“You forgot to mention that book guy is a student,” Nate said, a little miffed. None of the other Randolph students had been helpful so far, so his expectations for Christopher Little were quite low.
“Isn’t that Olivia?” Vince asked, nodding across the quad.
Nate’s head snapped quickly in that direction. Even before he spotted her, he knew it was Olivia. It was like the nerves in his body could feel that she was nearby. When he did finally see her, his breath caught in this throat.
Olivia, wearing in a perfectly fitting dress that hugged her curves, strode quickly. Her long, toned legs caught the attention of many young, male eyes. Nate’s mind instantly recalled images from the previous night when those legs had been wrapped around him.
“Dude. You are so smitten,” Vince said with a mocking laugh. “Not that I blame you. That woman is fine.”
“Shut up, Monroe.” Nate hurried to wipe the smile from his face. Olivia was making it very hard for him to maintain his tough guy demeanor. “We are here to work.”
Vince smirked. “Sure. If you say so.”
“You’re really starting to get on my nerves, Monroe. Maybe I should put in for a new partner.” Olivia went through the door of the nearest building and only then was Nate able to turn away.
Christopher’s dorm was on the other side of the science building. Nate let Vince take the lead finding the room. He was still thinking about Olivia and how good she looked in that dress.
“3F,” Vince said, stopping in front of a door that looked just like all of the others in the hall. In the middle of the slab of fading gray paint, a white board was covered with scribbled messages. Nate could see at least three different phone numbers, an invite to a party, and a poorly drawn picture of a man and a goat engaging in what appeared to be very painful sexual activity.
“Classy,” Nate said, rapping hard on the door.
Vince shrugged. “You remember what college was like. No one is too worried about being classy at that age.”
Nate did remember college, but his experience hadn’t exactly been normal. In between the classes and parties, he had split his time taking care of his mother. Even Olivia didn’t know the details of Nate’s past. It wasn’t exactly something he liked to talk about.
The door opened slowly and the young man on the other side blinked at them through glazed eyes. “Yeah?” he said in a scratchy voice.
“Christopher Little?” Vince asked as they both flashed their badges.
The young man barely glanced at their identification. “Right. I called you guys.”
Nate couldn’t decide if the kid was still asleep or high. “Yes, you did.”
“Uh…” He glanced over his shoulder before opening the door wider. “Yeah, okay. Come on in.”
It was a typical dorm room. A twin bed lined each wall, one of them neatly made and the other a rumpled mess. Nate didn’t have to guess which one belonged to Christopher. Above the crumpled covers, half-naked women stared down at them from the wall.
“Do you want to sit?” the kid asked. He kept fidgeting his hands and scanning the room.
Nate had interviewed enough guilty people to know that he was making sure nothing illegal was visible. Probably weed. “We’re fine. This won’t take long.”
“Why were you in the park at that time of the morning?” Vince asked.
“I was leaving a party. It’s quicker to cut through the park than to go around.” More fidgeting. He scratched his neck hard enough to leave red marks. “That’s when I found it.”
“Found what?” Nate asked impatiently. It was clear the kid was lying about why he had been in the park, but there was no way he was the killer. He had probably been buying pot.
Christopher walked over to the nearest desk and picked up a book. Nate winced. If it actually was evidence, it was officially contaminated. He reached into his pocket and pulled out latex gloves. Only after he snapped them on did he reach for the book.
It was a dark cover with large type-facing: Hunting in the Dark. Nate didn’t have to read the author name.
“Olivia Thompson’s book?” Without waiting for a reply, he flipped open the cover.
“Yeah, she’s a professor on campus,” Christopher explained. “She’s like, young and super-hot.”
Nate stopped flipping through pages long enough to glare at the kid. “Where exactly did you find this?”
“On the park bench up by the walking path. It was standing up, like someone had put it that way on purpose.” Now that he had gotten started talking, he was having trouble stopping. “It’s about serial killers. The book, I mean. I took her class last year. I mean, I signed up because of this contest my friends and I were having, but-”
“Contest?” Vince interjected.
“Yeah, we had this bet about who could be the first one to sleep with a professor. And I figured if I was going to win, I might as well go after the hottest professor.”
Nate’s jaw clenched. “Don’t speak unless we ask you a question.”
“Whatever,” he grumbled.
After flipping through several pages, Nate turned to Vince. “Hand me a bag. There’s definitely some writing in here we need to examine.”
Vince opened an evidence bag and Nate dropped the book inside. He was keeping a cool demeanor, but inside he was fuming. The book had been left as a threat and because this stupid punk had waited so long to come forward, they had been missing a key piece of evidence and the only official connection to Olivia
“You’ll need to come into the station,” Nate said, snapping of his gloves and handing the kid a business card. “We need to take your statement and take your prints.”
“My prints? I didn’t kill that girl!” He started scratching again.
“Relax.” Vince tucked the book under his arm. “We need your prints so we can exclude them from any other prints we find on the book.”
Christopher relaxed slightly. “Oh. Okay.”
