The Veritas Codes Teaser Chapter

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  Rubber tires squeaked against the concrete as Kelsey turned her black sedan into the parking garage. Twelve in the morning was late, but not college late. She shook the growing fuzziness from her head. How could one drink make her feel this dizzy? Then again, it was champagne, and something about those bubbles always hit hard. The mix of alcohol, lack of sleep for the past couple of weeks, and an anxiety level tipping towards an eleven on a ten-point scale… She was surprised she could hold a single thought at this time of night. Her bed beckoned, and she graciously would accept its offer to sleep.
She wasn’t the only one returning from a night out this weekend. The red Honda in front of her took the last available spot on the second floor. Circling up to the next level, she found an open space and squeezed in between a Prius and a F-150 who took considerable space over the line. Jerk. Kelsey muttered under her breath, pushing her purse out the cracked door before sliding sideways out of the car.
She glanced in the backseat. There was no way the ratty cardboard box was fitting out either side. She’d come back for it tomorrow. Ugh. She pinched her eyes shut. It was already tomorrow. Homework, labs, and laundry…there was so much to do, and the day hadn’t even started. She debated if it was worthwhile to open the trunk and crawl through in order to retrieve the box. It would save the trip back to the car later. She stifled a long yawn with the back of her hand; she could come back later.
Walking up the ramp to the south corner stairwell, she heard a car door close somewhere on the same level. Funny. She didn’t remember anyone entering the garage after her. She glanced behind her and saw nothing. Kelsey gripped the handrail and a frightening thought popped into her head. Was someone hanging out in a car at this hour? Her entire body seized up. Her mind shot back to the warning note stuck under her wiper two weeks ago. She knew their threat was real and had tried to keep a low profile since. Even tonight, she was cautious about returning to campus. Taking extra turns to make sure she wasn’t being followed. There was no one… And yet could someone have been waiting this whole time?
Hastening her step, she entered the second level and ducked behind the tallest car she could find. If someone was behind her, she could let them take the stairs all the way down, then continue for herself. She strained to listen for footsteps over the sound of her beating heart. She waited, reminding herself to breathe. Then she heard it, echoing like a metronome keeping time. Hard boot heels thudding against the steps and scraping against the concrete. Someone was coming closer. Kelsey’s hand flew to her mouth, stifling a scream. She wasn’t paranoid. She was being followed!
Her instincts urged her to run. Run fast. Run far. But her mind fought the impulse and bartered for a plan first. Fleeing to her dorm wouldn’t be smart. They knew where she lived, and it wouldn’t guarantee safety. No, her car was the best option. One floor up and she could drive somewhere safe and hide. Kelsey found the longest, sharpest key on her ring and gripped it between her knuckles. She was ready to run, but if it came to it, she would go down swinging. The footsteps echoed away from her position. She bobbed between cars, staying low. It wasn’t until she passed the last car at the stairwell that she realized there was more than one person, and they were closer than she thought. Her grip on the keys tightened and a jagged edge scraped the inside of her middle finger drawing blood. Of all the scenarios she had thought of, this wasn’t one of them. 

Sunday
Chapter 1
Maggie’s heart pounded inside of her chest. Keep going. Don’t Stop. Don’t stop! She could see the lightpost ahead. Her legs were heavy, but she was too close to stop. In her mind she timed it out—another thirty seconds, fifteen seconds, five seconds…and done. She slapped the lightpost before coming to a stop, fighting the urge to collapse onto the soft grass alongside the sidewalk and recover from her run. She glanced at her watch and stopped her timer. Only thirty seconds faster than her last five-mile run, but it was an improvement.
With her hands on her head, Maggie deeply inhaled the cool afternoon October air. She liked running on this side of campus on the weekend. There were no dorms nor classes in session, only the sound of birds and the wind whistling through the trees. She wiped her face with the neck of her T-shirt removing the sweat trickling down her temples. Her heart rate slowed, and her breath steadied as she walked back to her dorm on the north side of campus.
