Adventures In Murder Chasing (Funeral Crashing #3) (25 page)

"Radford Dorm this is Jeff," the guy from behind the desk said into the phone after he picked it up on the third ring. "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Okay."

There was a pause as Jeff listened into the phone. "Umhmm. No. Yeah. Okay. Got it. Bye."

Ethan and I jumped up from the spot that we had been camped out for the last few hours and ran to the desk. Jeff was back rocking out to the tunes on his computer and waiting for his shift to end.

"Hey, excuse me," I said breathlessly.

Jeff was too wrapped up in rocking out.

"Hey!" Ethan said loudly.

Jeff looked up and jumped up, pulling his earphones out of the computer accidentally.

"Oh, sorry. Coming," Jeff said, picking his headphones up off the floor where they had fallen. He walked over to the front counter. "What's up? Need toilet paper?"

"No, we're good," I said. "Who was on the phone just now?"

Jeff frowned. "What?"

"You just took a call. Who was on the phone?" Ethan repeated for me.

Jeff's frown deepened. "Seriously? Just the maintenance guy."

"It wasn't anyone calling for the chaplain?" I asked.

Jeff looked at me like I was crazy, "No, and really it's none of your business, is it?"

I ignored Jeff and looked at Ethan, "Has anybody texted?"

Ethan looked at his phone, "No."

"Call them and see what's going on. I'm going to talk to Jeff for a second," I said.

Ethan looked at me, but nodded and walked a few feet away to make calls. Jeff was watching us. I wondered if he was thinking about calling campus security on us. I'd be willing to take that chance in order to save Jeff's life.

"Look, Jeff, this is the deal. You might think we're nuts, but we're trying to save your life. We have people at the other three freshman dorms and you're the only one that just got a phone call. The other two people who got phone calls in the early eleven o'clock hour and worked at the front desk of a freshman resident hall are dead. So, what did the person on the other line want?"

Jeff frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"Nico Moretti and Dana Tulle? You heard of them?" I asked.

I could see the wheels spinning in Jeff's head. I hoped the caffeine was making them spin rapidly because I didn't have time to go into a big long story. We had to convince Jeff to call the police and get himself to safety before the end of his shift. It was life or death, literally.

"Of course I know about Nico Moretti and Dana Tulle. Who doesn't?" Jeff asked. "Well, and don't forget Maggie Thomas."

"Who?" I asked, blindsided.

"She died last year," Jeff said. "Suicide."

There was another death? I'd have to look into that ASAP. I already had my doubts about the suicide part. It was probably just like Dana's death, murder. Why had the killer taken a break, though? Was that their first killing and it scared them off? Wait. I couldn't start guessing until I did some research and in the meantime, I had another human being's life to save.

"Well, do you want to be next?" I asked Jeff.

"What?" Jeff asked.

"Look, Jeff. They were dorm assistants, like you. They got phone calls around eleven fifteen am, just like you. Then they got off their morning shift just like you're about to. They ended up dead in their dorm rooms right after. We think you're next. Ethan is just confirming it, but out of the four freshman dorms we're watching, you're the only one that got a call in the eleven o'clock hour so far," I said.

"Maggie wasn't a desk assistant. She was just a student," Jeff said. He was looking at me like I was totally insane. Yet, I could see that he was considering what I was saying because there was a sort of dawning horror coming over his face as he put the pieces together.

Did it matter that Maggie wasn't a desk assistant? Was I missing something from the pattern? I suddenly doubted myself. Was I freaking Jeff out over nothing? Maybe Maggie's death was really a suicide? If only I had five minutes to do some internet research, but there was no time to waste. I could look her up after one o'clock, when everyone was safe. I'd rather Jeff be alive, than dead. If I was wrong about the pattern I was wrong. I just hoped nobody died today.

"So, you think I'm next?" Jeff asked, breaking into my thoughts.

"Yes," I said, feeling exasperated, but at the same time, I totally understood. Jeff was in shock.

"But why?" Jeff asked. "I haven't done anything to anyone."

"We don't know," I said. "This was the only part of the pattern we were definite about and you fit the bill."

I didn't add the part about this Maggie girl being a little unpattern-like, but I really wouldn't know for sure about her until I read about what happened to her. Maybe she was a separate case altogether. I was definitely going to find out.

"What do I do?" Jeff asked.

"Call the cops," I said.

"But are you for sure?" Jeff asked. "I mean, the cops will be pretty pissed if there's nothing wrong."

I hoped I was right, "I'm pretty sure."

Jeff thought for a moment, "You said you were at four freshman dorms. What about the fifth one?"

"What fifth one?" I asked. Jeff kept blindsiding me. I didn't like that at all.

"
Well, the five freshman dorms are: Keller, Radford, Mezz, Mycroft, and Weeler," Jeff said.

"Weeler? Where's Weeler?" I asked, looking at the map of the campus that was taped on the front desk counter.

"It's the all girls freshman dorm at the edge of campus, sort of tucked in the corner, right there," Jeff said, pointing at a building at the edge of the map. "The college doesn't advertise it as much. Most girls don't want to get stuck there."

There it was, plain as day, Weeler Dorm. How had I missed it? I knew how. It was so close to one of the classroom buildings that I had assumed they were one and the same. Plus nobody had corrected me before this on the number of dorms.

I was horrified. Was Jeff the potential victim? Or was the desk assistant at Weeler dorm the intended target? We didn't have anybody there checking.

It must have registered on my face too because Jeff said, "Are you okay?"

"Jeff, can you call the Weeler Dorm front desk and find out if they got a call around eleven fifteen am today?" I asked, the words rushing out of my mouth as I thought them.

