My phone lit up again. Adrian: "Emma, please respond. Let me know you're safe."
Kai: "I'm outside your dorm. Need to talk to you. It's important."
I looked down at the SD card in my palm, then at the messages from both of them.
Rachel was right about one thing: I was already in the game. The only choice now was whether I'd be a player or a pawn.
I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and typed a response to Adrian: "I'm fine. Just couldn't sleep. Going for a walk to clear my head."
To Kai: "I'm not at the dorm. I'll text you tomorrow."
Then I slipped the burner phone into my pocket next to my regular phone, tucked the SD card into my bra for safekeeping, and headed down the stairs.
The game was on.
And I was going to find out who killed my sister.
Even if it meant destroying everyone around me in the process.
I didn't go back to my dorm that night. Instead, I walked the campus until dawn, my mind racing with everything Rachel had told me. By the time the sun rose over Riverside's Gothic spires, I'd made several decisions.
First: I needed to see what was on that SD card.
Second: I needed to keep playing both sides until I figured out who was friend and who was foe.
Third: I needed to stop being a victim and start being a investigator.
Sarah had been brave enough to come here alone, to dig into a dangerous family's secrets, to risk everything for the truth. The least I could do was finish what she started.
I slipped into my dorm room just after six AM, exhausted but wired. My roommate still hadn't arrived a small blessing. I pulled out my laptop and the SD card, my hands shaking slightly as I inserted it.
The card contained dozens of folders, meticulously organized. Financial records. Email screenshots. Audio recordings. Photographs. And a video file labeled "WATCH THIS FIRST - E."
E. For Emma. Sarah had left me a message.
I clicked on it, and my sister's face filled the screen. She looked thinner than I remembered, dark circles under her eyes, but her expression was determined.
"Hey, little sis." Her voice cracked, and so did my heart. "If you're watching this, it means something happened to me. And it means Rachel kept her promise to find you." She took a shaky breath. "I'm so sorry, Emma. I'm sorry I lied to you about where I was. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you the truth. But I need you to understand why I did this."
She held up a photograph a man I didn't recognize, but who had the same dark eyes as both Sarah and me. "This is our father. Our real father. James Kim. He was a good man, Emma. A journalist who believed in truth and justice. And the Blake family killed him for it."
Tears streamed down my face as I watched.
"I know this is a lot to process. Trust me, it took me months to accept it. Mom and Dad David they never told us because they wanted to protect us.
They thought if we didn't know about James, we'd be safe from the people who killed him." Sarah's expression hardened. "But I found out by accident my freshman year. I found Mom's old letters, James's articles, everything. And I couldn't let it go. I couldn't let his death mean nothing."
She leaned closer to the camera. "Everything you need is on this card. Bank records showing Blake Enterprises laundering money through shell corporations. Emails between Marcus Blake and known criminals.
Testimony from witnesses who were paid off or threatened into silence. And most importantly" She paused dramatically. "proof that both James's accident and mine were arranged by the same person. A fixer the Blake family keeps on payroll. His name is Vincent Cross, and he specializes in making murders look like accidents."
My blood ran cold.
"Emma, you're smarter than me. More careful. And you have something I didn't access to Adrian Blake. I was starting to think he might be different from his family, that maybe he could help expose them.
But I never got the chance to find out." Her eyes glistened with tears. "Please be careful. Trust your instincts. And remember: the most dangerous predators are the ones who make you feel safe."
The video ended, freezing on Sarah's face alive, determined, unaware that she had only days left to live.
I sat there in the darkness of my dorm room, crying silently, until my phone buzzed. My regular phone, not the burner.
Kai: "I know you're avoiding me. Can we please talk? I'm at the campus coffee shop. I'll be here until you show up. I don't care how long it takes."
Then Adrian: "I have your coffee order memorized now. Caramel latte, extra shot, no whip. Am I right? I'm outside the dining hall. Join me for breakfast?"
How did Adrian know my coffee order? We'd barely spoken.
I looked at both messages, then at Sarah's frozen face on my laptop screen. The most dangerous predators are the ones who make you feel safe.
Time to find out which one was which.
I chose Kai first. Better the devil you know, right? Or in this case, the childhood friend who was supposedly seeking revenge.
The campus coffee shop was called "The Grind," and it was already packed with early-morning students. I spotted Kai immediately he'd claimed a corner table with two empty coffee cups in front of him. He looked exhausted, his usually perfect hair messy, his eyes red-rimmed.
When he saw me, relief flooded his face. He stood so quickly he nearly knocked over his chair.
"Emma. Thank God." He moved toward me, like he wanted to hug me, but stopped himself. "I was so worried. You weren't in your dorm, you weren't answering detailed texts"
"How did you know I wasn't in my dorm?" I kept my voice level, casual, but I was cataloging everything. Every tell, every microexpression.