Maggie loved campus in the fall. Ever since she could remember, her parents would bring her and her brother to the homecoming game. At twelve, she couldn’t wait to start college. Unfortunately, reality never lived up to expectations. Last year, starting with a disastrous sorority rush attempt that dominoed into other student organization rejections, coupled with a struggling GPA, college life was miserable as a freshman. So much for the daughter of Student Body President /Football Captain and Gamma Sig President/Dean Scholar excelling at anything.
This year. This year I’m going to make an effort, she told herself this past summer. That effort included getting a student job as a dorm resident advisor and joining the Regulator newspaper staff. Six weeks in, life finally felt on track.
She paused at the bottom of her dorm stairs and glanced around the courtyard. Ah…college life. A game of volleyball was being played by a group of guys on the sand-slash-dirt court in front of Tucker. Other students lay out on the grass reading or socializing with blankets and boxes of snacks. The three-dorm configuration felt like its own ecosystem within the university campus. The STK complex was a set of three separate rectangular buildings forming a U, Sterling on the left side, Tucker in the middle, and Keehler on the right. Everyone referred to the grouping as the Stack.
“Hey, Ms. Margaret,” a voice called, as heavy footsteps came up from behind.
Maggie froze. Only a few people on campus called her by her full name, but only one of them said it with a Georgian accent that made her heart race. She was now well aware of every dried drop of sweat on her body and the sweet stench of an hour-long run emanating from her pores. She nervously tucked her messy hair behind her ear and tried to smooth down the erratic strands that had made their way loose from her ponytail.
“Hey, Colton. How’s it going?” she said, turning around, trying to sound cool and collected.
“Oh, you know, livin’ the life,” he said, walking towards her and tossing a volleyball in the air. Colton Higgins could wear a burlap sack and still look sexy. It wasn’t so much his perfectly tousled blond hair or sky-blue eyes, but his smile. Straight and sparkling teeth behind lips that look like they never need Chapstick. Right behind him, a six-foot dark-haired muscle-ridden jock trailed, engrossed in his phone.
“This is my roommate,” Dylan, Colton said, motioning with the volleyball. “His phone is permanently attached to his hands.” He tried to continue with the introduction to a distracted Dylan. “This is Maggie. She is the RA for the second floor.”
“Hey,” Dylan mumbled, not looking up.
“Hi.” Maggie smiled at an impervious Dylan. “Playing volleyball?” She realized she was asking the obvious.
Sunday afternoon tradition. Some friendly competition between floors. Colton spun the ball on his pointer finger.
Dylan slid his phone into the pocket of his basketball shorts. His emotionless face and glances at the court made it obvious he was more interested in moving along than standing there making small talk. “I need to warm up.” Dylan held open his hands to Colton, signaling for the ball.
“Tell the guys I’ll be right there.” Colton tossed the ball to Dylan, who was already walking away.
“Are you coming back from the rec center?” he asked, pointing at her workout attire.
“No, I finished up a run over on West Campus. I like that it’s quiet on weekends.”
“So you’re a runner.” he replied with a smile. “I’m not much of a runner. I get bored easily. I’m just your common gym rat.”
“I can tell,” she replied, eyeing his well-defined shoulders and biceps. She quickly realized her statement could be taken as a jab, so she hastily explained, “I can tell you work out. Not that you don’t run, you’re obviously in good shape with your legs and arms and all…” Stop rambling, she told herself but continued. “You’re well proportioned.”
“Thanks. I think,” he said with a laugh. “I try to stay proportional.”
A player from the court broke the awkward silence. “Higgins, we need you to start!”
“I’m being summoned. See you at the meeting tonight,” Colton said, breaking off.
Maggie smiled, afraid of any other embarrassing word vomit that may cross her lips.

Maggie climbed the stairs to her dorm. “I’m so awkward,” she moaned under her breath as she leaned her forehead onto her front door. Opening the door, she found her freckle-faced roommate in their little living area sitting cross-legged on the loveseat reading a textbook while eating a bowl of Frosted Flakes. Her thick, red curly hair was pulled back with a single large clip.
