Page 32 of Defiant Beta

She pulls at her leg to free herself, letting out a yelp as she tumbles the final few feet to the ground. I stifle a laugh when she quickly bounces back up, fist raised triumphantly.

I shake my head and turn away, jogging back the way I came. She’s off school grounds, which is all I came to confirm.

A part of me is going to miss seeing what she tries to blow up and set fire to next, especially after Vince said she’d snuck into his classroom with a tube of superglue.

As I walk around the pale pink cottage that contains the girls' dorms, I halt.

A red-haired male figure lingers near the tree, as if he quickly stepped aside to avoid being seen.

Too late.

I stalk toward him, frowning. “What are you?—”

He bolts. I lunge to catch up, grabbing his arm and yanking him back. “What are you doing here?”

It’s a janitor—the youngest.

Thomas Benson.

I haven’t given the beta much thought until now.

He keeps his head down, green eyes fixed on my chest as if he’s afraid to meet my gaze. “Just had something that needed fixing.”

My fingers tighten around his blue overalls when he tries to leave. “And that involved you hanging around outside the girls' dorms?”

“It’s not what you think,” he denies in a voice so low I have to strain to hear it.

“And what do I think?”

Silence.

Our suspect list is as small as it’s ever been.

Thomas Benson wasn’t on it. He’s young. Early to mid-twenties.

Our killer is in their forties or fifties. Maybe even older.

“You’re new to the school, aren’t you?” I prompt.

He shrugs. “I guess.”

“You realize there’s a curfew, right?”

“Just for the students.”

This guy is throwing off so many alarm bells, I can barely hear his muttered responses.

“So, you had your eye set on a girl, huh? Thought you’d invite yourself right into her bed, maybe?”

His eyes fly to mine, and he jerks his head from side to side. “No. I told you. That isn’t what I was doing. It isn’t what you think.”

“But you haven’t said what you’re doing, have you?”

“Fixing something,” he mutters.

“With no tools.”

He pulls on his arm. “Let me go.”

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