“We’re not in a war zone,” I said. “This is a girls’ private boarding school.”
“With two mysterious deaths,” said Tetyana crisply.
“Just remember your main PI mantra and you won’t make any fatal mistakes,” said David.
Katy looked at me, her brow furrowed.
Tetyana and David had taught us everything we knew about self-defense, from how to handle weapons to street fighting to interrogation techniques. But I’d never forget the one mantra which had held true across all of our investigations.
“The person most easily identifiable as the culprit is probably not the guilty one,” I said.
Chapter Thirty-five
Katy crawled over to her bed and slipped under the covers, mumbling good night.
We were both exhausted. We had got little sleep since we arrived at the school.
Sam and Jayden’s deaths weighed heavily on my mind. I felt guilty for not having foreseen the danger. For not being able to save them.
Part of me wished I was back at home, snuggling in my warm, comfy bed, with David’s arm around me. Or in our Jacuzzi tub, full of bubbles, sharing a glass of chilled white wine. That would be so nice, I thought as I turned my pillow over for the tenth time that night.
My mind had been whirring all day, and it was refusing to stop.
I wondered about Martha May’s background, and what her intentions might be.
All we knew was she was an acquaintance of Madame Bouchard—the woman who bequeathed me and my found-family an unusual inheritance. Every time we helped out one of her colleagues or friends, our anti-trafficking child-rescue nonprofit received a sizable donation from her estate.
This was why I had a hard time saying no when these calls for help came, even though I knew it irked David.
But if I knew one thing about the late Madame Bouchard, it was that she had kept interesting company.
Her status as a high-powered and well-connected diplomat meant she had known all kinds of people, from jet-setting celebrities, members of royalty, and high-ranking intelligence officers, to wealthy families with shady businesses.
There was a dark side to the principal, I was sure. The more I thought of it, the more certain I felt about what Sam had seen in the garden on Sunday, the day before he was killed.
Did Martha murder him? It couldn’t have been the chief, as he and his team were nowhere near the school that day till I called emergency services.
My blood ran cold as I remembered how I’d innocently handed over the syringe to them. I wondered if they had already buried that piece of evidence.
My brain wandered over to the school’s financial woes.
Maybe Win’s hunches were right. Maybe it was Martha May who was killing her staff.
But why?
Surely not to save money. She could have just fired them. To keep them quiet about things she didn’t want the world to know? That was a more plausible answer.
But where was all that tuition money going?
Did she have a secret addiction? Was it siphoning all the cash, and she was now afraid of being discovered? Did Jayden find out about it and had paid with his life?
What about Brianna Madison?
The principal could have kidnapped her for ransom. That was one way to make quick cash. The girl’s parents would pay anything to get her back, but that was a risky maneuver. She’d have to cover her tracks well.
If this was a ransom kidnapping, why hadn’t anyone called asking for money yet? And how did we explain that strange message on the girl’s medicine cabinet?
I sat up in bed as a frightening new realization hit me.
Maybe Katy and I were here just for show.
That was why Martha had been so unhelpful, almost sabotaging our investigation with her overly strict rules and irrational demands.
“That’s it,” I whispered to myself, feeling a cold sweat break out.
I was about to jump out of my bed and shake Katy awake to share my theory, when I heard voices outside our door.
I froze in place.
It was the distinct noise of footsteps and subdued voices passing by our room.
I glanced over at my phone on the bedside table. It was one forty-nine in the morning. I raised myself on my elbows and leaned toward the door, wondering if I was dreaming.
I pinched myself. No, I was awake.
It was real, all right.
I threw my coverlet aside, got out of bed, and tiptoed toward the door. I leaned my ear against it.
That was when I heard an urgent “Shh….”
The girls.
They were up to something tonight.
I treaded quietly over to my friend’s bed.
“Katy?” I whispered.
She stirred, but didn’t wake up.
I reached for her shoulder. “Hey, wake up.”
“Lemme sleep,” came her voice.
“It’s Isabella and her buddies.”
“What?”
“I think they’re heading to the sports center to smoke weed and who knows what.”
“Let them,” mumbled Katy, turning away and slipping deeper under her coverlet, eyes firmly closed. “I’m dead tired.”
“We have to find out what’s going on,” I said, shaking her. “We can’t slack now, Katy.”
She turned over and looked at me through sleepy eyelids.
Another sound came from the corridor, like someone accidentally thumped against the corridor wall as they walked by.
“What the…”
I shushed her and made a motion to listen.
It was like a stream of people were passing by our door. We could hear their feet shuffling and a few escaped whispers. Someone was telling them to keep quiet.
Katy’s eyes were wide open now.
“Isabella?” she whispered, sitting up and staring at the door.
I frowned. “Sounds like the whole school’s up.”
“What time is it?”
“Almost two.”
I walked over to the closet, plucked her Kevlar vest off a hangar, and threw it on her bed.
“Something’s going on out there,” I said, wiggling out of my pajama bottoms and reaching for my black tights. “I have a funny feeling Brianna’s disappearance is not a lone event.”
