Holdin' On for a Hero

by Ciana Stone

  “No, I don’t think so.” She stood and returned the folder to the file cabinet. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have things to attend to. Good luck with finding an appropriate tutor and have a nice weekend.”

  “Look, I don’t think you get it…” He closed in on her. “What I want is—”

  At that moment someone knocked on the door. Grateful for the interruption, she opened it to find Ryan standing outside with his partner Paige. “Ryan,” she said and smiled up at him. “What a nice surprise. Come in.”

  He walked in and Senna greeted Paige. “Hello, Paige. How are you?”

  “Just peachy.” Paige’s voice sounded a little sarcastic, but Senna chose to ignore it.

  “This is one of my students, Mr. Harper,” she said as they looked at Mike. “Who was just leaving.”

  “This isn’t finished,” he said in a low tone that carried a threat.

  “Yes, it is, Mr. Harper.” She maintained a cool, calm tone. “Good day.”

  Mike stomped out. Senna closed the door and turned to Ryan. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  “Actually this is a professional call, “Paige answered. “We understand you knew Dr. Walter Van Dorne.”

  “Please, have a seat.” Senna gestured to the chairs in front of her desk and took a seat herself. “Yes,” she continued as soon as they were seated. “Walter was a dear friend.”

  “Dear as in beat the sheets, or dear as in sugar daddy just happy to have a pretty girl on his arm?” Paige asked.

  Senna regarded her in the same manner she did an unruly or rude student.

  “Paige!” Ryan exclaimed. “What she means is have you seen or spoken with Dr. Van Dorne since he arrived in Charlotte?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “When exactly?” Paige asked, cutting Ryan a sharp look.

  “Well, let’s see…” Senna checked her date book. “He called on the fifteenth when he arrived, around four in the afternoon. I had a faculty meeting that afternoon so I only spoke with him briefly. The next day, the sixteenth, I picked him up from his hotel and took him over to have lunch with my aunt, Minora Laserian. I had classes that afternoon so I left him with Minora then stopped by on my way home, around six, and she had already sent her driver to take him back to his hotel to get ready for his lecture that evening. I had dinner with Minora, and then returned to the campus for his lecture. I drove him to his hotel after the lecture. That was the last time I spoke with him.”

  “So, Dr. Laserian,” Paige emphasized the word doctor, “did Dr. Van Dorne appear nervous or upset? Did he mention anything particular that was troubling him, or anyone that might have threatened him in any way?”

  “No.” Senna kept her attention directed on Paige. “He didn’t mention anything.”

  “Nothing?”

  “No.”

  “Yet you said that you and he were dear friends.”

  “Yes, that’s correct.”

  “So, if something was bothering him, if someone was threatening him or if he was afraid, wouldn’t he have told someone as close to him as you claim to be?”

  “I have no idea.” Senna was beginning to be annoyed by the tone of Paige’s voice.

  “And he didn’t tell you anything that was going on in his life that would make you think something was wrong?”

  “No.”

  “Then exactly what did you talk about?”

  Senna turned her attention to Ryan for a moment. He had an apologetic look on his face when their eyes met, but he quickly looked away. She made mental note of it then turned her attention back to Paige. “If I knew anything that might help you find the person who killed Walter, I would be more than happy to tell you. But the truth is, I don’t. We spent most of the time talking about the book he was working on with another colleague, and reminiscing about the past. He didn’t give any indication anything was wrong. I’m sorry but I just don’t have anything to tell you.”

  “Okay.” Paige nodded then looked at Ryan. “You have any questions?”

  “No.” He stood.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help,” Senna said as Paige stood and headed for the door.

  “That’s okay.” Paige stopped and looked back at her. “By the way, can you tell me where you were between the hours of one and three yesterday?”

  Senna was shocked by the question but tried not to show it. “In class.”

  “And that can be substantiated?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, thanks, Dr. Laserian. We won’t take up any more of your time.”

