Читать книгу In His Sights - Carol Steward - Страница 12

Dee and her friend Steff Kessler, director of alumni relations, spent the afternoon brainstorming ideas to counteract the scandals. They figured out a way to pull a list of distinguished alumni from the college database and they drafted a letter requesting alumni get involved. Dee hadn’t been this encouraged in weeks. Excited to move forward with the campaign as soon as possible, she left a message for Edgar.

She tidied her desk after Steff headed back to her office in the library. Dee reviewed her notes, jotting additional suggestions in the margins as she waited for Edgar to return her call. At a little after five o’clock, she decided Edgar wasn’t going to call. Dee placed the drafted letter into her briefcase.

As soon as Dee closed her office door the phone rang. She hurried back inside, dropped the purse back into the chair and lifted the receiver, hoping it was Edgar returning her call. “Deandra Owens, how can I—”

The caller interrupted Dee. Static mingled with hushed words. “Miss Owens, you must help—” the woman said before her Southern accented voice cut out.

“What?” Dee waited a few seconds then tried to get the caller’s attention. “Hello?”

“Those…on the reunion Web site—” The caller was interrupted by yelling and commotion on her end.

Dee could hear doors slamming, then more static. “Hello?” She considered hanging up but couldn’t. Two words had her hooked—Web site. How could anyone know she’d just taken over as Webmaster? “Hello, are you there?” She looked down at the caller ID, which read “unknown number.”

“Just a moment, please,” the caller whispered, “Mother and Father don’t want me calling, but something is wrong.”

“Who is this? Are you okay?” Dee heard the squeak of metal on metal. “Hello? What’s your—”

She heard someone in another room yelling, but couldn’t tell what was said.

“Miss Owens,” the caller whispered, “you must find out who is pretending to be Josie.”

“Pretending? What makes you think—”

The caller was gone.

Dee stared at the phone, willing it to ring again. Surely the caller would phone back. She had to. Dee needed more information.

Josie? Racking her brain, Dee recalled a girl in her dorm with the name Josie. What was her last name? Were there other Josies at Magnolia College ten years ago?

There was something familiar about the caller’s voice. Logically speaking, it could be any well-bred Southern woman, but Dee couldn’t shake the feeling that they knew each other.

She waited a few moments, hoping the mystery woman would call again. When it was clear that wasn’t going to happen, Dee logged into the Web site and reread all of the posts. The only Josie to leave a message hadn’t given a last name. Dee had assumed at the time it was from the Josie she remembered, but maybe there had been another Josie enrolled at Magnolia College. The post said Josie had taken a whirlwind tour of Europe after graduation and mentioned a daughter. But why would someone pretend to be someone else on a college reunion Web site? And why was this caller so sure it wasn’t the real Josie? Maybe it was simply a case of mistaken identity.

While she was logged on, Dee searched the Web site, wondering how the caller had gotten her contact information. Unless this was the person who’d hacked into the site and found Dee’s name as the administrator, she had no clue how she could have known. After another hour, Dee finally gave up waiting to hear back from the frantic woman.

Grabbing her belongings again, she went down the back stairs of the administrative building, toward Kessler Library, noticing the new memorial garden that Cassie Winters had planted after her brother’s murder. She also noted the new emergency phones dotting the sidewalks across campus.

Walking past the new library’s construction site, Dee felt an odd sense of stepping back in time, to her own college days again, when they’d all felt perfectly safe walking across campus any time of day. All that had changed with recent events.

The air smelled like rain, bringing back memories of dashing to class, soaking wet.

She felt a few raindrops and walked faster.

She’d never liked studying at the library. Something about the huge old building gave her the chills. That feeling was heightened now, since a body had been uncovered on the library’s grounds.

Maybe it was just that she was thinking so much about the skeleton lately, who the victim was, and what she’d gone through. Not fifty feet from where she stood, Dee realized. Glancing over her shoulder, Dee noticed a dark shadow behind the row of azaleas that Cassie had planted in the memorial garden.

She picked up her pace, her heels clicking on the sidewalk. As a chill went up her spine, Dee looked to the left, then the right. The few students out walked in groups, ducking under trees to stay dry. All except one person—a short and slight figure wearing a dark, hooded sweatshirt. The person turned away from her, then walked toward the music school. Dee let out a sigh of relief. Even though the campus was well lit, she still had an eerie feeling. Her imagination was probably getting the best of her, she told herself. Just in case, when she was done at the library, she’d call the campus security office and request an escort to take her back to her car, another of the changes the college had put into place recently.