Nate was already reaching for his phone, preparing to send a message to Olivia letting her know that he needed to see her.
“How did that bet end up working out?” Vince asked just as the door was about to be slammed behind them.
The kid smirked. “Yeah, nobody won.”
“Shocking,” Nate muttered. “How’d you do in the class?”
“I dropped it. For a hot girl, Dr. Thompson is tough. Figured it was better to drop the class than fail it,” he said grimly.
Nate smiled broadly. “You’ll go far in life with that kind of work-ethic. Also, you should hide your weed stash better in the future.”
Christopher’s jaw dropped open and his face turned red. He started to stammer an excuse, but Nate waved it away. He had more important things to worry about.
“Don’t forget to come into the station. I don’t want to have to come back.” He gave the kid a pointed look and turned away.
“Did you get ahold of Olivia?” Vince asked they entered the stairwell. Their heavy footsteps echoed loudly.
“She’s still in class.” Nate could feel a tightness building in his chest. “You should take the book and get the prints lifted. Start deciphering the notes in the margins.”
Vince nodded. “You’re going to Olivia?”
“I’m going to stop at the Administrative Office first to get the list of Karen’s professors. Then I’ll make sure Liv is okay.” Nate wanted to go to her now, but he told himself that she would be fine in front of a classroom full of students.
As they stepped outside, Nate had to squint against the bright sunlight. It took him a few seconds to get his sunglasses in place.
“I’ll call you if I find anything important,” Vince promised. “You’ll do the same?”
“Of course,” Nate said quickly.
“Good luck with Dr. Thompson.” Vince grinned. “I hear she’s like, young and super-hot, but also tough.”
Nate turned his back on his partner. “She could kick your ass,” he called over his shoulder. “If I don’t do
it first.”
The only response was the sound of Vince laughing.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Olivia paced around her apartment for an hour after Nate left. She kept expecting Rosie to appear, eager to tease her about the previous night. But Rosie never showed.
Instead, Olivia kept replaying the night over and over in her head. From the moment she made up her mind that she wanted to be with Nate, everything else had come so easily. It hadn’t felt strange or uncomfortable. In fact, it had felt pretty great. So great that she had told him that she loved him, just a few seconds after she admitted it to herself.
After a shower that was cold and long, she got dressed and headed to class. She only taught two classes on Monday, one first thing in the morning and another after lunch. She would end the day in her office patiently answering questions from dozens of students during her office hours.
Midway through the morning lecture, she found herself thinking about Nate again, wondering if he would be able to get away from work long enough to get lunch with her. How was it possible that she missed him already? It had only been a couple of hours since they had kissed goodbye at her door.
“What about Karen’s murder?” A student’s question pulled her back to reality.
“There is no evidence that the recent murder is the act of a serial killer,” she answered. “Also, because there are likely people in the room that knew the victim, we should refrain from discussing it.”
The young man in the faded baseball hat, Olivia thought his name was Matt, wasn’t ready to let it go yet. “I heard she was naked when they found her. That means it was sexually motivated, right?”
“Again, we’re not going to discuss it in this class. We need to be respectful of your fellow students.” She looked down at her notes. “Our midterm is fast approaching and we still have a lot of material to cover.”
Olivia didn’t wait around after class like she normally would. Nate had sent her a message saying that he needed to speak with her right away, so she hurried toward her office. She wanted to make the call safely behind a closed door.
When she got to the closet-turned-office, she was surprised to find the door ajar. She was always careful to lock the door when she left. Instinct and years of listening to Nate complain about ruined crime scenes caused her to use the tip of her shoe to nudge the door completely open.
The air that hit her was floral and tainted with something evil. It took her a second to spot the large, white box on her desk. She knew that she should leave and call Nate. There wasn’t a chance this was going to be a good surprise. But a part of her deep down hoped that she was wrong. Maybe Nate had left the box on her desk as a surprise. It seemed like something he would do.
But that didn’t explain the metallic tang invading her nose.
She pulled her sleeve down over her fingers before lifting the lid. As she slowly moved it away, the odor grew more pungent and made her eyes water. She had to blink away tears before she could see what was causing the smell.
“Oh god,” she breathed. The faint floral scent she had first detected was caused by a dozen long-stem roses. They could hardly be seen through the blood and guts that had been tossed on top of them. In the center of the mess, its white envelope a sharp contrast to the bloody innards, sat a card with her name scrawled across it.
Olivia felt her stomach begin to churn and she rushed into the hall, making it to the trashcan just in time to lose her breakfast. When she was done, she slowly straightened and looked both ways. While she was glad that no one had just seen her puke her guts out, she didn’t like being alone with the horror inside her office.
While she quickly dug her phone from her bag, she pressed her back to the wall and dropped to the floor, her legs too weak to hold her up any longer.
Nate answered on the first ring.
“Olivia. Thanks for calling.” He sounded a little breathless. Olivia could tell that he was smiling and she hated that she had to ruin his day.
“Nate.” His name came out as a croak and her mouth was too dry to form more words.
