Peyton slept most of the following day and when she emerged from her cocoon of blankets, she had realized that she had missed three of the classes for the day. Not that she wanted to go, everything ached and she still couldn’t put much weight on her ankle. Instead, she pilfered an energy bar from Ann’s stash, put an ice pack on, and sat at her desk to write down everything that she remembered from the night before using a cute notebook she bought for classes but never actually opened.  

She spent almost an hour writing the events, then once she was done, she started searching for information online about all the people that were present. Starting with the easiest, Adriana Arnault, she made notes but found that most of the details were vague. Most of the information came from her profile on the company page, she was born in one of the former USSR states. She came out of nowhere with a start-up which earnt her enough money to acquire several other businesses. Then most recently she opened a new building in the city pouring millions into the infostructure. But other than that Peyron couldn’t find any real information.  Putting Adriana aside she decided to look up who exactly Mr. Grey was. It took her less time than she thought thanks to the little titbit of information Adriana gave about him being sat next to the police chief at some fundraiser the night before. He owned a few businesses around the state and was a big supporter of a local homeless charity.

She also checked the news to see if any bodies had been found in the last few hours, and found one result of a body which had been found by a passing jogger under a bridge that morning. It was written off as a homeless person which had committed suicide but Peyton couldn’t shake the feeling it was the knifeman.  She started to look for more articles to confirm it when Ann threw open the door and tossed some keys on the desk next to her.

“Wow, you look like shit.” Ann threw herself onto her bed. “Some RA told me to give those to you. You know it’s like 50 bucks every time you get a new one?”  

Peyton closed her search and spun the chair around to face her, trying to think of what to say. Ann was wearing a set of green college sweats and had her blond hair tied in a high pony. She must have been at the gym, Peyton thought as it was the only time the petite woman would be caught in anything but couture. “Hey to you too. I fell off my bike doing a job last night and spilled my bag so...” she said remembering the lie Stephen had said to use the night before.  

“Bullshit, you don’t own a bike.”   

“I bought one yesterday to help with work. Unfortunately, I managed to wreak it almost instantly.”  

“So that’s why you weren’t home till late?”   

“I wasn’t out that late,”   

Ann’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, “I know you weren’t home before one, cause that’s what time I went out.”  

“If you think that’s so late, what were you doing out?” she was desperate to deflect the question.  

“I heard there was a rager across campus but when I got there it turned out to be a total snooze fest. They did have some great tequila though. I crashed there. You still didn't say where you were.”  

“If you have know I didn’t finish my job till twelve. And it’s pretty hard to ride a bike when you can’t stand on both feet,” Peyton pointed toward the now liquid pack on her ankle.  

“Ouch,” Ann said dryly taking a candy bar out of her pocket. “So, who was the gorgeous guy I heard dropped you off.”  

“How did you know that?” She would know about that wouldn't she, Peyton thought as she struggled to think of a vague answer. “Just some guy that helped me out when I was limping back here last night”  

“Really and he just happened to leave a nine-hundred-dollar jacket?” she waved her bar to it on the back of the chair. “Seems more than just some guy. Are you sure you're just doing odd jobs and not anything extra?” She wiggled her eyebrows at the last part forcing Peyton to throw an eraser, the closest object to hand, at her.  

“You know you're a bit of a bitch right? He seriously was just some guy that gave me a lift home, I had been caught in the rain and guess he just felt sorry for me. I’m sure he'll be back for his jacket if he even remembers.”  

Ann scoffed but didn’t press it any further, instead, she put on her headphones and laid back in bed. Peyton concealed her sigh of relief, she had only known Ann for a few weeks but had learned very quickly she was an inquisitor when she wanted to find something out.  

Turning back to the desk she noticed that she still had a window open on her computer showing Adriana Arnaut at the benefit last night. The memory of watching her snap the man’s neck flashed through Peyton’s mind forcing her to shut the tab. Paranoia had her checking over her shoulder to see if Ann had noticed but her roommate was fast asleep. Shaking her head, she turned off her computer and stashed her notebook between some textbooks, where Ann wouldn’t be likely to snoop.  

Peyton was about to limp back to bed when a light knocking came from the door. Hoping that it was just one of Ann's friends she wobbled to the door only to find a courier holding a stiff envelope.  

“You Peyton Beauchamp?”   

“Yeah?” Normally packages went to the dorm's post room.  

“I need you to sign this,” they passed her an Electonic signature reader. Peyton gave it a quick squiggle and handed it back. The courier didn’t even check it as they handed her the envelope and left.  

Shutting the door Peyton hobbled to her bed and perched on the edge. The envelope was plain brown with no information other than her room and name. Carefully she tore it open to find a wad of paperwork. Printed across the top were the words “New employee contract”. Confused she leafed through the paperwork to find out no real information, not even a company name. She was about to put it on her side table, to deal with when she was more with it when a sticky note fell onto her lap. Stashing the papers, Peyton could feel her heart sink as she read it. Handwritten in immaculate scrip were two sentences. 

I look forward to working with you Miss Beauchamp.  

I’ll be in touch.  

It was unsigned but she knew it had to be from Adriana. Scrunching up she lay back on her bed, mind reeling. Maybe little time and some sleep would make her feel better, she thought playing with the wad of paper in her hand. Somewhere deep in the back of her mind, she could have sworn that she could hear herself laughing at her naivety.