He nodded eagerly. “Absolutely, did you want to go somewhere? Get a drink?” He gave me a once over, his eyes lighting up. Too easy.
“No, this won’t take long. I just have a few questions.” I pulled out my phone. “You mind if I record this?”
Kiefer shrugged. “Not if my name is going to appear in the article. And maybe my newest play?”
“For sure.” I smiled. “The whole point of this is to get exposure. I’ve heard that the university doesn’t pay much attention to this wing of the program. You have any idea why?”
“Oh, hell yes, I do!” Kiefer brushed his fingers through his hair. “But I’d rather not go on record saying negative stuff. Why not focus on what’s great about the actors here?”
I nodded. “Okay, I can work with that. I’ve heard your name around lately. You seem to be on the cusp of something big. Why don’t we start with some details about you?”
And that was like opening the floodgates of egotism the likes of which I’d never seen before. I could practically feel Kassey rolling her eyes as she watched. He talked…and talked…no prodding needed. I learned about his childhood in the sticks and his theatre experience in high school. The awards he won, unrecognized accolades. Everything he did for the Fine Arts. It was kind of gross. But I let him talk until he appeared to run out of things to brag about.
“I have to wrap this up, but I do have a few more personal questions, if you don’t mind.”
“Ask away, I have nothing to hide.”
“Okay, I understand that you suffered a tragedy recently.” His eyebrow raised and his smile faded somewhat. “Your girlfriend, Candace Bryne, was found dead, wasn’t she?”
He frowned. “Um, yes.” He cleared his throat. “But I don’t see—”
“I understand that you have an alibi for the night she was murdered so nothing to worry about right, Kiefer?” I laughed; he chuckled awkwardly. “But I’m wondering how that impacted your ability to perform. I checked the dates. You had a play running during that time. King Lear, I believe. And you didn’t cancel any shows.”
He cocked his head, his Adam’s apple working overtime as he swallowed. “No, I didn’t. I used the play to work through that trauma.”
“Interesting. So you were upset?”
“Of course I was upset! My girlfriend was murdered. Brutally.”
“And yet you have an alibi with another woman, isn’t that right?”
“Wait a second, what does this have to do with your feature article? Are you really from the Daily Tribute?”
About time he started asking some questions. It was funny how vanity worked. “You know your way around the underground tunnels too don’t you?”
“Are you really Amber Ross? Wait, are you a cop? Did that detective hire you?” He folded his arms and took a step back. “I’m not answering any more questions.”
“Why so sensitive, Kiefer? Unless you have something to hide, you shouldn’t mind answering my questions.”
“What are you after?” He gave me another once over, this time his eyes reading me with a calculating glare. “Money, sex, a role in the play?”
I snorted. “The truth.”
“I have nothing to hide!” He snapped loudly then glanced around to see if anyone noticed. “Listen, just because I was a shitty boyfriend doesn’t mean I killed Candace, okay? I know that’s what people think. I’ve heard the rumours. Just another attempt to destroy my career. Well, it’s not going to happen. I don’t know who you are or what you’re after but I’ve already spoken to the police and I have nothing more to say.”
His expression changed then, his breathing growing steady, but he didn’t pull back. Instead he got closer. I held my ground.
“I know your type. You think you’ve got something on me. You think you’ll get the big story. Front page, right? Hungry for fame.” He snapped his teeth before pulling back. “Women like you disgust me.”
He turned and stormed up the steps then disappeared behind the curtain.
Kassey came up next to me and gave me a nudge. “Did you have to let it go on so long? I was nearly falling asleep over there.”
I kept an eye on the empty stage and shrugged. “What do you think? He a suspect?”
“Well, he’s slimy. Full of himself. He’s definitely got something to hide. A bit of a temper I’d say.”
I chuckled softly. Yeah. But even with the gleam in his eyes, I wasn’t convinced. “But murder?”
“That’s still yet to be determined. But I’d say he’s damn intriguing…just maybe not in the way he wants.”
