Cash and the Sorority Girl

by Ashley Bartlett

  “When was the last time you left this room?” she asked.

  “I think I got here around five,” I said. Duarte nodded.

  “So you don’t know about the app installation,” Laurel said.

  “The what?” Duarte asked.

  “Brika figured out what time Locus was installed on some of the phones. He’s still working through the list, but I think he figured out four of them.”

  “Holy shit. What time? Which vics?” Duarte turned to the conference table and started sorting note cards and felt-tip markers.

  “I’m not sure. Let me go grab it.” She left the room and was back a minute later. “Here.” She handed him a short list.

  “Ava Nunes, Jordan Sadler, Kali Wayne, and Mackenzie Glas,” Duarte read off.

  “Okay, that’s plum, pink, burnt orange, and lime green, right?” I asked as I collected note cards and pens.

  Duarte nodded, then grunted. “Uh, no. Sadler is blue.”

  “Right, blue.” I dropped the pink pen and grabbed the blue.

  Duarte handed me a card. “Nunes, plum, the nineteenth. Twelve ten a.m.”

  I wrote the pertinent information and drew a stripe across the top of the card. Duarte ran through the rest of the list and I filled out the cards. “Where do we want to tack them? On the map?”

  Duarte scrunched his nose. It was his thinking face. “Let’s see when it happened in relation to the assaults. That might tell us where they were.” He took one of the cards at random and went to the map. After a minute, he found the appropriate card. He tapped it on the map. “Forty-five minutes before.”

  “Check this one.” I handed him another and took the blue one myself. Jordan Sadler had been assaulted at Omega Kappa Nu between one and two a.m. Locus had been installed at twelve twenty-nine a.m. “Thirty minutes before.”

  “Thirty minutes for this one too,” Duarte said.

  “An hour for this one.” Laurel held up the last card.

  “So Locus was installed before each assault,” I said.

  Laurel nodded. “But within an hour.”

  Duarte grabbed a couple of pins. “Let’s put them next to the assault times.” He stuck one to the board.

  “I assume they were tagged with the app at whatever party they were assaulted at,” I said.

  “Yeah.” Duarte tacked up another one. “Yes? Probably. I don’t know.” He started mumbling and tracing his finger over various cards.

  Laurel started doing the same with the lime green cards. “I think so. This one only attended one party. She was at Zeta Beta Chi, which she arrived at between nine thirty and ten thirty. Locus was installed at nine thirty-eight p.m.”

  “There’s overlap with this one.” Duarte held up the plum card. “She was tagged with the app at twelve ten a.m., but she left Omega Kappa Nu at midnight and went directly to Sigma Epsilon where she was assaulted. She arrived at the hospital at one thirty.”

  “So she could have gotten Locus at either frat house,” I said.

  “Fuck. I thought this was going to make it easier.” Duarte tossed the two cards he was holding back on the conference table.

  “Actually, this is good.” Laurel picked up Duarte’s cards. “Let’s note both possible houses where Locus could have been installed. Maybe there will be clear crossover.”

  “What do you mean?” I handed her my card.

  “Well, if we have two potential locations for all of them, but they all have Kappa Kappa Tau or whatever as a possible location, then logic would suggest Kappa Kappa Tau is where we need to focus.”

  Duarte lit up. “Oh, dude.” His ears turned red. “Sorry. I mean, Detective Kallen. You’re right.” He grabbed a pen and the stack of cards from Laurel. He checked all the cards and wrote down frat houses on each Locus card. The lime green only got one frat, but everyone else got two.

  “Which one is the solo one?” Laurel pointed.

  “Zeta Beta Chi.”

  “Is it a potential location for any of the others?” I asked.

  Duarte nodded. “Prosser was also assaulted there. Sadler was at Zeta immediately before being assaulted at Omega Kappa Nu.”

  “Things aren’t looking good for Zeta Beta Chi,” I said.