“Something wrong?” asked Sarah, looking up at Maggie’s dejected face.
“Colton run-in.”
“And?”
“I told him he was…proportional.” She spat out the word while rubbing her eyes with her palms. “Ugh, I ramble when I am nervous.”
Sarah laughed. “It’s not bad to be proportional. You could have said worse.”
“Yeah, but it’s not necessarily a compliment. He must think I’m the biggest dork!” Maggie threw herself into the plaid armchair. “Did you just get up?” she asked, noticing Sarah was still wearing her red and orange flannel pajama pants.
“Yeah, this weekend was long.” Sarah gave a yawn.
“How was the karate tournament?” Maggie asked.
“Almost placed. I really could have done better if I had trained more,” Sarah replied.
Sarah had joined the university martial arts team last year but only made the tournament team this year. Maggie and Sarah had been potluck roommates freshman year and had bonded over their love of streaming Gilmore Girls. Besides Milo, Sarah was the only friend she kept in touch with since freshman year.
“Well, I know you could kick my ass,” Maggie added reassuringly. “I need to shower.”
“Yeah, you do,” Sarah joked, scrunching her nose.
Hey!” Maggie feigned offense. “That’s hard work you smell.” She tossed a throw pillow towards Sarah’s head which she caught midair.
“I have cat-like reflexes,” Sarah yelled, but Maggie was halfway down the hall.

Maggie always got excited for Sunday nights. It was a scheduled chance to interact with Colton. They had met weeks ago before student move-in day in rather embarrassing circumstances. That day back in August, in order to cut down on trips, Maggie had stacked the last of the moving boxes from her car too high to see in front of herself. The slight lip of the first-floor entryway concrete met her left toe, and she went flying down the hallway with the boxes crashing to the ground.
 “Nice swan dive,” a deep voice bellowed from above with a hint of amusement. “You okay?”
From Maggie’s point of view on the floor, she could only see the side of a white Converse shoe. The throbbing in her toe was radiating up her foot. She’d let out a meager groan. “Yeah, I’m fi-—” And at the first sight of Colton’s perfectly formed face, she lost all function of her tongue.
 Colton’s tone dropped to concern. “Did you hit your head?” he had asked, crouching down to pull her to a seated position.
She shifted her focus back to her body. “No, just my toe.” Maggie pulled her foot towards her body to check for blood. “There goes my tap-dancing career.”
“Good to see your sense of humor wasn’t injured.” His eyes sparkled with laughter.
Confirming she was now okay, Colton returned scattered items into her slightly crushed cardboard box. “My name is Colton. I’m the RA on one. And you are…Margaret?” he’d asked, reading the side of the box where her full name was scribbled on the side.
“Yeah, but my friends call me Maggie.” Everything in her hoped this wasn’t going to be their only encounter.
“Well, Ms. Margaret,” he’d said with a southern drawl handing the box over, “you have a good day.”
Since then, they’d only had a handful of run-ins, mostly in the breezeway or at Sunday night meetings. He’d smile. She would try to flirt. They would end up talking about the weather, pop culture, or some other mundane topic that somehow felt soul barring. Then she would over analyze each interaction. How much did he smile? Did he laugh at her attempt at a joke? Each time they talked, she mentally noted small details: Colton Higgins. Junior business major. From Atlanta. Drives a black Toyota Tundra. Loves Oreos. Hates coffee. If her taste in movies were an indication of real life, she was happy to live inside of this blooming rom-com.
Casual but cute, she told herself standing in her fluffy blue bath towel taking stock of her closet of clothes. She landed on her favorite pair of dark jeans and paired a multicolored scarf with a cream sweater. Maggie did a quick time check. It was getting late in the afternoon. She needed to go off campus to purchase her chem supplies for this week’s homework before ending the day at the RA meeting. She thought her best friend Milo might be up for an off-campus break.

 Maggie: Off campus run?
