Page 66 of The Writer

“Congratulations,” Danielle says.

April squeezes my shoulder. “I told you it was only a matter of time.”

“Did they give you any idea how long it would take to hear back?” Victoria asks.

“No. More of a waiting game, but it’s given me a little bit of hope.”

“At least we can end this on a high note,” Marley says. “No meetings for the near future, but we can stay in touch?”

“Definitely,” Victoria says. “And watch out for each other.”

She’s the first to leave, followed soon after by April and Danielle. Marley and I remain seated, watching them go.

“That wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” she says. “When they said the police had reached out to all of them, I thought they’d come for blood.”

“The cops must not have told them I was the one who talked to them,” I say. “Why do you think that is?”

“Maybe they don’t want us ganging up on each other,” she says.

Or maybe it’s because I’m not their only suspect. There could be connections between other group members and the crimes I don’t even know about.

“Did you watch their reactions when I told them about the agent request?”

“Yep. That was a smart move,” she says, then leans against the backrest of the booth. “Problem is, I think everyone is so genuinely rattled, it’s hard to tell if someone is lying.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t tell either.”

“You’ve known these women a lot longer than I have,” she says. “I want you to think. Would any of them have a reason to want to hurt you?”

“They’re all my friends,” I say. “Or so I thought.”

“There’s no denying one of them has it in for you,” she says. “Your email was hacked. Your tires were slashed. And two recent murders were modeled after your stories. I’m sure you saw the way April was looking at you when that was brought up.”

“I did,” I say, shuddering. “I felt like they were all suspicious of me.”

“Whoever is doing this wants people to be suspicious of you,” she says. “This is personal, and this killer is set on making you look as bad as possible.”

It’s not like I’ve not considered this over the past couple of weeks, but every time I do, I come up blank. I can’t think of any reason why Victoria, April or Danielle would be out to get me. Even when I was suspicious of Marley, I could never settle on a clear motive.

“Your roommate died ten years ago,” Marley says. “Could any of them have a connection to that?”

“None of them even knew me then,” I say, unthinking. “Let alone Layla.”

But as I reconsider everything I’ve uncovered lately, I’m not sure that’s true. It appears all the Maidens had a connection to Layla, however remote. Victoria has worked with the Williams’ charity over the years to promote campus safety. Danielle’s law firm represented Mike, used his case as a learning point for future clients. April says she knows Crystal from school; could she just as easily have had a connection to Layla?

An idea strikes me, one I hadn’t considered before. Even if the Mystery Maidens did have a connection to Layla, I can’t see why any of them would resent me for her death.

There’s only one person who overlaps my present and past that would.

THIRTY-THREE

Marley has always been right: this is personal.

I realize too late that there’s another potential suspect, one who would have much easier access to my life than the group and with an equally strong connection to what happened ten years ago. These bizarre attacks started after I wrote the Layla story, and who would be more connected to that event than Crystal?

Layla, Crystal and I were inseparable. Roommates. TheFriendsof WU. Until Layla was taken from us, and we’ve blamed ourselves ever since. What if I miscalculated, and Crystal blames me for our friend’s death more than I ever realized?

Could Crystal have been the one sending the black hearts? The one I received in my mailbox appeared not long after she moved in. Another black heart preceded my breakup with Jasper, an event that brought Crystal and I closer together. And a black heart was attached to the floral arrangement she brought into our apartment. She could have been strategically leaving them for me all along. Aside from the hearts, Crystal has easier access to my belongings than the other Maidens. She could have hacked into my email and opened the shared drive to access our other manuscripts. I recall her anger when she first read theLayla story. Of course, that’s only when I thought she read it. What if she saw the story on my computer earlier and reading it sent her over the edge from stalking to murder?

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