Fiery Trap

Chapter Nine: Detour

Rachel woke up the next day and went to the parlor to see if Alyssa was awake, but instead, the couch was empty with the exception of the pillow and the yellow blanket. She wasn't in the kitchenette either. Alyssa was gone and the door, although closed, was left unlocked. Rachel thought it was rude of her not to say anything to her before she left. After she went back to her bedroom and got ready for the day, she headed toward the kitchenette. She instantly noticed a white sheet of paper with scribbling on it. Rachel picked it up and saw that Alyssa left her a note. She read it in a rush as it basically stated she was going to walk back to the campus and call about the status of her car. She ended the note by saying she didn't want to disturb her sleep.

"I have my cell," Rachel said with confusion. "She could simply ask me for my cell phone to call them, not walk back to campus to do so." Alyssa's reason of leaving didn't make sense to Rachel at all. Nonetheless, she shrugged it away, as she knew she needed to be on campus soon.

After much thought, Rachel concluded she made a mistake inviting Alyssa to stay. She was now in finance class and her thoughts drifted away from Professor Castillo's lecture. Someone could've been spying on my apartment. The person might think Alyssa is a close friend. She could be the next victim. Whoever this person was, Rachel hoped the police would find him or her. She glanced at the clock on her cell and saw she had a little time to spare before work. She decided to go to the student center to continue her presentation on the business plan. So far Rachel had managed to complete the financial and operations part. She was halfway through the management summary.

She wasn't too sure of Alyssa's progress on her section of the business plan. Every time she asked her, Alyssa stated she'd done most of her research and she only need to type it. She always ended the conversation with, "You need to stop stressing." When they got together at the library, Alyssa seemed to be loosey-goosey about the presentation. At times she didn't know simple business terminology. She cited personal issues as her excuse for her behavior. Rachel wasn't too sure if she was telling the truth.

I really shouldn't have invited her into my place, Rachel thought as she drew nearer to the student center. She, however, accepted Alyssa's reassurance that she had her part covered. She had to; after all, she had a lot to deal with without adding Alyssa in the mix.

Rachel climbed up the steps and into the student lounge. Inside was a wide, florescent-lit area with red-flecked carpet and various cozy chairs to choose from. The couches were mostly green and dark blue. Rachel passed by the green vinyl chairs and decided to sit on one of few wing chairs in the corner. In the opposite direction was a pile of padded folding chairs against a pillar. Aloft on the pillar was a flat-screen television. It was on the local campus channel.

Rachel removed her laptop from her backpack. She sighed, thinking on what search engine to use to do her research, when her eyes happened to glance at the television. The sound wasn't on, but the closed caption scrolled quickly along the bottom of the screen. It was the same male reporter, the one that first reported the death of Caroline Duke. Rachel focused on the caption, reading it.

Her mouth fell half-open. Inwardly, she felt elated, but she compressed her feelings. From what she read, someone was in custody at the moment. The police officers weren't revealing whom, but someone was indeed caught and it seemed like they were certain of the person. Rachel formed a thin smile as her eyes remained on the screen. Her nightmare was over. She went back to her laptop, feeling like a heavy weight was lifted off her shoulders.

***

Saturday came with squally wind unlike the last five days. Rachel skipped her jogging around the campus because she had to work in the afternoon in order to meet Alyssa at the library at nighttime. She also was thinking about Dominic, how she could get things back to normal since the killer was caught. Yesterday, she discovered the man in custody was an MBA student from the business program. The reporter described him as tall, slim bodied with a long face with half-closed eyes. Someone Rachel never knew or heard of. This made her all the more angry at herself for fabricating some story to make it seem like she was in danger. She took her bike from her apartment complex and headed toward the café.