Black and White Club: Illuminology (eBook)

Chapter
18

Bishop Avery walked back and forth on the church stage, practicing for the weekend service. She still needed to get with the church music director to review the song selection. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see Sari crossing the stage, carrying a plastic bag. “What’s in the bag?”

“The shank I took off your lioness.” Sari held up the bag. “She made it out of a toothbrush. Clever girl.”

“What’s the red stuff on the tip?” The bishop leaned in for a closer look.

“Blood. I needed to make a point to our guest, pun intended, and I wanted to get a DNA sample. Nothing better than blood. I’ll send it off to the lab. We should know in a couple of days. She didn’t make a sound as I was sticking her with the shank, so she’s not a normal college student.”

“How long will the results take?” Bishop Avery resumed walking around the stage. “I also just got a message from the ship. No updated ETA. When are you taking a ride out to our distribution group to tell them the shipment will be a little late?”

“I’ll put a rush on the order. We should know in forty-eight hours. Let me go find the girls for the road trip.” Sari turned and walked off, leaving Bishop Avery to her performance.

Josh hit the truck fob, the lights blinked twice, and the doors unlocked. He walked over to the driver’s side and pulled the door open. Syrin greeted him with a kiss. He grabbed her head and kissed her between the eyes. “Who’s a good girl?” Syrin’s tail thumped the leather. “Back seat.” Syrin hopped into the back, and Josh slid into the seat and shut the door.

Elena pulled her door open and climbed in. She turned to greet Syrin. “You must be the princess.” Syrin put her front feet on the console and gave Elena a lick. “Oh, thank you for that. You are a good girl. What’s your name?”

Syrin barked.

“Her name is Syrin.” Josh started the truck. “Any idea what Joe’s driving?” Josh scanned the lot for an approaching police vehicle.

“No, he was in his office when I got here.” Elena stroked Syrin on the head. “Syrin is such a pretty name for a princess.”

A white Ford Explorer exited a chain-link fence enclosure across the parking lot and headed toward them.

“I think I see Joe. White Ford Explorer.” Josh backed the truck out of the parking spot, waved to Joe in the Explorer, and followed him out of the parking lot. The two-car caravan turned left on Libra and then right on North Gemini Boulevard. Traffic was light, so they made it across campus in about fifteen minutes. Joe made a left turn onto Greek Court and pulled to the curb in front of a large Southern plantation building with white columns.

Josh parked behind the Explorer and cut the engine. Both Elena and Josh slid out of the truck. Elena carried her large black purse. Josh opened the rear door and let Syrin out.

“Syrin, sit.” Josh reached in and pulled out her green FBI working dog vest from the truck. He cinched it around her chest. “Syrin, heel.”

Josh walked over to Joe and Elena, who were waiting for him at the back of the Explorer. Syrin followed him close on his right hip.

“So, this must be the princess.” Joe reached down and scratched her head.

“Syrin, shake.” Josh looked at Syrin. She extended her right paw to Joe.

Joe shook her paw. “Nice to meet you, Syrin. What do you say we go in and meet some rich assholes?” Joe started walking toward the frat house, followed by Josh, Elena, and Syrin. “They call this place the mansion. It’s the largest and wealthiest fraternity on campus. They have a hundred and sixty brothers in the chapter; twenty-five brothers live in the house. They’re funded and sponsored by the Church of Illuminology.”

“Brothers?” Elena said. “This looks like the Massa’s house.”

“Yeah, not that kind of brother. Fraternity brother. Another name for rich, white, privileged asshole. Every kid here is the son of some wealthy businessperson, lawyer, or politician. They have a fleet of chapter cars parked on the side of the house, including Benzes, Beamers, Audis, and a Ford truck. They’ll probably make an offer on your truck, Josh, when they see it.”

