Faith asked, 'Does Adam have a car?'
He shook his head. 'His family's pretty weird. They kind of live off the grid. Real eco-minded.'
That would explain the rural route. 'What about this?' She pointed to the expensive television, the game console.
'They're mine,' Gabe admitted. 'I didn't want Tommy, my dormmate, fucking with them.' He added, 'But Adam plays, too. I mean, he likes to be outside and all, but he's a gamer, too.'
'Does he have a computer?'
'Somebody swiped it,' he responded, and Faith wasn't as surprised as she should have been. Theft was a rampant problem with this generation. Jeremy had had so many scientific calculators stolen from him at school that she had threatened to bolt one to his hand.
She asked, 'Where does Adam check his e-mail?'
'I let him use mine. Sometimes he goes to the computer lab.'
'What's his major?'
'Same as me. Polymers with a focus on spray adhesives.'
That must have impressed the ladies. 'Does he have a girlfriend or anyone he hangs out with?'
Gabe's shoulder went up in a slightly defensive manner. 'We all just got here, you know? Not much time to hook up.'
'Are you from out of state?'
He shook his head. 'I went to Grady.'
Grady was a magnet school, which meant they drew the top students from other schools in the Atlanta system. 'Have you ever met Kayla Alexander or Emma Campano?'
'Are they at Grady?'
'Westfield.'
He shook his head. 'That's in Decatur, right? I think my girlfriend went there. Julie. She's been kicked out of a lot of schools.'
'Why is that?'
He gave a shy half-smile. 'We share a distrust for authority.'
Faith smiled back. 'Does Julie go to Tech?'
He shook his head again. 'She went to State a few quarters, then dropped that, too. She tends bar nights in Buckhead.'
Buckhead was a wealthy section of Atlanta known for its nightlife. Faith gathered Julie was at least twenty-one if she was allowed to serve alcohol. The four-year age difference between her and Emma Campano would have meant the girls would not likely have crossed paths.
Faith asked Gabe, 'How'd you hurt your wrist?'
He colored slightly. 'Stupid stuff. I slipped and fell on my hand.'
'That must've hurt.'
He held up the cast, as if he still couldn't believe he'd injured himself. 'Like a mofo.'
'Which bar does Julie work at?'
He dropped his arm but his guard went back up. 'Why?'
Faith guessed he'd been cooperative enough to warrant an explanation. 'Gabe, I need to tell you what happened to Adam today.'
There was something like a loud 'woof' echoing in the hallway. Gabe whispered, 'Fuck.'
Two seconds later, Faith met the reason behind the expletive.
Gabe reluctantly made introductions. 'This is Tommy Albertson, my dormmate.'
He was as pasty as Gabe was dark, and Faith knew instantly that Gabe's assessment had been right on the money: the kid was an asshole. As if to prove it, Tommy's tongue practically hung out of his mouth as he stared at her. 'Yowza. Me likes a woman with a gun.'
Gabe hissed, 'Shut up, man. Adam's in trouble.'
'I was about to tell Gabe…' Faith directed her words to the young man. 'Adam was killed this morning.'
'Killed?' Tommy rocked onto the balls of his feet as he pointed his fingers at Faith. 'Shit, dude, it was him, right? They said it was a Tech student. Fuck me-that was Adam?'
Gabe's confusion was obvious. 'He was killed? As in murdered?'
Tommy became even more excited. 'Dude, some crazy bitch strangled him to death. To
Gabe's throat worked. His eyes moistened and his sense of betrayal was profound as he looked at Faith for confirmation. 'Is it true?'
She nodded her head once, furious that someone in the department had leaked out that Adam had gone to Tech. 'It's more complicated than that, but, yes, Adam is dead.'
'How?'
'I can't really talk about details with you, Gabe. I can say that Adam acted heroically, that he was trying to help someone, and then things went very wrong. A girl was kidnapped, and we're looking for her, but we need your help.'
His lower lip quivered as he tried to control his emotions.
By contrast, Tommy seemed almost exhilarated. 'Are you here to question me?' he asked. 'Bring it on. I've got all kinds of information.'
Faith asked, 'What kind of information?'
'Well, nothing, like, concrete or anything. He was a quiet dude, but you know, there was that intensity underneath. Like…danger.'
Faith struggled to remain passive, though she would have loved to take Tommy Albertson to the morgue and ask him what exactly was so exciting about his friend being dead. 'Did Adam have a girlfriend? Did he hang around with anyone in particular?'
As with everything else, Tommy found this extremely entertaining. He clamped his hands on Gabe's shoulders. 'Two questions, one answer!'
Gabe squirmed away from him. 'Fuck off, asshole. You never even talked to Adam. He hated your guts.'
She tried, 'Gabe-'
'Fuck you, too.' He left the room. A few moments later, she heard a door slam.
Faith narrowed her eyes at Tommy, resisting the urge to tear him down to size. He'd stepped a few feet into the room, and she didn't like the way he was crowding her space. She knew that she would need to establish control or there would be a problem. 'Maybe you'd like to answer these questions at the station?'
He showed a toothy grin, coming closer. 'My dad's a lawyer, lady. Unless it gets you wet slapping the cuffs on a virile young stud such as myself, no way am I getting into the back of your car.'
Faith kept her tone even. 'Then I guess we have nothing to talk about.'
He smiled smugly, closing the space between them. 'Guess so.'
'Could you leave now?' When he didn't move, she shouldered him back into the hall. He was taken off guard, or maybe she was madder than she thought, but the push turned into more of a shove, and he landed flat on his ass.
'Jesus,' he whined, sitting up. 'What is wrong with you?'
She turned the thumb latch on the inside doorknob and pulled the door firmly closed. 'Your friend is dead, a girl is missing, and your reaction to all this is to laugh and make jokes about it. What do you think is wrong with me?'
Her words hit their mark, but they didn't have the desired effect. 'Why are you such a bitch?'
'Because I have to deal with assholes like you every day.'
'Is there a problem here?' A well-dressed Hispanic man was coming up the stairs. He sounded slightly out of breath and a bit concerned that a student was on the floor.
Tommy scrambled to stand. He had the look of a spoiled child who was relishing the prospect of tattling. Faith dealt with it the only way she knew how, admitting, 'He got aggressive and I pushed him out of my way.'
The man had reached them by now. There was something familiar about his face, and Faith realized he was one of the many nameless administrators she'd seen at Jeremy's freshman orientation the month before.
There was no recognition in his eyes as Victor Martinez looked from Tommy to Faith, then back again. 'Mr.
