Page 43 of Make No Mistake

“There was another attack.”

She gasped. “But they arrested him.”

I shrugged. “They got the wrong guy.”

Carter looked around the area. “They didn’t catch the right guy?”

“Not yet.”

Jay put his arm around me. It was comforting, so I didn’t let myself over analyze. “They haven’t finished searching the area, so the girls can’t go back to their apartment yet. I told Mac they can stay at my place, and I’ll bring them back in the morning.”

Aubrey nodded. “Thanks, Jay.”

Carter looked down at her. “You sure? You can stay at my place.”

She shook her head. “You need to be to the office early, and Jay just lives down the street.”

Carter nodded and kissed her. “If you guys need anything just let me know.”

“We’ll be fine.” She gave him a hug and linked her arm through mine.

“Yeah, thanks Carter.”

He nodded and got back into his car. He waved, then flipped around and left.

We walked across the lot to Jay’s car. “Sorry about this.” Aubrey would be the person to apologize for something out of her control.

“Aubrey, it’s no problem. I’m just glad we got here after it happened. I can’t imagine it happening to either of you.” He shook his head and opened the passenger door for me and the rear for Aubrey.

Somehow that thought hadn’t even occurred to me. What if it had been me or Aubrey? The thought chilled me to the bones. This one was too close for comfort.

This guy needed to get caught. Quickly, before anyone else got hurt.

I thought about what Detective Larson had said about my theory. He agreed that I was onto something. If I’d noticed something that the police had missed, who knew what else I could figure out.

Sure they took down the reports and examined the crime scene, but this was my school. The past four years of walking through the campus and the surrounding area gave me an advantage. Something that I could use to help solve this and hopefully stop it before anyone else got hurt.

Tonight’s attack fit in with the other two in most ways, but something about it felt wrong. Different.

There wasn’t a wooded area like at the other two. The dumpster was in its own walled-off area, but there wasn’t anything else in that area. Had he been waiting inside? Waiting for some innocent girl to take her trash out? Or was he somewhere else?

From what Larson said, he was in the dark, so maybe it was in the actual dumpster area. I cringed. Not only was the attack awful and painful, but this one was just gross.

“Hey.”

I looked over at Jay who was watching me with concern.

“You okay?”

I nodded slightly. “Just thinking.”

“I know you are, but for tonight just relax, okay? We can tackle this tomorrow.”

“Okay.” He parked in front of his house, and we followed him inside. We’d all hung out at his house plenty over the years, but it was the first time me or Aubrey would spend the night.

He had rooms to spare though. His dad had bought the house as an investment for Jay. While he was in school, he could live rent-free, and once he graduated, he could either continue to live there or rent it out for profit.

It was a four bedroom craftsman-style with charm to spare. Too much for one person, but his dad didn’t care about that.

“Thanks again, Jay.”

He smiled at Aubrey and led us upstairs. “You guys can either share this one or take the last two.”

He opened the door to a simple bedroom with a king bed.

“This is perfect.” I smiled up at him while Aubrey went in and collapsed on the middle of the bed.

“Thank you.” I gave him tight hug. He kissed the top of my head before releasing me.

“Good night.”

“Night.”

My eyes followed him down the hall until he turned to go back down the stairs to his master bedroom.