Gregory Girls Gone Wild - Chapter 38: Chapter 38

After the events at the Greenhouse, Rainey kept a relatively low profile on campus. Between work and school, she spent quite a bit of time, surprisingly, in the Theater auditorium, where Fiona was organizing her first play.
Apparently, a lot of people had quit the Theater department after last semester's accident.
"People were afraid that our lack of budget would create more disasters," Fiona explained sorrowfully. "We barely have enough crew for tech and background sets."
Feeling partly responsible, Rainey volunteered to help create the scenery in the play. She sketched the outline of a great gray castle with whatever skill she could remember from high school art class. On another canvas, she attempted to paint a tree, or if she tilted her head, a green moose.
"This is horrible," she declared, after inspecting her artwork.
"Don't say that," Fiona remarked. She searched for an accurate word to describe the painting. "It's...unique."
Rainey squinted her eyes. That was when the auditorium doors flew open with a BANG.
"Really nice pictures there," Danika arrived. She stretched her arms above her head, her jean jacket revealing a flash of her midriff. "Is that supposed to be the Lochness Monster?"
"It's a tree," Rainey said indignantly.
"Ah, yes," Danika nodded knowingly. "Treeficus Horrificus."
"It's not a monster!"
Danika laughed, sounding like wind chimes on a perfect day.
"What are you doing here anyway?" Rainey asked bossily. Despite being at numerous parties together, she was weirded out by Danika and her girlfriend alone in the same room.
"Actually, Rainey," Fiona began, sounding apologetic. "Danika is going to play Rapunzel in my new play."
"What?" Rainey exclaimed
"Thus with a kiss, I die," Danika said dramatically.
"Erm, that's Romeo and Juliet." Fiona raised an eyebrow. "But it's nothing a little practice won't fix!"
Rainey was so astonished that she lost the ability to speak for a minute. Shaking herself out of a stupor, she pulled Fiona backstage. "I'm confused. Why is Danika in your play?"
Fiona looked defensive. "I asked her to. Is that so bad? I liked her acting in Peter Pan—she's really talented. Plus, she's the only one tall enough to pull off the long blonde wig in that one scene."
Rainey frowned, disapproving to the tenth degree.
"But isn't your play...gay?" she asked tentatively.
Fiona smiled. "You're so old-fashioned. Actresses don't care who they kiss."
Rainey scratched her head. For some reason, she found the idea of Fiona and Danika working together uncomfortable. She ran out of arguments, however, and let Fiona go, watching as she chatted with Danika about auditions and rehearsal dates.
"I only casted you and one other person, right now," Fiona admitted. "We're going to have to hold auditions if you're up for it."
"Definitely," Danika said confidently. "I've missed Theater. I can't wait to be in a play again!"
They were getting along, Rainey observed, displeased, Danika's bubbly nature matching Fiona's go-with-the-flow energy. She did notice that they were a little too bright and perky in dealing with each other, as if there was some uncleared air between them.
Wasn't Fiona jealous of her at one point? Rainey wondered, almost stabbing the canvas with her paintbrush. Maybe it was one of those girl things she couldn't understand...except she was a girl...Rainey scratched her chin.
She let the canvas dry under the familiar heat of the lights. The bright lights simmered down, beaming harshly against her eyes. Before re-entering the auditorium, Rainey had requested that a maintenance worker check the lights that hung on the ceiling. Even though the maintenance worker assured her that everything was properly suspended—Fiona even called in another guy who agreed with the supposition, Rainey avoided being directly under the lights for longer than a minute. Even Danika's eyes, she noticed, were drawn often to the light, as if she was checking, always remembering.
Rainey approached her warily. "What made you want to act in Fiona's play?"
Danika shrugged. "She asked me to. It was between this and Cordelia's self-written autobiography of her cat's death. The Chronicles of Cordy and the Dying Cat. Rapunzel sounded way cooler, honestly."
"You know what kind of play this is, right?" Rainey brought up again, trying to get someone finally to see her point. "Are you comfortable doing that sort of thing?"
"Doing what sort of thing?" Danika asked, confused.
"You know...kissing girls."
A look passed between the two of them.
"I'm a great actress, Rainey," Danika said carefully.
"No, yeah, for sure." Rainey was beginning to feel triggered, memories of last semester flashing in her mind. Her ears felt warm.
"Uh, anyway," Danika said, lowering her voice. "Have you gone to see Detective Nguyen yet?"
"No, I'm going to swing by the police station later this afternoon," Rainey said, surprised. "Have you?"
"I did. I told her everything that I knew," Danika said. "She's really interested in your side of the story."
Fiona glanced at them inquisitively, causing Rainey to hastily end their discussion. This could lead to trouble, she predicted, if Fiona were to see them having secret conversations frequently. She waved at Fiona, and blew a nonchalant kiss. Danika looked unimpressed.