  “Okay, so Zeta is our focus. Tomorrow, hopefully, Brika will have the rest of the time stamps for us.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Duarte grinned. He should have. This was all his doing.

  “Can we show this to Fenton and Blackford tomorrow?” Laurel asked.

  “Yeah. Sure. I guess.” Duarte’s smiled dropped a little. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, this isn’t even my case. I don’t want to edge in on their territory.”

  “Duarte.” Laurel looked at the wall pointedly.

  “What?”

  “Edging in on their territory was twelve hours and a whole murder board ago.”

  “Yeah, I know, but I don’t want to be disrespectful,” he said.

  Laurel swallowed a sigh and closed her eyes before the full eye roll became visible. “We can show Reyes first, okay? He will tell you how brilliant you are, and then we can show Fenton and Blackford.”

  “Okay, yeah. That would be all right.”

  “Is there anything else you two want to add tonight? Or can we go home?” Laurel asked.

  I looked at Duarte and shrugged. We’d barely included any Twitter information, which was what had started this insanity, but that info was also the biggest stretch. Most of what was on the wall could be backed by the information in the case files. Twitter was probably not going to hold up in court. Or to Sergeant Ionescu’s scrutiny. We might be able to convince Reyes and Laurel that Twitter was valid. We might even be able to convince Fenton and Blackford, but Ionescu would just glare at Duarte.

  “Yeah, let’s get out of here.” Duarte patted his pockets and removed a few pens. He tossed them on the table.

  Laurel led us out of the building. Duarte waved and disappeared into the empty lot.

  “You want to go to my place?” I asked.

  “That sounds good. I’ll follow you there.”

  I texted Lane to let her know Laurel and I were on our way. She offered to order dinner. I hoped, irrationally, that said dinner would arrive in the fifteen minutes I knew it would take to get home. Sadly, that was not the case. I parked in the driveway and Laurel parked on the street. When she climbed out of her truck, she had her phone tucked between her ear and shoulder.

  “No, I was driving. I’m not answering the phone while I’m driving.” She rolled her eyes and mouthed “Duarte” to me.

  I nodded and opened the front door.

  “What do you mean?” Laurel slid past me and I pulled the door shut behind us. “About ten minutes, but up to thirty. I’m not positive though. I can find out tomorrow.”

  “Hey, guys,” Lane called from the couch.

  “Hey.” I rounded the couch to sit with her, but found the entire surface covered in study materials.

  “Sorry. I’ll move. Give me a sec.” Lane started stacking books.

  “Don’t. You’re fine.” I collapsed in the chair instead. “See?”

  “Yeah, that makes sense,” Laurel said.

  “What’s up with her?” Lane whispered.

  I shrugged. “No clue. She’s talking to one of the baby detectives.”

  “I think it’s like two. We’ll have to check, but—” She started nodding, which was pretty useless for a phone call, but what did I know. “Yeah, I think so too.” She listened to him, looked at me and Lane, then quickly dropped her eyes. “No, I think we should wait until tomorrow. Brika will have the rest of the time stamps then. Okay. Good work today.” She laughed at something he said, then hung up.

  “If you need to go back in you can,” I said.

  “No.” She shook her head. “It’s okay.”

  “What was Duarte calling about?”

  “He wanted to confirm the duration of Ketamine. How long it takes to hit full strength after ingesting, whatever.”


  “Why?”

  “Because he thinks Locus was installed at the same time the women were dosed,” she said.

  “Well, yeah. Probably.”

  “That was my reaction too. I think he was looking for a bit more excitement.”

  I shrugged. “Then give him a gold star.”

  “All of the gold stars.” Laurel grinned.

  “Hey, guys, what the hell are you talking about?” Lane asked.

  Laurel omitted the fuck out of the truth. “Just this stupid case.” She shook her head. “One of the baby detectives is finally figuring out his footing.”

  Lane shrugged, any mild interest gone at the suggestion Laurel might start talking about her colleagues and their work performance.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Are you coming to the station today? No pressure. I just thought since you helped build the board you might want to be there when I show the guys. But like I said, no pressure! Let me know.

