This wasn't happening. Was this really happening?
Those thoughts had repeated in Lacey's head on loop for the last two hours. The detectives did not reveal much other than Regina was deceased. Lacey asked if this was a homicide, a suicide or an accident and at first, they refused to giver her any details.
"Do I need a lawyer? Am I under arrest? I didn't do anything to Regina—"
"We know that, take a deep breath." One of the detectives made her a cup of coffee.
Lacey was asked to recount her general life all the way back to the first day of college and forward through the specific details of the last two weeks. She left nothing unsaid, the good, the bad, everything about her confrontations with Regina and her growing relationship with Danny. Everything.
Campus police first responded to Phoebe's break-in call as all available officers in their jurisdiction were working Regina Crane's case. Phoebe didn't know about Regina's death at first and was very upset with Syracuse PD's delay until the text finally came from Danny.
Danny: Lacey's at the police station. I'm headed there now, I don't know what's going on
Phoebe: What?! Is Lacey okay?
Danny: I don't know, Regina is dead. The rumor is Lacey killed her
Phoebe: You can't be serious?! Oh my god Danny
Danny: Where are you?
Phoebe: I'm here with Campus police it's a long story. I'll head to the station as soon as possible
Danny: I'll text you if I find out anything else
At this point, Danny and a few of his teammates sat inside the police station. He knew Lacey was inside somewhere, but hadn't seen her yet.
The guys had all heard varying versions of what happened and shared them freely, all of them ending with Lacey strangling Regina to death.
"Lacey wouldn't kill anybody." Danny grumbled, trying to shut them up.
"Lacey's RA said she heard her yell that she was going to kill Regina before storming out of their building today." Cole said as if he had been there himself.
"Don't repeat shit you know nothing about." Danny's patience was wearing thin.
"Did you text her?" Archie asked, sitting right by Danny's side and supporting him as much as he could.
Danny looked down at his phone, "Yeah, but she hasn't responded."
"Dude, what if she really did it?" Tyler asked to no one.
"She didn't do anything." Danny glared at him. If looks could kill, Tyler would be dead.
"You just said not to repeat something you know nothing about. You don't know if she did this, I'm just wondering what would happen if she did—"
Danny stood up and took a few steps toward Tyler. Archie leapt up in front of him, "Danny, Danny, sit down man, c'mon—"
"She didn't do it." Danny craned his head around Archie to address Tyler.
Tyler stood too, several inches taller and a solid thirty pounds of muscle heavier than Danny.
"You want to challenge me?" Tyler shook his head no, "You're not the only one who just lost a friend, you hear me?"
Archie walked Danny backward toward his seat, "It's okay, D. C'mon, c'mon." He coaxed him to sit back down.
Danny's nostrils flared, but he took Archie's lead and screwed his head back on straight. He knew Lacey didn't do this and Danny getting himself into trouble with a guy that could easily destroy him would in no way help him, her or make any of this better.
"What can you tell us about Josephine Masterson?" One of the detectives asked Lacey.
"Jo? She's in my art program."
"She was at the Halloween party with you?"
"She wasn't with me, I didn't see her. My roommate said she snuck off with her date though."
"Lacey, Jo is our primary suspect for the damage at the studio a couple weeks ago. There's a very good chance she's responsible for the break-in at your dorm today too."
"Jo?" Lacey was stunned.
"Regina's case is a homicide."
"Oh my god—"
"Regina had a restraining order against Jo last year. It expired this fall and Regina never refiled her complaint. We think that's because Jo moved on, to you."
"Are you serious?" Lacey's breathing became erratic.
"Jo used to sabotage Regina much the same way we believe she's been targeting you."
"Why?"
"Danny Desai."
"Danny?"
"Jo is obsessed with Danny. Danny helped us last year with Regina's case. He opted not file an order on her and instead continued on as friends with Jo so he could protect Regina further."
That sounded like Danny.
"We believe Jo strangled Regina in a rage when she told Jo that you and Danny are now dating. We believe your life is in danger."
"I can't believe this, she's always been fine toward me—"
"We're not going to sugarcoat this, we need your help."
Lacey shifted in her seat, her anxiety rising, "What can I do?"
"Jo's smart, Danny knows this too. Her father is the chief of police in the city where she grew up. We won't find evidence that she killed Regina. If we're going to end this, we need to catch her admitting to this crime." One detective explained.
"We want you to wear a wire and continue on with your daily routine." The other detective revealed.
"How would that protect me exactly?"
"It won't, but we'll always be watching, listening."
"What if I say no?"
"We'd recommend you leave this school, maybe even change your identity."
"So, because your suspect is smarter than you, I am either responsible for catching her or I need to change my entire life?"
"I know how scary this sounds."
"Who will know?"
"Danny will know. My partner is talking to him right now, he'll be wired up also."
"Phoebe should know too, she's my roommate and she deserves to know her life is in danger—"
"Okay, we'll bring Phoebe up to speed." The detective signaled for someone to find Phoebe ASAP.
The detectives gave Lacey several different wire options for all of her potential wardrobe choices. They explained how to use each one and that there would always be at least one undercover officer on campus nearby at all times.
"What if she never confesses?"
"Then at least you'll have free security watching you for the foreseeable future. Just do your thing, nothing fancy. Got it?"
Lacey reluctantly agreed and was immediately fitted for one of the wires right then and there. As the detective taped the tiny mic to Lacey's chest he looked up at her.
"Let's work out a few safe words. The most important is the one you will say if you need us to show up, if you ever feel that your life is in imminent danger."
Lacey squirmed under the gravity of having to even think about this. Her life two months ago included dreams of hard work, fun social events and lots of time doing what she loved most, creating art. Never in her widest nightmares did she anticipate ever having a target on her back and wearing a wire for the police.
