed from her glasses.
Nova knocked on Chad's door. Music spilled out from within.
She banged on the door again.
Chad finally pulled it open. He looked at her with confused eyes, faint recognition glimmering. "What do you want?"
"My brother is dead because of you.”
Chad's brow wrinkled. "Because of me?”
"You sent him to kill those cops. Now he's dead." Her eyes filled.
Chad laughed. "I didn't send him to do anything. What are you talking about?” His wary eyes scanned the hallway. “You’re clearly out of your mind.”
"Oh, so Mason just tried to gun down a cop for no reason?”
"I hardly know your brother. I don't know what his reason might be. I'm sorry about that. He did something stupid.”
Nova clenched her jaw and glared at him.
Chad was a skinny, nerdy guy with shaggy dark hair, thick black glasses, and a narrow face. He was a math-club kid, not a money launderer for the cartels. Or so that's what he wanted everyone to believe. In truth, he found a way to exploit the system. Detached from all the chaos and violence, it was just a game to him. Numbers in an account.
Nova grew frustrated. "If you think you’re just gonna get away with this, you’re sadly mistaken."
Chad laughed again. "Get away with what?”
"Mason was dumb,” Nova said. “He’d do whatever Shane told him to do. Shane did whatever you told him to do.”
“You’re out of your mind. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Did you forget to take your meds?”
She growled at him and beat his chest with her fist.
Chad shoved her away. "Whoa, back off, you crazy bitch! You need to stay away from me.”
"Fuck you!"
"If you know it's good for you, you'll get far away from here.”
"Is that a threat?”
Chad glared at her, then slipped back into his dorm room. closed the door, and latched the deadbolt.
Nova moped back down the hall and joined us in the lounge. Sadness tugged her face. “Sorry. I really screwed that up.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “We’ll figure something out.”
