Brave Love

by Allyson Simonian

  “Ethan, come in,” David said when Ethan knocked on his office door Monday morning.

  Stepping into the office, Ethan introduced Agent Perez.

  David frowned at the words special agent and glanced back at Ethan. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m here to ask you a few questions about your travel to Pennsylvania,” Eric said.

  David blinked several times before saying, “All right.” He gestured to the seats in front of his desk.

  “We were looking through some flight information,” Ethan said after they’d sat down. “You were in Pennsylvania two years ago.”

  “That’s correct.”

  “How many visits did you make?” Eric asked.

  David’s jaw tightened. “Two, but I’m guessing you already know that.”

  “Why were you there?”

  David looked down at his desk and gripped a fountain pen he found there. “I’d rather not say.”

  Ethan and Eric exchanged a glance before Ethan said, “You know the investigation into the Campus Killer has been reopened.”

  A look of fury crossed David’s face. “You’re not suggesting I had anything to do with what happened to Paige or any of the other girls.”

  Eric spoke next. “I think it would be better if we continued this discussion down at the station.”

  His shoulders tense, Ethan watched as David bristled. Of course the man would be resentful at the implications, it was only natural, but he had to understand they were simply doing their jobs by following the leads. Besides, Eric’s suggestion had a sound basis; the station’s interview rooms had video surveillance, and considering David’s reluctance to be open with the investigating officers, his reactions would be subject to scrutiny.

  David stood. “That’s fine. My lawyer will be accompanying me, though.”

  Ethan studied David. It was hard to believe the man was involved in the killings or in Paige’s kidnapping. Yet he wasn’t willing to provide an explanation for his travel. Why? What was he was hiding?

  After David provided his lawyer’s contact information, Eric left the office.

  Ethan stood, and wanting to give David a chance to make things right, said, “Come on, David. What are you hiding?”

  David looked away, his lips pressed tightly together.

  Finally, Ethan sighed. “I don’t think Paige should be here right now. She can work from home for a few days.”

  Knowing how close she was to David, she’d want to strangle him when she learned that he and the FBI were investigating David. But her safety was what was important; she’d just have to deal with it.

  David shook his head and muttered something.

  Ethan cleared his throat before he added, “I’d appreciate it if you stayed away from my mother as well.”

  David closed his eyes for a long moment. When he opened them again, he said, “No one needs to be protected from me, Ethan.”

  Ethan clenched his fists. “Put yourself in my place. It’s obvious that you’re hiding something.”

  David sighed heavily before saying, “All right. I’ll stay away from both of them. You have my word.”

  The two men stood in silence before Ethan finally started for the door.

  “Ethan.”

  His hopes rising that David had reconsidered, Ethan turned back and raised his eyebrows in question.

  “Tell Paige she can work here,” David said, a pained look on his face. “I’ll be the one to leave.”

  Ethan nodded curtly, wondering again what secret could be more important to David than being near Debra and Paige. He strode out of the office to find Eric waiting just outside the door, and sighed before he said, “I need to speak with Paige. Can you give me a minute?”

  “Sure.” The agent gave Ethan a commiserating look, from one man to another, then nodded. “I’ll wait in the car.”

  Chapter 55

  For the last fifteen minutes, Paige had been pretending to work, glancing up from her desk every few moments to watch the conversation unfolding behind the glass walls of David’s office. It was driving her nuts that she couldn’t hear what was being said, because from where she sat, David didn’t look happy at all. And when the FBI agent walked out moments later, his expression was dark as well. Now Ethan came out of the office and spoke to the agent for a moment before striding over to her desk. At his request, she followed him into the break room.

  “What’s going on?” she asked as he shut the door behind him.

  Once he explained, she said, “Wait . . . you’re telling me David’s kicked out of his own office?”

  When Ethan didn’t answer, she turned away. This was crazy; how in the world could they think that David had anything to do with her kidnapping? And the deaths of those other girls, it was just too horrible to contemplate. Her chest tightened, and she took a few deep breaths to calm herself. A panic attack at the office would be more humiliating than she could bear.

  “Paige—”

  She stiffened when he took hold of her arm and turned her around.

  “I don’t want you getting upset,” Ethan said softly. He placed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed gently, obviously trying to calm her.

  Too late for that. “Well, I am upset!”

  Guilt instantly coursed through her at the hurt look that came over his face. But blaming David was crazy and Ethan had to know that. David might be hiding something, but he wasn’t the Campus Killer. But what was he hiding, and more importantly, why?

  Moments later, she took in a breath and tried to express that. “He’s like an uncle to me, Ethan. He’d never hurt anyone.”

  Ethan dropped his hands from her shoulders and sighed. “We need to do this, Paige. Until we know what’s going on, you have to keep your distance.” Giving her a quick kiss, he then told her he’d pick her up after work, and left.

  There wasn’t much more to say after that. She watched as David gathered some of his things. Before he left the office, he pulled her aside, telling her to e-mail him if anything came up. Doing her best to hold back her tears, she hugged him and nodded.

