He wiped his hands on his jeans to clean them as best he could before touching Steff again. He’d left his finger marks in damp clay on her upper arms, temporarily branding her. That was fine with him. Too many weird things had happened on this campus lately for him to relax his vigilance one iota, especially where she was concerned.
Trevor promised himself he’d stick with Steff like glue until they were married. And after that, he was going to stay even closer. God had made her his responsibility and no person or thing was going to harm her. Not while he still had breath in his lungs.
He shivered, thinking of the skeleton in the trench. Someone had loved her or him, too. And someone else had disposed of that body as if it were of no consequence. As if no one cared.
Steff wasn’t surprised to see the arrival of the squad cars but she was awed when her own father also drove up.
She and Trevor had been asked to stand back, out of the way, while Jim Anderson and the other investigators worked.
J. T. Kessler not only joined them, he immediately hugged Steff.
Unused to the show of affection, Steff remained a bit stiff. As her father stepped away she noted that his eyes were suspiciously moist.
“I’m glad you were here,” J.T. told the younger man as he his shook hand. “The call I got said you found a human body. Is that true?”
Trevor nodded. “Yes. There’s no doubt.”
“How long do you think it was down there?”
“I don’t know. Years, probably. I’d seen some earlier drawings indicating that the utilities for the library had been relocated to run underground near here and I was taking it slow because I didn’t want to damage them.”
J.T. raked his fingers through his graying hair. “Do you think that’s when this happened?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
Trevor noticed that Steff was trembling, so he pulled her closer to his side as he continued to explain. “I suppose the police will run tests that will tell them, but as heavy as that soil is, I can’t imagine anyone being able to dig a deep grave at all, let alone refill it without being noticed.”
Steff slipped one arm around Trevor’s waist before speaking. “He’s right. I couldn’t even manage to pry up a shallow-rooted bush. It looks to me as though the grave was partially under the old cement sidewalk, too. That was put in while I was still a student here, wasn’t it?”
Her father nodded. “Yes. I remember being concerned that the project wouldn’t be finished in time for your graduation.” He frowned in the direction of all the current activity as he added, “That isn’t all I remember, either. I hired Fowler Brothers to move those power lines underground and pour a new section of sidewalk over the top after they were done.”
Steff stared her father, then turned to Trevor. Her jaw gaped. “You don’t think they had anything to do with this, do you?” She looked back at J.T. “Do you?”
His color was ashen and his expression one of shock and confusion. “I don’t know. A few days ago I would have said absolutely not. Today, I’m not so positive.”
“It might explain why they were determined to get this job in the first place,” Trevor said. “They would still have had to open the trench for the new foundation, but if they knew what they’d find, they could have done it at night and gotten rid of the evidence when no one else was around.”
“That is logical,” Steff said. “But when they didn’t get the job, you’d have thought they’d have tried to delay the digging.”
Her father squared his shoulders, his expression hard. “If I find out that Nat knew about this or was in any way behind what happened to you after the break-in, I’ll personally see that he and everyone else on his payroll goes to jail.”
Reaching out to comfort him by patting his hand, Steff almost refrained when she was struck by how unnatural the action seemed.
In the split second it took her to decide to proceed, J.T. met her halfway and grasped her hand. The new degree of affection he had begun to demonstrate touched her almost beyond words.
“Don’t—don’t be too hasty,” she said softly. “You and Nat have been friends for years. Surely he can’t have known what was going on.”
“I hope not.” He looked from Steff to Trevor. “If you two are okay, I want to go have a talk with the police.”
“We’re fine,” she assured her father.
Waiting until he was out of earshot, she turned her attention to Trevor. “I still can’t believe that’s my dad. I keep wanting to ask who stole the real J. T. Kessler and left that nice old man in his place.”
Trevor chuckled softly and gave her a squeeze. “I wouldn’t let him hear you call him old, if I were you. But you’re right. He has changed, and for the better.”
“Boy, is that an understatement.” She sobered. “Who do you think was murdered and dumped in that horrible grave?”
“I don’t know. There wasn’t anything left but bones, as far as I could tell. I’m sure the police will sift everything in and around it for clues.”
Steff gasped as her thoughts focused on past events. “Oh, no! Do you suppose the initial we found was a clue to this murder?”
“There’s no reason to think it was. I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.”
Shivering, Steff knew Trevor was being sensible, but her imagination refused to be placated. Although she said, “I suppose you’re right,” her mind kept insisting she was missing something. Something crucial. Something potentially deadly.
She eyed the area where she’d broken free after her attempted abduction, then looked back at the team of experts excavating next to the library.
Never again would she feel safe and at home on this campus.
And never again would she take the health and well-being of herself or those she loved for granted.
There was evil here. It might be masked by beautiful gardens and winding paths shaded by oaks festooned with airy cloaks of Spanish moss, but it existed just the same. It lay beneath the surface, lurking like a hungry alligator, ready to strike at the first sign of weakness or carelessness.
