CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

Hannah did her best to act casual.

It was a challenge, considering that she was essentially surveilling another student.

She wasn't psyched about how this was all playing out. Despite some additional research, she still hadn't found anything definitive that proved that Dana Douglas was stalking Clayton. As a result, she didn't feel she had enough to legally justify recording their study group conversation.

So now she was in the uncomfortable position of trying to get physically close enough to the study room where Clayton was currently waiting for Dana, while seeming to be there to do her own work.

It was a bit of a stretch. The soundproofed study room was on the fourth floor of Langson Library, at the very back of the building, behind endless rows of stacks. Unless one was making use of the study rooms, it was an odd place to go just to work on a paper or prep for a test.

Other than in the study rooms, there were no desks or couches back here, just a few hard-backed chairs interspersed occasionally along walls. She definitely looked suspicious sitting in one just yards from the only occupied study room on the floor. And that was reinforced by the fact that right now, there was no one else up here at all besides her and Clayton.

When Dana arrived, she was sure to wonder what some random chick was doing in this off-the-beaten-path corner of the library, so close to where she and Clayton were. In fact, Hannah worried that her very presence might prevent Dana from doing or saying anything incriminating.

That was why she was glad that she'd agreed to let Finn come. At least with him here, too, their hovering wouldn't seem so obvious.

She glanced at her phone. It was 6:57. Clayton and Dana's project meeting was supposed to begin at seven. But even though Clayton was already fully set up in the study room, Dana hadn't arrived yet.

Hannah hoped that Finn would get here before her. She'd asked him to come at 6:45 but he was running late because of a fraternity committee meeting. She also worried that he'd get lost finding his way to this out-of-the-way spot. Just then, Clayton poked his head out of the study room.

"You all ready?" he asked.

"Don't talk to me, Clayton," she hissed. "What if Dana shows up and sees us? This will all be for nothing."

"Oh, sorry," he said. "I should have told you. I got a text from her a few minutes ago saying she was running late. She'll probably be another ten minutes or so."

As annoyed as she was by Calyton's lack of real-time communication, the delay allowed her to ask him a question she'd mean to follow up on but hadn't yet.

"Hey, what happened with the guy you said knew someone who left school because Dana was too fixated on him?" she asked. "You were going to get more specifics on that."

"Oh, right," Clayton said. "The guy who told me that is out of town, and I don't have his number. But I'll check in with him as soon as he gets back."

Hannah was about to directly address her frustration with Clayton's lack of urgency when her phone buzzed. She glanced down and saw that it was a message from Finn, saying that he had stopped to grab something to eat and would be about fifteen minutes late. She got a sinking feeling. If he wasn't here, she'd stick out like a sore thumb. But it wasn't his fault. She blamed herself. Her ‘intern' was new to all this and didn't get that, when it came to surveillance, punctuality was a priority.

"What's up?" Clayton asked, nodding at the phone.

"Oh, nothing important," she said.

She hadn't mentioned that Finn was coming. Clayton was already so amped up by her being here, she worried that telling him he'd have another observer close by would make him act even more unnaturally around Dana. At that moment, she suddenly came to a conclusion that Kat had once taught her: if a stakeout didn't feel right, bail on it. It wasn't worth blowing your cover long-term to force something short-term. She got up and walked into the study room to break the news.

"Listen, Clayton," she said, "I think we're going to have to pull the plug on this."

"What do you mean?" he asked confused.

"This setup is just too awkward," she told him. "Like I told you earlier, I don't think we can justify recording her, based on the scant evidence of stalking we have so far. And if she closes the study room door, I won't be able to hear a thing. It is soundproof, after all. Plus, she's going to see me out here, with not another soul in sight, and be too guarded. She's not going to say anything to implicate herself unless she thinks you two are alone. Let's bail on this one. Set up your next meeting somewhere more public so I won't stick out so much if I'm nearby."

"But what if she does something sketchy tonight?"

"If you're really that concerned, I think you should go to the authorities," she told him. "Stalking is a serious thing, and you shouldn't mess around using an amateur student detective if you're that in fear for your safety."

"But Hannah, the whole point is that I didn't want to go to them because it would be so embarrassing," he pleaded, "besides, you're supposed to be the best. Are you just going to cut and run when things get tough?"

She didn't appreciate the accusation but tried to keep cool. The guy was feeling unsettled, and he was acting out a little. She decided to let it slide.

"It's not cutting and running, Clayton," she told him. "It's just being smart. This is a bad setup. We'll figure out a better one. But for now, I should go. I know you said she was running late, but if she shows up and sees me here, the whole thing is ruined."

Clayton walked over to the door of the study room and looked out, as if he had x-ray vision and could somehow see through the rows of stacks to locate Dana as she approached. Then, to Hannah's surprise, he closed the door. When he locked it, surprise turned to dismay.

"Why did you lock the door, Clayton?" she asked, a buzz of adrenaline shooting through her system.

He turned around to face her. "I just want to see what all the fuss is about," he said. "I kept hearing that you're this big-deal sleuth, you know?"

"What does that have to do with locking the door?" she asked cautiously.

He scratched his head nervously. "It's just that when I looked you up to see who this girl was who solved crimes, I was really blown away when I saw how hot you were."

The last comment set off alarm bells in Hannah's brain. Though she managed not to show it, her head started to spin. Multiple questions popped into it at once. Was any of what he'd told her real? Had she underestimated what this guy was capable of?

"Dana's not on her way here right now, is she Clayton?" she said. "And she's not stalking you."

He shrugged.

"She could be," he said with an unpleasant smile. "How would I know?"

In a flash, it all started to make sense to her.

"But the photo under the door," she said, "you took that yourself, didn't you? And Bridget's food poisoning had nothing to do with Dana, right? It was just a convenient way to make her seem menacing? Did you poison Bridget yourself?"

"I would never do something like that," he said unconvincingly as he took a step toward her. "That's very hurtful."

Hannah looked Clayton up and down. He wasn't a big guy, smaller than her in fact. But she knew better than to make assumptions about people's capabilities based on their size. Ash Pierce was tiny. The serial killer she'd shot dead, who was known as the Night Hunter, was an elderly man. She took a step back.

"You're making a mistake here," she said forcefully, standing as tall as she could. "Unlock the door, open it, and step aside. I might be willing to let this go if you stop now."

His smile twisted into an ugly grimace.

"What if I don't want to let this go?"