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sat talking for a while—she didn’t know how long exactly.
When he asked her what she planned to do after graduation, Riley had to admit that she wasn’t sure.
“I’ll look for a job of some kind,” she told him. “I guess I’ll have to figure out a way to go to graduate school if I’m going to work in my field.”
He nodded approvingly and said, “I’ve been making inquiries with several law firms. A couple of them look promising, but I need to consider my next step really carefully.”
As they talked, Riley realized that whenever their eyes met and their gazes held steady for a moment, a slight tingle ran through her body.
Was that happening to him, too? She noticed that he did look away suddenly a few times.
Then, during a lull in the conversation, Ryan finished his beer and said, “Look, I’m sorry to rush off, but I’ve got a class in the morning and some studying to do.”
Riley was almost dumbstruck.
Wasn’t he going to make a pass at her?
No, she thought. He’s got too much class for that.
Not that he didn’t have his sights on her—she was sure he did.
But he knew better than to move on her too fast.
Impressive, she thought.
She managed to reply, “Yeah, me too.”
He smiled a sincere-looking smile.
“It was nice to meet you, Riley Sweeney.”
Riley smiled back.
“It was nice to meet you too, Ryan Paige.”
Ryan chuckled and said, “Aw, you remembered.”
Without another word, he got up and left.
Riley’s mind boggled at all that hadn’t happened. They hadn’t exchanged phone numbers, she hadn’t mentioned which dorm she was in, and she still had no idea where he lived. And he hadn’t even asked her out on a real future date.
It wasn’t because he didn’t expect there to be a real date, she was sure of that.
No, he was simply confident. He was sure their paths would cross again soon, and he expected chemistry to kick in.
And Riley more than half-believed he was right.
Just then she heard Trudy’s voice call out.
“Hey, Riley! Who was the cute guy?”
Riley turned and saw Trudy coming down the stairs, carrying a full pitcher of beer in one hand and a mug in the other. Three other girls from their dorm were tagging along behind her. They all looked pretty drunk.
Riley didn’t reply to Trudy’s question. She only hoped Ryan was out of earshot by now.
As the girls approached the table, Riley asked …
“Where’s Rhea?”
Trudy looked all around.
“I dunno,” she said in a slurred voice. “Where is Rhea?”
One of the other girls said, “Rhea went back to the dorm.”
“What!” Trudy said. “She left and didn’t tell me?”
“She did tell you,” another girl said.
The girls were all about to climb into the booth with Riley. Rather than get trapped in there with them, Riley got up from her seat.
“We should all go home,” she said.
With a flurry of protests, the girls seated themselves, giggling and obviously settling in for a long night.
Riley gave up on them. She walked upstairs and out the front door. Outside, she took a deep breath of cool, fresh air. It was March and sometimes cold at night here in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, but the chill was welcome after the stuffy, smoke-filled bar.
It was a short, well-lit walk back to the campus and her dorm. She felt that the evening had turned out pretty well. She’d only had a glass of wine, just enough to be relaxing, and there had also been that guy …
Ryan Paige.
She smiled.
No, she hadn’t forgotten his name.
Riley was sleeping deeply and dreamlessly when something jarred her awake.
What? she wondered.
At first, she thought maybe someone had shaken her by the shoulder.
But no, that wasn’t it.
As she stared into the darkness of her dorm room, she heard the sound again.
A shriek.
A voice filled with terror.
Riley knew that something terrible had happened.
CHAPTER TWO
Riley was out of her bed and on her feet before she was fully awake.
That sound had been horrible.
What was it?
When she switched on the light beside her bed, a familiar voice grumbled from across the room, “Riley—what’s going on?”
Trudy was lying in her own bed fully clothed, shielding her eyes against the light. She obviously had collapsed there in a fairly inebriated state.
Riley had slept right through her roommate’s arrival.
But she was awake now.
So were others in the dorm. She could hear alarmed voices calling out from the rooms nearby.
Riley went into motion, shoving her feet into slippers, pulling on her robe, and opening their room door. She stepped out into the hallway.
Other room doors were swinging open. Girls were poking their heads out, asking what was wrong.
And Riley could see at least one thing that was wrong. About halfway down the hall, a girl was collapsed on her knees, sobbing.
Riley raced toward her.
Heather Glover, she realized.
Heather had been with them at the Centaur’s Den. She’d still been there with Trudy and the others when Riley left.
Now Riley knew—it was Heather she’d heard screaming.
She also remembered …
Heather is Rhea’s roommate!
Riley reached the sobbing girl and crouched beside her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Heather—what happened?”
Sobbing and choking, Heather pointed to the open door next to her.
She managed to gasp …
“It’s Rhea. She’s—”
Heather suddenly threw up.
Dodging the spray of vomit, Riley stood up and peered into the room door. In the light shining in from the hallway, she could make out something spread out on the floor—a dark liquid. At first she thought it was spilled soft drink.
Then she shuddered …
Blood.
She’d seen blood pooled like this before. There was no mistaking it for anything else.
She stepped into the doorway and quickly saw that Rhea lay sprawled across her single bed, fully clothed and with her eyes wide open.
“Rhea?” Riley said.
She peered closer. Then she gagged.
Rhea’s throat was slashed almost from ear to ear.
Rhea was dead—Riley knew that for certain.
It wasn’t the first murdered woman she’d seen in her life.
Then