“Tell me what happened,” he said, sitting next to her.
She spilled out the whole story then—about the letters and the shredded clothes and then finally about being abducted and forced into the crawl space in the warehouse. She started to cry once but brushed the tears away.
“How did they finally find you?” Duncan asked. His expression was grim.
“It was partly because of Glenda,” Phoebe said. “She came back from Brooklyn Sunday night, and when she couldn’t find me, she reported it to the dorm mother. The school alerted the police. On Monday morning, someone—one of the boys, they later thought—called from a phone booth with an anonymous tip about me in the warehouse and the police dug me out. I was in the hospital for a couple days. I thought of going back to school after that, but my mother wouldn’t have it, and frankly, I was just too afraid. Needless to say, the school bent over backward to keep me from making a stink.”
“I can’t believe you went through that nightmare. And you’re sure it was Fortuna who was behind your abduction?”
“Almost positive. I’d been falsely signed out of the dorm for the weekend, which is why the dorm mother initially had no reason to be alarmed—and it must have been Fortuna members who forged my signature. The boys, I’ve always assumed, were from the nearby coed prep school that we socialized with. I suspect the Fortuna members talked them into grabbing me, though my guess is that they never meant for it to get so out of hand.”
“But why would they go to such an extreme to begin with?”
“I think because of a boy I’d started seeing,” Phoebe said. “He went to that other prep school, and we’d had coffee a few times. I heard later that one of the Fortuna girls was after him. She wanted to scare me off, apparently.”
“And they never caught the boys who did it to you?”
“No. Nor the girls. The school made a show of trying to find out who the ringleaders were, but the daddies of the Fortuna girls were the ones who gave the big donations, so I doubt they tried very hard.”
“Gosh, Phoebe,” Duncan said. “I can only imagine how this Sixes nonsense has stirred up all the crap from the past.”
On the one hand, Phoebe was glad she’d told him the story. She’d never even shared the full details with Alec. But now she felt even more churned up, knowing it was out in the open.
“Do you see what I mean now?” she implored. “I just keep wondering if someone from Fortuna is here, working with the Sixes.”
“Tell me how I can help,” he said.
She shook her head in despair. “I don’t know. Maybe just food, for starters. I never ate today, and it’s not helping.”
He suggested ordering a pizza. After making the call, he asked if she’d mind if he took a shower. He’d been at the lab much of the afternoon, he told her, and needed to wash up. After Duncan headed upstairs, she opened a bottle of wine and poured a large glass. It’s been twenty-five years, she thought, since Fortuna terrorized me, but I’m right back in that old place now, feeling undone again. She thought of Lily and Alexis and the other victims of the Sixes. She had to put a stop to what was happening here in Lyle.
A few minutes later, just as she heard the water start running in the shower, her cell phone rang. It was Glenda, finally calling back.
“Sorry to make you leave all those messages,” Glenda said. “I ended up going to the local library with Brandon, and I had to turn off my phone.”
“Have you ever mentioned Fortuna to anyone here at the college?” Phoebe demanded.
“Of course not. Why are you asking?”
She told Glenda about the tarot card.
“I don’t believe it,” Glenda said. “How can this be happening?”
“I wouldn’t blame you, G, if you said something,” Phoebe told her. “Maybe you mentioned it to someone when you talked about me coming to teach here, or when the whole Sixes business started up. It’s not anything I ever insisted had to be kept secret.”
“I’ve never breathed a word about it. Sure, you never told me it was supposed to be a secret, but since you always seemed to keep it private yourself, I did too. Believe it or not, I’ve never even told Mark. After he met you, he asked why you’d left school, and I told him that you’d missed your mom too much.”
“Well, someone’s found out—or even worse, someone here was once a member and told the Sixes.”
“Have you ever talked about it in an interview?”
“Never. And there was no press coverage of my abduction. The school made sure of that.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of this, Fee. I’m sure the cops are doing everything in their power to squeeze Blair and Gwen. It won’t be long before we know who all the Sixes are, and then we can find out if there’s really a connection to Fortuna.”
Phoebe took another swig of wine. “Okay, it’s just—you know. It’s just making me crazy, that’s all.”
“I’m sure,” Glenda said. “You called about something else, too. That committee Lily was on?”
“Right. I talked to someone who swears Blair and Gwen are being set up. She also says that Lily was in love with a faculty or administration member she met on a committee this fall. It sounds like they were having an affair—and that could be significant.”
“I’m back in my office, and I can check now on my computer. Just give me a sec to find it.”
Phoebe heard the sound of Glenda’s phone being set down on the desk. As she waited, she realized she was holding her breath. Finally Glenda picked up the phone again.
“You’re not going to believe this,” Glenda said. “But then, maybe you will.”
“Who?” Phoebe urged.
“Tom Stockton. It was a committee on campus life.”
Phoebe inhaled sharply. It was the same committee Jen was on, though she’d nicely withheld this detail. “Damn, despite what you told me about him, I didn’t see this one coming.”
“You sure about this, Fee?”
“Not totally. But if it’s true, he might be involved in the deaths. It could also explain why he’s been so eager to promote the serial killer idea. It deflects all the attention away from him.”
“Are you going to the cops about this?”
“Not yet. I want to check it out a bit more. And don’t worry, I’ll be careful.” Her mind flashed back to her experience earlier in Glenda’s house. “Tell me—how are things on your end?”
“For the time being, things seem relatively under control on campus, and I’ve managed to calm the board down—though I dread what will happen when more stuff starts leaking out about the Sixes. On the home front, it stinks. Mark has been out a lot lately, and he’s always got these intricate excuses that seem rehearsed. I keep thinking about what my mother used to say: A liar’s story is often just a little too pat.”
In her mind Phoebe could see herself creeping down Glenda’s front hallway, overhearing the ominous words that Mark had spoken. She needed to share with Glenda what she’d learned, but she didn’t want to do it over the phone.
“Is there any chance I can see you soon?” Phoebe said. “I really want to catch up in person.”
“Me too. There’s a women’s soccer game tomorrow at four. Can you meet me there?”
Phoebe promised she would.
“Are you going to be okay at home tonight?” Glenda asked.
“Yeah, Duncan’s here.”
There was a longer than usual pause.
“Okay, but remember you have a bed here whenever you need it,” Glenda told her.
Phoebe thanked her and started to sign off. “Oh, wait,” she said, remembering. “There’s one other thing I heard. Someone mentioned to me that Trevor Harris was being hassled by Craig Ball before he died. Their word, not mine. Did you ever hear anything like that?”