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SAWYER

W hen we get to the dorm, Ash and I eat in the dining hall, and then because it seems like everyone in the freaking dorm is doing her laundry after getting back from holiday travel, we go to our room and settle into our beds with laptops and Nutella lattes.

When Ash puts in earbuds to stream something, I’m finally able to concentrate and circle back to the encounter with Jamie. I’ve worked out that Brad must’ve done something really horrible for Jamie to blame me for not turning him in, but I have no idea what that was.

Online investigations reveal Brad’s fraternity had a serious scandal two years ago. Apparently, guys took photos of sleeping or passed-out nude and semi-nude girls who stayed over. After, the guys shared the pics across campus, sometimes even selling them.

There were concerns the women might have been given sedatives to ensure they didn’t wake while the guys removed their clothes and posed them for filming.

From the articles, the men whose involvement was proven were expelled. In some cases however, the perpetrators couldn’t be identified. The entire fraternity was sanctioned, and it narrowly missed being closed for good.

At least two irate fathers made threats against fraternity members.

Unlike some of his fraternity brothers, who’d been accused but whose involvement couldn’t be confirmed, Brad wasn’t named in any of the articles about the investigation or proceedings.

But since the only people in my family Jamie could’ve heard gossip or accusations about would’ve been Brad or my bio mom, Brad had to be the problem. The rest of my adopted family lives out of state and haven’t been involved in any public scandals—or any private ones that I know about.

Flashing back to Jamie’s fury on the night he accused me of covering for Brad makes me think Brad hurt someone Jamie cares about. Like Ashling . My stomach plummets at the thought. She did tell Crosby she never wanted to see Brad around. She claimed it was because of the way he treated me, but it might’ve been something more.

If Ash was the person who was hurt, Jamie isn’t the only member of her family who might seek revenge. The articles about her brother said he started out working for an Italian crime family before forming a crime syndicate of his own with his closest friends. A crime syndicate. God. And I’d had no idea.

“Ash?”

She taps her iPad and removes an earbud. “Yeah, babes?”

“Can I ask you a sensitive question?”

“Sure.” With a small smile, she cocks her head. “But I reserve the right to take the Fifth on behalf of myself and anyone else I care about.”

“You told Crosby you didn’t want to see him if Brad was with him. Did Brad do something to hurt or humiliate you?”

“No.” Her expression is more perplexed than troubled. “Around me, he was just a garden-variety asshole.”

“I’ve been thinking about the night Jamie broke up with me.”

Ash watches me closely.

“He was really angry. Partly because he thought I was covering for someone. Since it wasn’t my bio mom, it had to be Brad.”

Ash shrugs, shifting her chameleon features into an innocent expression.

Lowering my voice to a whisper, I say, “If Brad did something to hurt you, and someone decided to hurt him in return, I wouldn’t blame them.”

“Good to know.” Her smile is gentle, but there are no outward signs she’s harboring anger or sadness below the surface. If she was the victim of something, she’s world-class at compartmentalizing.

I pick at the edge of the blanket. “He was an elitist prick. And physically abusive at times.”

“Toward you?”

I nod.

“Well then…” Her brows furrow, but her voice remains light. “Karma caught up with him.” There’s satisfaction in her tone. The shift is subtle but unmistakable. She despises him more now, so it’s a pretty sure bet that she isn’t hiding any trauma of her own.

“Karma… maybe. But for what? Have you heard any rumors about him? Something that would’ve made someone want to kill him?”

“I haven’t.” Ash climbs out of bed, grabs both our mugs, and re-heats our lattes. “But I’m sure he made a lot of enemies.”

“Definitely.” It occurs to me that admitting Brad assaulted me shows I had a motive to want him gone. Which is something I’ve been trying to keep secret. “You probably won’t talk to the police, but if you do, would you mind forgetting I told you he was abusive?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I’ll never speak to the police about your brother.”

“Well… We’re roommates and you go to school here, so they might come to talk to you. Or bump into you if they come to talk to me. They also might find out we were at the party at the Ruins and had an issue with Brad.”

“Here’s something a lot of people don’t know, Seesaw. People aren’t obligated to talk to the police. So, let’s say the men in blue show up here and say, ‘Miss Patrick, we’d like to talk to you about Brad Allendale yada, yada.’ I would tell them, ‘I don’t have anything to say to you.’ And then I’d just repeat that one line over and over until they went away. The police can’t compel a person to speak, not even if you’re under arrest. In fact, now that you’ve told them all the information you have about the night Brad died, you don’t have to talk to them again, either.”

Tilting my head, I ask, “Is that true?”

“Yep. Absolutely true.”

“But since I was a witness, wouldn’t I have to be interviewed as many times as they want to interview me?”

“No. You just say, ‘I’ve told you all I know, and I don’t want to talk to you anymore.’ Unless they have grounds to arrest you, they can’t force you to go anywhere with them. All you have to do is say no and close the door.”

“Have you actually done that and had it work?”

She laughs softly. “No, but I’ve been coached by an expert.”

“Your brother?”

“No. Better. His shark lawyer.”

“Oh.” My brows rise. “Why? Do you know things they don’t want you to tell the police?”

She smirks and winks at me. “I have the right to remain silent. Gonna practice it right now.”

“Sorry. I’m just—The thought of talking to the police again makes me nervous. The first time it was all about what I’d seen, and honestly, I was kind of in shock. The second interview, though, they were trying to get background information on him and any conflicts he had with people, including me.”

“Did you mention me? Or my cousin?”

“No.”

“War? The party at the Ruins?”

I shake my head.

“Good girl. It wouldn’t lead anywhere if you had, but it could’ve become a hassle if the cops decided they wanted to talk about it.”

“That’s what I was thinking, too. I didn’t want to cloud the picture.” Blowing out a breath, I shrug. “I wonder if they could tell I wasn’t telling them everything.”

“Who cares?”

I blink.

“They will try anything to get people to spill everything they know, no matter how off-the-wall and unrelated it is. If you hesitate, they’ll put tons of pressure on you by acting annoyed or trying to guilt you. To hell with that. Karma did its work. Why would we try to undermine it?” She raises her index finger, half pointing at me, half holding it up in a “number one” style. “I doubt they will, but if the police show up and try to bully you into talking to them again, just text me. I’ll help you get rid of them.”

I feel immense relief at not being alone. “You’re a good friend, Ash.”

“That’s what I hear.” She smirks and winks again. “You okay now, Seesaw? Because the streaming platform logged me out for taking so long to restart the movie.”

“Tragic. How will you even cope?”

“I don’t know. Gonna be tough.” After putting her earbuds in, she raises her screen.

I finish my coffee and burrow down into my covers. The minute I start streaming a show myself though, I crash into a landscape of bloody nightmares.

Apparently, I’m not okay.

At least not yet.