  It was the neediest text I’d gotten since dating in my early twenties. I groaned.

  “What?” Laurel sat on the edge of the bed to put on her shoes.

  “Duarte.” I held up the phone so she could read the screen.

  She leaned back and read the text. She laughed and leaned farther to kiss me. “That’s cute.”

  “How is that cute?”

  “He wants to be your buddy.” She said it like she was talking about a dog.

  “I don’t need a buddy. I have a cat and a fifteen-year-old neighbor and a Lane. I’m full up on buddies.”

  “So are you going to come down?”

  “I don’t know. It’s not really my place.”

  “I get that.” She stood. “Well, if you decide to, let me know. I’ll put down the puppy pads in the conference room.”

  “You’re a dick.”

  “I know, but in my defense, I’m truthful. Duarte thinks you’re awful swell.”

  “Whatever. If I go in, it won’t be until noonish. I’m taking Lane to class.”

  “Brika won’t have the rest of the Locus installation info until early afternoon, probably.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  My phone buzzed again. I sighed when I saw Duarte’s name again.

  Did Kallen tell you what we figured out last night?

  “How do you want me to answer this?” I held up the phone again.

  Laurel shrugged. “I don’t know. Don’t lie to him.”

  Yep. Ketamine and Locus were probably same time. You’re hecka smart, bro.

  Thanks!

  “He uses a lot of exclamation points,” I said.

  “I’d make a joke about it, but I’m sure you would just remind me that I’m ageist.”

  I tossed my phone on the bedside table. “You are ageist. Duarte is a perfectly capable detective. He just gets excited and also uses a lot of exclamation points.”

  Laurel rolled her eyes, kissed me, and stood. “Maybe I’ll see you later.”

  “I don’t know. I’m meeting my best buddy Jeff first, but maybe after that.”

  She laughed and closed the bedroom door as she left. A minute later, her truck started up.

  I pep talked myself out of bed. It was eight in the morning. Laurel had slept in to indulge me, which made exactly zero sense. If sleeping past seven was sleeping in, there was something fundamentally wrong in your life.

  I started the coffee and snuggled the cat. Lane woke up at a normal time and the cat ditched me per the usual. No one’s mother made a surprise visit.

  After dropping Lane off, I realized my day was empty. I hadn’t been up to the farm in months and I didn’t plan on breaking that streak. I didn’t have any deliveries. Nate and Andy were in school.

  Clearly, it was time to become a stockbroker. But I still didn’t know what they did so I drove to the police station.

  Duarte was nowhere to be found when I arrived on the detectives’ floor. Laurel caught my eye and shook her head. I was pretty sure she mouthed “puppy” before going back to typing.

  “Hey, Cash, you come down to bask in the big reveal?” Reyes asked.

  I turned toward him. “Oh, hey. Yeah, I guess.”

  “Duarte is with Fenton and Blackford in the conference room.” He tipped his chin in the direction of the door. “You’re welcome to go on in.”

  “Dope. Thanks.” I crossed the room and let myself in.

  Duarte jumped up from his seat and gave me a high five that became a bro hug. “Thanks for coming down. I wasn’t sure if you were going to make it.”

  “Braddock, good work with this.” Fenton nodded at the wall. He sounded sincere.

  “Yeah, we appreciate the help.” Blackford did not sound sincere.

  “Sit down.” Duarte kicked out a chair for me. “We just added three more Locus installations.” He dropped into the chair between me and the other detectives.

  “And are they all the same time frame?”

  Duarte nodded enthusiastically. “And Fenton caught something we didn’t.”

  “Oh, yeah.” I leaned forward a bit to look at Fenton.

  “The earlier assaults are the ones with longer gaps between app installation and rape. The later assaults appear to have shorter gaps.”

  “Shit. So he got more experienced,” I said.

  “Exactly what we’re thinking. There are two outliers, but they don’t disprove the theory,” Fenton said.

