Page 101 of Lady Killer

She tilted her head back and forth as if rolling the possibility around her mind. Despite the fire inside of her, Luz was as analytical as I was, and I had no doubt she’d arrived at the same conclusion as me.

“You think that’s the killer?”

“Or our best lead to finding them,” she said.

“Great,” Nixon interrupted. “So, it could be just about anyone who was in Oregon over a decade ago. Fantastic work narrowing it down.”

Luz's eyes narrowed at him, but he was right. It wasn’t enough to go off of.

“I’ve had an idea actually,” she said.

I tilted my head for her to continue.

“I met someone the other day, someone who was asking about Melody. Someone who has access to heart medication and who was oddly interested in me.”

“And who the fuck was it?” Nixon and I growled out at the same time.

“Clayton. Clayton Royal.”

Chapter twenty-eight

Luz

“What do you mean you’re not coming back to the dorm right away?” Autumn looked like I had asked her to shoot a puppy.

I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I didn’t know when I would be returning either.

Alister wanted me to stay at the townhouse indefinitely. Ever wanted to move me into the estate.

Nixon didn’t want me thereat all.

“It’s a safety thing, Autumn. Someone broke into my room. The Blackwells offered to let me stay with them until things calm down.”

She snorted. “The Blackwells, Luz. Of all the people you could have chosen to play sleepover with, you picked the Blackwells.”

“I didn’t exactly have a lot of say in the matter,” I said, taking a sip of my smoothie.

In the aftermath of Valentine’s Day, I had been forced to come clean with Autumn. Well, cleaner.

Something was still weighing her down, and I hadn’t had time to look into her parents.

As far as she knew, I was casually involved with Alister, who had graciously taken me into his home so I wouldn’t have to waste money on a hotel after my room was destroyed.

I never would have believed me, but Autumn wasn’t the duplicitous type.

“I don’t have, like, a ton of relationship experience, Luz, but even I know that controlling where you sleep is a red flag.”

Controlling where I slept was probably the greenest of the flags these men were waving, but I wasn’t about to tell her that.

Not when I had so many red flags ofmy own.

“It’s not like that. Someone broke into my room and destroyed it,” I defended myself again. “They left a pig’s heart nailed to my door last semester. It’s not crazy that I don’t feel safe there.”

Autumn tossed her head from side to side as she chewed.

When Alister spoke to the guy he’d had watching Autumn, he said he’d been stationed outside the dorm all night and had seen nothing out of the ordinary.

I was furious. I had agreed to stay with them based on their promise to keep Autumn safe. That the killer or one of their sheep got close enough to trash my room didn’t instill confidence in me.

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