Homecoming Homicides by Marilyn Baron Page B

his arms.
    “It’s okay,” he soothed. “It’s okay to cry.”
    “I feel like such an idiot. I thought I had cried myself out.”
    Flippy leaned into Luke and turned her face into his shoulder. He smelled as good as he felt.
    “It’s not okay,” she said. “I hated her. I wanted to kill her, both of them, but I didn’t want her to die.”
    “Hated who? What are you talking about?”
    “Traci Farris.”
    “The missing girl?”
    “She was my Little Sister in the sorority. She’s the one I caught Jack cheating with.”
    Luke had been rubbing her back and kissing the top of her head, but he pulled away.
    “Jesus Christ, Flip. Why didn’t you tell me?”
    “I feel responsible. Maybe if I hadn’t gone over there that night, she would still be alive. I feel so guilty.”
    “You saw Traci Farris? When?”
    “The n-night she went missing.”
    “What the fuck, Flippy? What are you saying? That you were the last person to see Traci Farris before she disappeared?”
    “Stop swearing at me.”
    “I’ll be doing more than that if you don’t come clean. This is a homicide case. And you’re withholding material information. First I find you standing over Melinda Crawford’s dead body, and now I find out you were the last person to see a missing girl alive. What am I supposed to think? You’ve been playing me all along. Is that why you slept with me?”
    “You’re way off base. And I wasn’t playing you,” Flippy said faintly.
    “You lied to me. You lied to a police officer. You hindered an investigation. What else aren’t you telling me?”
    “Nothing. I swear. Jack was—”
    “I don’t give a shit about Jack,” Luke said, shaking her by her shoulders. “I want to hear about you. I want you to give me one good reason why I shouldn’t haul your tight ass down to jail.”
    “Let go of me,” Flippy said, shaking him off. “I’ll tell you, all right?” Flippy looked up into Luke’s eyes and began to tell the story of the last night she had seen Traci Farris alive.
    When she finished, he exhaled and pointed a finger accusingly in her face. “You had motive and opportunity. If anyone else finds out about this, you’re toast.”
    “That’s why I didn’t tell you. I know I didn’t do anything, and Jack couldn’t have done anything. But I know how this looks. And I know it’s my fault.”
    Luke shook his head and blew out a breath.
    “It’s not your fault, okay? She was the one who betrayed you, not the other way around. But Jesus, if you had told us where she was sooner, we might have been able to find her, might still be able to find her.”
    “Are you going to turn me in?”
    “I’d love to, believe me. The first thing I’m going to do is question your jackass of a boyfriend and find out what he’s hiding.”
    “I loved both of them. I’ll never understand. But I didn’t want this.”
    “I know you didn’t,” Luke said quietly. He put his hands on her shoulders, and then he released her.
    “Did you ever think the guy might have been after you ? And that Traci just got in the way? That maybe he expected you to be at Jack’s?”
    Flippy bit her lip. “That never occurred to me.”
    “Look, we’re going to get you home...um, to my condo, okay?” We can leave the rest of this stuff, pick it up later. You feeling better now?”
    “I’ll be fine. But what about Traci? We’ve got to find her, Luke, before—”
    “I know. I’m going to call Jack and find out if he knows anything, saw anything, remembers anything from that night. He was probably too out of it to be any help to us. Have you talked to Jack since that night?”
    “No, he’s called, and one of his fraternity brothers brought him by. I didn’t answer the door and I haven’t returned his calls. He’s probably sick with worry over Traci and guilty as hell about what he did to me.”
    “Well don’t call him. I’ll deal with Jack from now on. This whole situation stinks for everyone. We can take the box, Flip,