None yet
an excerpt

The panel where Lottie was standing had a crack running diagonally from the upper left corner of it, where a small piece had broken away. She bent down and examined it. She pressed at the wood where it was warped and something clicked. The panel fell open on hidden bottom hinges. She stared at it for a full 30 seconds before peering inside. A stack of five or six thin, bound leather volumes rested in the exposed cubby hole. Lottie hardly dared to breathe as she stared at them in excitement. Could these be secret documents? Maybe from the Sigma Society? Where better, really, to keep them from discovery than in a library in a frat house? She tugged at the biggest, which was on top, and had just pulled it into her lap when she froze. Male voices were coming down the hall. She prayed they’d pass by the library. They grew louder and finally stopped just outside.
Lottie slammed the panel shut quickly and stood up, still clutching the dusty volume. She looked around and saw nowhere to hide. Then she spotted a small door a little further down the wall from where she stood. It looked like some kind of tiny closet. She dashed over to it and it mercifully opened as the doorknob to the library turned. She dashed inside and pulled the door shut just as the library door swung open.

Chapter 13

The floor was moving.
Lottie reached out a hand to steady herself and touched stone. She tried to straighten up and her head bumped something metal. The floor beneath her swayed again. She couldn’t stand up straight, so she remained, crouched, clutching the leather book to her thudding chest. This closet, if that’s what it was, was just about the tiniest closet she’d ever seen. Or not seen, since it was pitch dark except for the crack of light around the door. Lottie willed herself to not breathe loudly as she heard the voices come further into the room and the library door shut again.
She leaned to the side to see if she could get a glimpse through the crack around the door and bumped into something scratchy. It was moving, too. Where was she? Tentatively reaching out, she touched the moving scratchy thing. It was…a piece of rope. Hanging from the ceiling. Except that now she looked, eyes adjusted to the dark, she couldn’t see a ceiling. Another crack of light, the same as the one surrounding the door in front of her, was shining from the same wall about ten feet above her. It was almost as if she were…in an elevator shaft. But that made no sense. She gave a tentative tug at the rope in front of her and she rose, floor and all, a couple of inches. The mechanism emitted the faintest of squeaks. Lottie stood absolutely still, her heart pounding.
She was in a dumbwaiter. Had to be. Old buildings and houses sometimes had these small half-sized elevators which were used to take food and drinks to floors above the kitchens. Hers appeared to be just a wooden platform hanging from ropes attached to what were probably pulleys, suspended in a stone or brick shaft. The Beta Xi house was only two stories, that she knew of. But it could have a basement, she supposed. Which meant she might be hanging suspended between the top floor and the basement at least fifteen feet below. Not a pleasant thought. Particularly since dumbwaiters weren’t meant to hold fully-grown women. And there was no telling how old this one was. She prayed the bottom would hold.
Forcing herself to be as quiet as possible, she lowered herself into a kneeling position onto the scratchy wood floor, still clutching the slim, wide leather volume. The voices, to which she hadn’t paid much attention until now, were raised in angry tones.
“How could you be so stupid?” came a vaguely familiar man’s voice. “I gave all of you specific instructions. Specific. You know what’s at stake.”
“Hunley said he knew which ones to take.”
Lottie gasped, too loudly. There was dead silence from the two and she sat still as stone, eyes wide and heart hammering.
“You didn’t hear anything, did you?” the first voice asked sharply.
“Probably guys in the rec room next door.”
Lottie forced herself to breathe, with difficulty. She felt as if her throat had closed up. The second voice was Walker’s.
“It doesn’t matter,” the first voice hissed. “What matters is I can’t believe I’m just finding this out now. It’s been two weeks. Two weeks, and even then you were almost caught.”
“I told you I took care of that. They didn’t call the police. We weren’t recognized,” Walker said.
“I don’t think you understand the importance of the tasks that have been set before your class, Bobby Lee.”
Bobby Lee? Lottie wondered.
“You’ve drilled it into our heads enough times. I thought we’d have autonomy to do as we saw fit this year. You’re no longer an active soldier, yet you’re reliving your glory days by bossing us around.”
“I’m here because your class has been chosen for a job more important than the usual crap. I’m here because a former Bobby Lee sent me. I’d have thought you, of all people, would revere the name you were given. The name above all others, highest in your class. I’ve seen no leadership from you.”
“Of course not,” Walker sneered. “The leadership has remained in your hands since last year, Abraham. It’s cost us, as you well know.”
“Don’t you dare lay that on me,” Abraham said quietly, dangerously. “The cadets, as we found out, aren’t always as worthy as they seem.”
Walker let out a howl of rage and Lottie heard flesh connect with flesh. There was a cry and a thud. She sat, eyes wide and wishing more than anything that she could see what was going on.
Words were exchanged, too quiet to hear. Everything was silent for a full minute as Lottie strained to catch the slightest sound. Springs on a couch creaked.
“…go back?” she heard Abraham growl.
“You know we will. Deo vindice. We’re doing God’s work. But I honestly don’t see the significance.”
“This piece bridges the gap, if anyone did much digging. If they knew her name, it would tie Bobby Lee to her and someone would make the connection.”
“So where is it?” Walker asked, resigned.
“Same row as last time, but this one is from Valentines Day. February 14, B5.”
Lottie swallowed.
“And it has to be done tonight, I guess.”
“When else? You’ve already screwed up once. But you took an oath and it’s your duty to protect a fellow soldier. He’d do the same for you.”
“He’s certainly done it for you,” Walker said sarcastically.
“Loyalty has its rewards. You’d do well to remember that.”
Their voices began to recede and Lottie heard the library door open. After it had closed again, she remained where she was. She didn’t dare move for several minutes and instead spent the time trying to digest what she’d just heard.