Obsessed by Darkness

by Autumn Jordon

  “I am.” Without asking, he sat down next to her and wrapped his arm over her shoulder, sending the universal male signal to Chase that she was his property.

  She wasn’t, however.

  Emma picked Bart’s hand off her shoulder and escaped his embrace. Even so, his confidence never waivered and neither did his smile as he sat his coffee down, reached across the table and extended his hand to Chase. “Hi. I’m Bart Logan. And you are?”

  “Chase Hunter.”

  Chase shook Bart’s hand, but Emma could see by the narrowed stares of both men they were sizing each other up, and not liking what they saw.

  “Nice to meet you,” Bart said.

  Chase grunted a response.

  Bart relaxed back against the cushion. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around campus.”

  “I arrived this week.”

  Bart picked up his cup and took a swallow like he had all the time in the world and they’d asked him to join them. “Where did you transfer from?”

  “I didn’t. This is my first year.”

  “Oh.” The single word did little to conceal Bart’s shock.

  “It took you awhile to decide what to do with your life.”

  “Chase was in the service,” Emma jumped into the conversation, feeling an overwhelming desire to defend Chase’s academic status.

  Bart’s gaze shifted toward Chase. “Really? What branch?”

  “Army.”

  “I guess you were Special Ops?” Bart chuckled.

  “Something like that.”

  From her angle, Emma saw the muscles in Chase’s jaw twitch. Special Ops. Something inside her told her he stated the truth and wasn’t just trying to pull Bart’s chain. She also had a feeling he hadn’t meant to share that bit of info.

  Bart’s smile seemed frozen. He slid his placemat forward and placed his folded arms on the table, seemingly very interested in Chase’s former occupation. She couldn’t blame him. Chase’s confession had roused her curiosity too.

  “How many years did you serve?”

  “A few.”

  “Why did you get out?” Bart asked.

  “I had my reasons.”

  The heightened testosterone level hovering between the two was so thick Emma doubted even a stab of her butter knife would chip it.

  Bart’s dark lashes remained steady as he peered across the table. “So what’s your major?”

  “Liberal arts.”

  Bart’s sudden chuckle startled Emma and she jumped. Confused, she stared at him.

  “I guess he’s not like us, is he, Emma?”

  “How’s that?” Chase kept his eyes trained on Bart as he picked up his drink.

  “Emma and I knew what we wanted to do with our lives from an early age. Didn’t we?”

  Unconsciously, she nodded and immediately hated herself for doing so. Bart comments and actions were rude and she didn’t want to appear to condone either.

  “Well, I guess you’re right about that,” Chase responded. “But I think Emma and I are a lot alike in other ways.” He winked at her.

  She had no idea what Chase referred to since they didn’t know each other well, but she willingly played along and smiled.

  “How so?” Bart’s tone was totally possessive.

  She had to stop this stand off before the fuse grew too short.

  “We both come from small towns where everyone knows everyone’s business. So if you didn’t make it to church on Sunday morning in time for the gospel reading, everyone knew why,” she said and chuckled.

  Chase picked up on her cue and also laughed. “You have that right. I remember my dad standing by the back door with a shovel in his hand, waiting for me to get home. I never could figure out how he knew I’d gotten into trouble.”

  Bart’s brow arched. “Shovel?”

  “My dad didn’t believe in hitting his children. He’d make us work instead. I shoveled more cow shit than I care to remember,” he told Bart and then turned to her. “Excuse my language, Emma.”

  She liked the way tiny lines formed at the corners of his eyes when he smiled, and the appearance of that one dimple made her heart flutter.

  With his nose scrunched, Bart’s gaze bounced between them. His quizzical look caused Emma to giggle again as she pictured Bart in mud-caked rubber boots, holding a pitchfork piled with steaming dung. She doubted Bart, or any of the past several generations of Logans, had performed manual labor of any sort.

  Fortunately, their waitress arrived with their food at that particular moment. When they didn’t offer Bart an invitation to join them, he took the hint to say good-bye and left her and Chase to enjoy their quick meal.

  “So, special ops, huh?” Emma asked over a fork filled with salad.

  Chase swallowed his bite of scrapple before he replied, “I never said I was special ops. I said I was something like that.”

  “But you were, weren’t you?”

  Silently, he continued to eat.

  “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

  He didn’t look at her as he stabbed the home fries.

  “You can’t tell me, can you?” She had a feeling Chase wasn’t being on the up and up concerning who he was. “You’re not a student are you?”

  “I was in your class today, wasn’t I?”

  “That doesn’t prove anything. How do I know you didn’t crash the class?”

  “If you don’t believe me, check with the registrar’s office tomorrow.”

  “I will,” she said with determination. He had no doubt she’d follow through. “And if I find out you’re lying to me, I’ll hunt you down.”

  The potatoes tasted sour on his tongue. He hated lying to Emma, but he couldn’t reveal his true self until there was no doubt she had nothing to do with the production of the drugs which had caused three students’ deaths. He needed proof for his superiors. So far, he’d found nothing to prove she was mixed up with anything illegal.