My brain was going a mile a minute. What time was it anyway? I looked at my phone - eleven fifty eight. Where had the hour gone? It was only just eleven o'clock five minutes ago!?!

"Jeff, what are you doing?" I said, noticing that Jeff was still standing in front of me, thinking. "Call now!"

"But, they're going to think I'm nuts!" Jeff said.

"Just call and find out if anybody called there this morning!" I said.

"Okay!" Jeff said, running to the phone, looking at a staff list, and dialing Weeler Dorm.

I tapped my fingers on the front counter restlessly. Hurry up and answer, I thought, as Jeff listened into the receiver. This was taking too long!

"Hello?" Jeff said into the phone. "This is Jeff calling from Radford Dorm. This is going to sound random, but did you get any calls today in the eleven o'clock hour?"

My ears perked up! Please oh please oh please don't have gotten a call, I thought. I had already sort of convinced Jeff that he might be in danger and I didn't relish starting all over again.

Jeff listened into the phone and then said, "Can you check? It's important."

I felt my foot start tapping. Hurry up, I thought!

"Okay," Jeff frowned into the phone. "Uh-huh."

Jeff continued to listen. What was the person on the other end of the line saying? I was going to go crazy waiting to find out!

"Can you hold on a second?" Jeff asked and put the person on hold with the touch of a button.

"Well?" I asked.

Jeff frowned, "They did get a call at eleven twenty according to the logbook. It was for the chaplain. It doesn't say whether the chaplain took the call or not."

"Well, what does the person working there say?" I asked.

"She doesn't know. She's the replacement shift," Jeff said.

"Oh no," I said. "Who was on duty before her? And get their phone number and find out where they live. We have to get to them ASAP."

"So, I'm not in danger?" Jeff asked.

"It's looking like you're not, but someone else is, so hurry up!" I yelled.

Jeff grabbed the phone. Seconds later he was jotting down information. He handed me a slip of paper.

"His name is Miles Chase. He lives in Sampson, room 412," Jeff said.

My brain automatically thought that a guy working at an all girl's dorm would normally be pretty lucky, except in a case like this. Then my brain got more practical. Sampson? Where was Sampson? I looked frantically at the college map on the desk and found it. It was one of the upperclassman dorms slash apartments across campus.

"Well, start calling him!" I said when I noticed that Jeff was staring at me instead of doing something. "And keep calling him until he answers. And if you can't get ahold of him, just call the police."

"But..." Jeff said.

"Jeff, it could be a matter of life or death. Say you got a tip that the guy was in danger. Say anything you want. Just get the cops to his room," I said.

"Where are you going?" Jeff asked.

"To find him," I said. "Now, start calling!"

Jeff ran to the phone and dialed. I ran out the nearest door. I was already a quarter of the way to Sampson when I realized that I had neglected to tell Ethan where I was going. Mostly it was because my phone beeped with a text that said:
Where are you?
Oops.

I had sort of broken one of his conditions. I totally hadn't meant too. I hit send on my phone and called Ethan back as I continued to run.

"Kait? Where are you?" Ethan said into the phone.

"On my way...to...save...Miles Chase...Room 412...Sampson," I gasped into the phone. "Ask Jeff."

I hung up the phone before Ethan could protest. Besides, I really wasn't doing well with the whole talking and running thing. I ran as hard as I could. I wondered if Jeff had gotten ahold of Miles. I hoped he had at the very least, called the police.

I finally made it. I ran into the building and up the stairs. I didn't have time to wait for the elevator. I was gasping for air by the time I made it to the fourth floor. I opened the stairwell door and stepped into the hallway. I made a right and quickly realized I was going in the wrong direction. I turned around and sprinted the other way down the hallway until I found the room I was looking for.

There it was - Room 412. I knocked on the door. Nobody answered. I knocked again, harder.

"Hello?" I called. "Is anybody in there? I need to talk to you."

I knocked again. There was no answer. That's when I heard the footsteps running up behind me. I felt a chill crawl up my spine and whirled around to face the person running toward me.

I didn't realize I was holding my breath until it all came out in a big rush. It was just Ethan running toward me. Wow, I had really scared myself.

"Thank goodness it's just you," I said.

"Yeah, thank goodness," Ethan said and hugged me quickly. "Didn't you learn anything from the last time?"

I smiled and shrugged, even though I was still shaking residually, "Guess not. Did Jeff get ahold of Miles?"

"I'm not sure," Ethan said. "I came to find you."

"And you did," I said. "So what do we do now?"

"Get out of here," Ethan said, putting his hand on my arm. "And let the police take care of things."

"But can we trust them? After everything?" I asked. I wondered if Ethan would try and drag me away from Miles' door to get me to safety. "What if Miles isn't safe? What if he comes back before they get here? What if they just let him go back to his room and get murdered? What if the killer is already inside?"

"Excuse me," A voice said next to us.

Ethan and I turned to look. It took me a second, but I recognized the guy talking to us. It was the brown curly haired guy who had given me directions outside of Mycroft Dorm. What a weird coincidence to see him here.

"Are you Miles?" I asked.

"Yes, I am," He said. "Why? What's going on? Why are you standing in front of my room?"

He sounded a little nasally. Now I remembered. He had a cold the last time I saw him. It looked like it hadn't quite gone away. Maybe it was allergies. I still stepped back from him, just in case. I bumped into Ethan's chest. He was standing silently behind me, watching Miles. I was glad he was there. I could feel him breathing as my back rested on his chest. Three of us could take on a killer, right?

I focused on Miles. I knew it was going to sound crazy even before I said it, but I had to say it, "Well, I don't know how to tell you this. I think you're in danger and that someone is going to try and kill you..."