They walked past a flagpole with the U.S. flag and the UCF flag flapping in a light breeze. On the right side of the flagpole was a replica of the Canaveral Light House with black and white stripes. On the left was a six-by-six-foot brown marble slab on a black steel pedestal. Fraternity Delta Faros was etched into the stone. After the display, a manicured path of painted red bricks led to the mansion porch. The mansion was a gray brick two-story with white trim and black shutters around each window. Seven white columns fronted a granite veranda porch that stretched across the front of the building. Two sets of white double doors led into the mansion. The lawn was meticulously maintained, and oak tree clusters grew on either side of the main house. Four large, evenly spaced, trimmed bushes screened the front of the porch. Syrin went over and “watered” the shrub on the right.

“You probably should have saved that for the house,” Joe said. He walked up the three stone steps to the porch and over to the double doors on the right. He pressed the doorbell on the right, pulled his credentials out of his pocket, and held them up to a camera mounted over the door. When it buzzed, he pulled it open and walked into the foyer. Josh, Elena, and Syrin followed him. The sound system started playing the theme song to Cops when they entered the house.

The foyer was large with a single round card table against a wall encircled by four folding chairs. The floor was dark brown mahogany with wide planks. The fraternity logo, complete with the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse, adorned the floor in the center of the room, surrounded by five stanchions connected with purple museum ropes so no one could walk on it. The walls were painted a dark royal blue, and white double doors graced each end of the room. The doors on the right swung open, and the music stopped.

“Sergeant. Friday? To what do we owe this honor?”

“Hi, Chad. Nice music choice,” Joe said. “This is FBI Special Agent Josh Martin and U.S. Marshal Elena Diaz. Guys, this is Chad Brown. He’s the president of the fraternity.” Josh and Elena shook hands with Chad. Chad looked like an athlete, about 180 pounds, with shoulder-length blond hair, a tan, and a surfer vibe. He sported a short-sleeved, dark royal blue polo shirt with the fraternity logo over the left breast, black gym shorts, and flip flops.

“So, what can we do for UCF’s finest today?” Chad looked at Joe.

“We need to ask you some questions about Friday night. Is there someplace we can chat, or would you prefer to come to my fraternity house?” Joe asked.

“Why don’t we talk in here?” Chad walked over to the set of doors he walked through and held the door open.

Joe, Josh, Elena, and Syrin followed Chad into the next room.

“Please, have a seat.” Chad gestured to a large maple conference table with five black leather office chairs on each side and a single chair on each end. “This is our study room.”

The room was painted in the same dark royal blue as the foyer with a bank of floor-to-ceiling windows trimmed in white along an entire side of the room, providing a view of a parking lot full of expensive European luxury cars. Chad took a seat at the head of the table. Josh sat to his right with Joe and Elena across from him. Syrin sniffed around the room and lay down next to a white air vent in the wall across from the bank of windows. She barked.

“Someone probably smells Delilah. She’s our fraternity golden retriever.” Chad looked over at Syrin. “She’s a beautiful dog. Is she a German Shepherd?”

“No, she’s a Belgian Malinois,” Josh said. “Her name is Syrin.”

“Oh, yeah, they say that breed does not have an off switch.” Chad laughed.

“That about sums her up,” Josh said. “So, back to business. We’re looking for Bri Castillo. She’s a UCF student, last seen at your party on Friday night. Elena, do you have a picture?”

Elena pulled an eight-by-ten photograph out of her purse and slid it across to Chad. Josh could tell by the picture it was her high school yearbook photo. Josh felt a buzz in his pocket. He pulled out his phone and looked at the text. It was an attachment from Becka. He tapped it twice, and two photos appeared on his screen: Kyle Furman and Dillion Kling.

Chad looked at the picture. “There were a lot of girls at the party. She could have been here or not. I don’t know, and I didn’t see her.” He pushed the photo back to Elena.

She retrieved the photo and put it into her purse. “You know, Chad, unlike our local police, lying to federal agents is a felony offense. I can think of a bunch of guys in federal lockup who would like to make you their girlfriend. What do you think, Agent Martin?”

“I definitely think he would be the president of the local sorority chapter.” Josh leaned over to Chad and put his phone in front of him.

“Tell me about Kyle Furman and Dillion Kling.” He tapped his screen, and the photos appeared on the screen. The blood drained from Chad’s face, and his pupils dilated.

“Elena, do you have the video?”

“I do.” She pulled her...