AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I whip my head around at the sound of the voice, finding Synclair Keyingham a few feet away from me. With the way he’s staring up at the statue, for a moment, it feels like he isn’t even paying attention to me.
Then his hazel eyes meet mine, as though he is waiting for a response.
There doesn’t seem to be any visible hint of recognition from him, and although my heart is still pounding in my chest, I’m finally able to find my breath. Not my words, though. Despite everything, JP was his brother, and I’m not sure there’s a right thing to say to that.
But I also have a dozen questions ranging from what he was like, to what he was doing the night he died.
I stick with silence, however, and just nod.
“He was murdered. Here.” Synclair doesn’t take his gaze from mine. “On campus.”
His expression hasn’t changed. It’s like I could be anybody, and he’s just speaking because I’m here.
And yet, the hairs on the back of my neck are standing on end.
There’s nothing about him that overtly screamsthreat, but there’s something about his demeanor that seems to be telling me this guy is that dangerous, I need to get out of here.
Now.
I give him a polite smile, bob my head, and then start to walk away.
“Do you believe in ghosts?”
Not really. And Synclair doesn’t strike me as someone who does either, but his question feels so out of place that I falter.
“There’s a legend that ghosts are the souls of the dead, roaming the earth until revenge has been served.”
While I could pass everything else off as a coincidence, this sounds even more like a threat, but when I turn back, Synclair’s attention is back on the statue.
“You think his ghost is roaming the campus?” I ask, keeping my gaze trained on his face.
A sound escapes Syn that’s somewhere between a laugh and a snort. “I don’t believe in ghosts.” He turns back to face me. “But even if they are real, they’re not as terrifying as the living.”
Something dark flickers through Syn’s eyes. I’m not entirely sure what it is, but it fills me with dread and a sense of foreboding.
I’m here to find the truth, not make enemies. Over the past couple of years, I’ve felt myself become a stronger person. More importantly, high school taught me quite quickly that if you want an easy life, you keep your head down.
But right now, my anonymity is my power. I give Synclair a small smile and continue with my exit plan.
It’s not until I’m halfway across the campus when I feel my pounding heart start to calm. There’s nothing about Synclair that has given me any indication he knows who I am, but that one interaction has already got the alarm bells ringing.
Back in my room, I turn on my laptop and open up Google, searching for the name, James Patrick Keyingham. Although there are countless news stories and websites covering his murder, each one’s link has turned purple. I’ve read them all dozens of times before, and I’m only back to see if there have been any updates.
But the reason I’m here at this university is because none of them give me any information. The focus is always on my brother and never on the crime scene. JP was one of those guys who everyone liked, had so much potential, and as Synclair said, was preparing for a political career. There are countless accounts of what a great person he was, and I’d yet to come across anything negative about him.
Aside from knowing he was stabbedsomewhereon campus, I still didn’t know exactly where. For all I knew, he could have been killed in one location and moved to another.
My mom went to court every day of Cole’s trial, but even when I asked her, she’d never been able to answer. I fucked up when I went to see Cole because I should have asked for more details about what happened before I told him about the scholarship, but I didn’t expect him to get so angry, cutting our meeting short.
James Patrick Keyingham was a descendant of the founder of the local town and university he was named after. His whole family tree is full of senators or politicians. For someone so famous, and in a case so high profile, it bothers me that there’s so few details available.
Well, details about JP…
The press had no problem with sharing all of Cole’s personal details—including his address. That was theonlyblessing when my mom and I moved to Jersey.
When it’s clear my search is unproductive, I shut the laptop down and go for a shower.
By the time I fall into bed, it’s still early. I love my sleep, and I’ve learned to take what I can when I can, but sleep doesn’t come as easy as it usually does.
