Ripper Read Online Free Page A

sometimes communicated silently.
    “And you call me overdramatic?” my eyes said.
    Liv shrugged because she had nothing for that.
    “Sharon, we have no reason to believe Joanne has done anything but freaked out a little and took an impromptu vacation. Really, that’s the likeliest possibility.” I was lying through my teeth, but if I didn’t then the rumors would run wild. “Her mom just wants me to look into it. How well do you know Joanne?”
    I wanted to smack Liv because she was staring at me with a maternally proud look on her face. I might be out of practice, but I knew how to handle a freaked-out girl. It was my experience that the most innocent of people tend to be the ones who freak out first. If you never struggled while growing up, it was harder to deal with the realities of the world when you got older. Sharon was obviously a child of privilege, and from her open face, I suspected that Mom and Dad loved their baby girl. I wasn’t about to begrudge the girl her happy childhood. The world needed Sharons to keep it a pleasant place.
    “She’s in my Spanish study group,” the blonde said. “We’ve also lived in the same dorm for two years. She’s a super-nice girl. She even gets along with that roomie of hers and let me tell you, that’s a job.”
    Interesting. I leaned closer. “Bitchy?”
    Sharon shook her head. “Try witchy.”
    Liv tensed beside me. “What do you mean?”
    Sharon was a fount of gossip. “You know, Cassie’s a Goth, but not like cutesy. She’s all pretentious and stuff. She talks about the goddess and Wicca and cursing people who do her wrong. It’s all weird, but I’m a Presbyterian and we’re supposed to be tolerant so I just smile and let her talk. It kind of freaks me out, though. It didn’t seem to bother Jo.”
    I bet it didn’t. I wondered how much Joanne’s roommate knew about her. It all depended on whether Cassandra Lydell was a real witch. I doubted it. Two things gave her away. Wicca is a religion and not one where the followers tend to curse people. They have their threefold laws and stuff. Wicca had nothing to do with actual witches. The real things tended to not run around talking about the goddess, but I was grateful Liv was with me. She could tell me in a minute flat if I was dealing with the real thing or not.
    I thanked Sharon, who showed me to the elevators. We made our way to the third floor. Room 315 was halfway down the hall, and I knocked on it shortly as I read the many notes on the corkboard secured to the door. Though it stated plainly that this was Joanne and Cassie’s room almost all the notes were for Jo. The notes started out asking her to call so and so or saying someone had dropped by, but the newer notes begged her to get in touch. They spoke of deep worry. This wasn’t a girl who bugged out on her friends.
    “Wannabe. I’m getting nada and if she was even a minor witch I should feel something.” There was no judgment in Liv’s pronouncement, merely truth.
    The door opened and I was faced with a walking, talking Hot Topic mannequin. Cassie Lydell had the Goth thing down. She wore black on black on…surprisingly enough, more black. Her combat boots were black, as were the artfully torn fishnets that covered her legs. Her miniskirt was a more faded black which spoke of much use, but the T-shirt looked new. It was some band’s tour shirt, and apparently the band really liked demons and poorly drawn Hell symbols.
    “What do you want?” she asked through her black-tinged lips.
    I elbowed Liv because she was trying hard not to laugh. Apparently she’d forgotten what it was like to be young and hyper-pretentious. I would have to pull out the pictures of her in her surplus army coat. It was a phase that came right after her skater year.
    “Hello, I’m Kelsey Atwood. I’m investigating the disappearance of your roommate.” I would have handed her a business card, but she would just stare at me like I was an idiot.
    She did it anyway.