Chapter 58
"Are you ready to rock 'n' roll?" JD shouted to the crowd at Vibe as he strutted onto the stage.
We’d put the events of the day behind us, took the afternoon to recharge, and were ready to put on a hell of a show for the fans.
The crowd howled with excitement, and Styxx clicked off the beat. Wild Fury broke into one of their new songs, Rattlesnake Heart.
The band pummeled the audience with retro rock goodness at earsplitting volume. The place was packed. We really missed Sonic Temple, but Vibe would have to do until the Temple got rebuilt.
Erica from the frat party showed up with a friend. I had put her on the guest list. With a grin, she said, "I heard you told Lauren about Lance and Rachel."
"I may have let certain information become public," I replied.
A devious smirk curled her lips. "I heard she flipped out. Was she willing to talk to you?”
I shook my head.
Erica frowned. "That's too bad."
"If you have any more tips, let me know."
"I'll keep my ear out for you. I'll be your spy on campus."
I was pretty sure there were quite a few people on campus who had negative feelings toward the sorority.
It wasn’t long after I talked to her when my phone buzzed with a call from the sheriff. It was too loud to hear in the venue. I let it go to voicemail, then texted him back. [What's up?]
[I need you and that nitwit to get to the Theta house.]
[Who died now?]
[Nobody yet, but I think you'll want to get over there and talk to some folks.]
I let him know Jack was on stage, but said I'd be on my way.
I told Pinky to let Erica and her cute friend backstage after the show. Floyd and Pinky had been handling security as well as loading in and out the gear. I had no doubt there would be a raging after-party on the boat.
I bid the girls farewell, then took Jack's Porsche to the university.
Paramedics and EMTs had arrived by the time I got there. Red and white lights flashed. A crowd of students gathered, gawking as they rolled someone out on a gurney and stuffed them in the back of the meat wagon. If I wasn't mistaken, it was Rachel.
There were a few deputies on the scene.
I hustled up the walkway and pushed into the house. The front door was open. There were a few more deputies inside.
Several girls stood around with mortified faces. Jenna, the alumni chair, was at the house. It looked like there had been a little party before the chaos.
The blood stains on the floor and the broken lamp told me there had been some kind of incident.
Lauren sat in a chair nearby, sobbing. I asked Deputy Dunn, "What's going on?"
"I don't know. I'm trying to make sense of it.
The story keeps changing. First, I was told that the victim tripped and fell, hit her head on the end table, and knocked over the lamp.
I've got half a dozen girls giving me that story, including her," he said, pointing to Jenna.
“Then I heard from another girl that the victim got into an altercation with this one," he said, pointing to Lauren.
“She won't talk to me. Daniels said I should let you talk to her before taking her into custody.”
I thanked him for the information and approached Lauren. I knelt down beside her and spoke in a comforting voice. "How are you doing?"
"Terrible," she said, still sobbing.
"Would it be totally outrageous if you told me what happened?”
After a hesitation, she said, “No,” in a meek voice.
“I'm guessing you got a little upset about Lance. You confronted Rachel and hit her with the lamp."
“Is she okay?”
“I don’t know.”
“I didn’t mean to kill her.”
“We’re going to take a little ride down to the station, and you’re going to tell me all about this.”
She nodded.
I helped her stand and escorted her out of the house to a patrol car and put her into the back. A deputy drove her to the station, and I followed in the Porsche. She wasn’t technically under arrest yet.
I continued my chat with her in the interrogation room.
Lauren finally admitted to bashing Rachel in the head with the lamp. From what Daniels had told me, Rachel had a subdural hematoma and brain swelling. They had put her into a medically induced coma. It wasn't looking good.
"I think it's finally time you told me what happened to Cheyenne," I said.
Lauren’s face twisted with torment. She was not cut out for prison. The girl would be spending a long time behind bars if Rachel didn't make it, and I told her as much.
Fear filled her eyes, and the tears continued. The walls of the tiny space closed in around her.
"I'm trying to look out for you,” I said. “Trust me, you want to help the prosecution in this case. Any kind of deal you can get is better than nothing.”
Lauren hesitated for a long moment. "I didn't know Cheyenne couldn’t swim.
None of us did. We didn't take her out that far.
A couple of hundred yards. It was Rachel's idea.
It was just something she thought was funny to do to pledges.
Strip them down, make them swim ashore, prove their loyalty.
I mean, nothing bad ever happened before.
" Regret twisted her face. "We'd all been drinking. When Cheyenne was in the water, she just sank. It happened so fast. Rachel wouldn’t go in after her. Nobody would.” Tears streamed.
“I feel terrible that I didn't do anything.
I should have tried to save her, but she was gone.
Just like that. We all freaked out. We didn't know what to do.
We just went back to the sorority house and acted like nothing happened.
It wasn't that we didn’t like Cheyenne." Her voice quivered, and the tears still streaked her cheeks.
"She was a really cool girl. She would have made a great Theta. "
It was a heartbreaking story. But it wasn't over yet. She had more dirt to dish.
“If I tell you everything that goes on at the sorority, can I get some kind of immunity for all this?”