  When he looked into Emma’s eyes, he felt like he’d entered uncharted territory. He’d never been attracted to anyone the way he was drawn to her.

  For the rest of their meal they shared bits of their past and their views on world issues. By the time Emma looked at her watch and gasped, Chase felt more relaxed than he had in years.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “We’ve been sitting here for over an hour.”

  “It doesn’t seem that long.” Chase sipped the extra cup of coffee he’d ordered with his pumpkin cake.

  “I lost track of time too,” she said and reached for her purse. “I’ve got to get back to the lab.”

  “I’ve got this,” Chase said, noting she’d pulled her wallet from the oversized handbag she carried. “No. I want to pay my portion.”

  She reached for the bill which the waitress had placed at the table’s edge.

  He snagged her hand and blinked, unprepared at the blast of heat that ignited his blood. Her skin was the softness thing he’d touched in ages. A micro-second later Chase blinked again, realizing his mind had shut down and the shackles of shame and weight of responsibility he carried so long had been cast off by her touch.

  Slowly she withdrew her hand, and he saw in her dazed gaze, a similar reaction to his touch.

  He mentally shook his head in disbelief that this woman had such an effect on him. Slowly, the memories and his duties settled back on his shoulders and he cleared his throat. “I asked you out. I’ve got the bill.”

  “Well then, I must return the favor sometime.” Her smile quickened his heart’s beat.

  “I hope so.”

  She reached for the decanter holding the condiments. “Darn.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “They replaced the sugar cubes with packets.”

  His brow peaked with confusion. “Cubes?”

  She pulled a plastic bag from her pocket. “I’m out and I thought I’d take a few. I give them to the horses when I’m on my run.” She sighed and stuffed the bag back into her pocket. “I
’ll have to make a point of stopping at the store tomorrow.”

  Chase laughed.

  “What?” she asked, looking at him strangely.

  “Nothing.” Chase smiled. He was right about her. “Let’s go.”

  Holding the restaurant door open, Chase held his breath as Emma passed by. To do his job, he had to keep his senses focused on their surroundings and his mind on the case.

  Emma remained quiet during the ride back to the college and he tried to concentrate on the road and the words he’d use when he reported to Will later—anything but Emma.

  Her scent filled his car and thus his mind. He couldn’t think beyond how much he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss the full lips which had tempted him all night. By the time he pulled into a parking slot and shifted the car into park, beads of cold sweat pebbled his skin at his collar and his hands were white-knuckled on the steering wheel. He wondered if Emma was in the same mindset and if that was the reason she’d been so quiet during the ride back.

  The overhead parking lot lights filtered through the window and he saw the sincerity in her brown eyes, but nothing else. No interest. No lust. He shifted on his seat. If the woman didn’t feel the same way, he had to focus on getting the job done and get the hell away from her before he did something illegal.

  “Thank you for dinner and for taking my mind off everything,” Emma said.

  “My pleasure,” he responded and then coughed, covering the huskiness of his voice. “Do you mind if I sit in on your study session?”

  “The students I’m helping tonight are also a year ahead of you.”

  “Everyone’s ahead of me.” He faked a chuckle. “I’m sure I’ll learn a few things. Besides I’d rather wait for you there than somewhere else.”

  Her brows knitted together. “You don’t have to stay—”

  “I won’t let you walk across campus alone. It’ll be late. That is why you drove your car here, right?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Ok, then.”

  “But—”

  “I want to.” Waiting for her in the lab would give him an opportunity to examine the lab’s security features, the ones they’d discussed earlier. And to watch her.

  “If you insist.” She caved with a sigh that made him wonder if she’d grown tired of his company, or if she was offended he believed she needed protection.

  “I do.” He exited and rounded the car before she had time to collect her backpack. He grabbed the handle of her door as she opened it.

  She stepped out and scanned the parking lot.

  He leaned inside and grabbed his own backpack from the back seat, set the car’s lock and pushed the door closed. “Is something wrong?”

  “No.” Her long hair shimmered on her shoulders. “I was hoping to see my car.”

  “You didn’t like my driving?”

  She turned and looked up at him.

  Her smile flared the primal urges in his blood and he stepped back.

  “No. I mean yes.” Her smile faded. “I hoped I’d imagined the whole scenario with the detectives.”

  At the sound of a car’s engine growing louder, they both looked to the side as campus security drove by. The guy waved and they automatically returned the greeting.

  The contours of her pretty face tightened. “Security on campus has really ramped up since Sunday,” Emma said.

  He saw her throat muscles constrict as she swallowed back sorrow. He wished he could pull her close and make her feel safe. “The last few days have been tough.”

  “Yes. Yes they have been that.”

  “I wouldn’t worry. In a few hours, the detectives will realize you’re not guilty of anything and move on.”

  “I hope so.” She pulled her cell from the compartment of her backpack and looked at the display. “We’d better get going. I’m late.” She headed toward the common grounds.

  Chase followed behind her for a few steps, allowing her a private moment, before he doubled-timed it and fell in alongside her.

