CHAPTER FOUR

 

“So, you were saying that we need to place the drug dealer at the scene,” said Brigit, “and I was thinking that the best way to talk to these college students would be to be on their level.” She was standing in the doorway to my office.

“On their level?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I think that you should let me handle these interviews.”

“Brigit, I’m not letting you handle anything on your own,” I said. “Sorry. It’s just that this is really important to Miles, and I need to be personally part of everything. By the way, he did say that there was casual access to the guns at his father’s house, and that it was possible that Gilbert took the gun for a reason other than shooting people.”

“Well, that’s good,” she said, “but you’re not listening to me. I’m only a year or two older than these college students. I speak their language. I can blend in with them. I could sort of… go undercover and find out stuff about Gilbert, you know?”

I furrowed my brow at her. “Undercover? What, are you planning on taking classes again?”

“No, I’d just go to some parties or go out drinking where they hang out, and I’d find some way to talk to them about what happened.”

“Brigit, I can do that too,” I said. “I can out drink—”

“You should stay away from alcohol,” she said.

I rolled my eyes. “Oh my God, are you ever going to let this go?”

“I care about you, Ivy, so no, I’m not going to let it go. Not until you get help. Alcoholism is a disease—”

“If you’re not lecturing me about drinking, you’re lecturing me about the ASPCA. You never stop.”

“Has anything happened with that, by the way?” she asked. “Because you’re going to feel really bad when they come and take Kitty’s dog away.”

“I’m not,” I said. “That dog is miserable with that woman. She’s not the kind of person who should own a dog.”

“Well, you’re not doing the dog any favors. It may not like being locked up in a bathroom, but the ASPCA is just going to put the dog in the pound, and then it’ll probably get put to sleep.”

Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. I made a face. “You really think so?”

“That’s what happens to animals in the pound.”

“But they wouldn’t rescue the dog and then just kill it, would they?”

“Ivy, about going undercover. Can we talk about that?”

“Killing the dog seems counter to everything the ASPCA stands for. I’m going to have to call them and ask, I think. Because Fluffy’s annoying and all, but she doesn’t deserve that.”

“Or,” said Brigit. “You could just call them and tell them that Kitty isn’t abusing her dog. That’s always an option. But anyway, I’m thinking that what I’ll do is go put my ear to the ground and try to figure out where the people who were at that Monday afternoon party usually hang out. If you’re so hardcore that you’re drinking at two in the afternoon on Monday, you’re pretty much partying all the time, I figure. So, I doubt it will be so hard.”

“Maybe they could at least call me before they put Fluffy to sleep.”

“Ivy, stop thinking about the damned dog.” She glared at me.

I help up a finger. “Hold on. I’m just going to go and call the ASPCA.”

“Fine,” she said, “then I’m just going to assume that you’re okay with my plan to go partying with the people who knew Gilbert.”

“Wait,” I said. “You’re not going off alone on this, Brigit. If you’re going to try to go to a party, then I’m coming with you.”

“You can’t come to a college party, Ivy.”

“Why not?” I said.

“You’re old.”

I put my hands on my hips. “I’m not old.” I was thirty-four. “Besides, I go to parties like that all the time.”

“No, you don’t,” she said.

“Well, not so much in the winter,” I said, “but in the summer, sure. Because there’s always somewhere to go after the bars close, and that’s someone’s house party. I promise you, I have been drunk in every apartment on the main street of Keene.”

She looked at me coolly. “You shouldn’t be proud of that.”

“I’m only saying it because I’m coming with you. Got it?”

* * *

“It’s because you’re here,” said Brigit.

I didn’t say a word. I was sitting on a bench on the main street of Keene, and Brigit was standing over me. Brigit was annoyed.

The main street of Keene divided the town from the college. On one side of the street, there were buildings that belonged to the school. On the other side were businesses. Keene wasn’t a very big town, so there wasn’t much beyond the main street anyway. Most of the town was residential. The Monday afternoon party had taken place on campus, so I thought we’d be looking solely on campus for people to “go undercover” with. But Brigit thought it was best to skirt the line, covering both town and school.

