Page 72 of Wild Escape

The auditorium had cleared out. It was just us and the professor now, standing on the stage by the podium. I had no choice but to bring Daphne with us. Jack kept an eye on her.

Joshua kept glancing at her. She was hard not to look at.

"All it would take is a DNA sample to prove that you're the father of Gabby's unborn child,” I said.

He swallowed hard. In a hushed tone, he said, "Are you intentionally trying to ruin my life?”

"I think you’ve done a pretty good job of that on your own. How about you stop playing games with me?"

Joshua took a deep breath and glanced around the auditorium. "I didn't kill Gabby.” After an exhale, he admitted, “I loved her. I know it sounds crazy. Maybe I am crazy. We just connected. I would never have done anything to hurt her.”

"You think she felt the same way about you?” I asked.

"She said she did. I believe she meant it.”

"Did she ever talk to you about hazing at the sorority?"

Joshua nodded. A frown tightened his lips. "This is all my fault.” He hung his head.

"What do you mean?"

"I encouraged her."

"You encouraged her to join the sorority?"

"No. I encouraged her to find out what happened. To go undercover and expose the truth.”

"About Cheyenne Tisdale?"

He lifted a surprised brow. "How do you know about Cheyenne?"

I gave him a flat look. "It's my job to know as much as possible."

In a hushed voice, he said, "Gabby was convinced the sorority had something to do with her death. That's the entire reason she pledged Theta. She was writing an exposé and was going to publish it in one of the big magazines. I was the only person she told about it. I don't think she even told her best friend."

"Tiffany?"

Joshua nodded. "I never thought something like this would happen.”

"Do you think someone in the sorority killed her? Was she getting too close to exposing the truth?"

"You have to understand, those girls will do anything to protect the chapter.”

"Murder seems like an extreme length to go to," I said.

"You obviously haven't spent enough time around some of these girls.”

"It's convenient for you to shift blame to the sorority."

Joshua grit his teeth and glared at me. "I'm telling you. I didn't kill Gabby. And you can't prove otherwise." Anger reddened his face. "You need to focus your attention on the sorority. And you need to ask the tough questions.”

"What are the tough questions?"

"Why Theta never faces any disciplinary action, despite being the worst on campus in regard to hazing.”

I shared a look with Jack.

Joshua wasn’t off my list of suspects, but there was definitely something rotten on campus. JD and I were going to get to the bottom of it.