  Senna looked at Ryan as he stepped over to her. “I’m sorry. Dr. Aldridge gave us a list of names of people who had contact with Van Dorn and your name was on it. We’re talking to everyone.”

  “It’s fine, Ryan. I’ll do anything I can to help, I just don’t know anything. But what’s up with Paige? Why the sudden ‘Dr. Laserian’ routine? Did I step on her toes or something?”

  “Ignore it. It’s just one of her moods. Listen, are you free tonight?”

  “I’m meeting Kendal for racquetball at six but I don’t have anything planned after that. What’d you have in mind?”

  “Well, I was going to try and convince you to meet me at karate class and—”

  “Ryan, I’m really not interested.”

  “Just give it a shot. There’s a seven-thirty class and there’s lots of beginners.”

  “I don’t think so. Not tonight.”

  “Next week? Maybe?”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “Okay.” He smiled. “Fair enough. But do you think I could talk you into picking me up from class around eight-thirty? I had to put my car in the shop and it won’t be ready until tomorrow morning. I’m going to catch a ride to class with Paige.”

  “She’s studying martial arts?”

  “Yeah, she started before I did. So, do we have a date?”

  “Sure. Eight-thirty.”

  “Great!” He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. “See you then.”

  She smiled and watched as he and Paige left. As they neared the exit, Paige turned and looked back at her. She thought that her eyes must be playing tricks on her because she would have sworn that Paige had given her the kind of look you’d give your worst enemy.

  Dismissing the idea, she went back into her office to get her notes together for her next class.

  Jackson Township

  Konnor was on the last mile of his run when a dark blue Audi swerved off the road and onto the sidewalk in front of him. He took out the first man to exit the car with a spinning sidekick. A second man came at him from the side as a third jumped out of the front passenger side of the car and threw a punch at him.

  He grabbed the man’s hand that swung at him and kicked to the side at the same time. The kick landed in the center of the second man’s chest, lifted him up, and propelled him back a full six feet.

  Konnor applied pressure on the fist of the man he held immobile. The man’s face paled and his mouth move spasmodically for a few moments before actual words emerged. “Slater…sent…us!”

  Konnor released the man and stepped back. “Tell him the answer is no. I’m not interested.”

  “You know I can’t do that.” The man clutched his wounded hand against his chest. “He wants to see you.”

  “No.” Konnor turned to walk away.

  “He’ll only send more,” the first man he had felled said as he got to his feet. “You know he won’t give up. Why not save yourself a lot of time and trouble and meet with him. What can it hurt?”

  Konnor turned with a cold look on his face. “You are as stupid as you look. Tell Slater the answer is no. And tell him next time I won’t be friendly. The next messengers he sends he can come collect in a bag.”

  He didn’t wait for a response but jogged back the way he had come. His heart was pumping fast and hard. Not because of the fight. That skirmish wasn’t enough to make him break a sweat. It was Slater. He had been fool enough to let the man pull
him back in once before. It had nearly cost him his life. It had cost him six months—months that he had no memory of, but plenty of scars. There was no way he was going to let Slater pull him in again. No matter what kind of web he wove, Konnor was not going to get caught.

  He had been out of the game for almost two years. Most of that time he had spent looking over his shoulder and waking every few minutes of the night in a cold sweat. The first time he slept a full four hours without jerking awake in attack mode, he knew he was making progress at exorcising his demons. They might not all be gone, but he was patient and willing to take them on one at a time.

  “Why now?” he asked aloud as he came in sight of his house. Despite his intentions to have nothing to do with Slater he had to admit that he was curious.

  And you know what curiosity did to the cat, he reminded himself. Resolving to put Slater out of his mind, he checked the time. He had just enough time to shower and get to the school to teach the afternoon class.

  Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department

  Paige preceded Ryan into the medical examiner’s office. They found the chief medical examiner, Charles Raymond, sitting at his desk.

