Page 54 of Deadline for Love

“Sorry, you’re right.” I lowered my hand and looked at the ground.

“I’m glad you realize that. You can’t just go putting yourself in danger.” She plodded over to my car and waited for me to unlock the doors; when I did, she got straight in, and I went to the car, too.

As I took my seat and drove off, I got a telling-off that I deserved it.

“I’m sorry, Nia, next time, I won’t go out alone. If I do, then only to work and then back,” I promised.

“Strangely, the sender hasn’t contacted us again, so now we must be even more watchful.” She started nibbling on her thumb again and then rubbed her forehead desperately. “I took the weekend to do further research. All but one of the victims had one thing in common. Sabrina is completely out of the pattern. Rita, Anna, and Natali all studied at Riverdale University. Sabrina hadn’t been there. But if the other three girls were at that university, she must have some kind of association.”

She paused momentarily and continued, “Maybe the victims knew each other, and maybe we can ask the people around to find the sender that way.”

“Nia... There are too many people, and we can’t ask everyone... And besides, if we forget about the victims for a second, I’ve never been to Riverdale before and have nothing to do with the university. So, how do I fit in?”

Nia let go of her head, and her shoulders slumped as if disappointed. “You’re right. There’s certainly something strange here. I just don’t know what it is yet.”

Anyone could see how much Nia was contemplating and worrying about this case, but we weren’t investigators. “You know, we should leave this work to the police. Let’s try to do our job and do our best.” She shook her head and stared at me with widened eyes.

“Nia, I mean no offense. We can only help if we report anything suspicious and ask our readers to report to the police if they see anything unusual.”

She seemed dissatisfied with my answer but finally nodded. “You’re right. If everyone is vigilant, we can really make a difference.” Then she leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “So, how was your time with Nathan?”

Now that I didn’t have to lie, I felt better talking about it. “Pretty good. He showed me around his home town.”

“Did you visit Rita’s grave then?”

I shook my head. “No, we didn’t.”

“Well... I’m glad you had a good time anyway.” A grin formed on her lips, and then she moved forward excitedly, her arms still crossed. “And did you have your wedding night?”

I gasped in shock, and my grip on the steering wheel tightened. “What? No! Why should we? It wasn’t a real wedding.”

I glanced briefly into her eyes, and when I noticed that she was wiggling her brows, I quickly turned back to the road.

“So, what?”

“A lot of things! We’re still getting to know each other!” I said indignantly.

She clicked her tongue loudly and leaned back again. “How boring. You two always stare at each other like you’re so in love you can’t wait to rip each other’s clothes off. I’m surprised nothing has happened between you yet.”

Her words made my cheeks glow.

“We stare at each other in love?”

“Duh! Every time!”

She hadn’t minced her words. But shame was the only thing I felt at that moment.

“You’ll both give in eventually.”

The idea that our feelings would explode made my stomach somersault and my heart jump. Kissing Nathan or going even further did not scare me. No, on the contrary, I had actually dreamed about it...

“Should we make a detour to the bakery first? We shouldn’t visit Janette empty-handed.”

Nia skillfully changed the subject, and I shrugged off my not-so-innocent thoughts.

“Yes, we should do that,” I mumbled.

“I hope she’s in a better mood today.” Since Nia frequently visited me, she knew my environment very well, and she also knew my neighbor very well—more specifically, how… prickly she could be.

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