“That’s what I wanna know.” Beckham frowns, but I also would bet a sizable sum of money he’s thinking how much easier his own nocturnal visits would have been if he’d had a key at his disposal. Crazy loon.
Cassie’s face turns bright red. “So, um. At the end of each school year, we collect keys from the girls. It’s sort of a formality to do so as most simply stay in the same room each year until they graduate… but technically they aren’t assured they’ll be in the same one. They’re reissued in the fall.”
Royal stiffens beside me. “What are you trying to say?”
“As the next president, all the individual room keys, plus the master key, were in my possession at the end of last year.” She grimaces uncomfortably. “What I’m guessing happened is that once Freya knew Echo was coming to TZE, she somehow snuck into the house, snooped around until she found all the keys, and made herself a convenient copy.”
Beckham’s brow furrows. “Is it possible that she simply wanted a copy of her soon-to-be little sister’s room so she could leave treats and whatnot? Don’t sorority girls do that?”
Echo snorts, giving a solid roll of her eyes. “She’s never left me anything that I know of.” Meeting Beckham’s gaze, she murmurs, “Most of what has been left in my room has been unwanted.Mostof it.”
“I don’t like the sound of any of this,” I grumble, searching out Echo’s irate gaze. “Did she know you already?”
“We messaged back and forth over the summer.”
“Right,” Cassie affirms. “When we found out we were getting a legacy, she begged to be your big sister. It probably sounds bad to admit at this point, but I’m still annoyed by the way she ignored you unless it was to make herself look good.” Her teeth sink into her lip as her gaze bounces to each of us. “I should really go.”
“Thank you for slipping us that info.” Echo steps away from Royal to give Cassie a hug. “I appreciate it more than you know.”
“Sure thing. If I hear anything else, I’ll let you know.” She waves, then walks away, heading in the direction of a black car I’ve seen parked out front at TZE.
“I don’t know what to think,” Echo finally whispers, breaking our silence, “but I guess we’d better go in there, as much as it makes my stomach cramp up to think about it.”
Beckham throws an arm around her shoulders. “I don’t know about you all, but anything they ask me that I don’t like, I’m gonna tell them to get fucked.”
A laugh ripples from Echo, and she shakes her head. “That’ll go over great, I’m sure.”
“Calamity Jane, we aren’t here to take crap from anyone. Remember that. We had nothing to do with what happened.”
Royal and I follow a few paces behind them, and as we walk, I steal a peek at him from the corner of my eye. His thoughtsabout going inside the police station are written all over his face. He turns his head in my direction and gives me a fake smile that makes me want to wrap an arm around him and tell him it’ll be okay. We’ll get through this together. But I don’t know how he’d feel about that sort of PDA, so I settle for clapping a hand on his shoulder and squeezing. “Come on. Let’s get this the fuck over with.”
SEVEN
WILDER
This place smellslike dirty cops and bad decisions. It’s not a wonder that’s what comes to mind when the first fucking person my eyes land on is Brian. I should have known he’d be here, hovering, when what went down at SIN last night is likely all over the police department at this point.
Every time I look at the scumbag, all I see is sleazy corruptness rolling off him. I’ve heard rumors, and when I combine that with what I personally know of him, I have no doubt what he’s capable of. I don’t need my sister to tell me what she’s been through. I see it in her eyes.Fuck.
I tear my attention from my bastard of a brother-in-law to look around the room, taking note of every single person. The reception area is almost overflowing. And really, I should have realized there might be a shit ton of people from both SIN and TZE here. Whether they’re here for further questioning, like we are, or just because they’ve accompanied a friend—nosy assholes—who the fuck knows? I eye those girls Savannah and Ireland who had been a pain in Echo’s ass last night. I haven’t asked if she’d mentioned the drink being sloshed on her, but I’d bet money that’s why they’re here. I nudge Echo to see what she thinks of their antics. She rolls her eyes and gives ashrug, turning away from them, then points out Ozzie, Maxwell, and Wyatt leaning against the wall, looking put out. My brow furrows as I study them. They look fucking bored out of their skulls. I can’t figure why they’d have been brought in, except perhaps they mentioned seeing something.
Unable to put this off any longer, the four of us make our way to the reception desk, and when the officer on duty looks up with an arched brow, I suck in all my irritation at being here and grit out, “Hey, we were asked by Detective Simms to come by this morning about the incident at Sigma Iota Nu.” My eyes flick around the room. Memories are heavy here. The swarm of officers moving to and fro. Me not knowing who might be helpful and who would jump to conclusions. Worry that I’d end up stuck here, that I’d walked in those doors of my own volition to answer their questions, but that they might not allow me to leave. Questions. So many fucking questions.
With a subtle nod, the desk clerk focuses on the screen in front of him and, after a few clicks, demands, “Names?”
A slow tremor rolls through me. I will forever equate this building to a place where nightmares can come true. My eyes flick to Royal, wondering if he feels the same fucking way. I haven’t forgotten for a second that this isn’t going to be a cakewalk for him either. His gaze meets mine, and I draw in a ragged breath, realizing the rather impatient dick behind the desk is now giving me a snide look.
And just like that, Royal gives me a quick nod of reassurance before clearing his throat. “Royal Kaplan, Echo Madden, Wilder Emory, and Beckham Benneti.”
All I can handle at the moment is keeping my eyes focused straight ahead of me. It means a lot that he’d step in like that.
The desk clerk juts his chin, and when I shift to see who he’s looking at, another officer is busy giving us a knowing look, one that screamsHere are our prime suspects, even though wedidn’t do a damn thing. “Yep, they’re expecting you. Have a seat wherever you can find one, and someone will be out to get you momentarily.”
Turning, I find Beckham has pinned me with a concerned stare, those startling blue eyes of his searching not only my face, but also my body. He’s looking for clues as to how I’m handling this. He mouths, “You okay?”
And I nod. Because what the fuck else am I supposed to do?
Echo squeezes my hand, looking up at me with eyes consumed by worry that simply shouldn’t be there. I work my jaw to the side, then squeeze her hand back. “Let’s sit. This’ll all be over soon.”
