Page 156 of Lau Ahi
“You seem well-versed in this.”
Her smile was rueful as she continued to tap her pen against her lip. “Well, the circles I run in are the ones that your society has built its hierarchy on so it’s all very familiar to me. What’s her major?”
Alec pulled open his phone and began to scroll before he looked up with a smirk. “Family and Consumer Sciences.”
“Home Economics. And you know someone like her isn’t going to do any of the labor herself but it looks great on a MRS resume.”
I acknowledged she had a point but that didn’t make him a killer because his girlfriend wanted something on the side.
“You all said that he lived inside the potential triangle of suspects.”
Alec and I exchanged a glance before I spoke. “There’s only one problem with that.”
“Which is what?”
“Your place is in the middle of that triangle.”
“Mine? Don’t you meanours?” Her emphasis on ours was sarcastic. Heavy and mocking in her tone. We had a silent stare-off over the conference table and Alec was the one to break the stalemate.
“The point still stands that his just being in the zone isn’t enough for us to bring him in. That would make you just as much of a suspect as him since you’re just as connected.”
“Me?”
“You’re a professor at GW.”
Asha still looked confused about what her profession had to do with any of this. “Okay? So are dozens of other people.”
“Your specific field of expertise doesn’t lend itself to you being innocent either.”
Her mouth gaped open as my words sank in. “Ask me.”
“Asha—”
Her hand shot up to silence Alec and I saw him looking like he could choke me to death with his bare hands. Sad that he was doing more to protect her feelings than I was.
“He knows exactly what landmine he’s about to step on so let him. Your friend has no care for his limbs so ask me.” The threat was clear in her tone but I asked her, wanting to clear the air.
“Did you do this?”
Alec shook his head like I was the dumbest nigga on earth but even if she said yes he would help me cover it up but he was pissed that I’d asked.
“No. I have no desire to inflict pain on people needlessly. I see that this victim and the people who are potentially suspects have all been within my department. Most of my classes last year were led by TAs because I was doing work for the book. Thesame one that brought you to my doorstep. I didn’t see them and if I were so depraved do you think I’ve waited a year to make a move? For what?”
“To make people care about your book? To drive us to do exactly what we did?”
She sat back and chuckled and Vega looked as though he wanted to crawl out of the room to escape the carnage that was to come.
“My trust fund is worth almost half a billion dollars. If I cared that much I could buy the influence you think I’d kill for. For you to think I can’t accomplish what I have with simple intelligence—”
I sat forward then and she took my aggressive move in stride not backing down. “I know you could but you act as though you aren’t hiding shit. I know you didn’t do this because you don’t have the mentality to embody some other woman by consuming her.”
Her normally rich skin went pale and it looked as though Asha’s heart stopped beating. “Asha?”
“What do you mean consume?”
Alec sat forward and grabbed the ice water and poured Asha a cup. He was careful not to touch her realizing that she was spooked and we didn’t know why.
“The victim had her liver removed and there were signs of teeth marks on the flesh that remained.”