Milo: I need to study
Maggie: It will be quick
Milo: Hmmmm…
Maggie: We’ll get coffee :-)
Milo: You know my weakness
Maggie: See you in 10

Maggie put the phone in her back pocket and found her car keys hiding behind a stack of papers on the desk. One of the best parts of living at the Stack was the attached parking garage. It was considered prime real estate on campus and came in handy during rainstorms. Her decade old, slightly beaten-up Explorer stood out between two black-on-black Audi A4s.
“Hello, Henry.” She greeted her car with a pat on the left taillight. Maggie reached for her car door when her phone buzzed. She pulled it out to see if Milo was backing out, but instead, it was a reminder from the third-floor RA about the afternoon’s meeting. As she slid the phone back into her pocket, she caught a glimpse of a shiny object under the car next to hers.
She reached down and picked up a necklace. It was simple but elegant—a perfectly round medallion etched with a four-sided flower and what looked like a starburst. Maggie studied it and found the chain broken at the clasp. She wondered if it fell out of the car next to hers. Since there was no assigned parking, it could have come from anyone. It was beautiful in a classic vintage way. Once she got in her car, she snapped a quick picture of the necklace and uploaded it to the university’s social media lost and found site.
Hope the owner knows it’s missing.
Milo was waiting and she didn’t want to delay, so she placed the necklace in the center cup holder.
Milo was on the concrete benches in the southside circle for pickup, head down playing on his phone.
Maggie rolled down the window. “Hey, sexy,” she cat-called.
He looked up and rolled his eyes. His playful brown eyes sparkled behind his long eyelashes. Most guys would be oblivious to having amazing eyelashes. Not Milo. He was very much aware of how to use his puppy dog eyes to get what he wanted.
“What’s this?” he asked, reaching for the necklace in the cup holder.
“I found it in the Stack parking lot. I can’t tell if it is real or costume jewelry.”
 He ran his thumb over the imprint. “It’s kind of heavy. If it is real gold, it could be worth something.” He scrutinized the emblem. “That’s an interesting symbol. What is that? A flower of some sort?”
“Yeah, I guess. A cross between a lily and a fleur-de-lis maybe? I feel like I’ve seen that design somewhere, but I can’t place it,” said Maggie.
“You know what’s off?” He tilted his head. “The chain doesn’t match the pendant. Look at the coloring. You can see the tarnish around the flower. The emblem is aged, but the chain looks brand new.” He handed the necklace back to Maggie. “What are you going to do with it?”
“I posted it on the Sutton lost and found page. I hope the owner looks there for it.”
“Looks old. If it is a family heirloom, I’m sure whoever lost it wants it back.”
Maggie stuffed the necklace in her back pocket. “Yeah, we’ll see.”
“How was your trip home?” he asked.
“It was good. Bryce got a starting position on varsity, and Dad’s been on this health food kick. It’s driving Bryce crazy.” She laughed at the image of her younger, yet now bigger brother choking down tofu burgers. “How was your weekend here?” she asked.
Milo smiled as if he was waiting for that question. “You will never believe which ex I ran into last night at Cosmo’s.”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head “I can’t keep your list of boys straight.”
“Oh, nothing’s straight about my list of boys.” Milo laughed before launching into the escapades of the previous night. Drama and Milo were synonymous.
Maggie had met Milo in their junior year of high school when he had moved to her hometown. She had been reviewing the drama department’s rendition of Bye-Bye Birdie for the high school newspaper, and Milo had landed the lead as Conrad Birdie. Milo was naturally charismatic and outgoing, and Maggie admired his ability to capture a room and strike up a conversation with anyone. Milo had also been drawn to Maggie. He loved to poke at her introverted nature. It was as if she was his own little Holly Golightly—Milo always saw the potential in Maggie that she was so quick to dismiss. Senior year, Maggie and Milo grew even closer while trying to survive pre-calc together. Best friend status was solidified when they both were accepted to Sutton University, which was over an hour from their home in Westbrook. They had coined themselves M&M over a late-night cram session while binging on junk food and pizza.
