Trails

Chapter 16: All About Alice

I politely took her by the hand and lead her to metal chairs behind the office door.

"Who's Wesley?" I asked.

The girl sighed and shook her head.

"Just this popular wannabe," she explained. "All the girls drooled over him while the guys want to be him."

Okay, I thought. This could give me the killer's motive.

"So, what's this party all about?" I asked.

"It's not just a party," she insisted. "It's Wesley's birthday party."

"Everyone went there, including Cameron and me."

"The party was great, the music wasn't bad, the beer was cold, but there was something off."

"Like what?" I ask. 

The girl sighed again and played with her ponytail. "Every year," she began. "We have a Huskers hazing tradition: if you want to be a man enough, do what you're told; otherwise you're not good enough."

"What kind of stupid rule is that?" I asked.

The girl shrugged her shoulders.

"While I was talking to Christie, my best friend from riding camp, I noticed something in his locker."

The girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.

I took it politely and unfolded the sheet.

"This is a list of dares the jocks tried out," she said. "If someone completes the dare, they'll each receive points."

"Two points for drinking a huge amount of beer, four for hooking up a girl, and so on."

I nodded, trying to understand.

"So, this scoring system is based on an addition of two points?"

The girl nodded.

"Did you show this to the sheriff's department?"

"No," the girl answered. "I didn't they would care about a stupid list."

I need to show this to Ben, I thought. Fishing for my phone, I snapped the picture of the list two times, and handed the sheet back to the cheerleader.

"Give this to the sheriff," I advised. "This will help benefit them and the victims' families."

Even though the girl looked confused, she promises to take it to the police.

As I got up from my seat, I walked out of the university.

"Wait," the girl cried. "Who are you, anyway?"

I swivel my head and gave her a small grin.

"I'm the girl who's going to find your boyfriend's killer." I explained. "Especially, solving the murder of the other twenty two victims."

The cheerleader sat there, too surprised to move.

"But you're too young," she insisted.

"Trust me," I replied. "I've just gotten started."

After I walked out of the university, I called Ben's number and waited for him to pick up.

"Hello?" he said.

"It's me," I replied. "Meet me back in the house, I need to tell you something."

"Okay," he said.

After I hang up, I raced back into the cottage and found Aunt Jess smoking on the front doorstep.

A stream of ash gray wisked out of her mouth as she noticed me.