She wanted to talk to Danny so bad, to understand more about what he had really been dealing with last year. Her mind wandered, did Danny only want to start a relationship because he knew she was now on Jo's radar? Was he only trying to protect her? Was their infatuation even real? Lacey was frustrated with it all.
"Lacey?"
"I'm sorry, how about a phrase, like 'I said stop'?" Lacey decided, anticipating trying to stop a confrontation with Jo and Jo ignoring her first plea. This was some shit.
"Okay. You'll need another one for times you wish to turn the recording off."
"Oh—um." Lacey never wanted to turn it off.
Isn't that how stalkers worked? Every TV show she had ever seen always had people like Jo waiting to attack when their victim was at their most vulnerable.
"It is okay to leave it on, but there may come a time when you change your mind, just tell us what's going on before you turn it off, like for how long, etc."
"Okay."
"You're an art major, right?" The detective asked.
"Yes."
"Time to test your acting skills."
"I'm a painter, this is completely out of my wheelhouse."
While Lacey had been speaking with the detectives, the Syracuse police department held a press conference to address the public. They did not disclose the manner of Regina's death and declined to confirm if they had any persons of interest in the case.
The chief advised that they felt there was no immediate threat to the community or to other students. They hoped that the information would take the focus off of Lacey and pull attention to the tip line they had set up.
The detectives made a point to release all of the students that had been brought in to give statements all around the same time. This was also an attempt to blend Lacey in with the group and not make it seem like they had extended communication with her.
Lacey walked out into the lobby of the station with several other students. She tried to act normal, but felt like everyone was staring at her. She made her way down the front steps and attempted to order an Uber.
Before she could place her order, she saw Danny moving toward her at an accelerated rate of speed. The moment he got his hands on her he held on tighter than he ever had before.
Lacey melted against him, feeling safe for the first time all day. This new level of anxiety had taken more out of her than she had even realized. He held her, their faces buried into each other's necks.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Danny." Lacey knew this whole situation had to have weighed heavily on him.
He cried, tears falling easily as he absorbed Lacey's sympathies. She rubbed his back and let him fall apart. They had so much they needed to talk about, but one thing stood out to Lacey above them all. Did Danny have ulterior motives for them this whole time?
Danny hadn't lied to her, but he withheld the whole truth. Lacey knew now that it was necessary, but she couldn't help but think of what else she didn't know. Could she really trust him and should they stay a couple now that it was so obvious that she really knew nothing about him?
Danny could feel Lacey's wire and the reality of their situation came crashing back into his focus. He knew that Lacey now knew all about his true affiliation with Jo. He pulled away and wiped his face, trying to pull himself together enough to shift gears and get their collective goal at the forefront of their existence.
"You okay?" Danny asked, knowing full well she was not okay.
Lacey stared at him, terror and uncertainty all over her face. She couldn't even begin to answer. Danny nodded and reached for her hands. Lacey pulled them away.
"I need to go back to my place and sort this all out—I just need a minute."
"Lacey—"
Danny felt like almost begging her to stay with him. He had lost the one person he had tried to protect for a whole year, he didn't want to risk losing her now too.
"This must be so painful for you Danny, I can't imagine. I'm sorry I was so shitty to her—"
Danny closed his eyes, he didn't want to go there right now. Regina had been the real asshole, but they had shared a lot together and he was going miss her. There was just so much he and Lacey had to talk about.
"Please, Lacey, come back to my place tonight?"
"Lacey! Oh my god, Lacey—" Phoebe had a similar reaction to seeing her roommate and ran up to squeeze her tight.
Jo had walked up next to Danny, her eyes swollen from crying. Lacey tried to keep her focus on Phoebe while Danny had to pretend like Jo hadn't just murdered one of his friends.
"Hey Danny."
"Hey Jo." Danny pulled Jo in for a hug just like he had given Lacey.
Lacey was surprised he could act as well as he did, but it also kind of scared her further. He had worked to help the police for a year now, was he really on her side?
"I can't believe she's gone." Jo sniffled against his chest.
Danny pulled back first and held her face, his own tears returning, "I know, I know."
"So is it true?!" Jo fumed, turning toward Lacey, "Did you do this?!" She screeched, lunging for her.
Danny grabbed Jo and restrained her, holding her back while Lacey's eyes grew several sizes.
"That's enough! We're not going to do this, Jo. Lacey didn't do this and you know it, let the police do their job." He said ominously.
Jo struggled against Danny's too-tight grip until she realized she had no chance to get away from him. Once she calmed down she put on her best puppy-dog face and promised Danny she was calm. This bitch was crazy.
"I'm sorry Lacey, I guess I'm just, I'm in shock."
Lacey stepped up closer, the four of them the only ones in the sea of their classmates who knew that Jo was responsible for Regina's death.
"I didn't kill anyone Jo and honestly, the last time we talked you weren't the biggest fan of Regina's either. I thought we were cool."
Jo's face remained neutral as Lacey attempted to stand up for herself and simultaneously deescalate Jo's after-murder anxiety. Lacey hoped that if she showed her they were going to remain friends that maybe she could pull Jo closer and get her to confess something eventually.
Jo was hoping for something similar, thinking that if she went with this and befriended Lacey, maybe she'd be able to win Danny over. If it didn't work, well, Jo was sure that she could help Lacey have an accident too.
Jo smiled, "You're right, I'm just so shook up by all of this."
"So, we're cool?"
"We're cool. I'll see you in class." Jo smiled.
"Fuck me." Phoebe sighed as Jo disappeared into the crowd.