Her approach wasn’t working, but I wasn’t going to call her out on it. Not yet, anyway. I just sat on the bench, inwardly smirking.

This was what she got for calling me old.

“Oh,” said Brigit. “There’s someone. You wait here. I don’t want them to think that I’m dragging you around with me.”

“Because I’m old?’

She just shot me a flustered look, before running off to greet the guy who was coming down the street.

“Hey,” I heard her say to him.

He stopped. “Um, hello?”

“Are you headed to a party?”

“No,” he said. “I’m going to class.”

“Oh,” said Brigit. “Right.” She stepped back to let him by.

He started to walk again.

“Are you just saying that because you don’t want me to come or something?” she said.

He started walking faster.

I couldn’t help but snicker. I was still laughing a little when Brigit got back to the bench.

“Shut up,” she said.

“Well, it’s obvious that there’s no reason for me to be here. You’re doing such a good job on your own,” I said.

“You think you could do better?”

“I think we should go back to the area where the party was last time. Karen said that the guy whose dorm it was threw parties a lot, didn’t she? We should look for that guy.”

“We don’t even know his name.”

I pulled out my notepad and flipped back to the notes I’d taken. “Mason, she said.”

“Mason,” said Brigit. “Well, that doesn’t help. We don’t even know his last name.”

Another guy was coming down the sidewalk.

I stood up. “Watch and learn, Brigit.” I approached the guy, who was a good-looking black kid with chin-length dreadlocks. “Hey, do I know you?”

The guy stopped and looked me up and down.

“You go to The Remington sometimes?” I said. That was a safe bet. There weren’t a lot of bars in town, so most people of age went to The Remington.

“Nah, I’m not twenty-one,” he said.

“The Station, then,” I said. You could get into The Station if you were eighteen and over. They’d just put big Xs on your hands. The Station also sold a lot of pitchers of beer, always purchased by someone of age but often consumed by underage kids.

“Yeah, I been there.” The guy stuck his hands in his pockets.

“You know Mason? Mason, um, man I always forget his last name,” I said. “He lives on campus. He’s always throwing parties?”

The guy shrugged. “Yeah, I know who you’re talking about, but I don’t really know him.”

“Right, but you’ve been to his parties before, haven’t you?”

“Sure, couple of times.”

“Me too,” I said. “And there’s one going on now. Thing is, the last time I went there, I was trashed drunk, and I can’t even remember how I got there.”

“Oh,” he said. “Well, he doesn’t even live there anymore.”

“He doesn’t?”

“No, it’s a crime scene. The shooting took place there,” he said. Of course it did. Why didn’t I think of that? “He lives in Yarrow now.” Yarrow was a dorm on campus. It was one of the suite-style dorms, like Gilbert’s had been.

“Yarrow!” I said. “Seriously?”

“I’m pretty sure,” said the guy.

“Well, shit. We’re on the complete wrong side of campus.” I threw that last bit over my shoulder to Brigit.

She was standing a few feet away, her arms crossed, a very pinched look on her face.

I turned back to the guy. “Thanks so much.”

“Uh, is there really a party going on at Mason’s?”

I nodded. “Totally is.”

“You mind if I walk over there with you guys, then? I was just kind of wandering around looking for something to do, and that sounds cool.”

“Sure,” I said, smiling, thinking that he would know where in Yarrow this room was, thus narrowing everything down, making it easier.

We all started off back up the sidewalk, the guy going back the way he came, me right behind him, and Brigit trailing along in the rear.

After turning the corner back on to campus, Brigit suddenly caught up to me. She caught me by the arm and muttered, “What are we going to do if there isn’t actually a party at this guy’s dorm?”

“Well, if he’s as into parties as Karen said, there will be. It’s 8:30 on a Thursday evening. That’s prime college party time.”

“But what if there isn’t?” she said.

