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I rake my hands through my hair. I don’t want to make assumptions. And yet the lead feels more credible than anything else I’ve considered. There’s just one problem. I have no idea how to prove it.
30
RAINA
FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2017
Alexis calls me between classes. Well, betweenmyclasses, since I now know she’s not an Aldrich student. “It’s happening. There was another munch today, and I sidled up to our guy and asked if I could have his number. Then I AirDropped him some kinky photos of you and me, and he was into it. He wants to meet us tonight.”
I stop in the middle of the sidewalk so abruptly that a group walking behind me almost bumps into my back. “Where did you get a sexy picture ofme?”
“I had one of your face, and then I did some Photoshop work. But it’s basically your same proportions, don’t worry.”
I start walking again, feeling shaky. “So what’s going to happen, exactly?”
“He and I got to talking about porn. Well, nottalking—texting. You know. And anyway, our dude said his favorite plot in porn movies is when the woman’s in the house alone, kind of scared, and the burglar breaks in. But then it turns sexy, and the burglar’s totally turned on because she’s afraid, and she gets off, too, because almost being killed is sexy. In a man’s mind, anyway.”
“He’s going to pretend torobus?”
“Notreally.It’s all an act, though we’ll have to act afraid. But, I mean, we got off easy. He could have asked to do bondage stuff...”
I shudder. “Still. It seems...demeaning.”
“Most porn is demeaning to the woman, Raina. Don’t be naïve.”
“But don’t you think this hits a little too close to home? Someone broke into Greg Strasser’s house... andkilledhim. Unless he lives under a rock, this guy has to know that. It’s not kinky—it’s sort of sick.” And then another thought strikes me. “Are you sure this isn’t a trick? Like maybe he’s settingusup?”
“For what?” Alexis sniffs. “What we’re doing isn’t illegal. We’re all consensual adults.”
“I know, but...” So much dirty laundry has been aired recently that I’m paranoid all of our actions are being watched, even those that are off-line.
“So listen, he wants to meet us in this house near Aldrich at elevenP.M.He said he’s going to leave the door unlocked. I’ll go early and set up the camera.” I can hear the excitement in her voice.
I turn the corner to the Aldrich University green. In the daytime, this long, sprawling patch of grass is a buoyant hotbed of activity, but at night—and especially on Friday nights, when this part of campus clears out—it’s creepy. The streetlamps don’t adequately illuminate the walking paths. The middle of the green is a vast thicket of darkness. Someone could be standing ten feet away from me and I wouldn’t know. I think about Greg’s murderer, still roaming the streets, and shiver.
“I don’t know,” I say. “This gives me the creeps. Maybe we find someone else.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Alexis sounds livid. “I already did all the legwork!”
“Well, then, maybeyoufind someone else. I’ll help out with the next guy. Surely you have some kind of underground network of skanky girls who’d be into this.”
“But we had a deal!” Her voice is shrill, and I hold the phoneaway from my ear. “Look. He really wantsyou.He made that clear—he has a thing for redheads. I’m not sure he’d be up for it if it was me and somebody else.”
I listen to the static on the phone, saying nothing.
“Do this for me, and we’re even,” Alexis says begrudgingly. “You’re off the hook. I won’t expose you, and I won’t make you do anything else.”
I lean against the cool brick of the science building, getting an idea. But I must take this very, very slow. “Okay, then I get a slightly bigger percentage. Sixty-forty.”
“What the fuck?” Alexis spits. “No!”
“Andyou tell me your real name.”
She snorts. I hear her breathing in like she’s about to speak, but then she changes her mind. Finally: “Why does it matter?”
“Because I want to know.”
Across the campus, the bells in the clock tower strike the half hour. The wind lifts the leaves from the brick-lined streets, blowing them in a circular pattern. There’s a discarded protest sign lying facedown next to some trash cans across the street:NO MORE SILENCE FOR RAPE VICTIMS.