By the time they were in the drive-thru at Java Jitters, Milo was only halfway through his dramatic retelling of running into his summer fling, Alex, who had moved on with someone else. What was most likely a three-minute interaction, which could have been summarized in five sentences, became a three-part drama with major and minor characters. Milo only paused for a second to hand over his Dad’s Amex Black credit card to the barista before picking up his story again.
 Pulling into the off-campus bookstore parking lot, Milo had moved on to dishing about the hook-ups and break-ups of the weekend of couples Maggie had never even heard of. She didn’t mind Milo’s ramblings. She found them entertaining and an escape from her own bleak love life.
Forty minutes after they had left campus, Maggie guided her faded green SUV around the corner back to the dorm drop-off area to say goodbye to Milo. She attempted to make a right turn, but the entire street was blocked by a parade of students milling around, all focused on what was happening about two hundred feet ahead. Three cop cars and an ambulance were parked alongside the curb.



Chapter 2
“Oh, this doesn’t look good,” breathed Milo.
“Wow, something must have just happened after I picked you up.” Maggie strained her eyes to look for any reason for the emergency presence. The sea of students grew denser as more emerged from surrounding dorms. Milo rolled down his window and dangled his head out to get a better look.
“Hey,” he shouted to a lanky skater standing on a bench taking a video on his phone. “What’s going on?”
“Attempted suicide at McGregor,” he responded.
The male next to him chimed in. “Third floor.”
“Oh damn!” Milo exclaimed, ducking back into the car.
Ambulance sirens wailed and the crowd parted to make way for the lead police vehicle with the ambulance close behind. Once it was clear of students, both vehicles sped off.
Milo began digging on social media for more information. “Looks like it hit ten minutes ago. No one is saying definitively what happened, only that cops and medics were called to McGregor. Some say it was a fight that turned into a stabbing, but now some are saying attempted suicide. Best I can tell it was a female that was taken out on a gurney.” He shrugged. “That’s about it. “
The crowd thinned once the ambulance was out of sight, but clusters of students continued to huddle together recapping the drama. A squad car blocked vehicles from entering the cul-de-sac, and one officer was talking to a group of students while the other guarded the main entrance checking students’ IDs as they entered.
“I don’t think I’m going to get closer.” Maggie sighed as she pulled to the side of the street.
“No worries. Drop me here,” Milo said the door was already halfway open as he spotted two fellow dormmates.

Pulling back into the parking garage, Maggie noticed she only had a couple of minutes to drop her stuff and get to the common lounge for the RA meeting. She quickly parked her car on the third floor of the garage and jogged down the stairwell with a box of beakers rattling inside her bag. She made it over to the Tucker common room with five minutes to spare.
The normally rowdy game room was rearranged for the Sunday night meeting. The four overstuffed couches were pushed together to make a semi-circle. If you weren’t lucky enough to grab a couch seat, then the barstools from the game area were used. Maggie frowned at how full the couches were. She hated having to sit on the hard wooden bar stools.
She scanned the group to see where Colton was sitting. He had taken the corner seat on the far blue couch. Next to him sat Jessica, the RA from Tucker. They were engrossed in conversation. Maggie tried to be tactical about her seat placement. If she could nab a chair on the other side of the semi-circle, she would be right in Colton’s line of sight for the meeting. Maggie excused her way through the gossiping RAs towards the chairs.
 The room buzzed with whispers about the disturbance at the McGregor dorm. As Maggie sat, she caught Colton looking her way. Playing it cool, she gave a short wave and small smile like she was just noticing him for the first time. To her surprise, he motioned for her to come over. She loved the way his blond hair curled around the edges of his Atlanta Braves baseball cap.
“Hey, Larson, got you a seat,” he said with a grin when she walked up.
“Oh, that’s okay.” She motioned with her hand not wanting to be intrusive to Jessica.
“It’s fine. We’re done chatting about homework,” he replied. Jessica begrudgingly took the hint and slid down the couch.
“I kept it warm for you.” He patted the cushion.
Before Maggie could ask about how the afternoon basketball game went, Melody popped her head between the two from behind. “Hey, did you all hear about what happened on Southside this afternoon?”
