I blow out my breath. So only Colin was implicated in the footage—a lone boy in a dark room, throwing punches into a sea of unidentifiable faces. How is that for trust falls and brotherhood? It was never about building a bond based on honor and respect—for that they could have gone camping, taken a ropes course, a cooking class. They could have organized meals for a homeless community, hosted an athletic event, or simply had a normal fucking conversation. Instead, the brothers forced the pledges to participate in demeaning activities, designed to strip them of their humanity and bring out the worst in each other. I think of the pride in Colin’s father’s voice when he said his son was a Kap-O. The edge those Greek letters should give you in the hiring process. What would his father have thought if he’d seen Jay’s homemade horror film? What would have happened if the video had been circulated online? Would Colin have been able to stay at the university? Get a job when he graduated? To destroy Kap-O, Colin would have had to destroy himself. His father. His future. Jay knew that.

I think of boys in basements and boys racing through mansions with matches. I think of Michael’s warning to be careful that night at the station. Why?

I smack the steering wheel.

Tripp stares at me wide-eyed.

Because of Ryan, I think.

And I’m back to the question I asked two days ago: Why would Ryan break into my house? Why would he set fire to my curtains? My sheets? What did Ryan have against me? Nothing.

“Did Michael blackmail Ryan Bennett?” I ask Tripp.

His hands are strangling his seat belt. “He didn’t have to.”

“What do you mean?”

He shifts in his seat. “Michael never blackmailed anyone. All he had to do was imply there might be footage of what happened in the basement, that if the police kept poking around, they might find it. Someone—any number of people—would get the hint that something needed to be done to keep you away. No one would want that footage getting out.” He sucks in his bottom lip. “But especially not Ryan…”

I raise my eyebrow.

“His father’s Todd Bennett,” he says.

The name is familiar, but I shake my head.

“He’s in the run-off elections for Athens-Oconee district attorney.”