Standing in the crook of Trevor’s arm and drawing on his strength, Steff was nevertheless bereft. Magnolia College had been like a second home to her. She’d loved and supported it for literally years.
Yet now, in the wake of the grisly discovery and all of her other trials, she was beginning to view the campus as a place to be avoided. Worse, she was seeing its staff as individuals who might not be as trustworthy as she’d always thought they were.
To her, those feelings were akin to losing her best friend with no possible hope of reconciliation. Her unquestioned fondness for Magnolia College was every bit as dead as the poor soul whose mortal remains had just been unearthed.
“They found her! I told you they would.”
“Don’t panic.”
“Why not? They’re bound to figure out who she is eventually, and then what?”
“Then, nothing” came the unnervingly calm reply. “You and I are in the clear just like we were back then.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I’m sure, okay. The only thing that worries me now is how poorly you’re dealing with this. After all, you didn’t kill her.”
“No, but…”
“Don’t even say it. I don’t want to hear any more from you. Got that? You’ve done quite enough already.”
“I didn’t mean for Adam to die. I just wanted…”
“Shut up! You’re lucky I had the presence of mind to cover for you then.” There was a long, thoughtful pause. “You owe me, big time.”
“And I paid you back by covering up your mess. You know that and so do I. I just hope they don’t find anything in that grave to implicate either of us.”
“Like what? We saw to it that there were no clues left behind. If you’d stopped them from digging there in the first place, the way I told you to, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”
“I don’t like it. The whole campus is on e
dge. I feel as though everybody’s looking at me. Studying me. Suspecting me.”
“The only reason anybody would think you were involved was if you acted weird. Just carry on as always. Be yourself. You can do that, can’t you?”
“I suppose so. What about you? What are you going to do?”
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
“Oh, sure, that’s easy for you to say. You’re not stuck here the way I am. I don’t dare leave or do anything the least out of the ordinary.”
“Now you’re beginning to understand. Finally. See that you don’t forget and you’ll be fine.”
“Fine?” He huffed with evident self-loathing. “The only way I’d be fine is if I could go back in time and not get involved with you in the first place.”
FIFTEEN
S teff went about her daily duties in the ensuing weeks as if she were in a fog.
On the one hand, she was elated because she and Trevor had finally admitted their love for each other. On the other hand, a pall of gloom hung over the campus while everyone speculated as to who had been buried in the makeshift grave and when the murder could have occurred. It was enough to keep her jumping at shadows, as was nearly everyone else she encountered.
Her father had done all he could to keep the story away from the national news, but the details had leaked just the same. As a result, her office had been inundated with queries from alumnae and the families of prospective and current students. Steff had done her best to smooth things over but if Magnolia retained half of her prior enrollment in the ensuing semester she’d be surprised.
Because the local police were not very forthcoming, she’d been forced to answer the many queries with empty assurances. Naturally the authorities were treating the death as a homicide and they therefore suspected pretty much everyone including staff, townspeople and former students. Steff couldn’t blame them. She just wished they’d finish their investigation, release the site and let Trevor get on with building the library addition.
The one good thing about the confusion on campus was that Trevor had had lots of free time and had spent every spare moment of it with her.
“I was telling Dad that I thought we should assign you your own office since you’re here so much,” Steff told him with a smile. “He thought I was serious. It was pretty funny.”
“I’ll eventually bring in the office trailer I park on the site of big jobs, but I’d just as soon hang around in your office for now, if you don’t mind,” Trevor said.
His grin was crooked and slightly embarrassed-looking, further endearing him to her. She reached for his hand and slipped her thin fingers between his strong, callused ones. “Suits me fine. I happen to like having you underfoot.”
Pausing to glance at the open office door, Steff shivered slightly and tightened her hold on his hand. “I haven’t felt safe since you found the…you know.”
“I know. I’m sorry, honey. If there was any way I could have spared you seeing that, I would have.”
“It isn’t just seeing it,” Steff said, “it’s knowing that something so dreadful happened here in the first place. I’m still having trouble getting my mind around it. Magnolia always seemed like such a safe haven to me. Now I can barely bring myself to come to work every morning.”
“Has your dad been able to pry any details out of his buddies at the P.D.?”
Steff shook her head. “No. Not really. They’re as closemouthed with him as they have been with the rest of us. I’ve learned more from reading the newspaper than I have any other way—and most of that’s pure speculation.”
“Did you remember to tell the authorities about the guy you spotted lurking in the bushes the night of the reunion?”
She pulled a face. “Yes. They treated my report as if it was of no consequence, the same as when I told them I thought I’d been followed by that blue car. Since I couldn’t ID either person and there were no useful images on my smashed camera, the authorities act as if they don’t care.”
“I care.” Trevor gave her fingers an affectionate squeeze. “At least you’re sure it was a man you saw by the library.”