  “Dr. Raymond.” Ryan pulled out his identification. “Ryan Dalton, Homicide. This is my partner, Paige Landers. I understand you have a preliminary report on Van Dorne?”

  “Please, have a seat.” Dr. Raymond gestured to chairs in front of the desk.

  “What I can tell you at this point is that Dr. Van Dorne died from a fatal blow to the neck that decapitated him. The blow appears to have been delivered by a sword of some sort. What type we are not certain but we did find a minute trace we’re having tests run on. The other cuts were inflicted before death. They were all superficial, designed to cause a great deal of pain but not life-threatening. Whoever wielded the weapon was very adept.”

  “What about the severed finger?” Ryan asked.

  “By my best estimate, the finger was severed approximately ten to twenty minutes before death.”

  “And the lack of blood at the scene?”

  “Simple. The victim was not killed there. He was killed elsewhere and the body taken to the hotel and arranged on the bed.”

  “And the time of death?” Ryan asked.

  “Between one and two-thirty in the afternoon.”

  Ryan finished jotting down notes. “Anything else you can tell us?”

  Dr. Raymond shook his head. “No more than what I’ve indicated in my report.” He handed Ryan a copy. “However, you may want to check with the lab. I understand they’re running hair and blood samples taken from the scene. Perhaps they’ll have something for you.”

  “Thank you.” Ryan stood and shook the doctor’s hand then he and Paige left the room. “Why don’t you check in and see if anything’s turned up on the background report,” he suggested. “I’ll go to the lab and see what they have.”

  “Sure, meet you at the car in, what?” She checked her watch. “Fifteen minutes?”

  “Make it half an hour,” he said as they got on the elevator.

  She didn’t argue, and got off the elevator at the lobby level. Ryan rode up to the third floor. “Hey, Ron,” he greeted one of the technicians he knew. “Got anything on the Van Dorne case?”

  A young technician with a reputation for brilliance gestured as he started for the other side of the lab. “Man, this is strange. No evidence at all on the body that would indicate it had been transported from where the murder occurred to the hotel.”

  Ryan agreed with the assessment. It was odd. There should have been some kind of evidence—fibers or hairs, something that would associate the victim with the place where he was killed.

  “You know that note?” Ron interrupted his thoughts.

  “Yeah.” Ryan looked at him expectantly.

  “It’s a real kicker.”

  “In what way?”

  “Come on.”

  Ryan followed him into another room. Ron turned off the lights and switched on a projector. An enlarged image of the note appeared on the white screen against the wall.

  “What am I looking for?” Ryan could make neither heads nor tails out of the pattern projected on the screen. It looked like some kind of woven blanket.

  “This is a magnification of the material,” Ron explained. “What you’re seeing is papyrus.”

  “Papyrus?” Ryan was surprised.

  “Very old papyrus.”

  “How old?”

  “We’re not equipped for that here so we’re sending it out to be tested.”

  “When will you know?”

  Ron shrugged and changed slides in the projector. “Here’s something else. This is how the fragment appears to the naked eye. See the symbols here? These were drawn in the victim’s blood. Now look at this.”

  He switched slides again and pointed to the screen. “See? There are markings beneath the blood-drawn symbols.”

  “Ever see anything like it?” Ryan wondered what the strange markings were supposed to indicate.

  Ron shook his head. “Beats me. Stan said it looks like some kind of cuneiform or something. We put in a call to the university to see if anyone in their archaeology department can shed some light on it.”

  “Anything else?” Ryan didn’t see the point of dwelling on a note than no one could translate.

  “No evidence of anyone in that room except the victim. No skin, hair, dirt—nada, my friend. Either we’re dealing with a very clever perp or the good doctor was offed by a ghost.”

  Ryan frowned at the remark. He didn’t believe in ghosts and no one was smart enough to cover all their tracks. Everyone made at least one mistake and he fully intended to find that mistake and use it to nail the murderer.