18
Eddie was keeping me waiting. It wasn’t like him. Maybe he’d grown some balls since the last time we’d dated. That intrigued me, mildly. He was a fall hard kinda guy. I had seen it all over his face when we fucked. And maybe in a different world, if he’d caught me early enough, certainly before I’d encountered Steve and his mind fucking ways, I would have devoured what Eddie was offering. Maybe I would have swallowed his heroic personality. But that was not ever going to be my reality now.
I’d called him earlier and asked him out. It was a work meeting as far as I was concerned but he’d called it a date. As long as he was paying, he could call it whatever he wanted. I needed to ask him more questions about Kiefer as well as the caretaker.
When he finally walked into the restaurant, I did a bit of a double take. He was super fucking hot. It shouldn’t have surprised me but it always did. Every woman in the place trailed him with their eyes, only to crash when they saw where he was headed. To me. My stomach did a flip. He was mine if I wanted him. All mine.
“You’re late,” I said before sipping my wine.
He pulled out his chair. “I texted you.” Then sat.
The waiter was on us within seconds. “Something to drink, sir?”
“Whatever the house red is.” He nodded at me. “Another one?”
“Sure, why not.” I downed what was left in my glass and handed it to the waiter before he left. “So, busy day?”
Eddie snapped his gaze away from me, preoccupied by the menu. “Yeah, got busy just at the end.” He glanced back up at me, wincing. “Sorry I kept you waiting.”
It was sweet that he felt bad. Barf. “No worries. I ate a late lunch.” I picked up my menu even though I pretty much knew it by heart. I loved Italian. Loved eating out. Fine dining. Pub food. Junk from a drive-thru. Whatever, I loved it. My bank account, not so much. Things had gotten pretty tight and it was suddenly all I could think about since my conversation with Arthur at the range. He’d offered me a job that, years ago, I would have jumped at. Now I knew better. There were strings attached to be sure, I just couldn’t see them yet.
The waiter returned with our wine and took our orders. Caesar salad, meat ravioli that was to die for and garlic bread for me… Go big or go home right? And Eddie ordered the lasagne, which was more like a tower of noodle, cheesy, meaty mouth orgasm goodness. I would probably have to have a bite or two just to keep my jealous stomach quiet. It was that good.
Once we were settled and waiting, Eddie reached across the table as if to hold my hand. I picked up my glass instead. With a sigh, he pulled his hand back, pretending to keep it casually on the table when we both knew what he’d been after.
“Having a good week?” he asked.
After taking a fortifying drink, I nodded, keeping my fingers on the stem to ward off any more hand holding attempts. “Yeah, I’ve been busy. Gym, range. Ran into Arthur the other day. Had a coffee with him, caught up a bit. He offered me a job.”
Eddie’s eyes widened. “What kind of job?”
I shrugged. “Assistant. You know, low level shit. Get him coffee, run some errands, do a bit of research, I’m sure.”
“You going to take it?” Eddie was leaning forward again, like he was hanging onto my every word. It was a little unnerving.
I scoffed. “Probably not, I mean, I’m a psychologist, for fuck’s sake. I should be doing something more meaningful with all th
at education and training.” And yet, I had no motivation to do anything but hunt. Hunt for a killer. Hunt for a rapist.
“You could get back into the swing of things. Ease yourself into your field again.” His tone was all cheerleader, eyes wide, smile plastered on his face. “It would probably be good for you to be around someone you trust.”
“I guess…” The idea was slightly intriguing. I mean, I didn’t hate it. I wasn’t particularly interested in stepping back into my practice and resuming therapy. I’d gotten what I needed from that and had walked away. If I took Arthur up on his job offer, I’d at least have some cash and I’d be back in academia, which I did miss. Kassey’s advice had been the same. Two votes yes.
“Well, for what it’s worth, I think it’s a great idea.” Eddie grinned.
“It would be nice to spend more time with Arthur, I guess.”