Katy gave me a confused look.
“Get dressed,” I said. “It’s time to find out what’s really going on here.”
Katy dragged herself out of bed and changed into her black pants, shirt, and Kevlar gear, while I walked over to the window and peered out to see if I could spot anyone out on the school grounds.
A half-moon lit the sky.
I could see the shadows of the teachers’ quarters and the headmistress’s manor in the back. The buildings were in total darkness. It was what I’d expect the grounds to look like at this time of the morning.
Who’s on patrol tonight?
I racked my brain to recall our last conversation with Cathy and her staff.
“Ruby,” I said out loud, as I remembered. I turned to Katy who was holstering her gun under her jacket.
“What about her?” she asked.
“According to the roster, she’s on patrol tonight.”
“You know what I think Ruby’s up to right now?” grumbled Katy, as she pulled her boots on. “Fast asleep in bed. Tomorrow morning, she’ll say she was up at all hours and how tired she’s from doing all this extra unpaid work. Woe is me and all that jazz.”
That was exactly how I’d imagine Ruby to act out. Something told me the girls knew it too.
I walked over to the door and listened. The voices had vanished, and the building had quietened down again.
Holding my breath, I turned the doorknob and opened the door an inch.
Nothing.
I pulled it open a few more inches and peeked through the opening.
The corridor was empty.
We slipped out, closing the door behind us. Katy turned left, towards the main stairway to he
ad down to the sports center, but something made me stop.
I grabbed her by the elbow.
“Do you hear that?” I whispered.
She stopped and stood stock still.
I put my hand on the corridor wall. A chill went down my back as I felt the thumping vibration flow through the ancient wooden beams.
Katy reached over to the wall on her side, but pulled her hand back like she’d been stung.
Her eyes widened. “What the heck is that?”
I shoved my hand under my vest and pulled out my Glock.
“This way,” I whispered, turning to the right. “It’s coming in the direction of the common room.”
Chapter Thirty-six
We crept toward the west wing, keeping to the shadows.
The corridor was deserted, but the bizarre thumping got louder the closer we got to the common room.
I wondered how any of the girls on this wing hadn’t heard that noise too. Why hadn’t they come out to check?
The answer came when we got to the bottom of the corridor.
The thumping sound was a muted drumbeat, like it came from a closed room.
Music.
Soon the smell of liquor grew heavy in the air.
“It’s a rave,” I whispered.
“Jayden and Sam aren’t even buried yet, and they’re partying it up?” said Katy with a disgusted hiss.
“Remember how Isabella treated Jayden? I don’t think they have an iota of respect for them. These kids are a special, self-entitled bunch.”
We stopped near the door to the common room and took stock.
The muted sound of a catchy hip-hop drumbeat came from the other side of the closed doors.
“Do we go in?” whispered Katy.
A noise came from somewhere behind us. Someone was coming this way.
Grabbing my friend by the arm, I pulled her into the nearest alcove.
I squashed myself against the wall, feeling silly to hide from a bunch of schoolgirls, but something told me we had to watch our step.
The sounds of flushing made me turn.
“We’re next to the toilets,” whispered Katy, scrunching her nose.
From behind the flimsy door, we could hear the sounds of a tap being opened and water running. Then, a giggle and low chatter.
“There’s more than one in there,” said Katy.
I prayed they wouldn’t come out right then, as they’d get a surprise to see us crouching by the door.
Soon, the smell of tobacco smoke came from the toilet.
“They’re smoking?” mouthed Katy, a severe look of disapproval coming on her face.
The whispers from the corridor were getting clearer and louder, and the smell of fancy perfume wafted our way.
A quick peek showed three girls in miniskirts, sequined tops, and heavy makeup strutting up to the common room door. They were in high spirits, like any teenager walking into a nightclub.
I pulled back into the alcove, wondering if I was making a big deal out of nothing.
A secret midnight party at an all-girls’ boarding school wasn’t a surprise. It would have been unusual if these teens didn’t fool around once in a while, especially given they were locked up in the school, day in and day out.
The girls rapped on the common room door. I counted four raps, a pause, then two more.
A secret code.
The doors opened and for a second, it felt like we were in downtown Manhattan on a weekend night. Loud music mixed with high-pitched chatter spilled out of the open doors.
How many girls are in there?
“Hey, hey, hey,” came a chirpy voice. “What’s the password, y’all?”
“All hail the ruby queen,” replied a girl with a giggle.
“You’re in,” said the first girl.
More giggling.
“Where’s my drink?”
The doors closed, and the music, laughter, and voices faded into a muted hum again.
I slipped my gun in my holster and pulled out my phone. Katy gave me an inquiring look.
“We’re going to the party,” I whispered. “We need a different kind of weapon for that. Get yours out too.”
I clicked on the video app and pressed record. I stuck the mobile in the top vest pocket so only the recording eye was exposed and had a good vantage point.
Katy did the same.
