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Gemini’s eyes are still wide, but he looks more skeptical now. “Before I start drinking the same Kool Aid, tell me this: why would anyone—why would the XXXVII—want JP dead? They’d already spent a fortune getting him into the White House.”
That question was one I’d asked myself a dozen times over. Each time, my mind goes back to the video Victoria used to blackmail me. The one of JP and another guy taking part in a sex act…
I’m not sure that’s enough of a reason—or even if it’s the right one. It doesn’t seem enough of a justification to kill anyone. But Cole Reynalds—the guy who admitted to killing JP—couldn’t give me anything.
“Does Tori know?” Royal asks.
Until now, I didn’t think she knew anything, but I was wrong about that. If everything does circle back to that video, then yes, she does know. I also feel confident that she’s not told anyone else about the video, and as I haven’t either, this is where my doubt comes creeping back in.
“I don’t know,” I say, slowly. “But if she does, and they know she does…”
Royal’s eyes narrow. “We need to find her.”
Gemini understands too. “Then let’s head back to the church and—”
“No,” I quickly cut him off. “Someone in that church has been reporting back to Preston.”
“Then why the fuck did you drag everyone in there and ask them who did it?” Gemini asks. “Did you really expect that person to own up?”
“Wouldn’t it have been helpful if they did,” I mutter before I start walking again. We’re not far from the house, and I want to get back so we can start looking for her. “What would you expect me to have done when I found that video had been uploaded?”
“Before you shared all that? Probably what you did,” Royal replies.
“Exactly.”
“So, you’re acting as normal, as expected, to throw off any suspicion,” Gemini says. “And maybe buying a little time before whoever Preston’s mole is goes reporting to him, by putting the fear of Synclair Keyingham into them. But then what?”
We reach the house, and I key in the door code, allowing us to enter before I respond. “We’ll deal with that once we find her.”
“She’s not here,” Royal tells me as he follows me and Gemini up the stairs. “She’s probably gone back to her mom’s. How often are the trains?”
Despite everything, the question has me stopping to give Royal an incredulous look. At what point does Royal think I’ve ever used public transportation? I hate taxis, much less trains.
“She spent the night with Penny Bergmann,” I say as I continue upstairs.
“The first place I went this morning was Penny’s room. She’s said she’s not been there.”
“Of course she did.”
“Penny even told me to check the cameras,” Royal adds.
Sometimes I wonder how Royal can be so clever, and also, so stupid at the same time.
“Then she was calling your bluff. She was definitely there this morning, and I’m willing to bet she was still there when the video was released. I got back on campus just after 11:30, so assuming Tori freaked out and had a good cry about it, if she decided to leave campus, I’d have passed her on the way in. I didn’t.”
“She could have left while we’ve been in the church.”
“In this weather? I doubt it,” Gemini says. He tilts his head. “But we can call campus security—”
“No,” I quickly tell him. “We’re not getting anyone else involved that I don’t trust. And the only people I trust right now are you two. She’s probably still with Bergmann.”
“I told you, I checked Penny’s room.”
I roll my eyes. “Did you check her old room?”
“Then why did we come here, and not go straight to the dorms?” Gemini asks as he turns, ready to head straight back downstairs.
Before he can move, I grab his arm. “Because you’re both still thinking she left, and I’ve already moved onto the next assumption.”