A beat or two of silence fell and I felt a spike of tension. I scrolled back on what I’d said. I hadn’t mentioned Steve or being close to him too if I went to work on campus. But even not saying anything, the thoughts were there.
My stomach felt uneasy. What was that? Guilt? Spending time at the office with Arthur meant spending more time with Steve as well and the idea of that suddenly wasn’t repulsive. Danger! I wasn’t playing the game well if I was developing feelings for either man.
Eddie cleared his throat, started to pick at the napkin under his fingers. “Can I ask you something?”
I nodded, cautiously. If he asked me about Steve, I was going to have to tell him. In fact, I knew I should tell him anyway. I’d been intimate with both of them recently, and I knew what Eddie’s feelings could be like. But I just couldn’t get the confession out for some reason. It was like my tongue became instantly glued in my mouth at the very idea of fessing up about what I’d been doing with Steve. What the hell?
“You ever see Arthur be inappropriate with any of his students?”
Red, angry heat flashed over me. “What the fuck, Eddie? Haven’t we been down this road before? Arthur is—”
“Whoa!” Eddie leaned forward, hand raised for me to quiet down. “Will you chill out? Jesus!”
I crossed my arms, simmering, giving him a chance to explain before I abandoned my delicious food that was on the way in favour of whatever leftovers were in my fridge.
“I mean, have you ever seen him flirt or maybe talk about dating a student? Not necessarily his? I’m sure it happens, right? Professors and students hook up occasionally. What makes Arthur any different? He’s a single, attractive, intelligent man. Why wouldn’t he take advantage of that?”
Luckily for Eddie our food arrived, otherwise I probably would have left. My gut was strongly protesting any idea of abandoning my garlic-laden food behind so, rather than bolt, I picked up my fork and stabbed a ravioli. I got a few pieces in before I bothered to answer.
“I’m going to say this once and only once and then we’re not going to talk about Arthur again, okay?”
Eddie forked his own food and nodded. Eating rather than speaking. Smart man.
I took a sip of wine before continuing. “Arthur would never, never betray the memory of his dead wife. All he ever talks about is his beautiful Lizzy. His duchess. His beloved. The untimely death that robbed him of the love of his life. For all the years I studied under him and worked alongside him, he never even glanced at another woman’s ass. So no, I never fucking saw Arthur act inappropriately with any of his students. Or any other woman. He lives like a monk, for fuck’s sake.”
“His wife, Lizzy—she was a lot younger than he was, right?”
I speared some more food, shrugged as I ate. “She was thirty, a little less than half his age when they married.” I pointed my fork at him. “But she wasn’t a student. He met her at a conference. She was one of the presenters.”
Eddie nodded. “So in theory, he has no issues with age barriers?”
“What the hell are you getting at?” I growled between mouthfuls.
“I saw Arthur with a young girl tonight. Very young. Looked like a student. She was in his house.”
“So?” Food or no food, I had a feeling Eddie was about to be dateless. “He tutors. He mentors. He’s not some fucking perv hitting on students.”
Eddie leaned forward, his voice low. “I saw him sucking on her tits in his living room, hand on his cock and fingers going for gold. You still wanna tell me that the man is a fucking monk?”
I sputtered my next words…literally choked on them.
“I was there at his place tonight. That’s why I was late. I saw him in his living room just as I described.” Eddie leaned back, crossed his arms, looking a little smug.
No fucking way. Nope. It was just too shocking and suddenly I had no appetite.
“Why were you outside of Arthur’s window tonight, Eddie?” I put my fork down and mirrored his gesture. “You have him under surveillance again, don’t you?”
And that effectively ended our date. The strange thing was that Eddie didn’t seem all that upset or surprised when I announced I was leaving. He didn’t even chase me when I left. Almost like he’d expected me to react that way. It made me wonder if I was being played right back.
I didn’t believe him. I spent all night stewing over it and it just didn’t make sense. Arthur getting it on with a student? No fucking way. Eddie had to have seen it wrong. Misinterpreted somehow. It was just too jarring of an image. Arthur was like a father to me. Fucking celibate as far as I was concerned. And Kassey was out for the count. I couldn’t bounce the frustrating intel off her. She’d gotten a migraine and had taken her meds so she was no use to me in that regard.