  “Thanks, Ron. Keep me posted on that note or anything else that turns up.”

  “Will do.” Ron turned his attention back to his work and Ryan left. He thought about asking Paige to run him home before going to class so that he could pick up some clean clothes. He would rather not have to put back on the shirt he’d been wearing all day after he finished class, since Senna was picking him up.

  As he got on the elevator he changed his mind about asking. Chances were Paige would only give him a hard time about Senna again and he’d had enough of that for one day. He still didn’t get why Paige was suddenly so critical of Senna. But then, he had never professed to understand women.

  Southeast Charlotte

  Senna arrived at the martial arts school fifteen minutes early. She found a place to park and listened to a CD. Eight-thirty came and went and no one came out of the school. At eight-forty-five, she began to think that maybe she had misunderstood Ryan about the time. She decided to give it a few more minutes.

  When the clock on her dashboard read nine o’clock, she decided to go see what the hold-up was. She got out of the car and headed for the entrance. As she reached the door, two young men came out with gym bags and protective gear slung over their shoulders. She waited for them to pass then walked inside.

  The reception area was crowded with people talking as they made their way to the door. She looked around for Ryan but didn’t see him, so she stood off to one side and waited for the crowd to thin. When the reception area emptied, she crossed the room and looked into the workout hall. A tall, dark-haired, and muscular man was demonstrating a technique to another man. Both of them saw her reflection in the mirror. The tall man turned toward her.

  A soft gasp came from her as their eyes met. It was like looking into a bottomless well. No, she realized as he walked toward her. Like an endless night sky, devoid of stars.

  He moved in a fluid manner, almost like a dancer, but with more of a glide in his step as if his feet never really broke contact with the floor yet propelled him along effortlessly.

  She couldn’t help noticing the muscles of his chest beneath the black T-shirt, and the dark hair that peeked out from the neckline. Just watching him walk caused a heat to simmer in her belly.

  He stopped in front of
her and she had to tilt her head back to look up at his face. When she did, she was seized by a feeling of desire so intense she had to look down in embarrassment. Her heart was beating entirely too fast and the warmth in her belly had descended to and lodged right between her legs.

  Horrified at her own reaction, she barely heard him when he spoke. “I’m sorry, what?” she stammered.

  “May I help you?” His voice was deep in timbre but low in volume.

  “I’m looking for—”

  “Senna!” Ryan’s voice came from behind her.

  She whirled around, welcoming the interruption. He smiled and hurried over to them. “Konnor, this is Dr. Senna Laserian,” he said, making the introductions. “She teaches physics at UNCC. Senna, this is Konnor Chase, the man I’ve been telling you about.”

  She made herself look at Konnor. “Pleased to meet you.”

  He nodded, not exactly in a friendly manner, but his eyes sought hers and locked tight. She couldn’t hold his gaze. Fortunately she didn’t have to. Ryan was excitedly telling her about Konnor.

  “He’s a sixth-degree black belt. A real master.”

  “Kokoro,” Senna heard herself say before she realized she had spoken.

  Konnor’s eyes narrowed fractionally and Ryan’s widened in surprise. “We better go,” she said quickly to end the conversation. “It was nice to meet you,” she said to Konnor.

  He nodded and she turned away. “I’ll be right there,” Ryan called after her as she hurried across the reception area. “Are you going to make it to Aaron’s party tomorrow night?” he asked Konnor, turning away from watching Senna.

  “I’m not big on parties,” Konnor replied, following Senna with his eyes.

  “I can understand.” Ryan didn’t notice the way Konnor watched Senna. “But this would be a good opportunity for you to meet some people. We usually have a pretty good time. Senna and I will be there, and you already know Paige and Justin Baldwin, so you wouldn’t be totally unacquainted.”

  “I’ll think about it.” Konnor finally turned his eyes toward Ryan.

  “Okay.” Ryan smiled. “See you then.”