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I think I spoke to her at the party, but I don’t remember seeing her last night. I don’t remember much of anything from last night except for Mai-Tai.
“Where was she found? And who by?”
“Early this morning the cleaners found her on one of the cabana sofas outside. We don’t have photos yet, but our inside contact at the station said it’s similar to the last attack.”
“So definitely Shikari then?”
“Yes,” the prof says firmly, taking the file from my hands and zeroing in on the victim’s photo. He stares intently at it, obviously contemplating something.
“What is it, boss?” I ask.
“I’m not sure.” He hesitates. “Do any of you recognise her?”
“No,” Reef replies.
“Nope,” Bhodi says.
“I think I may have spoken to her at the first party, but I’m not sure. Why?”
“I just wondered. Is there anyone on campus that you’ve been inexplicably drawn to?”
“No,” Reef and Bhodi simultaneously reply.
“No, boss,” I say, thinking of Malia. But it’s not unexplainable. She’s amazing. Gorgeous, smart, droll and funny. I don’t find myself drawn to her by some invisible magnetic force, I actively seek her out because I’ve got it bad.
“Is there anyone you keep bumping into on campus? Or who keeps showing up when you least expect it?”
The others shake their heads.
“No.” And it’s true. I’ve barely seen Mai-Tai. Last night was a surprise, but not exactly unexpected. Students go to Descanso all the time. Any other time I’ve seen her it’s because I’ve gone looking for her.
“Okay. Well, I feel like our time is running out. Two murders this close together is rare, even by Shikari standards. Everyone’s feeling the pressure of the clock ticking down. It’s making them reckless.”
“What do we do?” I feel nervous. Guilty. I was out having a good time with Malia, and a girl was getting brutally murdered right under my nose.
Fuck.
I still can’t stop thinking about Malia though. That’s probably fucked up, but I want to know she’s okay. I wish there was a way I could keep her safe, keep our secrets, and do my damn job without everything fucking up.
“I have backup coming in, arriving on this evening’s ferry. They’re going to interview students on campus under the guise of a police investigation and memories will be wiped. Every blonde female is going to be put on the watch list until we can narrow it down and increase surveillance.”
Something sits uncomfortably in my gut.
“What if…what about…what if we need to be looking at brunettes and red heads too? All the colours, in fact. Why blondes?”
“I don’t know. But the Shikari are targeting blondes for a reason. At this point we have to assume they know more than us, and follow their lead,” the prof tells me sadly.
“Yeah, that and we just don’t have the resources to watch everyone,” Bhodi pipes up. It’s true, but it makes me feel worse.
With a sinking feeling, I pull my phone from my pocket and turn it back on.
You can get the cart from outside my dorm, parked up with the others.
The keys are inside.
Are you sure about the shirt?
I’m disappointed she left the keys in the cart; I want to check on her and it would have given me the perfect excuse to stop by. Knowing that she was blonde sits uneasy with me, but I can’t say anything to the prof without him thinking that I lied about being drawn to Malia. But there’s no way she’s the Star. She’s human so there’s no point bringing her to the others’ attention.
I just hope she doesn’t get caught in the crossfire, because I'm starting to really like her.
