She shook her head, pushing the concern to the back of her mind. At this moment, neither Cord’s health, nor Sara’s, was her primary focus. Seven minutes later, she jerked to a stop at the curb in front of the frat house, located a block away from the university. She didn’t wait to see if Cord was behind her before she leaped out and raced up the front steps where she proceeded to pound on the door until it was jerked open by a young man with disheveled hair and wearing nothing but boxer briefs, as if she’d just pulled him from bed.

‘What the hell’s your problem, lady?’

She flashed her badge in his face, aware of Cord’s presence beside her now as he did the same. ‘Detective Wyatt, Detective Roberts with APD. What’s your name?’

‘Marcus Lawrence. What’s this about?’ His face paled, and he stumbled back a step as he tossed a look over his shoulder, his earlier irritation replaced with something else – fear, maybe?

She ignored his question. ‘Who else is here with you, Marcus?’

‘What, you mean like now, or who lives here?’

‘Both.’

‘There’s only a few of us living here right now since it’s summer, and I don’t know who else is home right now. I was in bed until you pulled me from it with your pounding.’

‘How many is a few?’

‘Three of us.’ Color rushed to his cheeks, and Alyssa raised her eyebrows, waiting. ‘Four of us. My girlfriend is staying here with me through the summer, even though, technically, she’s not supposed to.’ He cocked his head to the side, adopting a look of arrogance. ‘I don’t see how it matters since she’s paying rent, and she’ll be out before the fall semester starts.’

Alyssa couldn’t care less where the girl lived; she had far more urgent concerns. ‘What’s your girlfriend’s name, Marcus?’

‘Elizabeth Mortley. Now, what’s—’

‘Babe, what’s going on? Who’s here?’ A young girl with straw-colored hair cascading down her back appeared in the doorway behind Marcus. When she saw Alyssa and Cord, their badges once again held up for identification, her mouth dropped open. ‘Oh. Um, is something wrong?’ Her gaze shot up towards her boyfriend, but all he did was shrug.

‘Miss Mortley?’ Alyssa asked.

‘Yes. I’m Elizabeth.’

‘Elizabeth, do you know who else might be here besides you and Marcus?’

‘Sure. I just passed Griffin Parker a second ago. He was heading back to his room. Should I go get him for you? Is he in trouble?’

Alyssa exchanged a look with Cord. Griffin Parker was the first witness to claim Calvin McDougal had gotten quite angry after being rebuffed by Rachel. ‘You know what, Elizabeth? I think my partner and I would just like to get him ourselves. Do you mind showing us to his room?’ She didn’t wait for her to agree before stepping into the frat house, rotating her neck left and right as she checked the area around her. Beside her, Cord did the same.