  For nearly two hours, Emma worked with the students. First, as a group and then on an individual basis. One by one, they left the lab. During that time, Chase pretended to listen and study his own assignments. He even asked Emma a couple of questions to legitimize his being there. He also used the pretense of stretching his legs to walk around the room and check the stockroom’s lock mechanism and keypad.

  The system opened as Emma had said. In order to gain access to the small room, a person would need both a key and a code, which put her solidly among the group of suspects. He’d have Will check with the dean to see how big a suspect pool they were dealing with. Maybe, just maybe, there was another link, other than Emma, that existed between this lab and Denise’s killer.

  He also noted the lock on the chemistry lab door was a simple one. Anyone who had a credit card could shimmy that one open. With the lab on the top floor, once inside the room with blinds closed, no one would be the wiser if intruders were inside.

  There were no security cameras inside the lab. He had noted there were two cameras posted at either end of the hallway outside. The building had a simple design, long with classrooms on either side of the hallway, so the position of the cameras would make it nearly impossible for anyone not to be recorded entering the area.

  He was sure the recordings had been viewed already, especially since the informant reported Emma and Denise had argued while leaving this building. The detectives would’ve wanted to know the moment the argument had started and who started it. Had they looked for anything or anyone else?

  He’d have Will get copies of the surveillance tapes—going back as far as possible—and forward them to his email. He wanted to see who had gone in and out of this room at off hours.

  As soon as the last student packed up and exited the room, Emma sighed. Chase looked up from his cell, where he’d been making notes for himself and Jolene. He watched Emma position her hands on her hips and stretch.

  “You look tired.” He refocused the direction of his thoughts before his body reacted to the sight of her breasts pushing against the loose knit of her sweater.

  “A little. It’s been another interesting day.” She pulled a jacket from her bag and slipped it on.

  He slapped his book closed. “Then let’s get you home.”

  If her hand had bumped his as they left the room, he would’ve latched onto it and not let go. Bad idea he knew, so he kept a good foot between them as they walked through the hall and approached the elevator. The janitorial staff had the hall blocked off, apparently waxing the floor.

  He pointed toward the stairwell and knew by Emma’s momentary hesitation she was leery of taking the stairs.

  “I usually don’t take the stairs at this hour,” she said.

  “That’s a good safety call. I noted they’re not monitored with security cameras.” The steel door’s release bar croaked under his palm.

  Again, Emma hesitated in the door’s threshold and looked up at him. “Should I be nervous you noticed such a thing?”

  He bit back his curse at having used the word noted.

  Her brow arched up into her bangs like she was unsure of his intentions, but a mischievous light in her dark eyes reassured him she only teased.

  “You’re safe with me.” He smiled and nodded his head, prompting her forward. He caught the smirk that curled her lips as she passed by. He knew he shouldn’t add fuel to his own fire but he couldn’t help himself. He’d wanted to play the game with her. He waited until she descended a few stairs before he returned her tease. “If I was going to attack you, it would’ve been in my car on one of those dark roads we passed on our way back to campus.”

  “So you have considered attacking me?” She spoke over her shoulder, teasing.

  Nearly tripping over his own foot, he gripped the railing tighter. That was a loaded question. If he confessed he had thought about having sex with her, what would her reaction be?

  Emma’s pace picked up.

  He hu
ng back to reassure her she was safe. “Of course not. Just saying.”

  “Ok,” she responded, without looking back.

  The scuff of their shoes echoed through the stairwell as they quickly made their descent.

  Emma’s fingers fidgeted with the strap of her bag as they let themselves outside and crossed the uninhabited common area surrounding the educational buildings. Gone was the relaxed banter. He felt like a jackass for making her feel so uncomfortable. How could he set things right?

  He clamped his lips tight before speaking. Emma was a smart woman. If she truly felt he was a danger to her, she wouldn’t be accepting a ride from him. So if not that, what bothered her?

  After Emma slipped into the car and he closed the door, Chase had to mentally harden his senses against her closeness. He wanted to hold her and make her realize how safe she was with him, but hell, that would be the stupidest move ever. He climbed into the car and inhaled the sugary combination of her perfume and Acetophenone, the sweet-scented yellow liquid she’d used during an experiment. It took only five minutes to drive to her apartment building. He could be strong for five minutes.

  The tires hummed against the asphalt.

  When Emma asked him if he had any other questions about his chemistry assignments, relief she’d forgotten the stairwell incident flooded through Chase. He made up a question and immediately she explained the theory behind the solution in detail.

  He liked the way her voice pitched a bit higher and her words ran together as she spoke about her passion. He liked the way her hands waved in the air as she explained concepts. Simply put, he liked her, but Emma’s interest in him didn’t appear to extend beyond the classroom. Her now low-key reaction to his teasing was proof. Oh, she was grateful he’d stuck around while the police had questioned her. And for dinner and the ride back to the lab and now home, but beyond appreciation, he doubted she felt more toward him.

  In his line of work, rarely did he meet anyone he might think to have a relationship with. Also none of the handful of women in his past had interested him as much as Emma. She didn’t put on airs or try to project what she thought might appeal to him. She spoke quickly and honestly.

  Emma continued the conversation until they reached her apartment building and he opened her door, then she threw him a curve.