I shrugged. “Then we make a party.”

Brigit gave me a disbelieving look.

She didn’t think I could make a party? “Look in my bag,” I said, holding it open for her.

She did. “You brought bourbon. So?”

“So, that’s a party,” I said, smiling.

* * *

“Mason,” I said, throwing my arms around him when he opened the door. “How the fuck are you?”

He hugged back. “Not drunk enough.” He pulled back. “Uh… I forget your name.”

“Ivy,” I said. “No problem. Last time we hung out, I was blitzed out of my mind.”

“Don’t I know it,” he said, grinning. “What are you doing here?”

“Aren’t you having a party?”

“Uh…” He looked behind himself into his dorm. “Well, you know, after that thing with Gilbert Pike, I’ve been thinking—”

“Hey, come on,” I said. “We got to do this in the memory of those lives that were lost that day. They wouldn’t want us to stop having fun on their account. We need to party twice as hard, just for them.”

Mason considered.

I pulled out the bottle of bourbon and held it out.

He grinned. “All right, you’ve convinced me. Come on in.” He stepped aside to let us into his dorm room. Since it was one of the suite-style rooms, we entered into the kitchen area, but I could see over the breakfast bar into the living room area. No one was there, but there were bottles of liquor set up on shelves beside the couch. Lots of bottles.

Mason stepped out of the door, cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed from the bottom of his lungs, “Parrrr-teee!”

Brigit glared at me. “I hate you.”

I just smiled.

“Seriously,” she said. “You are way too old for this. Doesn’t anyone besides me notice that?”

“It’s college, Brigit. People go back to college at all ages of their lives. My being here is not as weird as you think.”

“I do,” she said. “Hate you.”

But people were starting to show up at Mason’s door, coming inside carrying six-packs of beer or bottles of vodka or both.

I slapped Brigit on the back. “Look, let’s split up. You start trying to feel people out on Gilbert, and I’ll do the same. Maybe you’ll find out something that I couldn’t.” I was feeling magnanimous in my victory. Since I’d made her look a little silly, I wanted to offer her the chance to save face.

She shook her head at me one last time, and then she slid past me to start mingling with the party-goers.

* * *

“Dude, I have never been more surprised about anything in my life,” said my new friend Ryder, who kept sort of hitting on me, even though I was way too old for him. He and I were standing in the kitchen together, each with a beer in our hands. It was nearly three in the morning, but the party was still going strong. “I didn’t think Gil would ever do something like that.”

“Yeah, it’s crazy, right?” I shook my head.

“Did you know him?”

“Not really,” I said. “I met him once in town at The Remington, but that’s all.”

“Oh, well, he was seriously one of the nicest guys I ever met,” said Ryder. “Really chill, you know? Not the least bit the kind of person who’d do something like that.”

“I keep hearing that,” I said. “So, um, were you in the dorm when it happened? I understand there was a big party.”

“Not that big,” said Ryder. “It was Monday afternoon. Only a few people are die-hard enough for that shit. And I am not one of them. No, I was in class. But it happened in my bedroom.”

“Wait, you live with Mason?”

“Yeah, I’m Mason’s roommate. Didn’t you know that?”

“No,” I said.

“I thought you were at our old dorm before.”

“I was wasted.”

“Yeah, people are always wasted when they’re at one of these parties.” He grinned at me. “Anyway, the police had it all curtained off as a crime scene for two days, and all my shit was covered in blood and stuff.” He said this in the same tone that a guy might talk about how much weight he could lift or something. He was bragging, and he expected me to be impressed.

Oh, college boys. They were so simple and yet so appealing.

Ryder was easy on the eyes. Curly brown hair, smiling eyes, thick fingers.

I’d been drinking all night, and I was thinking about how I probably needed to let off some steam. Needed to get laid. I hadn’t gone home with anyone in a while, and I was probably going to go through withdrawal or something if I didn’t—

But I was working. Working.

