03

4

"Belinda? I don't know her." Harold shook his head, his face arranged into just the right amount of confusion.

"I'm a second-year in the med school. I don't really cross paths with students from other departments. I only heard about this a minute ago, standing outside the dining hall when the advisor was going on about it."

He said it easily, and even reached over to hand me a napkin.

"Try not to worry too much. You already reported it, right? They'll get to the bottom of it. And if people start talking behind your back, don't take it to heart. The truth speaks for itself."

Watching Harold play the picture of righteous concern, I gripped that napkin with its faint scent of cedar cologne, my nails almost digging into my palm.

I hadn't expected him to be shameless enough to say something like that.

But to send him to hell too,

I could only crush the anger down and keep playing along.

I sniffed and put on the look of someone still shaken. "Thank you, senior. You're so kind. When Belinda ran, I tried to stop her, and my legs are still weak from it. Everyone thinks I'm crazy. At least you believe me."

"If it were me in that spot, I'd probably be more rattled than you." Harold smiled and slid over a cup of iced orange juice he'd just bought.

"It's hot out. Have something cold, calm down a little. If you ever run into trouble on campus, come find me. I'm Harold."

I wrapped my hands around the cup and put on a moved expression. "Thank you, Harold. You're really too kind."

I softened my voice on purpose, even let a little catch of tears into it.

Seeing me like that, the wariness in his eyes thinned a little more.

He'd already decided that I'd only stumbled into wrecking Belinda's plan by accident.

Everything else, I knew nothing about.

He smiled again. "It's nothing. We're all students here. Helping each other out is only right."

He chatted with me about a couple of harmless bits of campus gossip, then picked up his tray and left first.

On his way out he made a point of telling me again that if anyone gave me trouble, I could come to the med school and find him anytime.

The moment Harold's back disappeared out the dining hall doors, I poured that orange juice straight into the slop bucket beside me.

I wasn't about to drink anything he handed me. Who knew whether he'd slipped in something to muddle my head.

Full and satisfied, I made my way back to the dorm at an easy pace.

My other two roommates were named Patricia Chavez and Margery Finch.

In my last life, both of them had taken payoffs from Belinda.

After I went missing, when my family came to the school looking for me,

the two of them swore up and down that I'd run off with some dyed-blond boy from off campus.

So even years after I was dead, my case was still handled as a disappearance.

When I walked in, they were sitting on their beds whispering to each other.

The second they saw me come in, they clammed up, eyes darting away.

I couldn't be bothered to waste words on them. I'd settle every account, one at a time.

I just grabbed my thermos and headed to the water room to fill it.

But I'd barely reached the corner of the hallway when I heard Patricia making a call in a hushed voice.

I quickly eased back out of sight.

"Yeah, Josephine's back. Nothing off about her, she just ignored us. Okay, got it. If anything comes up, I'll let you know."

Hearing Patricia's exchange with whoever was on the other end, I couldn't help smiling.

Just as I thought. These two were in on it too.

In that case, don't blame me for burying you all together.

04

5

Over the next few days, all kinds of gossip about me started making the rounds on campus.

Some people said I'd falsely accused Belinda; others said I was just chasing attention, trying to make a name for myself.

I knew the rumors had to be coming from Harold.

The whole point was to figure out whether I really had no other evidence in hand.

So I played along, turning his own scheme back on him.

I acted like I knew nothing at all. Went to class when I had class, went to the library when I had library time. I even made a point of asking the class representative about it, wanting to know whether Kindred Care Clinic really had a problem, whether I might actually have wronged Belinda.

That wavering, guilty-looking act of mine spread fast.

Sure enough, within two days, Harold came looking for me.

That day, I'd just laid out the study materials I'd borrowed when he sat down across from me with a stack of textbooks in his arms.

When he saw me, he made a point of looking surprised. "What a coincidence. Josephine, you come to the third-floor reading room a lot too?"

I looked up, gripping my pen, and put on my own surprised face. "Yeah, I really like studying here. Harold, do you come here often?"

"Mm. When my lab work runs late, I usually sit here a while and sort through my data." He spread his books open and pushed the thin-framed glasses up his nose.

"These last few days I've heard from the professors in the department that a lot of people are talking behind your back. Don't take it to heart. If you really feel wronged, I can go with you to speak to the college administration and have them help clear things up."

I quickly set down my pen and let myself look flustered and grateful. "There's no need to trouble yourself, Harold. The truth speaks for itself, and I've got a clear conscience. Belinda's the one who did something shady in the first place. If she had nothing to hide, there's no way she'd still be locked up now. I'm not going to let her sell me out and then help her count the money..."

At the end, I forced out a small, timid smile.

Playing the part of a poor student who'd been badly frightened but was still forcing herself to stay tough, right down to the bone.

Harold glanced at my faintly trembling hands, and the smile in his eyes deepened.

He put on a serious expression. "That may be true, but people's words are frightening. A lot of them have no brains at all, they just parrot whatever others spread around. You're a first-year who just started, and if you get saddled with a reputation for slandering a classmate, it'll follow you when you're looking for jobs or applying to doctoral programs. Actually, I know a little about Kindred Care. My advisor is an old acquaintance of the clinic's former director. Why don't I take you to ask around? If there really is a problem, we can help you get solid proof, and shut those people up. What do you think?"

Hearing Harold say that, I couldn't help laughing to myself.

I hadn't expected him to take the bait this easily.

Then I jerked my head up, my eyes bright, like I'd just spotted my savior. "That would be wonderful, Harold! Honestly, these past few days I've been so afraid I got it all wrong... If we could clear this up, then I'd finally have some peace of mind."

"Don't worry, leave it to me." Harold smiled.

"If there really is something wrong over there, I'll definitely find a way to make them answer for it!"

I nodded quickly, looking overwhelmed with gratitude. "Thank you so much, Harold. You're such a good person, I don't even know how I'll ever repay you..."

"No need to repay me, it's nothing at all." Harold waved it off and chatted with me a bit more about coursework.

It looked like idle conversation, but the whole time he was fishing sideways, trying to find out whether I'd told anyone anything after I filed the report that day.

I played dumb, giving nothing away no matter what he asked.

I only said that after the police took Belinda away that day, they'd had me give a statement, and I hadn't heard anything since, and I hadn't dared to push them about it.

That put Harold's mind completely at ease.

Before he left, he even arranged to meet me the next morning at eight at the campus gate.

I nodded, playing up my excitement, and watched him walk off with his books.

After Harold left, I lowered my head and wrote tomorrow's date in my notebook, drawing a bold red circle around it.

I murmured to myself, "Harold, this time let's see where you run."

That very night, I called the officer in charge of the case.

After I'd filed the report that day, the police had already been keeping an eye on Kindred Care Clinic.

They just hadn't found enough evidence to close the net.

The ring had connections that reached far and wide, and Harold and his people worked with extreme care.

On the surface, Kindred Care had all the proper paperwork; without hitting their den, there was no way to get real evidence.

When the officer heard that the ringleader had asked to take me to the clinic, he laughed on the spot.

He gave me his word, all confidence. "As long as you can lure Harold and his people into the basement operating room and we find solid evidence, we can take the whole ring down at once. And you'll get a sizable reward on top of it."

I didn't refuse.

Free money, after all, wasn't something you turned down.

I agreed to the officer's plan without a second thought.

After I hung up, I sat on my bed and looked out at the moon.

The cold from the moment right before I died in my past life came creeping back over me.

I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms.

Tomorrow, all of it would finally be over.

Harold and Belinda would both pay for what they'd done!

Everything they owed me, I was going to take back, every last bit of it!