by Laura Scott
“Yes, thanks. You’ve been a huge help,” Quinn told him. He glanced at Shanna, giving her a nod, so she dropped her hand from Kyle’s arm.
“Yes, thanks, Kyle,” she added sincerely. “Take care, okay?”
“Sure,” he said half over his shoulder, picking up his pace until he was jogging to get away from them.
“What do you think?” Shanna asked when Kyle was out of earshot. “Is it possible your brother was killed because of some sort of love triangle?”
“I don’t know what to think,” he muttered. “Except that we have more suspects than we know what to do with.”
“Usually it’s the opposite problem, isn’t it?” Shanna murmured.
“True enough. Phoebe wasn’t on the list of party attendees, so at least we have another name to add. And there is a slight possibility that Phoebe is Tanya Jacobs. I hope we don’t have to go through the entire list of all female students enrolled here at Carlyle again, looking for her.”
“At least we can cross-reference her first name,” Shanna pointed out. “And it’s original enough that there probably won’t be more than one.”
She was right about that. “So do we head back to the chancellor’s office before they close? Or continue looking for Dennis Green and Mark Pickard?”
“We can call first thing in the morning to find out about Phoebe. Let’s just keep looking for Brady’s roommates.”
Quinn was glad Shanna’s thoughts were in complete alignment with his. “Let’s go then, see if the other two guys are home yet.”
As Shanna fell into step beside him, he wondered how to convince her to return to the hotel later tonight. The threat of danger was diluted in the bright daylight, but it was less than twenty-four hours ago that he’d found her lying in her house, bleeding from a head injury.
No way did he want to risk anything like that again. Yet he wasn’t sure she’d appreciate him sticking his nose into her business.
Unfortunately, they didn’t have any more luck with Dennis or Mark. The guys didn’t recognize the two mug shots as kids who’d attended the party, and of course they also didn’t know the infamous Phoebe’s last name, either.
“If you remember anything or run into this Phoebe, will you please give me a call?” Quinn asked, handing over copies of his business cards.
The boys took the cards with obvious reluctance. “Yeah, sure,” Dennis said. Mark put his card in his pocket without even looking at it.
He knew he shouldn’t be frustrated with the lack of information and cooperation from Brady’s roommates, but he was.
“Not sure I believe they’ll ever call,” Shanna murmured as they turned and walked away.
Quinn agreed with her assessment. “Yeah, I guess talking to the cops isn’t high on their list of fun things to do.”
Shanna scowled. “You’d think they’d want to help find Brady’s killer.”
The same thought had occurred to him, as well. Maybe they’d given up too hastily on considering the roommates as potential suspects. Just because a group of guys lived together didn’t make them best friends. Hadn’t Kyle confirmed they didn’t hang out with the same group of kids? Maybe as long as each guy held up their end of the financial side of things, like rent and utilities and food, nothing else mattered?
“Come on,” he said, taking Shanna’s arm. “Let’s grab a quick bite to eat and then head over to the library.”
“The library?” she echoed in surprise. “Why? I can’t imagine that the kids who hang out in a library will have much interaction with drug dealers.”
“No, probably not. And that’s assuming that these two are still in the drug-dealing business. Earlier, when I called Anna to set up a meeting, she was in class. But she told me she’d be studying at the library tonight. Let’s see if she recognizes either of these suspects as kids who’ve been hanging around Brady.”
And maybe, just maybe, Brady’s former girlfriend would know where to find the mysterious Phoebe.
Shanna ordered a salad, still full from the burger she’d had for lunch. She once again said a quick prayer before eating, and this time, instead of staring at her, Quinn bowed his head, respectfully waiting for her to finish before he opened his fast-food meal. He didn’t say anything, though, just dug into his food with gusto. She watched in amazement, impressed by his voracious appetite. She wasn’t used to how much food a man could put away, but then again, her experience with men was rather limited.
Garrett probably wasn’t the best yardstick to measure other men by, since he’d gotten very frustrated with her early on in their relationship. She’d tried, but just hadn’t been able to take their relationship to the next level. She’d cared about him as a friend, but nothing more. She’d thought maybe her feelings would change over time, but Garrett hadn’t been interested in waiting around.
For some reason, she didn’t get the impression Quinn would give up as easily. Not that she was looking to turn their friendship into something more.
“Should I offer a quarter for your thoughts?” Quinn asked, breaking the silence. “You seem pretty intent.”
She almost choked on a piece of chicken from her salad. No way was she going to mention that she was thinking about Quinn. “Actually, I’m wondering about Phoebe, the girl your brother was flirting with at the party. Do you think it’s possible she might be Skylar?”
“I actually doubt it, only because of Brady’s article on adoption.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well, he mentions Dennis Green’s adoption. Don’t you think he might have mentioned Phoebe if he knew she was adopted too?”
“Good point,” she said with a sigh. “I suppose it’s possible Phoebe is adopted but doesn’t know because her parents never told her?”
“I doubt her parents could get away with that, considering they wouldn’t have any baby pictures of her—any pictures at all until she was five, right?”
