Winter's Web

by Mary Stone

  A sinking sensation made its way to Noah’s stomach as he descended back to reality. “She’s not here right now?”

  Morgan shook her head. “No, she’s not scheduled today. She’s a student at VCU, and she has classes today.”

  Noah retrieved a small notepad and a pen. “Do you know if she’s in class right now?”

  Another head shake. “No, I don’t know. I just know that I try not to schedule her too much on weekdays so she has plenty of time to go to class and do homework and stuff. Here, just a second. I’ll get you her information and her availability.”

  Returning the pen and paper to his pocket, Noah nodded. “I appreciate it.”

  As she disappeared into the kitchen, Winter let out a quiet sigh. “Couldn’t be easy for once, could it?”

  “Sure couldn’t.”

  Before either of them could make another comment, the assistant manager returned with a couple sheets of paper. Her honey-brown eyes flicked up to him and Winter. “I’m sorry, but our copier is broken, and these are the only two copies we have. You can take them, but I’d need them back.”

  Noah flashed her a reassuring smile and held up his phone. “No need. I’ll just take a couple pictures.”

  With a nod, Morgan set the papers down and stepped back. “I know that she lives with her parents, and she doesn’t have a boyfriend. She’s a really sweet girl, and she’s a hard worker. When you find her, could you have her send me a text or something to let me know she’s okay?”

  As he pocketed his phone, Noah nodded. “Of course.”

  Winter set a business card on top of the availability sheet. “If she swings by or you hear from her, just give me a call. Or if you remember anything else.”

  “Absolutely,” Morgan said, the worry lines on her forehead even deeper now. “Take care, Agents.”

  Winter offered her a reassuring smile. “You too, Ms. Snider.”

  As Noah and Winter pushed their way through the double doors, his appetite was pushed to the back of his mind. He’d have plenty of time to eat after they’d ensured Caroline’s safety.

  Before the doors had even swung closed behind them, Winter had dialed Caroline’s number and raised the phone to her ear. As the seconds dragged on, her expression became strained.

  Finally, she lowered the device to her lap. “No answer.”

  “Shit,” Noah spat as he pulled open the driver’s side door.

  “I’m looking up her home address now.” As Winter took her seat, her attention remained fixed on the phone as she typed.

  Though Noah jammed the key in the ignition, he didn’t start the truck. In silence, he waited for Winter to map out their route.

  Her blue eyes snapped up to meet his. “Her home address is only a few minutes out of the way on the route to VCU. We can stop there first, and then head to the university.” As he opened his mouth to reply, she held up a hand. “Even better, we can head to her house, and I’ll call the campus police and have them look for her. Then, if they find her, we can just swing by and pick her up.”

  They had no idea how long the killer would wait to strike, or if he’d already struck. Every second was precious, and they couldn’t risk the lunatic scooping her up off the VCU campus while they were poking around her home address.

  Gritting his teeth, Noah nodded. “Yeah. Call the campus police.”

  She tapped a couple buttons on her phone. “All right, Jeff Gordon. Hope you’ve still got that lead foot packed away somewhere.”

  The car ride had been quiet aside from Winter’s short phone call with the VCU campus police. Her requests were pointed but polite, and her crisp professionalism left no room for debate. Noah couldn’t help but be a little impressed by how she’d evolved as a federal agent. A year earlier, she might have cursed the dispatch officer at the first sign of trouble.

  In silence, they pulled into a working-class neighborhood occupied by modest, single family homes. According to the little bit of research Winter had managed on the trip, Caroline’s mother was a supervisor at a call center, and her father was an auto mechanic.

  Though Noah hoped to see a car in the driveway, the block of concrete was empty. Beneath each window beside the porch, a neat row of colorful flowers bloomed. The two-story residence wasn’t large, but as he and Winter made their way down the sidewalk, the ambiance was homey and welcoming.

  Maybe Caroline didn’t have her own car, and maybe she hadn’t yet left for class. Or maybe her car was parked on the street after she’d arrived home late the night before to find her usual spot occupied.

  And maybe the Cookie Monster would share his Pecan Sandies.

  The bizarre saying—one often uttered by his older sister, Lucy—normally brought him some measure of amusement. But today, he felt like an addict who had just gone through the largest comedown of their life.

  An hour ago, he’d been certain they would find Caroline Peters and whisk her away in the nick of time. From there, he’d crash-landed back in the real world when they’d learned that her manager hadn’t seen or heard from her. Now, he was back in a world where happy endings weren’t a given, and where lunatics like Caroline’s stalker preyed on the vulnerable.

  And too often won.

  He shook off the bleak thoughts and glanced to Winter as she prepared to knock on the front door. The crack of her knuckles against the wooden surface rang out through the air with the same force as a hammer against steel. Reflexively, Noah glanced around the quiet neighborhood. Aside from a cat lying on the front steps of the house across the street, the area was still.

  “Hello? Mr. and Mrs. Peters? Caroline?” Winter paused and leaned in to listen for a response.

  Nothing.

  Noah cleared his throat. “Mr. and Mrs. Peters, Caroline, if you’re home, this is the Federal Bureau of Investigation. You aren’t in any sort of trouble. We’re just here to make sure you’re okay.”

