Nicole shot a concerned glance at Booker, who gestured for her and Scott to lean in.
“We found evidence that somebody staged the groaner attack yesterday,” Booker said, voice low.
“What?!” Nicole and Scott exclaimed in unison.
“Shh, don’t…” Booker waved his hand at them. “We ain’t told any of the officials yet.”
“What kind of sick freak would want to bring rotters down on top of us like that?” Scott asked, features pinched in disgust.
Caitlin sipped her coffee slowly. “The same kind of sick freak that bisects squirrels to use as Geek bait.”
Nicole’s hand flew to her mouth. “No.”
“Yes.”
She and Scott stared at each other horror.
“Guys, this is bad,” Scott said. “Do you have an idea of who it could be?”
Booker shook his head. “It could be anybody. We ain’t even sure it’s someone in our group. It could be some fucked up Scavenger playin’ a game.”
“Some game,” Nicole muttered.
“Right now, everyone’s a suspect,” Caitlin said.
“The odds are, it’s someone we know,” Nicole said, glancing around at each of them. “People with these kinds of… predilections tend to target people they’re familiar with. They’re antisocial, have a huge chip on their shoulders, feel like they’re owed something, and when they don’t receive it, they lash out.”
Caitlin scowled. “That could still be any number of people. I mean, how many of these guys have we seen lose their temper?”
“That’s just it, they might not be a particularly angry person, or even have outbursts. There have been plenty of documented cases of sexual predators or serial killers who, by all accounts, were kind, loving, generous people.” Nicole tilted her head. “Until the cops found bodies in their crawlspaces, of course.”
An icy shiver ran down Caitlin’s back.
“Great. So we’ve got some wannabe BTK living with us.” She shifted in her seat, staring out at the crowded tables around them. “Anybody else longing for a dusty farmhouse in Mississippi right about now?”
Scott snorted from behind his cup. “Not me, thank you very much.”
His joke caught them all off guard and everyone chuckled.
Reaching over to take his hand, Nicole grinned.
“Fair point,” she said.
Booker nudged Caitlin’s elbow, getting her attention.
“Y’said you had a bad feelin’ about Seth…” He said, keeping his voice down. “D’you think he’d be one of these antisocial types?”
Caitlin furrowed her brow in thought. “Maybe. But he was fighting along side everyone yesterday. He even…” She trailed off, unsure if she should tell Booker the rest.
“Even what?”
Taking a deep breath, she finally said, “He saved my life.”
The color drained from Booker’s face.
“I got tripped up by a Geek,” she explained. “It was pinned, and it couldn’t bite me, but its grip was strong. While I fought it off, two more closed in. I wouldn’t have had time to kill them both… One would have got me. And then suddenly… They hit the ground. And there was Seth, holding the smoking gun.”
The hard set of Booker’s jaw made her own ache in sympathy.
“Shoulda been there,” he said hoarsely.
Caitlin reached for his forearm, hand clasping him right over his Marine Corps tattoo.
“You had no way of knowing,” she told him. “You said yourself you didn’t even know I was outside in the courtyard.”
Booker grunted at the back of his throat, gaze lowered to the table in front of them.
“Hey,” she whispered. “I’m right here. Don’t torture yourself with what-ifs. You wouldn’t let me do that, would you?”
After a beat, he finally looked up.
“Guess not,” he said, the barest hint of a smile toying at his lips.
“Exactly. If I can’t sulk, neither can you.”
“Is that under the ‘even distribution of assets’ part or the ‘in happiness and in sorrow’ part?”
“Both,” she said simply, reaching over to snag a piece of canned pineapple off his plate. Popping it into her mouth, she added, “Welcome to marital bliss, baby.”
His smirk became sultry as Booker leaned in, claiming her lips in a kiss that warmed her to her bone marrow.
Pulling back, he brushed his nose across her cheek, leaving a trail of more kisses up to her temple. Leaning away a fraction, he caught her eye and winked.
Caitlin made a mental note to reward him later.
Turning back to her breakfast, she scanned the room and saw a familiar dark head of hair several tables away.
Seth sat mostly by himself at the end, poking at his food as he stared openly at Caitlin.
She thought he’d look away like he often did.
That time, however, he just nodded once, waving to her slightly with his fork.
Caitlin offered a half smile back.
She didn’t know what Seth was… Creep, psycho, or unfortunately awkward.
But a small sliver of her felt like she owed him, and that was a dangerous cliff to stand near.
* * * * * * *
Trish scowled, folding her arms. “No. No way.”
Trying not to gape, Caitlin glanced to Luna, then Nathaniel, then Steve.
“But… We found evidence.”
“You found dead rodents. That isn’t exactly proof of what you’re saying happened.”
Booker leaned forward on his elbows. “I know it ain’t the most pleasant thing to think about your own people, but I’m tellin’ ya, those squirrels won’t bit. They were cut. By a knife and a human hand wieldin’ it.”
“You should take his word, Trish,” Nathaniel said. “Booker’s a talented tracker and hunter. He knows this kind of thing.”
“If what you’re saying is true, that means we have a malignant entity in our group and no way of finding out who it is,” Trish said. “How are we supposed to fix that? Vote on whether or not to interrogate every single person here?”
Luna sighed, pushing her hair off her face. “You said it could be anyone but that there’s probably some… personality