Unfortunately, my work now called for me to flirt a little bit. I put my hand over my mouth, feigning shock. “That’s awful.”

He shrugged. “It sucked, I guess. I had to get a lot of new stuff, like clothes and things.”

“That must have been terrible.”

“Yeah, I was kind of upset about it. Not really the clothes and stuff, but just the fact that it happened and all. I could have used a shoulder to cry on or whatever. Hell, maybe I could still use a shoulder.” He raised his eyebrows suggestively. “A blond shoulder.”

I was beginning to realize that Ryder was only offering this information to me to try to get close to me. It was a silly college boy way of getting girls in bed by preying on their sympathies. But I didn’t want to go to bed with him. Well… The point was, he wasn’t going to manipulate me in that way. I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. “So, how close were you to Gilbert?”

“Uh, not that close.” Ryder looked a little confused by the fact that I had changed the subject instead of falling all over him. He cocked his head to one side.

“Stop it,” I said. “I’m way too old for you. Don’t give me that puppy dog look, like you can’t understand why I’m not swayed by your charms.”

Ryder blushed. “Sorry. I guess I thought…”

“It’s fine,” I said. “I’m just curious about the shooting, honestly.”

“Oh,” he said. “Well, I kept some of the stuff. With the blood. If you want to see them, they’re back in my room.”

Was this an attempt to get me back in his bedroom? Nah, I’d shut that down, hadn’t I? Besides, he could have his pick of young girls at this party. He couldn’t be that interested in me. “Okay,” I said.

He led me back the hall to his room.

It looked like all the other dorm bedrooms I’d seen recently. Just like Gilbert’s. Same furniture but arranged differently.

Ryder shut the door behind me. “I think it’s really cool that you’re still hanging out here and partying, even though you’re, um, more mature than the rest of us.”

I arched an eyebrow. What the hell was that all about?

“I heard they were doing drugs in here,” I said. “Is that true?”

“It’s just,” he said, “I don’t want to let the world suck me dry. Most people, they graduate from college, they start working, and then they never do stuff like this anymore. They don’t stay up drinking until three in the morning. There’s no adventure in their lives. But you… you’ve still got it.”

I shook my head, smiling a little. That wasn’t really how it was. This kid didn’t understand at all. He didn’t realize how young he was, how much boundless energy he had. He didn’t realize that a “full load” of college courses amounted to a part-time job with a little bit of homework, so of course he had time to party like crazy. Once he got out into the workforce and worked an actual forty-hour week, then we’d see how much adventure he had in his life. I went out drinking because… because my life was shit. If I had the things most people had at my age—a family or a husband for instance—I wouldn’t do this. I was all alone, and it was what I did to numb myself to my reality. But he didn’t get that. Not at all. And there wasn’t any reason to explain it to him. So, I just nodded. “Yeah, that’s me, all right. Adventurous.”

“I can tell,” he said. “We read this poem in one of my English classes and it was all about how you should seize the day. The last line was like, ‘Even though we can’t make the sun stand still, we’ll make him run.’ Or something. I don’t know. Anyway, the point is, that’s how I want to live my life. Racing the sun. When I’m your age, I want to be making the sun run. You know?”

I just smiled. College guys were given to fits of philosophy, especially when drunk. Unfortunately, it was kind of making me want to sleep with him.

“Plus, you know,” he said, “you’re really hot.”

“You didn’t keep bloody clothes in here,” I said.

“No.” He stepped close to me.

I shut my eyes. “My friend. I came with a friend, and she’ll want to leave—”

“She’s passed out on the couch,” he said.

I opened my eyes. “No, she’s not.”

He reached up to stroke my cheek. “You can go look if you want. But only if you promise to come right back here.”

I grasped his wrist. “Stop that,” I said, but my voice wasn’t strong. I was working, and I shouldn’t do this. I needed to find out about the case, not get distracted by this guy, who was admittedly gorgeous but also not the least bit important at the moment.

“Do you ever hook up with guys my age?”

I looked into his eyes. My mouth was dry.