“You’re right. Again.” She’d been so hopeful that they’d finally had a lead on Skylar. Best for her to remember there were roughly fifty people at the party, and Skylar could have been any one of them.
“Are you done?” Quinn asked when he’d finished his fish sandwich and fries.
She stared at her salad, surprised that she’d managed to eat most of it. “Yes, I’m finished.”
As they left the fast-food restaurant, she noticed the sun was low on the horizon. She loved fall, with the brightly colored changing leaves and the cooler temperatures, but she wasn’t thrilled with having shorter days. Quinn headed toward the last row where his SUV was parked, but she hung back. “Quinn, the library is only a couple of blocks away. Why don’t we walk?” she suggested. “Maybe we’ll pass some kids who fit the description of our two suspects.”
“Good thinking,” he agreed.
There were a fair amount of students milling around the campus, even at six o’clock in the evening. By mutual agreement, they kept their pace slow, giving them plenty of time to scan the faces of the students. When Quinn’s fingers brushed hers, she took his hand, and then blushed when he glanced at her in surprise. “We might get further with questioning these kids if we don’t act like cops,” she said, by way of explanation.
His slow grin, and the way his hand gently and firmly cupped hers, made her chest tighten with awareness. Flustered, she averted her gaze and tried to focus on finding their suspects, which wasn’t easy with Quinn holding her hand.
Poor judgment on her part, to pretend they were a couple as a way to blend into the crowd. She liked being with him a little too much.
“Hey, look over there,” Quinn said in a low voice, gesturing to the right with their joined hands. “See that small group of kids next to the commons? Do they seem to be acting suspicious to you?”
She stared, trying to figure out what had caught his attention. “Not really, why? Am I missing something?”
“Could be nothing, or it could be some sort of drug deal going down,” Quinn muttered. “Hard to
tell from here.”
She glanced at him, wondering what it must be like to see possible criminal activity on every corner. Obviously, he patrolled this area a lot in his job, on the lookout for anything suspicious. At least when she was called in to gather evidence, the crime had already been committed. But as a cop, Quinn’s duty was to try to prevent crimes from happening, if possible.
She slowed to a stop, letting go of his hand to kneel down, pretending to tie her shoe. “Do you want to go over there?” she asked. “I can wait here.”
“No, they’re already breaking up and heading in different directions,” he said. “And none of them look familiar. Maybe it really was nothing.”
“Do you want to follow one of them?” she asked, not sure what he would normally do if he were alone.
“No, let’s head over to the library. I think our time is better spent questioning Anna Belfast.”
She hoped so. When she stood, he once again took possession of her hand.
They reached the library a few minutes later, and she glanced around curiously. There were more students in the library than she’d expected, and half of them were sitting on overstuffed chairs, working on laptops. The rest seemed to be studying from textbooks.
“Did Anna give you a hint as to where she usually studies?” she asked.
“No. But maybe we should split up, since we can cover more ground that way,” Quinn said. “I’ll make color copies of the mug shots for you.”
“Except I don’t know what Anna looks like,” she protested.
“That’s right. I forgot.” Quinn headed over to two copy machines along the wall. He made the color copies and handed one set to her. “Okay, let’s find Anna first, and then we can split up to question the rest of the kids.”
She definitely liked that plan better. She followed his lead, wandering through the expansive library.
“Over there,” Quinn said. “See the blonde sitting in the orange chair? That’s Maggie, Anna’s roommate. But I don’t see any sign of Anna.”
Before she could respond, Quinn walked over to the spot where Maggie sat.
“Hi, Maggie,” he greeted her, smiling as if they were long-lost friends. “How are you?”
She looked up at him blankly, but then recognition slowly dawned. “Well, if it isn’t Officer Murphy,” she responded in a cool tone. “What brings you here?”
“I’m looking for your roommate, Anna. Is she around?”
Maggie shrugged and glanced around rather pointedly. “She’s not here that I can see. What makes you think I know where she is?”
“Because Anna told me you’d both be here studying for an exam. Didn’t she mention that to you?”
Maggie frowned. “No, she didn’t.”
Shanna stepped forward, hoping maybe she could connect with Maggie on a woman-to-woman level. “Hi, Maggie. My name is Shanna Dawson. Can you tell me if you recognize either of these two people?” She showed Maggie the mug shots of Tanya Jacobs and Derek Matthews.
Maggie made a face and shook her head. “I don’t know anyone who spent time in jail.”
It was unfortunate they didn’t have other photos of the two kids, since there was no disguising a mug shot. “They were arrested a year ago, and they’re out now. Isn’t it possible you’ve maybe seen them around campus? I mean, you wouldn’t know they did jail time, right?”
Maggie’s eyes narrowed, and she looked again at the two mug shots. “They still don’t look familiar, although there are a lot of kids here. I only just transferred here this fall, so I don’t know a lot of the students yet.”
“I understand,” Shanna said sympathetically. “But maybe if you do see them, you’ll give us a call?” She handed over one of Quinn’s business cards.
“I suppose I could do that.” At least Maggie looked at the card, then back up at Quinn, before tucking it inside her purse.
“So you and Anna didn’t come to the library together?” Quinn asked, turning the subject back to Brady’s former girlfriend.
