“I have to say though, none of us are very keen on attending a school that has a reputation for illegal and elicit activity.”

Yikes, cat’s out of the bag now.

“I’m not sure what you’re referring to,” Layla said, looking insulted. “Lineage Academy is a prestigious and elite college. We have no room here for any questionable actions.”

“Surely, even as a new administrator,” Michael chipped in, “you must be aware of the school’s history and the rumors that mar its image.”

Layla nodded slowly, but her eyes didn’t once waver. “I am aware of wrongdoings by individual people, such as the last Headmaster of Lineage. However, he has been dealt with and the school itself was never responsible for the actions of a single man.”

Single man? What a crock of shit. Half the city was involved in the drug-trafficking scandal.

“What do you mean that he has been dealt with?” I asked.

I wanted her to admit to killing David. It would make my visual fantasy about jumping across her desk to strangle her much more enjoyable.

But, she stood her ground. “My predecessor was found guilty of crimes involving the making and distributing of an illegal and proprietary drug on campus. He has been charged with the crimes and convicted as guilty.

“Is he in prison now?” I asked.

Was it possible that this woman had nothing to do with David’s death? That she wasn’t the woman from the masquerade party and that she truly had no idea that David was dead?

But she hesitated.

She hesitated for longer than expected, and I saw her finger start to tap gently against her desk.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “I think so.”

She then quickly changed the subject. “You’ve already been given a tour and I can see that you have picked up a college course catalogue,” she said as she glanced down at the papers in our laps that the lady outside had given us. What else is there that I can do for you to help in making your decision?”

“A night to stay on campus would be helpful,” Michael said.

I couldn’t believe he would even suggest such a thing as staying overnight here on the campus. I could see by the jaw-hanging expressions of the other two men that neither did they.

“Of course,” Layla said. “It would be my pleasure to have you stay with us for a night. I’ll have my secretary make arrangements for you.”

She got up and stepped out of the office for a minute to go speak with the lady outside.

“What are you doing?” Adam asked Michael as soon as she was out of earshot. “We can’t stay on campus tonight. We need to get out of here and go back home.”

“I agree,” Rob said.

Michael glared at them both. “Look, I’m not happy about staying here again either. Not even for a single night. But there’s no way to find out what’s going on below the surface with just a thirty-minute walking tour. We need a whole night to scope things out.”

“Agreed,” I said, just as Layla was coming back into the room.

“Okay, you’re all set,” she said. My secretary will show you to where you can stay for tonight. Please let me know if you have any further questions before you leave in the morning.”

Layla stood standing at the door as if we were supposed to leave now. So, the four of us got up and headed out to follow the secretary outside.

But when I walked past Layla, I noticed a small butterfly tattoo on her wrist.

Hey mom, I thought to myself. Thanks for the sign.

“Wow it feels really super weird to be back in a dorm room,” Adam said. “I miss the mountains.”

“So do I,” I said. “But I know it’s her.”

“How do you know that?” Rob asked. “I mean, she seemed friendly enough and she not only offered us another tour, but she even let us stay here tonight. Why would she do that if she was trying to hide something?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Maybe she figures that hiding in plain sight is the best thing to do?”

We walked all around the campus that evening and even stopped to talk to some of the students. We went into the library and the campus cafeteria, and even into some of the dorms to find people at random so we could ask them questions. None of the people enrolled at the school seemed like they were on drugs or acting weird. To the contrary, they all seemed perfectly normal and friendly. There didn’t seem to be any lingering traces of a drug problem on campus and everything looked perfectly above board and running smoothly. But I still couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was going on.

I just didn’t know what it could be.

“We need to stay on campus a little bit longer,” I said that night in bed. I knew the guys wouldn’t want to hear that, but one night simply wasn’t going to be enough. “I want to enroll in classes so that we’re able to stay for a few weeks.”

“A few weeks?” Adam sounded frustrated. “Lisette, I know you’re trying to find something that is wrong here, but I really don’t think you’re going to find it. Everything seems totally normal here now and all the students seem happy and well-cared for. Staying here for a few weeks is only going to make us feel like we’re right back where we started. I say we go home in the morning, forget all of this, and honor David’s memory by planting a tree in the garden or something.”

I sat up in the bed and looked down at all of their tired faces looking up at me.

“I promise that if you guys can just hang in here with me for this one more time, I’ll make a decision as soon as we get back to the cottage in Asheville.”

Michael blinked. “A decision about what?”

I didn’t skip a beat. I was tired of the cliffhangers. “About which of you to be with.”

All of their eyes were suddenly beneath raised eyebrows.

“That’s a big promise to make, Lisette,” Michael said. “You sure you want to promise that?”

“Yes,” I said. “I’m sure.”

Even though I didn’t really want to do it, I knew that it would be the one thing that would make them stay and I suppose it was about time for that to happen anyway. I still wanted us all to be close friends with all of them, though, even after I made a decision about that.

I had expected them to look happier about my offer to do that, but instead they looked kind of sad.

“Okay,” Michael said. “We’ll give it two weeks. If there’s nothing discovered in two weeks, we all go home, and you give us your decision. Deal?”

“Deal.” I looked at the other two to make sure they were in agreement as well. They both nodded so it seemed as though we were all on the same page. But, there was something lingering in the air between all of us that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

Something important, but hidden from sight.

Nevertheless, I curled up with them and pulled the blanket around me. It seemed we were going to be students at Lineage, again.

And this time, I hoped our enrollment didn’t come with as much death as the previous commitment we made to attend.