  Paige spent the rest of the day trying to concentrate on work, but her guilt over David being banished from the office plagued her. When Ethan had shared with her earlier that he’d asked David to also stay away from his mother, she’d been mortified, so upset that all this was happening because of her. It was embarrassing, and added to the worry over whether the Campus Killer still had his sights set on her, there was no way she could focus.

  At a little after six p.m., Ethan was back at her desk. They walked down to his truck and headed for his mother’s house. Debra and David had been happy these past weeks, but all of that was about to change. From the way Ethan was gripping the wheel, he was thinking the same thing.

  In fact, Debra was horrified, much like Paige had been, once they arrived and Ethan explained the investigation.

  “You’re saying you want me to stop seeing him?” she said, her eyes wide and disbelieving.

  Ethan took in what appeared to be a pained breath. Feeling as if she were intruding, Paige looked down at the floor.

  There was a brief silence before Ethan and his mother found their voices at the same time.

  “Mom—”

  “What you’re suggesting, Ethan,” Debra interrupted. “I just don’t believe it.”

  Paige raised her gaze and saw Debra’s shoulders begin to shake. Ethan stepped over and ran a hand down his mother’s back. The misery on his face was plain.

  Chapter 56

  Professor Schull was due to return from a conference late Monday night, according to the department secretary at Redwood College. On Tuesday morning, Ethan and Eric headed to the campus in Ethan’s patrol car. They discussed David on the way.

  “They can meet as early as tomorrow,” Eric said, relaying the message that had been left by David’s attorney.

  Since the closest FBI office was a hundred miles away, they’d be using the police station’s interview room. Eric called the
attorney’s office back while Ethan turned onto Campus Drive.

  Ethan pulled into a visitor’s spot just as Eric was ending the call. He said that David’s attorney had agreed to a meeting at ten the next morning.

  Ethan and Eric got out of the patrol car and made their way toward the building that housed the chemistry department. Since Ethan was wearing his uniform, there were more than a few curious glances from the students.

  They knocked on Professor Schull’s office door. “Professor Schull?”

  The man sitting behind a narrow oak desk nodded. A middle-aged man with thinning brown hair, he wore wire-rimmed glasses and a sport coat. He invited them inside after they’d introduced themselves, and gestured that they should sit in the guest chairs in front of his desk.

  Eric took the lead, explaining the investigation into the Campus Killer. As he spoke, the professor sat stiffly, his lips pursed together. Clearly, he was unhappy with the interruption of his day.

  “We understand that you’ve moved universities twice in the last couple of years,” Eric said.

  The professor frowned. “That’s right.”

  Without giving her name, Eric explained Paige’s proximity to the university, and the fact that just she’d received a disturbing postcard.

  Schull’s eyes darkened as his face reddened. “I’m not sure I like where this is going. I taught night classes the semester the kidnappings took place, and my wife can verify I always came right home afterward.”

  The professor didn’t have much to add after that. Then again, this meeting had been about reading him—determining his fit as a potential suspect. Ethan and Eric stood and said good-bye minutes later. They exited the building and made their way back to Ethan’s patrol car.

  “What do you think?” Eric asked.

  “I think his answers were straightforward enough.” Ethan came to a halt in front of a fountain. “But there was something about his expression.”

  Eric stopped and arched a brow. “His expression?”

  “From the start, he looked annoyed that we were there.”

  The agent snorted. “Probably because he was.”

  They began walking again. What Eric was saying was true enough. While some people found it interesting or felt important being interviewed in an investigation, others had the opposite reaction. Maybe it was nothing.

  Ethan and the agent arrived back at the station and spent the rest of the day discussing the case. It was close to seven when Ethan picked Paige up.

  Although she’d calmed down somewhat since the day before, there was still tension between them. She didn’t have much to say and seemed distant. They stopped for takeout on the way back to Ethan’s house, and sat down to eat in his kitchen after they arrived.

  Minutes later, Paige was still poking at her food; she had yet to take a bite. Finally she looked up at him and said, “I wonder how your mom’s doing.”

  Ethan inhaled a long breath. If he were a better son, he’d have visited. “I haven’t talked with her,” he admitted. He glanced at his watch, then said, “I’ll give her a call after dinner.”

  “When is David going to be questioned?” Paige asked.

  “Tomorrow.”

  Setting down her fork, Paige stared at her plate.

  “He’s just being questioned, Paige,” he said, and reached out to cover her hand with his. “Unless hard evidence is uncovered, he’s not going to be arrested.”

  She visibly relaxed; apparently she was that sure of David’s innocence. She picked up her fork again and finally took a bite, which made Ethan feel a little better and a little worse at the same time.

  • • •

  When David entered the police station the next morning, he was accompanied by his attorney.

  Ethan directed the men into the interview room. Although Ethan felt much the same way Paige did—that things should never have gotten this far—David had yet to answer some critical questions.

  The lawyer began to speak once he and David had taken a seat, smoothing his expensive silk tie as he said, “My client is fully prepared to cooperate in this investigation.”