“No.” When Quinn just stood there staring at her, she squirmed in her seat. “She did say she might meet me here later,” Maggie finally admitted.
“We’ll hang around for a while and wait for her, then,” Quinn said.
“By the way, Maggie, do you know Phoebe?” Shanna asked before Quinn could turn away.
There was a flicker of something, recognition maybe, in her eyes, but she shook her head. “No, I don’t.”
“But you’ve heard her name, right?” Shanna persisted.
“Yeah, maybe. It sounds familiar, but I don’t know her,” Maggie insisted. “And if you don’t mind, I really need to study. I can’t afford to flunk this exam.”
She glanced at Quinn, trying to read the expression in his eyes. Did he think Maggie was lying? Or telling the truth?
“Sure thing,” Quinn said easily. “Good luck with your studying.”
Shanna followed his lead, moving away from Maggie until they were out of earshot. “What do you think?” she whispered. “Is she being honest with us?”
“I think so,” Quinn murmured. “Considering Kyle’s comments earlier, could be that Anna heard about Brady’s flirting with Phoebe through the grapevine. It’s not a stretch to think she shared the news with her roommate.”
Quinn’s logic made sense. “So now what? Do we hang out here waiting for Anna?”
“Let’s split up for a bit,” he suggested. “And see if anyone else recognizes either the photos of our two suspects or the name Phoebe.”
“All right, let’s meet back here in thirty minutes.”
Shanna headed to the opposite end of the library from Quinn, showing several students the photographs. But no one seemed to recognize the two former drug dealers as anyone they’d seen around campus. And even worse, no one admitted to knowing anyone by the name of Phoebe.
She tried not to get discouraged, knowing from firsthand experience that key information was often discovered when you least expected it. Much of the evidence she collected in her role as a crime-scene investigator was from sheer determination and tedious attention to detail.
But she’d really been hoping for a break, especially in uncovering the identity of the mysterious Phoebe. Even though she agreed with Quinn’s theory that Phoebe was likely not Skylar, she couldn’t help feeling as if finding the girl would help crack their case wide open.
But then again, finding Phoebe could be nothing more than another dead end.
She returned to the center of the library, where she’d promised to meet Quinn. Maggie was still sprawled in her orange overstuffed chair, studying. She waited a few minutes to see if Maggie noticed her standing there, but she didn’t.
Quinn walked up a minute later. “Any luck?”
“No.”
“Me, neither.” He glanced at his watch, then over to where Maggie was studying, a frown furrowing his brow. “Anna should be here by now.”
“Maybe you scared her off?” she suggested.
Quinn sent a sideways glance in her direction. “She doesn’t have a reason to be afraid, unless she happens to be guilty of something.”
“Some people just don’t like talking to the police,” she said. “And as Brady’s girlfriend, she must know she’s a potential suspect.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Quinn seemed uncharacteristically indecisive. “Should we wait here? Or head over to her dorm room?”
“Hey, look.” She gave his arm a tug. “Maggie’s packing up her books.”
Quinn’s scowl deepened, and he immediately headed over to the girl. “Finished studying already?” he asked.
“You’re making me nervous, standing there staring at me,” the girl said defiantly. “So I’m leaving.”
“Have you heard from Anna?” Quinn persisted, blocking Maggie’s path. “Or maybe I have that backwards. Maybe you called Anna, telling her not to come?”
Maggie’s face went pale. “I didn’t call her, and I didn’t hear from her, either. Check my phone,” she said, thr
usting it at him.
“You could have erased the messages,” he said after giving the screen a cursory look.
“I don’t even know how to delete the memory,” Maggie argued. “But have it your way.” She waited for Quinn to step aside before heading out of the library.
Shanna wasn’t surprised when Quinn followed the girl outside. Maggie had to have known they were behind her, but she didn’t glance back even once.
“Guess we’re going to Anna’s dorm room, huh?” Shanna asked in a low tone.
“Might as well, since I don’t have any other bright ideas as to where she might be.”
Just then, Maggie, who was a few yards ahead of them, lifted up a hand and waved frantically. “Anna!” she called. “Over here!”
A dark haired girl turned to look, but must have seen Quinn because she abruptly spun away, taking off at a run.
“What is she doing?” Quinn muttered, breaking into a jog to catch up with her. Shanna sprinted after Quinn, while Maggie stood there, staring in shock.
The section of the sidewalk they were on disappeared, due to some sort of construction, so they went out into the road. As they came up to an intersection, bright headlights blinded her from a car heading toward them.
She winced and slowed down, the lights intensifying the dull ache in her head. She hoped the car would hurry up and pass her by, but instead, the car picked up speed.
Realization dawned just a little too late.
“Look out!” Quinn shouted.
TEN
Quinn grabbed Shanna’s arm, wrenching her out of harm’s way, the momentum bringing her solidly up against him. The last-minute motion saved their lives, as the car missed them by inches, hitting several of the orange construction barrels and sending them flying through the air.
He clutched her close, his heart lodged in his throat and a loud roaring echoing in his ears. The way her arms were clamped around his waist betrayed how frightened she was. Not that he could blame her.