“That’s all I could really tell. There’s no way to know if he was poking around because he knew there was a body buried nearby or if he was there for an entirely different reason. I can’t imagine what other reason he might have had, though. The whole thing is just too creepy.”
“You’re right. Forget I brought it up.”
Steff huffed with disgust. “We may as well talk about it. Considering all the crazy rumors that are flying around here, it’s impossible not to.”
“No doubt.” Urging her closer, Trevor gently encircled her shoulders. “How about taking a vacation? Not a real one, just an extended break from all this confusion.”
“I can’t. I’m needed here. There are more fund-raisers to plan and stage, and the police have requested access to my confidential alumni files, too.” She wished she’d been allowed to provide those files right away but since the law prohibited her sharing them, she had to wait for the promised court order releasing them.
“It sounds like they think the victim may have been a former student.”
“That seems to be the popular consensus around town as well as on campus.” Steff briefly laid her head on Trevor’s shoulder, then leaned back to look at him. “Suppose I knew the person well? Suppose he or she was an old friend?”
“Let’s leave the detective work to the police this time, Princess. You and I have stirred things up enough, already.”
“Boy, is that the truth. I’d just feel better if we had some solid information.”
“Me, too. Did your dad tell you that Nat Fowler’s sons were responsible for some of our trouble? The old man was planning to retire and had turned his accounts over to the boys. Apparently they decided their profit margin was too low so they padded the bills for the church.”
“But why break in and steal the old records from here?”
Trevor shrugged. “I suppose they thought they could discredit me by pretending I’d ransacked the files. It might have worked if you hadn’t decided to trust me.”
“Well, it sure backfired. Now they look as if they knew about the murder, too. I don’t know why the police haven’t arrested them.”
“Probably because they were both in Europe for the summer when their father’s company was working where we found the body.”
Steff shook her head slowly, thoughtfully. “That’s too bad. I’d rather tie up all the loose ends and get on with our lives.”
“If we put everything on hold until we have the final results of the police investigations, we may be old and gray.” He cupped her cheeks in his hands to gaze lovingly into her eyes. “I can’t see waiting indefinitely. Can you?”
“No.” Steff smiled at him. “I’ve been giving that a lot of thought, too. I want to get married before my parents have time to turn our simple ceremony into the kind of spectacle the Kesslers are famous for.”
“Suits me. I found a nice little house for sale just outside town,” Trevor said. “If you approve of it, we could move in there right after the wedding while I build you a castle fit for a princess.”
She shook her head. “Trevor, I love you dearly but if you try to build me a castle I will never speak to you again. Don’t you understand? I don’t want an expensive mansion. All I want is a comfortable home with you and a couple dozen children.”
“And a puppy?”
“Okay. And a puppy if that’s what you really want. You don’t even have to keep pretending the dog is for me.”
He made a silly face and acted as if her comments had shocked him. “Me? Pretend? Of course not, Princess.” His eyes suddenly widened and he faked a gasp. “Wait a second. How many children?”
“I wondered when you were going to realize what I’d said,” Steff replied, giggling. “You should see the look on your face! It’s priceless.”
“That’s because I’m still not sure whether or not you’re serious. I kn
ow you like to tease me, but there are limits.”
“Okay.” She laughed again. “Maybe only a couple of kids. Is that better?”
“Whew!” He pretended to wipe perspiration off his brow. “That’s more like it. I guess I will marry you, after all.”
She feigned shock, then stood on tiptoe and leaned closer to kiss him before she said, “You’d better believe it, mister. We’ve already wasted ten years. I’m not about to let you get away this time.”
Trevor tightened his embrace and kissed her soundly. “Who’s running away? Not me. I’ve loved you since you were my sister’s roommate. I may have been too dense to realize it then, but in retrospect it’s crystal clear.”
“I’d never have dreamed it, either,” Steff answered. “You and I always seemed to be at odds. I guess we just got so used to playing word games and trying to get one up on each other, we overlooked how close we really were.” She smiled wistfully. “I hope we never get so used to each other that we stop teasing and having fun.”
He chuckled warmly and kissed her again before he said, “As long as you weren’t serious about wanting twelve kids, that’s fine with me.”
Steff’s drawn-out, “Well…” made both of them laugh and share another mutual hug.
“Let’s start by going to see that house you found. Now. Today. I don’t want to spend one more minute on this campus than I absolutely have to.”
As Trevor escorted her outside, his hand rested lightly at the small of her back. Steff wouldn’t have had it any other way. She knew she couldn’t expect him to continue to spend so much time with her, but as long as the murder investigation was keeping him from working on the library annex she was perfectly happy to have his company. She could hardly remember a moment when she hadn’t wanted to be near him.
Gazing around at the campus she’d once loved, she was struck by an unidentifiable feeling of dread that made her shiver in spite of the summer heat. Right now, Trevor was beside her and she felt safe. How would she manage to cope once he went back to work?
Hidden in the Wall Page 14