Jessica peaked over from her corner. “Yeah, a girl was stabbed right in her dorm room.”
Melody nodded, clearly eager to share what she’d heard. “I heard another chick did it. They were fighting over a guy.”
“Two girls fighting over a guy? Like that’s news on this campus,” interjected Colton.
“When I was there, a guy told us it was an attempted suicide,” Maggie said.
“You were there when it happened?” Melody’s eyes grew wide.
Maggie realized everyone within earshot was now looking at her. She fumbled over her words, not liking being the center of attention.
“No, no, I was there after it all happened. I was trying to drop off my friend who lives there. We couldn’t get close. Cops and students were all outside.”
“Hey everyone.” Janice, the STK senior RA, clapped her hands twice to bring down the volume. “First thing on the agenda is the STK Mixer next month. Each dorm needs to plan a competition event. Start thinking about that now. We’ll pull ideas together next week.”
She paused and looked toward the entryway where the president of student housing stood in the doorway looking hurried. The white-pressed collared shirt with a blue blazer was unlike her normal meeting attire on the rare occasion she came to the Sunday meeting. In the year that Maggie had known Katie, she hadn’t been the kind to dress up for casual drop-ins. There was a clear purpose for her being here. Maggie gave a small wave at her upperclassmen friend, but Katie was lost in thought as she surveyed the room.
Katie caught Janice’s eye and fully stepped into the room. “Sorry to interrupt,” she began, “but I need to make an announcement.” She quickly made her way to the front and took a second to button her blazer before addressing the group. “I assume by now the rumor mill has hit the northside dorms.” She continued as if reading from a teleprompter. “There was a situation moments ago on the south side of campus at McGregor that involved a female student who had a medical emergency and was taken away in an ambulance. The events have been overblown as they have spread through the student body. There was not, I repeat, not a stabbing, attempted suicide, or anything like that. As RAs you may be getting a lot of questions and rumors from your students. I would like you to please correct any rumors you hear.”
Melody raised her hand. “What type of medical emergency?”
Katie didn’t break formality. “Due to privacy issues, we are not divulging any more information.”
“Maybe it was explosive diarrhea from the dining hall chili,” Colton quipped. Muffled giggles echoed through the group.
Katie glared at Colton, unamused. She was in president mode and didn’t need jokes.
 “Please help dispel the rumors. There will be a statement from the university coming out tonight as parents are already calling the school worried for their children.”
“Who was the student? Is she okay?” someone yelled from the back.
“Again, we are not releasing any names at this time. However, I do believe she is stable at the hospital.” Katie held up her hand to signal no more questions. “So again, please correct all rumors. We don’t need hysteria on campus.” She stepped to the side and whispered something to Janice who nodded.
“Well, that was short-lived news,” Colton breathed. Maggie nodded.
Katie said something else to Janice before leaving the room to visit other dorm meetings. Their meeting broke after a quick twenty minutes of everyday dorm business. But if the goal had been to divert everyone from the events at McGregor, Katie failed.
“How awful for that girl,” Jessica blurted to Maggie and Colton the second Janice finished for the day. Melody leaned forward again with her arms draped over the couch. “She gets sick or something and half campus think she’s dying.”
“I’d hate for anyone to think I tried to commit suicide.” Jessica cringed and looked at Maggie.
“Any reason to have something to gossip about I guess.” Colton shrugged.
Maggie felt a twinge of guilt for perpetuating the rumor just minutes ago. She knew what it was like being the object of viral rumors from high school. She wished he had kept her mouth shut.
“Well, wish I could stay and chat, but I got stuff to do,” Colton lamented, standing and stretching.
“Yeah. I have homework to finish.” Maggie followed him out, hoping for a reason to walk back together. It was only a five-minute walk from the common room to the stairs, but Maggie took advantage of any second to talk with Colton. Once they were out of earshot of the group, butterflies fluttered in her stomach. Her anxiety increased every time it was the two of them. Her brain always blanked on conversation topics.
“What homework are you working on?” asked Colton.
