Page 35 of Make No Mistake

“My senior project.”

He slid his computer away and smiled. “Really? Mac, that’s great! What are you going to do?”

“This.”

He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head. “What?”

“The attacks.”

“Mac, I don’t understand.”

“I’ve been reporting on them already, and I got the interview from Christina.” He nodded but didn’t look convinced. “I’m going to figure out who the attacker is.”

“How?”

“I’ll keep digging.”

He sighed and gave me a look like he was going to lecture me. “Mac …”

“Jay. I know it will be hard, but I need to do this.”

“You do need a project.”

I nodded.

“And you did get the exclusive interview of the first victim.”

I nodded again.

“But I don’t want you getting more involved.”

“What? Why?”

“Mac, this person is obviously dangerous. I don’t want you putting a target on your back.”

I waved him off. “I’ll be careful.”

“Mac, please let the police do their jobs. You can report on it and get exclusives, but I don’t think you should be going around trying to solve this.”

“I’m not going to do anything to put myself in danger, I promise.”

Jay shook his head again. “I’m not going to be able to change your mind, am I?”

“Nope.” I shot him a smile and stood. “I’ll see you later.”

“Bye, Mac. Please be careful.”

I hurried out of the office before he or anyone else could stop me. I needed to get home and start putting together everything we had so far. I didn’t have much, but I had more than anyone else. If I could solve this soon not only would I have an amazing project to turn in, but I could stop anyone else from getting hurt.

The first thingI did when I got back to my apartment was submit my proposal to Mr. Jowett and the Journalism department for review. I had hopes they would approve the project, but there wasn’t much of a point if I didn’t get it approved.

I gathered my notes that I’d taken with Christina and typed them out so everything was in one place. There wasn’t much information collected so far, but I had a feeling if I was able to talk to the newest victim, her story would be similar to Christina’s.

The McKinley dorms were on the south side of campus, and although I’d never lived in them, I was familiar. There was a running path that outlined the complex. In parts, it cut through an area dense with trees and shrubs. Just like the path Christina was on.

So the suspect liked to hide. He probably watched the girls coming, and like the coward he was, he struck when their backs were turned.

We needed to let the students, especially the girls, know to avoid areas like that alone.