Watching

KERI LOCKE MYSTERY SERIES

A TRACE OF DEATH (Book #1)

A TRACE OF MUDER (Book #2)

A TRACE OF VICE (Book #3)

A TRACE OF CRIME (Book #4)

A TRACE OF HOPE (Book #5)

CHAPTER ONE

Riley sat hunched on her bed staring at her psychology book. She couldn’t concentrate, not with all the noise in the room. That song was blaring again—Gloria Estefan’s “Don’t Let This Moment End.”

How many times had she heard that stupid song just this evening? It seemed to be blasting out of every dorm room these days.

Riley yelled over the music at her roommate …

“Trudy, please let this moment end! Or this song, anyway. Or just shoot me maybe.”

Trudy laughed. She and their friend Rhea were sitting on Trudy’s bed on the other side of the room. They’d just finished doing each other’s nails and were now waving their hands around in the air to dry them.

Trudy yelled back over the music, “Sure, I will, not.”

“We’re torturing you,” Rhea added. “No peace until you go out with us.”

Riley said, “It’s Thursday night.”

“So?” Trudy said.

“So, I’ve got an early morning class tomorrow.”

Rhea said, “Since when do you need sleep?”

“Rhea’s right,” Trudy added. “I’ve never known such a night owl in my life.”

Trudy was Riley’s best friend, a blonde with a huge, goofy grin that charmed pretty much everybody she met, especially guys. Rhea was a brunette—prettier than Trudy and somewhat more reserved by nature, although she tried her best to keep pace with Trudy’s gregariousness.

Riley let out a groan of despair. She got up from her bed and walked over to Trudy’s CD player, turned the music down, then climbed back onto her bed and picked up the psych book again.

And of course, right on cue, Trudy got up and turned the music back up again—not as loud as before, but still too loud for Riley to be able to concentrate on reading.

Riley slammed her book shut.

“You’re going to make me resort to violence,” she said.

Rhea laughed and said, “Well, at least it would be a change. If you keep sitting there all scrunched up like that, you’ll get stuck in that position.”

Trudy added, “And don’t go telling us you’ve got to study. I’m in that psych class too, remember? I know you’re reading way ahead in that stupid book—weeks ahead maybe.”

Rhea let out a gasp of mock horror. “Reading ahead? Isn’t that, like, illegal? Because it sure ought to be.”

Trudy nudged Rhea and said, “Riley likes to impress Professor Hayman. She’s got a thing for him.”

Riley snapped, “I do not have a thing for him!”

Trudy said, “Sorry, my mistake. Why would you have a thing for him?”

Riley couldn’t help thinking …

Just because he’s young and cute and smart?

Just because every other girl in the class has a crush on him?

… but she kept her thoughts to herself.

Rhea held her hand out and studied her nails.

She said to Riley, “How long has it been since you got any action? Sex-wise, I mean.”

Trudy shook her head at Rhea.

“Don’t ask,” she said. “Riley has taken a vow of chastity.”

Riley rolled her eyes and told herself …

Don’t even dignify that with a snotty reply.

Then Trudy said to Rhea, “Riley’s not even on the pill.”

Riley’s widened with shock at Trudy’s indiscretion.

“Trudy!” she said.

Trudy shrugged and said, “It’s not like you swore me to secrecy about it or something.”

Rhea mouth had dropped open. Her horror seemed genuine this time.

“Riley. Say it ain’t so. Please, please tell me she’s lying.”

Riley growled under her breath and said nothing.

If only they knew, she thought.

She didn’t like to think about her rebellious teen years, much less talk about them. She’d been lucky not to get pregnant or catch some horrible disease. In college, she’d cooled off a lot of things—including sex, although she always carried a box of condoms in her purse just in case.

Trudy pointedly turned the music back up.