“What is it, Liv?” He had turned completely serious. “What’s wrong?”
Her tongue felt too big for her mouth and she couldn’t manage more than a garbled noise. She worried that she was going to be sick again.
“Liv.” Nate’s voice was clear and urgent. “Tell me where you are. I’m coming to you.”
“My office,” she finally managed to say.
“I’ll be right there.”
Just like that, Olivia felt a little better. Just knowing that he was on his way to her made her feel safer. Hearing his voice had made her feel less alone.
When Nate arrived five minutes later, she was still in the same spot. She was surprised that he had gotten there so fast and vaguely realized that he must have already been in the area.
He rushed down the hall, panting slightly and looking disheveled.
“Liv.” He dropped to his knees in front of her. “Hey, I’m here. It’s okay.”
Olivia wanted to fall into his arms and bury her head in his chest. She wanted to leave with him and go far away. She didn’t want to deal with what was inside her office. But she knew that was what she had to do.
“There’s something in my office,” she said slowly, enunciating each word carefully. “On my desk.”
Understanding dawned on Nate and he nodded slowly. “Okay. I need to go check it out. Just stay right here. I’ll be right back.”
Olivia closed her eyes while she waited for him to return. She could picture him cautiously approaching the desk, being sure to look around the room for other evidence. He would peer down into the box and see the card.
“Liv.”
He was back in front of her now.
“Was it human?” she asked quietly. The smell had been too stunning for her to focus on the contents long enough to tell if it had been human or animal.
“Maybe. I can’t say for sure.” He put a hand on her knee. “I need to know if you touched anything in there. The box, the desk. Anything?”
“No.” She was surprised she could remember. “I saw that the door was open and I made sure to cover my hands when I opened the box. My prints won’t be on it.”
He gave her an encouraging smile. “That’s good. You’re a smart girl.”
“You taught me well,” she said without affect. “Did you read the card?”
“No. I need to let the crime scene guys take photos first.” He moved over to sit next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders.
Olivia leaned into him gratefully. “You were right all along. The killer is connected to me. And Rosie.”
“Maybe. But try not to worry, Liv. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” He pulled her closer and dropped a kiss on top of her head.
“He was in my office, Nate. He was in this building, maybe at the same time as me.” She could feel herself beginning to panic despite Nate’s comforting presence. Olivia knew that he couldn’t be with her 24/7. “If he really wants to get to me, he will.”
Nate took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling beneath her cheek. “I’ll never let that happen. I’m going to find him.”
Down the hall, loud footsteps hurried in their direction. She expected Nate to turn professional again, focusing on his job. But instead he stayed right next to her.
“Hey Mac. It’s all contained in the office behind us.” He hooked a thumb toward the open door. “Let me know when you’re done.”
“Sure thing, Tucker.” Mac looked to barely be older than some of Olivia’s students. If he was surprised to see Nate with his arm around the victim, he didn’t show it.
“We shouldn’t be sitting on the floor like this,” she said. Nearly a dozen people were in the hall now, each of them giving her and Nate a long look before sticking their head into the office. “People are staring.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Nate looked unconcerned.
She shook her head. “You need to fo
cus on your job, not on comforting me.”
“Let’s go get some coffee,” Nate suggested, helping her to her feet. “I need to get your official statement, but we don’t need to do that here.”
“Alright.” Olivia’s legs were still a little weak and she had to lean against him for support. “Lead the way.”
“Hank, I’m taking her someplace quiet to get a statement. Give me a call if Mac finishes up in there while we’re gone,” Nate said to an older gentleman that was busy taking notes on a small notepad.
“Yeah,” was all Hank said in reply.
There was a faculty area on the first floor that was usually empty during the day except for in between classes when professors needed a caffeine fix. Olivia pointed Nate in the direction of the coffeemaker and then sank onto the worn couch. She watched Nate fill two Styrofoam cups.
“I was going to call you,” she said as he handed one to her. “Before I even got your message, I was going to call. I missed you.”
He smiled as he dropped into a chair across from her, scooting it forward until their knees were almost touching. “I was going to steal you away for some lunch. I wanted to see you.”
“Guess we both got what we wanted,” she said wryly. “Lucky us.”
“I saw you on campus earlier. Vince and I were here to talk to some kid about Karen, and I saw you heading to your first class.” Nate took a sip of his coffee, staring at her over the rim of the cup.
“You saw me? Why didn’t you say something?” She couldn’t believe that she hadn’t noticed him on campus. A handsome man in a suit wasn’t something she was used to seeing at Randolph University. He would’ve drawn a lot of attention.
He shrugged. “You were pretty far away. But even at a distance, your beauty took my breath away.”
“Nate.” She blushed furiously. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Do what?” His brow wrinkled in confusion.
“Just because we slept together last night, you don’t have to be extra nice to me. You don’t have to woo me.” She didn’t want him to feel obligated to treat her differently. “You don’t owe me anything.”
Ring Around the Rosie (An Olivia Thompson Mystery Book 1) Page 11