Page 141 of Degradation
‘Okay, well I have to go see Lu,’ I say. ‘Thanks again.’
I hurry away without waiting for a reply and am relieved when I hear the door close quietly behind me.
Frowning a little, I knock on Lu’s door, and she answers it with a squeal.
‘Hey! What are you doing here? I thought you were busy with smart girl lab stuff today.’
She lets me in, and I give her a wan smile. ‘Yeah, something like that.’
‘I was just about to message you, actually.’
‘Oh, yeah?’ I ask, sitting on her bed and getting comfy.
‘First, are you okay after, you know, thevisit. I know you were upset, and I wanted to give you some space to process, but not too much space…’
I nod. ‘Yeah, I’m okay. I’llbeokay.’
She takes my hand and gives it a squeeze.
‘There was something else, too. You remember the cop who wrote the first accident report? The one who moved away?’
‘Yeah, you found him?’
‘Yep. Saint Benedict’s Cemetery in Granville, about an hour north.’
‘He’s dead?’
‘Yup.’ Lu shrugs. ‘About a month ago. Fishing. They found his boat drifting and scooped him out of the river a couple days later. The news story said he hit his head and drowned.’
I sit back. ‘That seems a bit too much of a coincidence.’
‘I agree.’
Lu sits down. ‘I keep thinking this all has something to do with the notes. Like, could they be from your stepfather?’
‘I don’t think so. They’re not really…him. You know? He has avoice, and the notes aren’t in that voice at all. I got another one yesterday. It was delivered to the house. Said I was finally getting somewhere and intimated that he can see me through the cameras still.’
‘Fuck.’ My friend stands up and walks around the room, pursing her lips. ‘I think you need to tell the others.’
‘I did yesterday.’
‘Good. I feel like this is getting bigger and nastier. People are being killed over this. We need to go Colombo and figure out why.’
‘Oh! I know that one! He was a TV detective, right?’
She points at me and makes a clicking noise.
My phone buzzes, and I see a message from Shade asking me to meet him and the others. That was fast.
‘I need to go,’ I say, hoping they’re over it and care about me again.
I don’t want to be cut off from them. Though, I probably should have thought about that before my little stunt.
Lu smiles. ‘Be careful, huh? Keep me in the loop. Grinder should be open in a couple days. We’re just waiting for everything to dry out. I want you back so don’t get dead.’
‘Promise,’ I say, resolving to tell her everything soon.
I leave the dorm, walking back across the Quad and down towards the Novelle Center to where the Greek houses start.