For a second, she forgot what classes she was taking this semester. “Um, Chem 101.” she stammered. “Really having a hard time with labs.”
“Is it with Jimenez?”
“Yeah.”
“I had him last year. He’s tough. But if the TA is still Michael, he’s chill. Make friends with him, and he will teach you what you need for the tests.”
“That’s good to know.” She tucked away the new tidbit of Colton information. My TA and Colton are friends.
They were now standing at the base of the stairs and Maggie was looking for any other questions to continue the conversation. Colton opened his mouth to say something, but Maggie’s phone buzzed. He gave her a second to check it.
Jake, her coworker at the newspaper had texted.
Did you get the pics I sent?
“Oh shoot, I gotta go.” Maggie sighed. She wanted to stay there talking with Colton, but a deadline was looming.
“Boyfriend?” he teased, leaning in.
She caught a trace of cedarwood cologne and a hint of spearmint. “No.” She blushed. “Newspaper. I need to review which photos to print with an article I’m writing. It’s due tonight.”
“That’s cool. Maybe I’ll see you around the block this week.”
“Yeah, for sure.” She wondered if she sounded too excited at that prospect. Colton smiled and turned to make his way to his room.
Call you in a sec, she texted and darted up the stairs.

Chapter 3
Once in her room, Maggie dropped her bag on the end of her bed, pulled out her laptop, and phoned Jake on speaker. “Hey, I’m sorry. Just got out of my RA meeting.”
“What’s going on in the world of you wardens?” he asked. “Still plotting how to ruin fun?”
Jake’s bitterness started when he got in trouble for arranging a human bowling tournament in the hallway of his dorm. He had “borrowed” rolling desk chairs from the study rooms and set up two-foot-tall inflatable bowling pins. The boys of Howard then took turns hurling each other down the hallway to see who could knock over the most pins.
“It’s guys like you that make my job difficult,” said Maggie.
“It’s guys like me that make living on campus enjoyable,” he retorted.
Maggie pulled up the series of pictures Jake had taken during last Friday night’s soccer game. She began to process her thoughts aloud. “I covered the winning streak of the team, but most of the article is focused on the two team captains. Do you have any shots of them?”
“Click to the end of the set if you want the two of them. I took a couple while you were talking to the coach before the game.”
“Yeah, let me look at those.” She swiped through the set, visualizing how to lay out the spread.
“Speaking of shots,” Jake segued, “did you hear a gun went off over at McGregor?”
Searching the photos, Maggie didn’t break focus. “Wow, that rumor keeps escalating.”
“What do you mean?”
Maggie paused and looked at her phone. “If you’re talking about the girl who was taken away in the ambulance from McGregor, it was a medical emergency, not a gunshot wound.”
“Where did you hear that?”
“RA Meeting. The Student Housing President dropped by. There will be a statement later tonight. Rumors were spreading so badly parents were calling in worried.”
“So…” He trailed off. “She said nothing about why there was blood in the room.”
“Nope. It was a medical issue.” She kept her response short to not prolong Jake’s interest.
“Sounds fishy. This guy I know whose old roommate lives on the third floor said he saw a line of blood just inside the door. Did they say who it was or what kind of medical emergency it was?”
“No, and why would they release that information? Talk about a HIPPA violation,” she continued, now annoyed at his persistence.
He scoffed. “Release the bare minimum of information.”
“It’s a privacy issue, Jake. Not everything is a conspiracy.”
“You should question things more. Will serve you well as a reporter.”
“Yeah, in my undercover exposé on the women’s soccer team…”
“Remember last year when the business school was evacuated on a random Tuesday? They said they were running fire safety tests.”
But they were running fire safety tests, Maggie wanted to clap back but didn’t.
“Okay, let’s use photos twenty-three and forty-two.” She interrupted his rant, bringing the conversation back to the task at hand “But could you zoom in on forty-two? Give me from the waist up?”
“Yeah, sure. Is that it?”
“That works for this one.” She paused. “Are you going to be at any of the games this week?”
