Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-Four
EDIE
I’ve made decent progress on my paper by the end of the weekend, organizing the shape of my argument, marshaling supporting research, and then roughing out my opening and closing.
I grab a snack from the room and find Odetta there.
I get the highlights of her glamorous weekend and then head back down to polish up my masterpiece.
I’ll give it one more good pass tonight and wake up bright and early to do a final pass before turning it in.
Just as I’m settling into my spot, I get a Snapchat alert.
I fumble through my bag and pull out my phone. It’s Janey.
D has some important new deets on that research project and he wants to give you your book back he’ll be in his residence hall cafeteria tomorrow morning at ten if you want to stop by it took him an hour just FYI
I sit up. I forgot about Darren. Does he have intel on my sister? Is it possible we could bypass Bender altogether?
Me: Can you say which research project this pertains to?
Janey: Of course not bc enigmatic !
I deposit the bitcoin money immediately into Darren’s account to show him I’m interested. Ten o’clock is totally doable. I’ll have turned in my paper, and my Classics seminar ends at nine.
I text Luka before I turn in to let him know there’s been no text from Bender.
There’s still nothing from Bender the next morning. I let Luka know, finish my paper like a boss, turn it in, and head off to class. I have the rest of the day to study for Indo-European after I meet with Darren.
The first thing I notice when I get to Darren’s residence hall is the line of police cars with cherries blazing.
I head straight for the cafeteria, wondering if Darren will know what happened, but he’s nowhere to be seen.
It’s just a few minutes before ten, so I wait.
And wait. Did he give up on me? I walk around the place as the time ticks by.
He’s five minutes late. Then ten. Did the police spook him?
I find his room number from the directory and head up. Students are clustered in the hall, some talking to cops. I ask a girl if she’s seen Darren.
“They just took him out of here. He’s in a coma. Somebody tried to kill him.”
My blood freezes in my veins. “Is he... gonna survive?”
“No clue,” she whispers.
“Do they know who...”
She shakes her head.
I’m mortified. Did Darren get hurt because of the research he was doing for me? I have this horrible feeling that he did.
Cops are interviewing students up and down the hall. I push my way up to where bright yellow tape blocks one of the doors. Darren’s room.
A uniformed officer stands just inside the door while other police officers mill around inside; most are clustered in and around the far room, probably one of the bedrooms. You can see special lights and techs with foot coverings in there.
“Stay back,” says the officer at the entrance.
“What happened?”
He doesn’t answer.
My heart pounds. Did Darren find out where my sister is and get attacked for it? Did he do more research on Luka and get attacked for that?
My gaze drifts to the little table next to the door.
There’s a copy of The Elements of Style with a pink Post-it stuck to it and ED scrawled on top.
He probably set it there to take down when we were going to meet.
Did Darren stick notes inside the book like he did last time?
Is the key to finding my sister in there?
I’ve seen enough police procedurals to know they probably wouldn’t let me take it.
“I was supposed to meet Darren just this morning,” I say to nobody in particular.
This gets the attention of a woman with a notepad—a detective, I think. She comes over. “When did you last see Darren?”
“Last week. He was helping me with some research, and I lent him a book. We had plans to meet for coffee this morning, but he wasn’t there.”
“You’re a student here?”
I nod, getting up my nerve to ask for the book. “Yes. History. Medieval studies.”
She asks if he seemed agitated in any way or if he mentioned any enemies or upcoming appointments he was worried about. People having it in for him. The nature of my research. I tell her it had to do with European families that stretch back centuries, which isn’t entirely a lie.
A guy in a red sports jersey pushes past me, bursting right in. “What the fuck! Where is he?”
It’s unclear if he’s talking about Darren or whoever did this to Darren, but it’s enough to grab everybody’s attention. This is my chance to nick the book.
I hesitate. It’s a big move, but then I think about Luka and force myself to channel him. Luka doesn’t fret about the future. He would make a bold plan and execute it.
I reach out, swipe the book, and shove it into my pocket.
Did I just do that?
Yes. Yes, I did.
It seems like nobody saw me take it. I think.
My pulse whooshes in my ears.
I’m no master criminal, but I think I’m in the clear... unless I try running out of here. I need to wait because the detective obviously wasn’t done with me.
I go for a bored face, but the inside of my head feels like a blaring siren.
The detective comes back and gives me a card. “If you think of anything more that might help us—even if it seems insignificant—gimme a call.”
I assure her that I will, and I get out of there as fast as I can.
I force myself to walk a full two blocks before I duck into a bagel shop around a corner and get in line. I check around for cameras—more of channeling Luka—and, satisfied there aren’t any, pull out the book like I’m just a bored college student grabbing study time in line.
There is, in fact, a scribbled note stuck inside on light blue paper. I pull it out and open it up.
There’s a name at the top— Zamir Prifti —underlined twice. Born: St. Louis Fernbrook Health Center. Data leak: boon! There’s a date of birth that makes this person a little older than Luka.
Mother: Felicia Warner. Father: Besa Zogaj. BA, Psychology; University of Missouri–St. Louis. Scholarship: track, 3x state champ - hammer + shotput. Then: Half Zogaj brother.
Discuss:
·Dropped off face of earth 7 yrs ag o
·Track team photos: ALL missing ???
·Name change / NYC?
·THE CHATTER!!!
I stand there staring at the paper.
Luka has a half-brother? This is important information for him.
This is how Darren did the notes last time, with the discussion topics arranged in bullet points, and he filled me in on each one. But none of them were in all caps. What is the chatter? What did he find, exactly?
He told me nobody would be more thorough. He seemed proud of that. And he had said that he had more leads. This must have been what he was talking about.
And it very well might have gotten him killed.
What’s up with the track team photos? I pull out my phone and do some googling around collegiate Missouri championship track teams from the years that would put this half-brother in his late teens and early twenties.
Sure enough, the Hammer team is missing all three years where Zamir’s name is mentioned.
The shotput squad is missing two years when Zamir’s name is there.
But the team pictures are there in the years before and after in their matching red shirts.
There’s some sort of hammer team insignia on the shirts that looks oddly familiar. I zero in on them and realize they look like Thor’s hammer.
The exact same insignia that was on Bender’s red shirt that day at the fountain.
Is Bender Luka’s brother? Is that why he wanted the DNA?