~~Carson's POV~~
"Why did you hit him?" The question, like shackles, bound my legs, drawing me up frozen solid. I didn't quite expect her to catch on, utterly forgetting the smart ass I was dealing with.
She literally threw in useful ideas for solving the serial killer mystery and pieced intricate puzzles to paint a clearer image, yet, I had still not gotten my brain acclimatized to the fact that she'd learned to read every move in the spirit of being the detective Makayla's case had turned her into. Or perhaps I let my guard down since she'd been a little more lax lately and hadn't been as involved as she was before. Whatever the case, punching Daniil and creating a scene was indeed reckless.
'Do I deny it?'
That would be pointless. One hundred percent certain she already had the duration between the time I had called her out to the cafeteria and when I actually showed up, how long it should've taken me from the dormitory to the cafeteria, and how many more minutes wasted, all mapped out in her brain.
'Then what do I do? Tell her the truth?'
I shrugged involuntarily, the thought posing a greater risk. If I admitted it, then what? What would I tell her was my reason for doing so?
"Carson, is there something you're not telling me?" she asked, her voice with deeper intentions. She could be suspecting me already but sad to say, I just could not tell her what my deal was yet. "Carson?"
Just when the debates in my head on what and what not to tell her could not be any louder, my phone buzzed. Taking it out to see, hands shaky with flusteration, I almost heaved a loud sigh of relief on seeing who the caller was – Knox. He seldom called, and whenever he did, it was to relay something serious. I now had a reason to weasel my way out of this.
"I have to leave," I said, almost mumbling to myself before walking out with the phone to my ear without even sparing her another glance. Felt bad for cutting her dead the way I did but there was no way I'd choose to risk her sanity if she heard suddenly that Daniil was the killer, over the guilt that followed my actions.
I hated to leave her in the dark.
"There's been another death," Knox said on getting to my front door. From my side eye, I could see Ashley still standing on her porch, staring in my direction. And it took a shit ton of self-control to hold back from turning to look at her. Instead, I twisted my doorknob and headed straight into the dark house.
Barely a day. "News sure travels fast," I said, gliding my fingers over the lights switch to light the place up. "So tell me, how's it going with the master floor?" That was his new mission. I needed any and every information I could lay my hands on concerning him.
"I haven't gotten anything solid yet," he said, his voice laid back with hints of low spirits. I wasn't the only one riled up after all. "And the flash drive? Did you get anything on it?"
Flashdrive?
My brows scrunched in thought, my head triggered by a familiar yet vague memory. In less than five seconds, my brows straightened to a fault when the memory gained clarity, taking root. I recalled the USB drive from earlier this morning. I was yet to see the content when I dashed out on hearing of Louisiana's death.
Impulsively, my eyelids flip over, my eyes charging straight for the center table a few paces away from where I was standing. My laptop was still the way I'd left it earlier this morning and a vivid replay of how I'd dumped the pen drive on the keyboard propelled through my mind.
I sprinted forward to the laptop and positioned myself on the couch before it to continue from where I'd stopped.
"Did you find anything?" Knox's voice invaded my quiet, reminding me I still had my speaker plugged into my ear.
"I …" I turned the laptop around, and raised it, perusing the area around and beyond it with brows scrunched in bewilderment. "It was right here," I said to myself, sotto voce.
"What?" Knox asked, and I could imagine him wincing away from the speaker with a dazed look in his eyes as he smeared it on the screen to confirm it was still me on the line.
"I can't find it," I repeated more coherently, panic beginning to gush into my bloodstream.
"You can't find what?!"
"The flash drive, I can't find it."
"What?" he called back. "What do you mean you can't find it? Do you now have roommates?" He didn't sound like he was scolding me, just stunned at the sudden news that he lost control of his pitch automatically.
I was just as baffled, actively rummaging through the drawer beneath the center table. I knew for sure I didn't put it in there but to make EXTRA sure I wasn't being delusional to think that someone might have fucking broken into my house to steal, it wouldn't be a sick idea to topple the whole house.
I kept the phone on the table, leaving Knox on hold while I characterized the silence by clatters, littering the tiled floor with the pens, pencils, diaries, and my working tools in general, as I was on the second drawer, leaving it empty afterward.
Picking the silence that ensued as a sign, he asked, "Found it?"
Tension soon joined the shock coursing through my veins, twisting knots at various points and stiffening my muscles with the wild realization. Someone broke into my home where I had my laptop worth thousands of dollars, and several other devices in and outside of my room which was very much accessible if they gained entrance through the main door, but nothing of much value was stolen except the flash drive Knox had given to me.
What could this mean?
How did it even get out?
Someone close to me was working for Daniil?
A spy?
Around me?
Hold on a minute…
If it was stolen, of course, it had to be by Daniil. Why? Was there proof in it? Were we finally close to the truth?
"Carson, did you find it?" He questioned again, his tone rubbing around the edge.
"I – I – I did not," I stuttered, scatterbrained, and proceeded to say in a flash, "Tell me something, did you see anything?" Whoever took it away from here needed to protect something. It was absurd asking if he found anything since he must have just transferred the files and shipped the package to me but God, please, let it be that the heavens were on his side and he managed a peek and saw something that could be a clue.
"I didn't have the time to check it, Carson. What, you can't find it?"
I fell silent with despair, my heart aching at the thought that I may have been less than an inch away from the truth and I flopped my chance right before the devil seized it with its claws again!
"God!!!!!" I vented loudly, pouring my vexation out in the open.
"Detective Carson, can you tell me what the hell is going on?" His patience had almost snapped. The line was so thin now, he was barely hanging on by adding honorifics to his question.
"I'mma have to search some more, Knox," I said with forced composure. My veins were popping beneath my skin, the thought that Daniil had the guts to send someone after me riding voraciously within them. There was also the fact that he may have caught on but I refused to let it sit comfortably at the back of my head, poking it about, as it would mean doom for us all.
"You didn't find it?"
Heavily, I admitted, "I think someone broke into my place."