Page 6 of Wild Escape

She shrugged. “I don't know. I've been bad about going to that class. It starts at 8:00 AM, and I am not a morning person."

"Do you know anything about her?”

Lily frowned. "I'm sorry, I don't. Like I said, we just talked that one day. I’ve seen her in class before and since, but I never made a point to sit next to her again. I don't know why." Lily frowned. "I feel bad.”

"Are you a freshman?"

Lily nodded.

I took Lily's contact information and gave her a card. "If you hear anything around campus, get in touch."

"I will.”

JD and I stepped back to the sheriff and filled him in.

"I hope to God this isn’t the start of another serial predator," he grumbled.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say she knew her killer," I said. "Multiple stab wounds. Could be personal."

"Well, why the hell are you still standing here? Find out who did this.”

"We're on it," I said.

Brenda and her crew bagged the body and transferred the remains to a gurney. The crowd dispersed, the excitement over.

Paris approached as JD and I walked back toward the parking lot. "Deputy Wild, what can you tell us?"

"A young girl, presumably a student at Vanden, was stabbed and dumped in the ocean. If anyone has any information about the crime, please contact the Coconut County Sheriff's Department."

"Have you identified the victim yet?”

"Not at this time.”

I stepped out of frame and continued toward the parking lot with Jack.

"What about the fugitives at large?" Paris asked.

"It's only a matter of time before we catch them," I said in a confident tone.

We hopped into the Porsche, and Jack fired up the engine. I called the administration office at Vanden and asked them to look for freshman students named Gabby or Gabriella in Economics 101 with Professor MacAllen.

4

It didn't take long to figure out Gabby Templeton was the girl in Lily's Econ class. I pulled up pictures of her on social media. The resemblance to the bloated corpse was clear. Gabby had once been a gorgeous blonde with a wholesome face, blue eyes, and an adorable smile. Definitely a heartbreaker.

Her social media feed was full of pictures from college life—her dorm room, parties with friends, snaps of food and coffee, selfies of Gabby as she studied, making tortured faces. A typical 18-year-old girl, enjoying her first semester at college.

I looked for relationship information, but didn't see any indication of a boyfriend. There weren’t any pictures on her social media feed that would suggest as much. The occasional guy at a party here and there. But nothing that looked long-term.

The administration office had given me the name of her roommate and told me which dorm she was in.

Jack drove toward campus, and I ran background through the online portal. From what I could tell, Gabby had no next of kin. Her mother had passed away not long ago.

At the university, Jack parked in the Founders’ Court. We hopped out and hustled across campus to the Wharton tower.

The sun had dipped below the horizon. At this hour, the foot traffic on campus had died down. A few students scurried about the Georgian architecture. Red brick buildings with limestone quoins. The glow from the lamplight illuminated pretty faces. There were plenty of girls with hair pulled back in ponytails, short-shorts, and tank tops. Greek letters embroidered on clothing.

We made our way to the Wharton and stepped inside. Students lounged around, sipping on coffee, listening to earpods, studying. The luxury high-rise had all the amenities. There was a coffee shop, a sandwich shop, and a convenience store in the lobby. You never had to leave campus if you didn't want to.