  Eric opened the folder he was holding and spread photos of the Campus Killer’s victims in front of David. “Do you know any of these women, Mr. Nelson?”

  David picked up a photograph of Paige. “I know her.”

  “Paige Jordan?” Eric asked for the record.

  “Yes.”

  “And do you recognize any of the others?”

  “No.”

  “None of them?”

  “None.”

  “Have you ever been to the Falls College campus?”

  David frowned and looked at his attorney, who shook his head. David then paused for a moment, considering, then said, “Yes, I—”

  “You don’t have to answer that!” his attorney insisted, laying a restraining hand on David’s arm.

  Shrugging off his attorney’s grasp, David closed his eyes for a second before saying, “Yes, my company had a contract with several colleges, and Falls College was among them.” When his attorney began to object again, David turned to him and said, “It’s a matter of record and easily checked. There’s no reason not to tell them.”

  The attorney folded his arms over his chest and sat back in his seat, obviously unhappy, but said nothing more.

  David turned back to Ethan and Eric and said, “But that contract ended nearly five years ago, and I’ve not been back on the campus since.”

  Eric returned the photos to the folder and closed it, then asked, “Why were you in Pennsylvania two years ago?”

  The attorney answered the question instead. “We can tell you that Mr. Nelson’s travel in no way pertains to your murder investigation.”

  David and his lawyer exchanged a glance. “I had absolutely nothing to do with any murders,” David said a moment later.

  “And you’d be willing take a polygraph to that effect?” Eric asked.

  It seemed as if David and his lawyer had already discussed lie detectors, because without any hesitation, David said, “I will.”

  The station had a polygraph machine, and the administrator was present that morning. David took the test and an hour later, Ethan and Eric were given the results. They were seated in the captain’s office when the administrator walked in.

  “He passed,” the administrator said. “All indications are he had nothing to do with the murders.”

  Ethan blinked hard at the words. While he wasn’t surprised, there were still so many unanswered questions. David was clearly hiding something, and it was eating at Ethan to know exactly what that was. Based on Eric’s expression, he was having a similar reaction.

  Ethan followed Eric as the agent walked to the interview room.

  David’s lawyer stood. “The results?”

  “He passed,” Eric said. “We’d like to thank you both for coming in. You’re free to leave now.”

  The men stood. With barely more than a glance, David brushed past Ethan.

  Ethan couldn’t help but wonder whether he’d just cost his mother a relationship. Then again, he’d had no choice. And until Ethan was completely sure of David’s innocence, he still didn’t want him around his mother or Paige.

  Later in the day, Ethan drove Eric to the airport. As they took the airport exit off the interstate, Ethan glanced at Eric and said, “What now?”

  Eric pulled off his Wayfarers and tucked them into his pocket before he spoke. “Well, with the help of other agents, I’ll be re-interviewing the victims’ families once I get back to Pennsylvania.” He glanced out the window at the landscape whizzing by as he added, “With any luck, we’ll be able to find a connection between the victims—some clue to the killer’s identity.”

  “I hope so,” Ethan said as he turned the patrol car toward the departures terminal.

  He could still picture the look on Susan Naughton’s face. If her brother was innocent, it meant there were four victims in this case. With David off the suspect list, they despera
tely needed new leads. Other than Paige’s, there had been no prints on the postcard she’d received. There wasn’t even a partial print. Nor were there clues from the handwriting or ink that had been used.

  Frustration rolled through Ethan as he pulled up to the curb at the terminal and came to a stop. Eric hopped out and opened the back door, removing his duffel bag from the backseat. Then he ducked his head back in through the passenger door and said, “Don’t worry, Cole. We’ll get the guy, whoever he is. He has to screw up eventually. They always do.” With a wink, Eric hefted his bag’s strap over his shoulder and slammed the car door before striding into the terminal.

  As Ethan watched him leave, he shook his head, amazed at how well he and the Fed had worked together. They’d actually developed a friendship, which was about the only good thing that had come out of this investigation. With a sigh, he checked for traffic over his shoulder and pulled away from the curb.

  Chapter 57

  The FBI investigation into the Campus Killer had been reopened. While some might call what he’d done—sending Paige the postcard—stupid, but he didn’t agree. He’d simply added another layer to the game.

  It had been so much fun to watch from afar and see the worry on Paige’s face as she’d been shuttled back and forth to work by Cole. Her overprotective boyfriend had circled the wagons, doing his best to protect his girl. But Cole wouldn’t get in his way; the cop wasn’t nearly as smart as he thought he was.

  And now, it was once again time to contact Paige. She’d been so scared by the first postcard, and now it was time to terrify her again.

  Chapter 58

  Paige unlocked the front door of her house, needing once again to switch out some clothing and to pick up her mail. Her stay at Ethan’s house had been stretched out indefinitely since he was unwilling to let her out of his sight except to go to work.

  She enjoyed spending time with him; she couldn’t deny that. But coming back and forth between his house and hers had become a pain. She had put so much time and effort into creating a home for herself, and now it was dusty and smelled stale from disuse. Something needed to happen—and soon—or she would go nuts from the interminable waiting. And fear.