“Too bad we didn’t bring our party dresses,” she said.
In our gear and Kevlar vests, we were going to stand out in this crowd, but at least we had pockets.
“Let’s go,” I whispered, slipping out of the alcove and stepping up to the door. I rapped on the door, using the same sequence as the girls had moments ago.
Nothing.
We waited.
“I feel like a grandma,” whispered Katy. “A grandma gatecrasher.”
“Maybe they can see us,” I said, craning my neck to see if cameras were watching us, but there were none I could spot.
I tried the knocking combo again, louder this time.
I’d barely finished the code, when the door opened and a girl we hadn’t yet met stood at the threshold.
She was wearing a shimmering pink dress that scarcely covered her bottom. Her blonde hair was tied in long braids. She must have been sixteen, but looked like an underdressed hostess you’d find at any fancy downtown night club.
She was swaying on her feet. I hoped she and everyone here would be too drunk to notice the tops of our phones showing from our vest pockets.
She gave us a curious look over.
“Who… who are you people?”
“Didn’t you hear?” piped up Katy, her voice chirpy. “We’re research assistants from Boston U. Here for a week.”
She scowled.
“Are you here to shut us down?”
“Are you crazy?” said Katy, still smiling. “We’ve been stuck in this place for the last few days. We’re desperate for a drink.”
I looked over the girl’s shoulder.
The common room was full, transformed from a boring study room to a makeshift nightclub.
It was like all the students in the school were here. Hip-hop music blared from the speakers, and a serve-yourself bar in the corner was laden with liquor bottles of all sorts, most of them opened.
How in the world didn’t the teachers know about this?
That was when I remembered.
Ruby had probably prioritized her beauty sleep and was blissfully unaware. I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn the girls had planned this to coincide with her patrol night.
“You always dress like that?” asked the girl, giving Katy and me a scornful look.
“We forgot our party dresses at home,” replied Katy. “We just wanna join in the fun. Aren’t you going to let us in? Come on. Pretty please?”
Katy was a good actress. I was glad she’d taken over, because I was itching to barge in, round the girls up, and demand what was going on.
Two more girls popped up from behind the first. They squinted at us.
“I know you,” slurred one of the new girls. “I saw you at dinner with Ms. May.”
The first girl stared at us, twirling her hair, like she was trying to decide whether to trust us.
“Aw, come on,” said Katy. “You’re going to deny a girl a drink?”
“You can’t come in if you don’t know the password,” said the girl with the braids.
“All hail the ruby queen,” said Katy, the words rolling off her tongue like she’d said this phrase a hundred times before.
The girls’ eyebrows shot up. They exchanged a surprised look.
“How did you know?”
“Isabella told us,” said Katy. “Can we come in now?”
The door opened wide.
I crossed my fingers behind my back. If Isabella was here, we’d be in trouble.
“Oh, my god,” said a familiar voice as soon as we walked in.
We looked to our right to see Isabella holding court with her
posse. A bunch of girls in party outfits surrounded her, some lying on the floor, others draped over chairs, leaning against each other, like they were in some ancient harem boudoir.
“It’s those chicks,” said Isabella, speaking loud enough for us to hear. “Those chicks doing a project for Ms. May. What are they doing here?”
I glanced around quickly. The girl with the golden braids was pouring drinks at the self-service bar, thankfully out of earshot.
“Nice to see you,” said Katy, playing up the party girl routine. “We had a rough day and I need a drink badly. How do you guys stay cooped up here for days? Doesn’t it drive you nuts? Your principal’s a crazy bitch.”
A ripple of laughter went through the crowd.
“I think I like you,” said Isabella with a smile at Katy. She turned and glared at me.
“I don’t like you, though,” she said, “you tried to stop us smoking in the gym last night. You’re mean.”
“Yoo hoo!”
I turned around to see the girl with the braids had come over with two shooter glasses filled with a colorless liquid.
“If you can’t drink this, you’re not allowed to stay,” she said, offering the glasses to Katy and me. “That’s the rule.”
From the corner of my eyes, I could see Isabella and her posse watching us closely.
This was a test.
Katy picked up her glass, threw her head back and slammed the liquid down her throat. She let out a loud and satisfying “ahh,” to the applause of the nearby crowd.
All eyes turned on me.
I took a side glance at my friend. She was still standing and didn’t look like she was about to keel over from poisoning.
Not yet, anyway.
I sniffed the contents.
Vodka. Pure white vodka.
Tetyana should be here, not me, I thought, feeling my stomach turn. I loved a good glass of wine and the occasional beer, but hard liquor never did me well.
“Drink! Drink! Drink!” came the chorus from the side.
I threw my head back and downed the liquid, feeling like I was swallowing volcanic lava. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, wondering if I was going to survive the night, when I heard a familiar voice.
“What are you two doing here?” said the deep voice cutting through the girl’s laughter.
Merciless Crimes: A Thrilling Closed Circle Mystery Series (Merciless Murder Mystery Thriller) Page 15