“Possibly, depends on my test schedule. Anyway, I got to go. It’s poker night. I’ll get these sent over to Carter.” His voice faded.
“You know gambling is illegal on campus,” said Maggie.
“It’s only illegal if you get caught,” he quipped.
“I feel like that’s going to be written on your tombstone,” she mocked, but he had already ended the call.
Of course, Jake Gallagher would assume any emergency on campus contained an air of conspiracy. Every newspaper meeting, he posed an outlandish idea for an investigative report—from faculty-led cheating rings to athletes being blackmailed. Most of the newspaper staff found his ideas outlandish, but Carter kept him on staff as the go-to photographer due to his eye for detail.
Maggie’s thoughts drifted back to the afternoon with Milo. She hated to admit it, but a piece of her was curious about the whole situation and if there was a spot of blood in the room. It couldn’t hurt to see what Milo knew. She pulled out her phone.
Maggie: Hey, how are things at the dorm?
Milo: Real circus for a while. Quiet now
Maggie: Did you get the news it was a medical emergency
Milo: Yeah. Word is seizure or something
Maggie: Do you know who it was?
Milo: Heather I think. Didn’t know her. No one really seemed to
Maggie: Did anyone see blood in the room?
Milo: Blood?!? No.
But room door still has yellow police tape
Sorry can’t chat. Gotta hit the books
Maggie: me too. ttyl
Why was there police tape over her door? Maybe a precaution. What would cause a medical emergency? Maggie placed her phone on the charging station next to her favorite picture of her mom. The four-by-six was encased in a painted macaroni shell frame, compliments of kindergarten art class. The haphazard Mother’s Day gift to her mom held a stack of Maggie and Mom photos dating back to elementary school. The most recent picture, displayed in front, showed a smiling Elizabeth Larson decked out in a blue and orange Sutton sweater next to a fifteen-year-old Maggie wearing the same and looking, like always, a younger version of her mom. It was the last picture they had together before the accident.
Leaning back in her desk chair, she felt the necklace in her back pocket. Taking it out she examined it. She was mesmerized by the way the flower caught the light. It was beautiful. Milo was right, the chain was newer than the circular medallion. If it was a family heirloom, then the owner must be missing it. Maggie knew she needed to get back to studying, but first, she wanted to check on her posting. There might be a lead or response from the owner. Social media was an ever enticement to avoid homework. A new message flashed in her inbox.
That necklace is Pandora’s Box. Get rid of it.
Huh? She looked at the username the message came from. CassioV. She clicked on the user profile to see what other information on Cassio was available. There was nothing, not even a picture. Her first thought was it was a result of a bad breakup, a partner scorned for some reason. Maybe Cassio was the owner and threw it out on purpose. She was ultimately curious why this stranger wanted it gone. She hit reply.
Why? Is it yours?
Almost instantaneously, a new message from Cassio appeared as a direct message.
CassioV: It is theirs, and THEY are not going to like that you have it
That was far from the answer she was expecting.
 MaggieLarson: Who are “they”???
She hoped the use of quotation marks conveyed her confusion.
CassioV: They are everywhere and control everything.
Maggie let out a short laugh. Who was she dealing with, the campus NSA?
MaggieLarson: Who are you?
She didn’t expect a serious answer.
CassioV: Cut me in half, I am nothing
Lay me on my side, I am everything
Oh seriously! A riddle? She was now convinced this was a ruse from someone bored with their day.
MaggieLarson: Haha. Whatever. This is a joke.
She was ready to leave the conversation.
CassioV: This is a warning.
Maggie drew back. She didn’t like where the conversation was going. It had started comically ominous, but this felt like a threat. Whatever this person’s intentions were, she was done. The stack of textbooks perched precariously on the corner of her desk was a reminder of the homework she needed to finish. Maggie pushed her laptop to the side and picked up her chemistry book. Today was crazy enough.
*********
Cassio gave a pleased smile. It was fortuitous that a necklace had been found now and of all people by Maggie Larson, a reporter for the campus newspaper. Cassio would have to play this cat-and-mouse game carefully.