  His elaboration was greeted with more silence.

  As Noah swore under his breath, Winter knocked a second time, and then a third.

  At just before noon on a weekday, it was no small surprise that the Peters weren’t home.

  With a sigh, Winter stepped away from the wooden door. “Parents must be at work, and Caroline must be in class.”

  She was either in class, or she was about to be the star of a homemade snuff film. A video clip that would be posted on a dark web forum for creeps worldwide to masturbate over.

  At the thought, the taste in his mouth turned bitter. “You’ve got some units headed over here to keep an eye out for anyone coming home, right?”

  Winter’s face was cool and determined. “Yeah, they’ll be here in a couple minutes.”

  “Any word from the campus police yet?”

  Her expression darkened as she shook her head. “No, not yet.”

  He flipped the car keys into the air, then caught them in a vicious swipe. “Let’s just hope she’s on campus then.”

  19

  Ever since she was in grade school, Caroline Peter’s music taste had been eclectic. She’d jam out to a Lady Gaga song and follow it with Viking music by a Nordic band whose name she couldn’t even pronounce.

  By now, at age twenty, she was so used to the bizarre song changes that the difference didn’t even register to her unless a friend was listening too.

  As she spotted a flicker of movement in her periphery, she glanced up from where she’d been focused on the rubric for a group project. The tall man wasn’t bulky, but he’d rolled up the sleeves of his button-down plaid shirt to reveal toned forearms. His dark hair was fashionably messy, and his face was clean-shaven. When she met his pale blue eyes, her lips curved into a wide smile. Pulling out one of her earbuds, she gestured to the seat across the table.

  “Cameron, hey, sorry about that. These headphones cancel out, like, all the background noise.” For emphasis, she held up the earbuds. “Plus, I hardly even recognized you without, you know.” She circled a finger around her mouth.

  He mi
rrored her motion as he took his seat. “Without a beard?” When he chuckled, his smile revealed rows of perfect white teeth.

  Though she couldn’t say for certain, she suspected he must have suffered through the displeasure of braces during high school to achieve a smile that flawless. Caroline had been a frequent flyer at the orthodontist from eighth grade all the way until the end of her junior year.

  Whenever she’d complain about the trips to the dentist, her father would grin and point to his crooked front teeth. According to him, his genetics were responsible for her messy alignment, so it only seemed right that he be the one to help her fix it.

  Caroline’s older brother, on the other hand, had inherited their mother’s perfectly straight, cavity free smile.

  She forced her gaze away from Cameron’s teeth, chiding herself to pay attention to what he was saying. “My headphones are the same way, though. It pisses my dad off all the time. I mean, that’s not what I’m trying to do, but it just happens.”

  With a light laugh, she nodded. “Right? The same thing happens to me with my parents. But, for real, what about the beard? You’ve had a beard since we were in biology together last semester.”

  “Last semester? You remember being in class with me last semester?” The mischievous glint in his pale eyes made her pulse pick up, but at the same time, there was an unsettling twinge she couldn’t quite place.

  For now, she just assumed the discomfort was the product of her own nervousness.

  Even during the spring biology course, she’d been quick to notice how attractive Cameron Arkwell was. But back then, she hadn’t been anywhere near confident enough to approach someone like him.

  Though college social circles weren’t the same cliquey mess as those in high school, Cameron was still considered one of the cool kids.

  To be sure, he had friends from virtually every other social circle—the rockers, the athletes, the geeky kids. Caroline had always been firmly in the latter category, though thanks to her job as a server at a local restaurant, she’d gained a great deal of confidence in social situations.

  Maybe the day was finally about to come where she would run into Cameron at a frat party.

  She was sure she’d just be one of many to someone like him, but according to her brother, that was what college was for.

  Sure, the end goal was a degree, but the experience was just as important. In her brother’s case, that experience had involved being popped with three minor possession charges in his first six months at VCU.

  So far, Caroline had accumulated only one MIP. And since she turned twenty-one in a couple months, she hoped that little minor in possession was the first and last.

  Caroline felt her cheeks heat, both at the memory and from being so close to Cameron. “Of course I remember being in class with you last semester. I always sat right behind you.”

  The unsettling glint vanished as a wide smile spread over his face. “Too bad we didn’t get stuck together on a group project then, huh?”

  Caroline laughed. “No kidding.”

  “Speaking of.” He set his bag on the floor before scooting forward. “I was wondering if you’d want to meet up at my place after class so we can knock some of it out.”

  Her heart hammered against her chest, and she could only hope the flush that rose to her cheeks wasn’t as noticeable as it felt.

  Brushing a piece of blonde hair from her forehead, she tried to maintain an air of nonchalance as she nodded. “Yeah, that sounds great. Maybe we can just get the whole damn thing done.”

  Chuckling, he spread his hands. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

  There they were, the stupid butterflies.

  As she smiled back at him, she tried to will away the flutter. “Right. Not without Peyton.”

  He shrugged and reached down for his backpack. “She’s been doing a pretty good job all on her own, though.”

  Well, she thought. There it was.