I was determined to get the story somehow and skipped my morning workout in favour of heading to the campus. That’s how much it bothered me.
“Hi there, sweetie.” Steve was coming out of the Psych building just as I was walking in. “You here to see me?” He winked. “I’ve got a class to teach but I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
“No, I’m here to see Arthur. Is he in?”
Steve frowned. “Yeah, in his office. Just got here.”
“Great, thanks.” I moved around him. “I’ll catch you later.”
“Hey, Jade, I saw your cop friend last night.” Steve had walked down a few steps and was looking back at me. “Caught the creeper skulking around Arthur’s house.”
A chill swept over me, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. “Really?”
Steve scoffed. “Yeah, he was peeping in Arthur’s living room window. You should watch out for guys like that. He clearly has boundary issues.”
I gulped and nodded. “Yeah.”
“Anyway, thought you’d want to know. Steer clear of that one, sweetie, he’s trouble.” Steve blew me a kiss then walked away, bypassing a group of giggling girls that looked crushed when he didn’t stop to chat.
Trouble. Yeah, right.
Apprehension churned. Had Eddie been telling me the truth the night before? Had he seen what he said he’d seen? I suddenly wasn’t so sure of what I knew or thought I knew about Arthur. Could someone change in six months? Or more realistically, was the man I thought I knew a true representation? I mean, Arthur and I were close, but we weren’t that close. We didn’t share details about our current intimacies.
I made it almost to his office door when I stopped walking. Maybe I didn’t want to know. It was none of my business. Maybe—
A giggle came from around the corner and then suddenly there he was. Arthur, his arm around a young girl who couldn’t have been more than twenty-five.
“Jade!” Arthur beamed when he saw me. “Helen, my dear, this is the woman I was telling you about.”
I stood frozen. Too stunned to actually move or speak or think.
“Hi Jade,” Helen said as she held out her hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
I blinked, swallowed, somehow remembered to move and reached out to shake her hand. “Oh?” Funny, I hadn’t heard anything about her.
&nb
sp; Helen smiled. “Really nice to finally meet you. I’ve got to run. I have a shift in ten minutes.” She let my hand drop and moved to kiss Arthur’s cheek.
Arthur pulled her into his arms and planted a full, open mouth kiss on the woman. When he put her down, she was blushing and out of breath. She giggled before running off. Arthur watched her go, a look of bliss on his face.
“A shift?”
Arthur blinked, looking back at me. “Ah, yeah, she works at the coffee shop in the Rec Center.”
“So, not a student?”
Arthur chuckled. “Of course not! A student! Come on, Jade, you know I’d never do that.” He unlocked the door to the office and motioned me in.
I walked ahead of him, thoughts whirling. I’d once believed he’d never love anyone but his dead wife. It was somewhat disappointing, crushed the whole tragic romance idea I’d created in my head. I guess I should have been happy for the man. No one deserved to be alone. Not when they didn’t want to be.
“I didn’t know you were dating someone,” I said as I moved to the other side of the room.
“You’ve been away, remember?” He winked as he rounded his desk. “This is very new, Jade. As I’m sure you can tell.”
“And you met her at the coffee shop?”
Arthur sat behind his desk and motioned for me to sit as well. I obliged, pulling up one of the brocade seats that was against the wall.
“I did indeed. Go there often for a change of scene when I’m grading. She was always working late shifts, would let me stick around after hours to finish whatever I was doing. We got to talking. Over a few weeks, really got to talking.” He chuckled softly. “I forgot how much I missed it, you know, talking with a woman?”
I inwardly winced, knowing that I’d abandoned him when I’d curled in on myself after the attack.
“Don’t take that as a slight.” Arthur frowned. “I just meant that it gets lonely sometimes and Helen is so full of life. So passionate. And for whatever reason she is wholly interested in me.”
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