Chapter 9
Vero and I left the house early the next morning.
I braced myself for the shrill beep of an alarm as we climbed into my minivan and drove away from the house, but just as Vero had assured me the night before, her ankle bracelet had turned off at nine A.M. sharp, freeing her for her scheduled window for errands.
I yawned audibly as she gave me turn-by-turn directions to the university, the long night I’d spent on Vero’s trundle beginning to catch up to me.
My short bursts of sleep had been plagued by nightmares.
In one, Zach turned into a poop-covered monster and hid under his bed, and Delia was possessed by a vomiting spirit she’d picked up at preschool.
Nick had been wearing a black pajama robe with a white collar and holding a cross, screaming in terror as my puking, red-eyed demon children advanced on him, demanding cookies and fruit snacks.
It was like watching a reimagined version of The Exorcist with more excrement and only a little less swearing.
Vero sat up in her seat. “I have a better idea. Pull into that Taco Bell up ahead.”
“I thought you hated Taco Bell.”
“I do.”
“Then why are we going? You just ate breakfast at home.”
“Just pull into the drive-through,” she said. “Let me handle the order.”
I pulled around to the drive-through. She called out an order for two Cheesy Gordita Crunches with a side of Mexican Pizza Sauce and made a disgusted face when I handed her the bag.
“What’s the plan?” I asked as I took a greedy gulp of my iced coffee.
Vero set the nav on my phone and put it on the dashboard between us. “Drive to the sorority house. Park out front, but not too close. I don’t want anyone to see me. I’m not supposed to be anywhere near campus. Don doesn’t want me to interact with anyone involved in my case.”
“Then how are you supposed to talk to Zoey?”
“Easy,” she said as I turned onto Fraternity Row. “You’re going to take this order and knock on the front door. Tell whoever answers it’s a DoorDash order for Zoey Kline.” Vero opened the bag containing our order and scribbled a message on the napkin. I glanced over to see what it said.
Meet me out front.
“It’s a little vague, isn’t it? How will Zoey know the message is from you?”
“Trust me, she’ll know. Park over there,” Vero said, pointing at an empty space along the arch. She ducked low in her seat as I put the van in park, pulling her hoodie up to conceal most of her face.
Fraternity Row was shaped like a long horseshoe.
The tree-lined drive curved around a sprawling green space.
Groups of students were reading on blankets in the sun, playing Frisbee, or kicking soccer balls around.
The outside of the horseshoe was flanked by at least a dozen brick McMansions, all of them boasting three stories, Grecian columns, and meticulously landscaped lawns.
Greek letters adorned the trim crowning their elaborate front doors.
It wasn’t at all what I had envisioned. I had never joined a sorority during my four years in college, and the frat houses my ex-husband had dragged me to for parties where we had gone to school hadn’t looked anything like this.
“That’s the one,” Vero said, pointing across the arch to one of the houses. Flowering shrubs lined the wide front steps that led to a sweeping covered porch.
“This is beautiful,” I admitted. “I pictured empty beer cans everywhere and old sofas on the lawn.”
“There’s plenty of that off-campus,” she said wryly.
“These houses are mostly for freshmen and sophomores. It’s a good place for the younger members.
Each chapter has an adult director—like a house mom—who supervises the day-to-day activities.
There are chefs and housekeepers to handle meals and maintenance, and a handful of chapter leaders stay in the house to organize social events and run the meetings.
Most of the upperclassmen move into their own houses farther from campus.
That’s where the best parties usually are.
” Vero checked the clock on the dashboard.
“If we hurry, there might still be time to go looking for Theo before my curfew.”
I got out of the van with our fast-food order and carried it to the house.
I lifted my arm, unsure if I should use the giant brass knocker or the intercom buzzer on the key-card panel beside the front door.
I didn’t have to decide. The door swung open, and a stately brunette came out, wearing a fitted pantsuit and a designer purse over her shoulder.
I was caught off guard and nearly stumbled backward. Not because of her imperious look or her quick stride or even the confident way she held herself. I had the immediate impression I’d seen this young woman before, in Vero’s photos.
She spared a quick glance at my fast-food bag but didn’t bother to ask me about it. She held the door open for me as she passed. I thanked her and slipped into the building without so much as an introduction.
I stood in the vast foyer on a marbled checkerboard of black-and-white floor tiles.
