The Detective and Her Bachelor

Chapter 11

My headphones filled with the sound of a large CLACK, followed by Kacey Grail's voice, squeaking, startled. "Goodness, you scared me!" She laughed nervously, voice bouncing around, telling me Kacey was in the stairwell. "Don't sneak up—" her words became garbled, cut through with static. 

I pressed my fingers against the earbuds, searching for clues hidden in the poor audio feed. Another CLACK filled my ears before Kacey Grail's voice cut through again. "I won't—"More static. "—can't control!" The words were ice cold, angry with rage. "You don't get to decide! Leave me alone or I'll—!" Static cut through her threat, drowning out Kacey's final words.

The audio feed ended as a terrified scream filled my headphones, sending ice-cold chills down my spine as I heard the crunch of bones meeting stairs. Then there is a final set of CLACKS, and the feed went quiet, leaving me alone in the dark with the sound of Kacey's final screams washing through me, over and over.

...

Five in the morning was too early to be up. That time of day should be set on fire and buried for all eternity. Maybe then, it would learn its lesson about existing. But the time of day could not be avoided. I had a lot to think about, and after I left the editing bay at four fifty-five, I snuck back to my room and slipped into my bathroom, turning on the shower so I could talk out loud into the small mic Decker gave me without being heard. 

At first, I stood there staring into the mirror, watching it slowly fog over from the shower steam, trying to figure out where to start. It was going to be a one-sided conversation, but I knew Decker well enough to guess what he wanted to know and how he would respond. So to make it less bizarre to be standing in the bathroom at five in the morning talking to no one, I put a face to the silent partner in my conversation. 

My fingers slashed across the fogged-up glass, creating a tiny MINI ANGRY DECKER in the corner of the fogged-up mirror, with wild hair and a scrunched-up angry face. 

I smirked at Mini Angry Decker. Ha! Looks just like him. 

"Hey, Decker," I said, keeping my voice low. "If you're listening, I have stuff to report. And if you aren't... well I guess thinking out loud will help me organize my thoughts anyway." 

I pressed a finger to the mirror, cutting away more of the fog with my fingertip. "First, this place is filled with liars. Not that I could claim to be any better, although my lies are justified. The only two people who haven't lied, according to the heart monitor test are Michelle Adams and Ace Walker." 

I paused, my finger moving across the glass and writing down Michelle and Ace's initials. "But if I could beat the heart monitor, how accurate can it really be?" 

I bit my lip, thinking. "Michelle seems genuine. A little nieve for falling for Ace's charms so fast, but I don't think she's our girl." I slashed a line through her initials and looked over at Ace's name. "The Single Stud is hiding something though. Very dodgy when I ask him questions. His secrets could be small things, or he could be hiding a murder. I don't know enough yet to make a decision." 

I placed a question mark next to Ace's initials, hating that I didn't know yet. Hating that I couldn't just pin him for murder and go, or admit that he wasn't the one and let myself feel safe around him. But he was a giant question mark with pretty eyes. "He's harder to read than I expected him to be. Sharper too. Clever. Observant—." I cut myself before I could list more traits, not wanting to sound like I was making a compliment list. 

"I'll have to keep a careful eye on him." 

I glanced at Mini Angry Decker and rolled my eyes as I imagined his reaction to how terribly I had done so far. "I am fully aware that I made it to this next round on pure luck. He's probably just fascinated by the crazy girl who can't keep her mouth shut. So calm down. I'll figure this out. I don't plan on getting kicked out yet, so take a chill pill, kay?"