Page 34 of Cyn
He nodded and Six continued. “Twenty-one-year-old white male. Member of ROTC before dropping out of college and enlisting in the Army.”
“Possible racist leanings and also possible incel,” Devil said.
“Interested in Al-Shabaab, but for what purpose, we don’t know,” Cyn said.
“His circle of friends is homogeneous in both race and gender and several of them are members of various white supremacy chat boards, groups, and social media sites,” Joe said.
“He’s the perfect profile of a homegrown terrorist,” Six said. “A disaffected young white man with a propensity for war games? It doesn’t actually get more cliché than that.”
“But then who killed him and why?” Nora prompted.
“My money is on Al-Shabaab being the ones who fired the shot, but as to why…” Joe ended his comment with a shake of his head and a shrug.
“I agree,” Six said. “I think that’s going to be the key to whatever it is Meleak is trying to tell you. We need to figure out why he was targeted.”
“Classes start tomorrow,” Cyn said. “I can track down some of his ROTC friends and strike up a conversation. It wouldn’t be weird since it was in the news that McElroy’s body had gone missing and was later found in the area. I’ll tell them the truth—that he was found on my property and see where that takes us.”
“You think they’ll talk?” Joe asked.
Cyn lifted a shoulder. “You never know with students, but it’s worth a try.”
“Do you think it’s possible he was involved in something here?” Nora asked, as she gently spun her wineglass between her fingers.
“What are you thinking?” Devil asked.
Nora shook her head. “I don’t know. I really don’t. It was just something that came into my mind.”
“Usually when things come into your mind, they are pretty important,” Devil said.
“And usually accurate,” Cyn concurred.
Nora gave them both a ghost of a smile. “His actions are disjointed and it’s bugging me. On one hand, as Six pointed out, he’s the cliché of a homegrown terrorist which would lead us to believe he’d eventually plan something here in the United States, the country that’s more or less let him down. But then why have any interest in Al-Shabaab?”
“Unless he wants to learn from them,” Joe finished, and Nora nodded.
“Well, that’s a cheery thought,” Cyn said, then downed the rest of her wine.
“I think Nora may be on to something,” Devil said.
“As usual,” Six said, raising a glass in her direction.
“I agree,” Cyn said. “But I think our best path to finding out what he wanted from them is going to be through his friends. I’ll track them down tomorrow and see what they have to say.”
“And hopefully we can decipher what it is Meleak wants you to know,” Joe added.
The room fell silent for a minute, then Cyn let out a long breath. “Okay, we’re agreed, but as there’s nothing we can do about it tonight, I think we all know what that means.”
Her friends all nodded, but Joe looked confused. “I don’t know what that means,” he said.
“It means we eat,” Six said, jumping off her stool. “Please tell me Dan left some of his pizzas?”
“Oh, and that salad he makes,” Nora said.
“I don’t want pizza tonight. I’ll grab some of those noodles he always leaves for me,” Devil said.
And just like that, her friends were circling her kitchen, digging into her fridge and freezer. Their familiar and easy movements reminded her of how lucky she was for that one day, more than twenty-five years ago, when they’d found themselves, and each other, all alone in the courtyard of their secret little school tucked high in the Alps. Twenty-five years ago, she never would have pictured this as her life. Now, looking around at all the people she cared about, including Joe, she was more than glad it hadn’t turned out any other way.
Chapter Twelve