This is going to be a pain in the ass, Rainey thought, not for the first nor last time.
****
At the police station, Detective Nguyen welcomed her into a small and cramped office, located in the cold basement. Rainey sat rigidly on a aging carpet couch while politely declining a plate of cookies from Detective Nguyen's desk. She couldn't believe Danika had forced her into this.
"Why don't you tell me what you know, Rainey?" Detective Nguyen asked. "No judgements, no reservations. If you're fully cooperative with me, I promise to keep you safe and anonymous."
"Okay," Rainey said uncertainly. She leaned back, her body unfortunately sinking into the couch.
"Go on," Detective Nguyen urged. She seemed like a workaholic of the extreme kind, working late on a Saturday night, her desk stacked with miles of police reports.
Taking a deep breath, Rainey delved into what seemed like an exhaustive recounting of her year. She told the detective almost everything she knew about the Phoenix Kings, from Ethan poisoning her to meeting Sam Stabbings. She omitted the parts where she felt like she was too much of an active participant, such as attending the meetings or calling Loralie multiple times without knowing she was an informant.
"So you've met Sam Stabbings?" Detective Nguyen asked incredulously. "He's an incredibly hard man to find."
"Yes, his office is in the main administrative building," Rainey explained. "But he seems to know when people want to visit. His office is cleared out when he doesn't want to meet anyone."
"Yes, it seems like he has some kind of access to surveillance equipment on campus," Detective Nguyen remarked. "Which is worrisome, obviously. He's someone I'd love to take in for questioning."
"I'm also concerned about Mickey O'Brien." Rainey cleared her throat. "He's the one that tampered with the light that almost killed my friend. I don't feel safe with him on campus, especially when I don't know whose side he's on."
"Mickey O'Brien?"
"Yes, he's a Phoenix Kings member. He's also a personal assistant to Dean Perry."
"Interesting." Detective Nguyen scribbled something down furiously. "I'll check him out for you. But let me warn you now—so you don't get your hopes up—that if we don't have enough evidence, we might not be able to charge him with anything."
"Right," Rainey said dully. What was the point of even talking to this woman?
"I'm worried about this Ethan Kankle," Detective Nguyen said suddenly. "According to you and your friend's stories, he was your boss-turned-employee who poisoned and tricked you into the Phoenix Kings. He sounds like a dangerous kid. Why do you continue to work with him?"
Rainey blinked. "Oh, yeah. Ethan's a dick. But he's not as dangerous as say, Mickey or some of the other members. Ethan's more of a follower." She was surprised at her own words, that she really felt that way about Ethan. "I think the Phoenix Kings changed him more than anything."
"It doesn't matter," Detective Nguyen said impatiently. "If you willingly sign up for a violent, anti-authoritarian group like that, you're a criminal, no doubt about it."
"That's a little...black and white."
"Black and white categories are needed in this world!" Detective Nguyen exclaimed. "If you kids had talked to the police sooner, we could have helped significantly!"
Rainey bit her tongue. Help, how?
"Never mind that," Detective Nguyen said dispassionately. "We have to work with what we have. You told me that you received an invitation for a camping trip in...February, is that correct?"
Rainey nodded.
"That seems like a simple gathering—I suspect for group morale," Detective Nguyen said thoughtfully. "I'm more interested in the higher levels of the Phoenix Kings, like the activities of Mickey O'Brien and Sam Stabbings. If you can find more information on them, that would be most beneficial to the case. Also, if you can gather any paper trail on them too."
"What do you mean?"
"Letters or emails with the name 'Phoenix Kings' printed, along with a written indication of a meeting or illegal activity. Something that proves their existence in a tangible way, which we can piece together."
Rainey picked at a stray thread in the couch lining. "I can try."
"I don't want you to put yourself in any unnecessary danger, Rainey."
"Don't worry, I won't."
"But I do have something for you." Detective Nguyen took out a key and unlocked a cabinet in her desk. "We specially acquired this device for you and Loralie because you're in direct contact with upper level Phoenix King members." She took out a tiny pin microphone. "This thing costs a fortune in my department. It's the reason I'm stuck in the basement, dueling with rats in the wall."
Rainey circumspectly checked the room for rodents, before accepting the mic from the detective. "What does it do? Is it for eavesdropping?"
"It's a wireless listening device," Detective Nguyen explained. "It directly uploads whatever audio it picks up to a database secured by the university police. Whenever you feel like you're going to hear something important, I want you to clip this device onto the inside of your shirt. Not your pocket or a purse, okay?"
Rainey marveled at the small device.
"Do you understand the seriousness of this situation, Rainey Dumar?"
"I do."
"Then let's take this group down."