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“You ready?”
She glanced down at her attire. “Don’t I look ready?”
“You look fine.”
When they reached his car, he asked, “What was so all encompassing that you couldn’t meet me earlier?”
“I had a sorority thing.”
“Sorority? I didn’t think you were into that stuff.”
“I wasn’t. I’m not. Not really, but my roommate, Brittany, is. She asked me to pledge with her.”
“I knew this whole roommate business was a terrible idea. It’s not like you need someone to pay half the rent.”
“But I’d like to have friends at school, and they can be kind of hard to meet.”
“Haven’t you met other kids in your classes?”
Cate rolled her eyes. “You’re such a doofus.”
He’d never understand his sister. Her thought process made no sense to him. When he’d returned from the Army and enrolled in school he’d met plenty of people through his classes and had never felt the need to join a fraternity.
When they arrived at the Chart House, they were shown to a table with a great view of the Delaware River. “What is this sorority your pledging?”
“Zeta Gamma Xi.”
“And what crazy stunts do they have you performing for pledge week?”
“Nothing too wild.”
“Details please.”
“We had a midnight meeting, and they asked two pledges to deliver packages while two other pledges slipped into a secure area to steal something from a professor. I think the prof is in on it though. Everyone else is supposed to help plan an event.”
None of that sounded innocent to him. “What makes you think the professors were in on it?”
“Come on. They have to be. They’re not going to have us do anything illegal or immoral.”
He glanced out the window at the Benjamin Franklin Bridge lit up against the waning light from sunset. Cate’s naiveté was downright scary, but he hated to be the one to shatter her illusions. “So this whole thing was Brittany’s idea?”
“Yes and no.”
He lifted an eyebrow.
“They reached out to me first, but when I declined, they talked to Brittany and told her they’d accept her but only if I joined with her.”
The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. They’d specifically targeted Cate for membership, and that meant they knew perfectly well who she was and what kind of influence her father had. “What’s this event your planning?”
“A rally. I don’t know what it’s for yet.”
“As soon as you find out, let me know.”
“Why?”
“I want to stay on top of what’s going on with you. How can I support your efforts if you don’t share?” Telling her he thought her new friends might be using her would raise her hackles. While he didn’t want her to learn lessons the hard way, he knew she wouldn’t listen if he shared his suspicions without anything to back them up. Better to play the wait and see game for a bit.
Samanthastoodwithherhand on the knob of the master bedroom. She’d only been in the room a handful of times since her uncle’s disappearance. It was past time for her to empty the room and get on with her life, but she couldn’t make herself do it. She turned away and headed downstairs then continued on to the basement. In the unfinished area of the cellar there were shelves for extra storage, and that was where she kept ‘the box.’ It contained the old wounds she preferred to keep hidden away. She lifted it from its place and carried it into the finished area, closing the door behind her.
