Page 44 of Moonstruck

Asa shook his head. “What?”

“He’s, like…on the run or something,” Arlo’s voice piped in. “Like, the game broke his brain or something.”

“How do we know he’s still alive?” Zane asked. “How are we supposed to question somebody we can’t find?”

“You asked for information. This is all we could find. Our friend Jason had heard from his roommate David that Eric had played the game but got spooked when they asked him to do something horrible.”

“Can we talk to this David kid?” Asa asked.

“Um, probably. Jason said he works at the Cantina on South Padre and Montrose. I don’t think David knows that Jason told us what he told him about Eric, so maybe don’t, like, kidnap him and torture him for information or something,” Dimitri said. “He seems like a good guy and my mom will fucking flip.”

Asa scoffed. “Would I do that?”

“Yes,” Zane, Arlo, and Dimitri said at once.

Asa rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ll be nice. What’s this David kid’s last name? Do you know?”

“Robinson.”

“Alright. Thanks, kid.”

“We square?” Dimitri asked.

Asa grinned. “Yeah, we’re good.”

Asa disconnected and looked at Zane. “Let’s go interrogate a teenager.”

Zane sighed. “Question. Let’s go question a teenager.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Let’s go find out what he knows.”

* * *

David Robinson stared at them in confusion. He looked like every other college student Zane had ever encountered. He wore jeans and a black t-shirt with the Cantina logo emblazoned across the front and a backwards ball cap over his blond hair. “Who are you guys again? What happened to you? Are you okay?” he asked, looking at Zane’s bruises with concern.

“I was mauled by a bear.”

“I’m an otter at best,” Asa murmured under his breath, earning a glare from Zane and a confused look from David.

Asa had asked to speak to the manager when they’d arrived and then offered him a ridiculous sum of money to speak to his employee. Zane had rolled his eyes but admitted it was amusing watching the manager’s eyes bug out when Asa handed him the cash.

“We want to talk to you about your former roommate,” Asa said, crossing his arms over his chest in a way that made David take a step back.

Zane sighed, stepping in front of Asa with a smile. “We’re really sorry to bother you at work. My name is Zane Scott, and I’m a reporter working on a story about the recent string of suicides over at Henley.”

David examined them both warily. “Who’s he?” he asked, pointing at Asa.

“Security,” Asa deadpanned.

“Asa Mulvaney. He’s helping me with the story.”

David snorted. “Asa Mulvaney designs athleisure for, like, soccer moms.”

Zane didn’t even have to look behind him to know Asa’s expression had turned threatening; watching the color drain from David’s face was enough. He leaned his weight against Asa, relieved when he felt his hands slide into his back pockets, holding him in place.

“That’s his brother, Avi. Asa is an architect, but he’s helping me out because…he’s my boyfriend and this story might be dangerous,” Zane said, improvising on the spot.

“A story about a bunch of suicides is dangerous?” David asked.