  “Both of them were unclear on the time of the assault compared to the other women. One didn’t go to the hospital. The other passed out and her friends found her so the timeline is hard to pin down.” Duarte used a laser pointer to indicate which cards on the wall he was discussing. The laser pointer was a disturbing development. Either someone at the station had been dumb enough to give him one or he brought it from home. Neither option was good.

  “Okay, so we are working on the assumption that they were dosed when Locus was installed,” Blackford said. We all nodded and made vague noises of agreement. “We know that dosing a drink with ketamine only takes a second so that could happen anywhere, but Brika estimated that Locus installation would take longer.”

  “And the guy would need physical access to her phone without her realizing it. That’s got to narrow it down. How is he taking their phones, returning them, drugging the women, and following them for up to an hour without anyone noticing?” I asked.

  “Oh, yeah. That’s the other thing,” Duarte said.

  “What’s the other thing?”

  “Brika was in here earlier. He said it was possible the phones were hacked remotely, but it would still require being physically close to the phone. Like within five feet?” Duarte looked at Fenton.

  Fenton scrolled through the notes on his iPad. “Yeah, about that. And it would take a little while. Between five and ten minutes.”

  “So he could be sitting on a couch next to them, hack their phones, then dose them?” I asked. That didn’t narrow things down at all.

  Fenton grimaced from behind his beard. “Theoretically, yes.”

  “The weird thing is that none of the women remember seeing the rapist beforehand. They didn’t notice anyone following them or sitting near them for an extended period of time or anything,” Duarte said.

  “But they could simply not have been aware of their surroundings. Most of them were intoxicated and party hopping. It would be easy to follow them without being noticed,” Blackford said. It really didn’t make me feel great about him at parties.

  “Not necessarily. Most women are aware of guys in social situations like that,” I said.

  “What do you mean?” Duarte asked in all of his innocent glory.

  “Men are threats. Especially for femme presenting women. Paying attention to the guys around you could be the difference between life and death, quite literally.”

  Blackford’s eye twitched. “Well, obviously they weren’t paying that close of attention.”

  “Are you fucking serious?” I asked before I could stop myself.

&nb
sp; “I’m not trying to demean them.” Blackford put his hands up defensively. “I’m just saying that someone who is apparently on constant alert for a predator would notice at least one of these red flags.”

  “Or this guy is really good at being a creepy predator.” I raised my eyebrows and dared him to respond.

  “Or what if it’s like two guys?” Duarte asked. We all looked at him. “Okay, I don’t have any evidence of that, but two participants would make it easier to dose, hack, and follow.”

  “But none of the victims reported multiple attackers. Why would two guys tag team this elaborate scheme if only one of them was going to do the assaulting?” Fenton asked.

  “Yeah, okay. You’re right.”

  How the fuck did anyone do a job where they casually discussed tag teaming elaborate rape schemes? None of the detectives seemed thrown by this discussion. I was saved from asking that question when Ionescu let himself into the room.

  “All right. I have five minutes. Where are we at?” He frowned and his jaw tightened as he looked at the murder board. Or maybe that was just his face.

  “Current theory is that the perp installed Locus on the phones at the same time he dosed the vics with ketamine. It makes sense with just about every timeline we’ve constructed,” Fenton said.

  Ionescu grunted.

  “We still can’t figure out how this guy managed to hack and drug the vics. He would have needed to be in close proximity for about five, maybe ten minutes.” Blackford looked at me, then added, “Most women at a frat party would at least notice a guy hovering for that long.”

  “Explain this.” Ionescu walked up to the map and started reading cards.

  Duarte jumped up to walk him through a color like we had with Laurel the night before. Ionescu nodded along. At one point he tapped a blue address, made a noise, then tapped the next blue address.

  “How are they getting from point A to point B?” he asked.

  Duarte looked at me. I looked at Duarte. Neither of us had an answer to that one. We looked at Fenton and Blackford. They clearly didn’t know either. Blackford started flipping through his notebook.