Page 24 of Night Fall (The Quantico Files 1)

“Hard to tell. The women had some jewelry. Nothing very valuable, but it looks undisturbed.”

Alex stared at Logan for a moment before saying, “So it’s probably not an attempted robbery that went wrong. This is clearly personal. But Willow hasn’t been involved in the Circle since her stroke three years ago. Why now? And why the rage? I really think this happened because they somehow know we have Willow’s book, and they’re more vicious than we considered when it comes to their rules. What else could fuel something like this?”

She looked down at the blood on the floor, trying to sort through what they were seeing and what they knew so far.

“I don’t know,” the tech said, “but there’s something else you should see. Follow me.”

Alex and Logan trailed behind him, their footsteps making crackling sounds as they walked on the plastic sheeting. Alex assumed they were going to Willow’s room, but instead the man turned toward another door. Alex froze, unable to move.

“I can’t...” she said, her voice breaking. She looked to Logan for help. She could see the confusion on his face. His blue eyes searched hers.

“What’s wrong, Alex?”

“This was my room.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized how unprofessional she appeared at that moment. She straightened her shoulders. “I’m sorry. A lot of memories here, but I’m okay.” She hated the way her voice trembled. She fought to control her emotions.

Logan took a step closer to her. “If you want to wait outside, I can—”

“No. I said I’m okay.” She nodded at the crime scene tech. “Go ahead.”

But as they walked into the room, what she saw made her feel faint. She swayed, and Logan reached out to take her arm.

The room was as she’d left it. The awful pink, flowered wallpaper. The pink bedspread with ruffles. She’d hated it. Willow had decorated in a style she thought a girl would like, but Alex was a tomboy. And she hated pink. Although she didn’t want to look, her head seemed to swivel on its own. A one-page yearly calendar was still thumb-tacked to the wall. Each day was crossed off up until the end of June. The day she escaped this place.

“You were counting the days until you could leave,” Logan said.

Her throat was so tight she couldn’t respond. She just nodded.

“This is what I wanted to show you,” the tech said, pointing behind them.

When Alex and Logan both turned around, she gasped. On the wall above her bed, a circle had been drawn in blood—with her name smeared inside it.

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