Maybe it’s nothing, she quickly assured herself. You’ve been seeing a lot of this, haven’t you? No one has died…yet.

She swallowed hard.

Lucretia’s color returned. As if it had never washed away.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Kristi. Maybe you are the freak!

She thought about the conversation with Lucretia, how her ex-roommate had wanted her to forget everything they’d discussed before. Why?

Someone got to her.

Kristi folded her computer closed and packed up. She left the coffee shop without meeting Lucretia’s eyes again, but she’d be damned if she was going to back off. If anything, she was more committed than ever to finding out what had happened to Dionne, Monique, Tara, and Rylee.

It was only when she’d unlocked the car and slid inside that she realized what else was off about Lucretia. Not only did she look worried as hell, not only had she tried to convince Kristi to back off, but she was no longer wearing the ring on her left hand, the one she’d been so coy about. Kristi had looked at her hands as she’d leaned over the table and they’d been bare. Even the nail polish missing, her fingernails bitten down.

Have you been following me?

Lucretia’s accusation echoed through Kristi’s mind.

Not yet, Kristi thought, but maybe that’s not such a bad idea.

“I already told you, I don’t know which professor Lucretia Stevens is dating,” Ezma said as she tossed her apron into the bin for dirty clothes. “Maybe it was just a rumor.”

“So who told you?” Kristi wasn’t about to be derailed. It was nearly eleven P.M. and both she and Ezma were getting ready to leave.

“I don’t know…oh, wait…it was someone from school, I think, a professor.” She snapped her fingers to jog her memory. “Oh, who was it?” Her face was drawn into a deep knot of concentration. “Oh, Lord…Oh, I got it!” She looked up, her eyes bright. “I was waiting tables right here, and I overheard two women gossiping. Let’s see, it was Dr. Croft, the head of the English Department, and, oh, hell, who was she sitting with that day?” She rubbed her chin. “I think it was the journalism instructor. The new one.”

“Professor Senegal?”

“That’s who it was, but I couldn’t hear much. They kept their voices low, especially when I was anywhere nearby. I was kinda surprised. I mean people gossip, of course, but Dr. Croft’s the head of a department and this is a pretty public place. Oh, well…” She lifted her shoulders, then smoothed out the bills she’d gotten for tips, counting them and leaving some for the busboys.