  He might as well have just said outright the real reason for the invitation. Still, there was an aspect of subtlety that she appreciated. Asking a girl to come over to work on a group project sounded much classier than asking the same girl if she’d like to come over to make out or have sex.

  “True.” Caroline nodded as she tucked her earbuds into a pocket of her canvas jacket. “We wouldn’t want to mess up her flow.”

  Cameron practically beamed at her. “Exactly. You get it.”

  Though Caroline could swear she caught a glimpse of that same unsettling glint, she pushed the look from her mind. She was just nervous, she told herself. That was why she saw the eerie look in his pale eyes. Her brain was playing tricks on her.

  In all honesty, Peyton was the type of girl Caroline could picture someone like Cameron fawning over. Though Peyton was kind, there was a distinctive edge to her dyed black hair, cat-eye makeup and riding boots that told an onlooker she didn’t lack confidence.

  During a criminal justice class that Caroline and Peyton had been in together, she’d even learned that Peyton’s mother was a DEA agent. Apparently, self-confidence ran in the family.

  Until a little over a week ago, Caroline had been sure Cameron wasn’t even aware of her existence. When he’d leaned over to crack a joke about an advertisement the professor had just shown the class, she had to do a double take.

  At first, she’d been sure he had intended the humorous comment for someone else. When he’d walked down the hall and chatted with her after class, however, she realized she was his intended conversational partner.

  From there, they’d made a habit of talking before and after class, and they hadn’t hesitated to pair up when the time for their group project rolled around. Since she sat behind Caroline, Peyton had joined them as well.

  The sunlight caught the face of Cameron’s stylish watch as he took note of the time. “Well, looks like we’d better get to class. Unless…” He left the suggestion unfinished and raised his eyebrows.

  Her pulse rushed in her ears, getting the butterflies to fluttering all over again.

  She didn’t even have to wait for a frat party. If she said yes right now, she could follow him to his car and that would be the end of it. All the flirtatious little comments and looks over the past week and a half would culminate in an encounter she wouldn’t soon forget. Caroline wasn’t a virgin, but she didn’t need both hands to count the number of guys she’d slept with. In fact, she barely needed one hand to count them.

  Cameron was a different story.

  She didn’t know him well, but she knew enough about his reputation to get a clear picture of where he stood in terms of sexual experience.

  Caroline decided then that she wouldn’t be just another notch on his belt. Though she might not have had the same edgy sex appeal as Peyton Hoesch, she was still pretty in a classic, Marilyn Monroe way.

  As she mulled over the idea of skipping class to go home with Cameron Arkwell, she made a show of biting her bottom lip. When she looked up to give the appearance of pensiveness, she noticed that Cameron’s eyes were fixed on her. For a moment, she felt like the only woman in the universe.

  But she had to be smart.

  Slowly, she shook her head. “Skipping class to go work on a project for that class kind of defeats the purpose, don’t you think?”

  A flash of something—disappointment? anger?—disappeared as quickly as he showed those perfect teeth again. “Fair enough. Off to class we go, then.” For emphasis, he swept an arm in front of himself.

  She returned the smile in kind.

  If he wanted another notch in his belt today, he’d have to work for it.

  I had her.

  Hook, line, and sinker. I had her.

  Caroline Peters had been primed and ready to follow me home after class, but then that bitch Peyton Hoesch had to stick her nose where it didn’t belong.

  The instructor had given us a few minutes to discuss our group projects amongst ourselves, and that’s when Peyton asked about a meetup. Caroline had glanced to m
e and then to Peyton as she shrugged and told her that we were thinking of getting together to work on our portion of the project that night.

  She’d pay for that. She should have kept her mouth closed and let me answer Peyton’s question.

  For the remainder of the class, I’d occupied myself with the task of deciding how she’d pay for it. Though the visuals that flitted through my head were enough to put me at ease for a time, my blood pressure spiked again when the instructor dismissed us.

  I already knew I could have any girl I wanted, but right now, the only one I wanted was Caroline. And whether or not she was willing didn’t particularly matter to me.

  Maybe once I was home, I could separate the two of them and take care of Peyton. No, that left the potential for two versus one. And while I stood a full six inches taller than Caroline and closer to a foot taller than Peyton, it wasn’t a chance I was willing to take.

  “Hey.” Peyton’s voice cut through the din of voices as the rest of the class rose to leave. When I glanced to the side, her green eyes were fixed on me.

  I shoved the irritability down as far as I could manage and smiled. “Hey. What’s up?”

  “I don’t live on campus, and I drove to class today. What’s your address? I’d follow you, but I bet we’re parked in different garages.”

  Though the effort felt monumental, I didn’t let my façade of nonchalance drop off as I gave her the information, along with my phone number.

  For a split-second, I thought that I could just drive Caroline to the lake house. But if neither of us showed up to my house, Peyton would know something was wrong. Even if I’d thought faster and given her a fake address, she wasn’t stupid. She would have caught on.

  Taking someone I knew personally was risky enough, so I didn’t need additional witnesses in the way.

  I almost laughed out loud, thinking of all the ways my father would have to cover up for me.

  And he would. I had no doubt about that.