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The hairs on my arms stand at attention, as though they can feel the stares of everyone around me.

It makes sense the police wouldn’t mention the other two incidents—my slashed tires and the hit-and-run, which were based on stories written by others.

Both of those crimes are minor compared to the recent murders; however, it makes it look like someone is only re-enacting my stories, making me the most suspicious.

“But why?” Marley says, her question cutting the tension between us. “And why now?”

“Two murders in the past couple of weeks,” April says.

“That we know of,” I add.

Marley, sitting beside Victoria, catches my eye again.

She shakes her head. I just now realize that we’ve not even mentioned her theory, that someone in the group has been actively murdering people since before I was even a member.

It’s almost like I can read her mind. We can only reveal a little information at a time, as the likelihood that one of the women sitting beside me is the actual murderer is still high.

“I think we all need to stay alert,” Victoria says. “Either someone is trying to scare us, or even worse, they’re threatening us.”

“That’s exactly what they’re doing,” Marley says, and I notice she carefully inspects each woman at the table.

“I don’t think we should read any stories tonight,” Danielle says. “It’s probably safer that way. In fact, maybe we shouldn’t meet until this has all been sorted.”

“Good idea,” April says.

“Before we go, I did have some news I wanted to share,” I say. “It might lighten the mood a bit.”

“Please,” Victoria says. “Go ahead.”

“I received a full manuscript request from an agent,” I say, carefully. “It seems small compared to everything else that’s happening, but I thought you’d all want to know.”

Victoria smiles. April’s eyes go wide. Danielle places her hands in front of her chest, like she’s in prayer.

Outwardly, all their reactions are complimentary, but I watch them each closely; one of them must have hacked into my email to send those messages.

One of them must know why this manuscript request is nothing to celebrate.

“That is great news,” Victoria says. “For Night Beat ?”

I nod, but remain quiet, still watching each of them.

“Congratulations,” Danielle says.

April squeezes my shoulder. “I told you it was only a matter of time.”

“Did they give you any idea how long it would take to hear back?” Victoria asks.

“No. More of a waiting game, but it’s given me a little bit of hope.”

“At least we can end this on a high note,” Marley says. “No meetings for the near future, but we can stay in touch?”

“Definitely,” Victoria says. “And watch out for each other.”

She’s the first to leave, followed soon after by April and Danielle. Marley and I remain seated, watching them go.

“That wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” she says. “When they said the police had reached out to all of them, I thought they’d come for blood.”

“The cops must not have told them I was the one who talked to them,” I say. “Why do you think that is?”

“Maybe they don’t want us ganging up on each other,” she says.

Or maybe it’s because I’m not their only suspect. There could be connections between other group members and the crimes I don’t even know about.

“Did you watch their reactions when I told them about the agent request?”

“Yep. That was a smart move,” she says, then leans against the backrest of the booth. “Problem is, I think everyone is so genuinely rattled, it’s hard to tell if someone is lying.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t tell either.”

“You’ve known these women a lot longer than I have,” she says. “I want you to think. Would any of them have a reason to want to hurt you?”

“They’re all my friends,” I say. “Or so I thought.”

“There’s no denying one of them has it in for you,” she says. “Your email was hacked. Your tires were slashed. And two recent murders were modeled after your stories. I’m sure you saw the way April was looking at you when that was brought up.”

“I did,” I say, shuddering. “I felt like they were all suspicious of me.”

“Whoever is doing this wants people to be suspicious of you,” she says. “This is personal, and this killer is set on making you look as bad as possible.”

It’s not like I’ve not considered this over the past couple of weeks, but every time I do, I come up blank. I can’t think of any reason why Victoria, April or Danielle would be out to get me. Even when I was suspicious of Marley, I could never settle on a clear motive.

“Your roommate died ten years ago,” Marley says. “Could any of them have a connection to that?”

“None of them even knew me then,” I say, unthinking. “Let alone Layla.”

But as I reconsider everything I’ve uncovered lately, I’m not sure that’s true.

It appears all the Maidens had a connection to Layla, however remote.

Victoria has worked with the Williams’ charity over the years to promote campus safety.

Danielle’s law firm represented Mike, used his case as a learning point for future clients.

April says she knows Crystal from school; could she just as easily have had a connection to Layla?

An idea strikes me, one I hadn’t considered before. Even if the Mystery Maidens did have a connection to Layla, I can’t see why any of them would resent me for her death.

There’s only one person who overlaps my present and past that would.