I looked through an empty parlor to my right and up the sweeping staircase beyond it, unsure exactly where to start.
I turned left and continued down the hall.
The long corridor was flanked with decorated doors on each side.
Most had name tags and small dry-erase boards stuck to them where the residents could leave short notes for one another.
This part of the house didn’t look much different from most college dormitories I’d been in, and the familiarity of it was a boon.
I moved quickly, checking the names, and paused in front of AVA FERRANTE.
Ava wasn’t a common name. This had to be the same one Vero had told me about.
I moved closer, skimming the handwritten messages on her dry-erase board.
A—
Must have just missed you. Order is ready. J and B will bring it later when you’re back from class.
—M
Could the woman I’d just run into at the front door have been Mia?
I jumped back from the door as another young woman rounded the corner and nearly plowed into me. She looked vaguely familiar from the photos in the old album Vero kept in her closet, with thick, wavy layers of russet-brown hair and a galaxy of freckles radiating from her cheeks.
She put a hand to her chest, as startled as I was. Her face was flushed, as if she’d been in a hurry. Her hazel eyes dropped to my bag and she pointed to the door.
“That’s my room. Can I help you?” she asked.
“I have a delivery for Zoey Kline?” I had no idea what room Zoey was in. A DoorDash driver should probably know that, and I hoped Ava wouldn’t ask to see the receipt.
She gestured at the door directly behind me. “Zoey’s across the hall. Want me to take it?”
“No, thank you,” I said quickly. “It’s right here. I don’t mind.”
Ava retreated into her room but left her door open. The longer I stood idle in the hall, the more I sensed her eyes on me. I hoped Zoey wouldn’t react too overtly when she saw Vero’s message.
I knocked on Zoey’s door. When it opened, a girl with wild, kinky curls and a heart-shaped face peered out from behind it. I wished I had thought to ask Vero for a description of Zoey.
“DoorDash for Zoey Kline?” I asked.
She frowned at the bag. “I’m Zoey, but there must be a mistake. I didn’t—”
I thrust it into her hand. “No mistake. Don’t worry.
It’s all paid for. But there’s only one napkin in that bag, so be careful not to lose it.
” I reached inside and pulled her door shut between us before she could ask me any questions.
Then I hightailed it out of the sorority house and hurried back to the van.
Vero looked frantic by the time I climbed back into the driver’s seat. “Was she there? Did you tell her I was here?”
“Yes, she was there! But you didn’t tell me Ava lived right across the hall!”
“I didn’t know you were going inside! I nearly had a heart attack when I saw Mia leaving the building. I didn’t expect to see her here; she graduated last spring. And Ava’s a senior this year. I thought she would have moved off campus by now.”
“I think Mia came to visit Ava and they missed each other. Mia left a note on Ava’s dry-erase board. Something about J and B coming by later.”
“Probably Jackson and Bennett. Jackson is Ava’s cousin, and Bennett is Mia’s boyfriend. Theo and I used to hang out with them a lot. We were all thick as thieves back then.”
I cringed. “Maybe not the best analogy.”
Vero rolled her eyes. “Did Zoey open the bag?”
“I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and—”
Vero’s breath caught when the door to the sorority house opened.
Zoey came outside, clutching the fast-food bag in her hand.
Her doe eyes widened when she spotted Vero through the windshield.
She checked over her shoulder and both ways down the sidewalk, her artfully shredded jeans and paint-smattered Vans taking cautious steps toward us as she crossed the street.
She stopped a few feet away, staring at Vero through the windshield as if she wasn’t entirely sure she believed her eyes. Vero pushed her sunglasses firmly in place, checking both ways up and down the row before opening her door and getting out.
Zoey sprung forward, arms outstretched, taking Vero in a smothering hug that almost knocked her hood off.
“I can’t believe you’re here!” Zoey said into her hair. “Where the hell did you go? I missed you so much!”
Vero squeezed her back. “I missed you, too. We should get inside before anyone sees you with me. I’m not supposed to be here.”
Zoey hesitated when Vero slid open the back door of the van. I twisted around and waved to her from the driver’s seat, trying to appear as nonthreatening as possible, as it occurred to me how this all must look to her. Zoey offered me an uncertain smile as Vero nudged her into the back seat.
Vero shut the door behind them and raised an eyebrow at the girl’s cardigan. “Is that my sweater? I’ve been looking everywhere for that!”