Page 132 of Kings & Corruption

No one said a word, and I resisted the urge to skip the coffee and tell them to get to it. The headache had expanded from the back of my head to my temples. I definitely needed a coffee and some industrial-strength Advil.

I slid one of the cups to Oscar and took mine to the island. “Okay,” I said, “spill it.”

Neo handed me a folded newspaper.

I opened it and looked at the headline, my mind trying to make sense of what I was reading. It only took a second for the shock to wear off as I read the headline.

Bellepoint Student Found Dead

Homicide investigation underway

And then, the name of the student jumping out at me from the first paragraph of the article:Nikki Wells.

Nikki. Emma's roommate.

I looked at Neo. "Nikki's dead?” I expected him to give me some smart-ass retort about the article being self-explanatory.

“They found her body last night,” he said instead.

I picked up the paper to read, trying to stop the shaking of my hands. A source close to the investigation said Nikki had been strangled. They didn't know yet how long she’d been in the woods around the Falls before she’d been found. More details would be released.

I set the paper down and looked at the steaming mug of coffee. It had looked appealing a couple minutes ago. Now my stomach turned over at the sight of it. "It's because of me.”

“We don’t know that,” Rock said.

“We do. Nikki’s dead because I went to see her, because I asked questions about Emma.”

Rock came over and rubbed my back. “You can’t blame yourself because of the actions of some psychopath. The only person to blame is the one who did this.”

He meant well, but the words fell flat. Nikki had been alive and going to school at Bellepoint for two whole years after Emma’s disappearance. I’d gone to see her and now she was dead.

I looked at each of the guys. “Someone followed me.”

Neo nodded, and I was glad that on this at least, no one was fighting me.

There were only two ways someone could have known I’d talked to Nikki: she’d told someone or someone had seen me visit her dorm.

I didn’t believe Nikki would have told anyone about my visit. She’d lied to the police to protect herself after Emma’s disappearance and had been cagey with me when I’d visited. Somehow I didn’t see her shouting from the rooftops about it.

I thought about the roommate — I couldn’t remember her name, the one with the takeout bag — but that seemed far-fetched. Nikki hadn’t introduced us, and I hadn’t seen the flash of recognition that I’d gotten used to while I’d been at Aventine.

That meant someone had been watching me. Us, since Neo had been with me.

Shame heated my face when I thought about the torrid makeout session I’d had with Neo on the road. Had my stalker — or whoever was watching me when I’d visited Nikki — seen that too?

No wonder Neo’s expression was grim.

“I’ve already called Rafe,” Neo said to no one in particular.

“Rafe?”

“Security guy,” Oscar said, sitting next to me and taking my hand. “He installed the system here at the house.”

“I’ve asked him to beef it up,” Neo said. “Install more cameras, give us a couple of guys to keep an eye on the road until we can have a gate installed.”

I looked at him. “A gate? Because of me?”

I didn’t even know if I'd still be at Aventine next year. It didn’t make sense to turn the Kings’ house into a fortress to protect me.

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