[8:14 PM, EDT]

After everyone had finished filling Damian in on all of the details of what had occurred during the afternoon, dinner passed without too much conversation. Everyone was tired and more interested in getting back to their rooms and going to sleep. In their nearly exhausted state, divvying up the bill was quite a feat, but it was finally accomplished to everyone’s satisfaction and they headed back to their rooms.

At last able to relax a bit and tend to thoughts other than business, Kate tried to focus on something that had been nagging at her mind since the team was first assigned to the case. It wasn’t quite an idea, not really a memory, but there was something about the case that tickled at something in the back of her mind. But it seemed that the harder she tried to get at it, the more remote it became. Frustrated, and knowing that she would never fall asleep as long her thoughts were haunted by something so ethereal, she grabbed her workout clothes out of her suitcase and quickly changed.

Strapping on her shoulder holster over a tee shirt, then pulling on a sweat jacket, she noticed her roommates looking at her strangely.

"I’m going for a run," she announced, though that was plainly obvious. Seeing their tired faces and yawns, she grinned. "I don’t suppose you’d like to come along?"

"You’ve got to be joking," Sandra said.

Tucking the room key in her pocket, she headed out the door. "Be back shortly," she called.

The sun was just beginning to set as she jogged out of the motel parking lot and without thinking turned in the direction of the Karellon campus. It was a warm evening, but not unbearably so. Thinking about it now, though she hadn’t had a chance to notice it earlier, it had been a rather pleasant day, weather-wise at least. With all that had been going on, she really hadn’t taken note of the town, either. As she ran, she made a point of looking around, trying to get a feel of the setting.

It was a typical college town in many ways. The University was set of the outskirts of the town. It was surrounded mostly by residential areas, but there was a strip mall near the motel, complete with a Wal-Mart, a couple of fast food restaurants, laundry mat, and second-hand clothing store. There were several apartment buildings in the neighborhood that obviously catered to the college crowd, judging from the clutter of bicycles chained by the doors and array of pennants and tacky curtains hanging in the windows.

There weren’t many people out on the streets. She passed a few clusters of kids, hanging out on the sidewalks or leaning against a car, and she noticed that they were mostly boys and that their expressions were unusually serious. Not that any of that came as a surprise considering what had been going on in town. Everyone was scared, justifiably so.

Rounding a bend in the road, she saw the sign at the main entrance of the university and decided that as long as she had come this far, she might as well continue her run along Greek Street, just to make sure everything was in order there.

The campus was even more quiet than the town had been. As the streetlights came on, there was no one in sight in any direction. It was an eerie feeling, Kate thought, and it would be easy to let paranoia take hold. Just then, of course, she heard a car coming up the road behind her, slowing as it approached. One hand on her gun, she stopped and turned to face the approaching vehicle.

A campus police car rolled to a stop next to her and the window rolled down.

"Shouldn’t be out alone with everything that’s going on, miss," the cop said. "Especially after dark." He was young, probably not much older than most of the students, with hair that was a little too red and a mustache that did nothing to make him look older.

"Agent Calloway, FBI," she said, hoping he wouldn’t want to see her ID, because it was still in her jacket pocket back at the motel. "Since I was out anyway, I thought I’d see that everything was in order here."

"Probably not a good idea anyway," he said, smiling. "I heard they finally brought the feds into this. Its about time, I say."

That comment touched on something that Kate had already thought about. "The first disappearance was about three months ago, wasn’t it," she asked.

"Yup." The officer shut off the car, got out and came around to sit on the bumper. "She was a VIP, too, which makes it really strange. Will Quinn, by the way," he said, holding out his hand.

"A pleasure," Kate said, absently shaking his hand. "What do you mean, a VIP?" She tried to recall the name of the first girl to disappear. Heather something, she thought, but she hadn’t had a chance yet to memorize all of the details.

Will looked surprised. "You mean you don’t know? Amy Richmond, daughter of Rudolph Richmond." He said it as though it should be painfully obvious by now, but Kate had no idea of what he was talking about. "Mayor Rudolph Richmond," he said as though talking to a child who wouldn’t pay attention.

"I’m not from around here," Kate said apologetically.

"Oh, well, the old man’s an SOB. Up for re-election this year. Thought we’d finally be rid of him, but he’s sure to get the sympathy vote now! Never met the girl, but word has it she was a wild one. Missing a couple weeks before anyone decided to do anything about it. Habit of running off and all. Anyway, it was her friends at the sorority that finally reported it. The parents finally put in an appearance on campus a couple days later. Didn’t seem all that concerned, all things considered. Never even bothered to pick up her things after they got packed up. Still sitting in the security office."

Kate pondered over the name and the details Will had just described. She was certain none of that had been in the files. But why? One more thing to check out in the morning.

"Anyway," Will said, "gotta get back on patrol." He walked back to the door of the car and got in. "Take my advice and don’t stay out here too long, huh?"

"I’m heading back now," Kate said. "And thanks."

The car pulled away, and she stood for a moment longer, thinking it all over before turning back the way she had come, forgetting all about Greek Street and checking the security there. By the time she got back to motel, she was more agitated than she had been when she left. She tried to come up with a valid reason why such information would have been left out, but there was none. And the more she thought about it, the more it stank of cover-up.




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