She replayed the phone conversation over in her mind, focusing hard to think of something she’d missed. The woman had had a very strong Southern accent and a formal speech pattern. But that was little help—Georgia was full of women with Southern accents.

Dee glanced back at the music building as she went up the steps to the library. She didn’t spot anyone, though it was difficult to see much with the lush undergrowth of palmettos and Spanish moss hanging from the live oak.

After stepping through the heavy oak doors, she passed the front desk. “Ma’am, would you scan your campus ID card?”

Dee kept an eye on the entrance as she dug through her purse for her wallet. “I know it’s here somewhere.”

The student working behind the desk said, “If you don’t have it with you, I need to have you fill out a community ID. It’s part of our new security policy.”

“I just got a new card—I hope it’s in this purse.” With a sigh of relief, Dee pulled her staff ID card from her wallet and brushed it past the scanner. “Are the yearbook archives still in the basement?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Dee hurried downstairs. At a table in a quiet corner facing the exit, Dee piled decade-old school yearbooks and newspapers from when she attended Magnolia College around her and started through them, recalling events she’d almost forgotten.

She laughed quietly at the costume contest pictures from her freshman year. The girls on her dorm floor had gone in the pajama party theme. She and Steff Kessler wore their freshly curled hair in banana clips on the back of their heads. Jennifer Pappas had her toothbrush tangled in dental floss hanging around her neck like a necklace; Josie Skerritt’s curling iron was twisted and dangling from her hair. That was her last name—Skerritt! Trying to place the other girls in the photo, she looked closer. Payton…Payton Bell and Alicia Whittaker.

Dee knew from the e-mails that Josie hadn’t been at the reunion, but was Payton there? That was her only regret about the reunion: she’d spent so much time with Edgar that she hadn’t really talked to anyone else there, besides her closest friends. She smiled. It had been a wonderful night.

Now, looking through the old photos, she couldn’t believe how much they had all changed. It took her a moment to find Cassie Winters in the group photo. Who was that in the baby-doll pajamas? Penny Brighton. And next to her, Kate Brooks dressed in footie pajamas and bunny slippers with her hair in knots all over her head. They’d nearly caused a riot on campus with their outrageous ideas. But they had won the gift certificate which allowed them to order pizza a couple of nights. Pure gold in those days.

Suddenly she stopped reminiscing. The body had been buried ten years ago. The skeleton could be one of us, she realized. She pulled her PDA from her bag and started a list of classmates and who she’d known in the photos, along with the issues of the newspapers. She hoped someone’s picture or name would leap out at her and remind her of the mystery caller’s voice. She noticed another photo of Josie and Payton and added them to her lengthy list.

After an hour of skimming through several old newspapers, Dee wondered if she should skip the search and call the police with her list. Then again, Detectives Anderson and Rivers had pretty much dismissed her when she reported the flames over their reunion picture. Dee was hesitant to go to them again without strong proof. She still couldn’t believe she’d accidentally deleted it from the server. Without actual evidence, the police didn’t have anything to work with.

As she picked up another newspaper, her stomach growled. Dee checked at her watch and considered running to get a bite of supper, but decided that by the time she walked to her car, drove over to Burt’s Pizza, then back, she’d waste at least an hour. The library didn’t close for four more hours, and she knew she wouldn’t sleep a wink if she didn’t figure out who had called. She hated to let this go even another day. She’d find a snack machine and see if they had something semihealthy to get her through another hour or two.

Dee headed up the back stairs on her search for food. The hallway was dim and quiet, reminding her again why she’d never studied here. She liked noise, felt a sense of security in crowds. The soft voices and pages turning here did nothing to soothe her nerves.

Neither did the dark-haired woman in the black sweatshirt standing outside the main entrance.

Was that the same person I saw outside? From this angle, she couldn’t tell for sure if the woman’s sweatshirt was hooded. The woman didn’t seem to notice Dee, so she hurried back to the lower level—chocolate bar and a bottle of iced tea in hand, annoyed at her own paranoia.

The research section seemed emptier than it had been when she arrived. The library assistant was nowhere to be seen, or heard. Dee clutched her purse a little closer and opened the next newspaper.

Soon she was distracted by a feature article on Edgar. She forgot about the lack of noise and barely heard footsteps at the next table. She glanced up to see a young woman set a book on the table and sit down to read.

Dee glanced quickly at the picture of Edgar with longer hair and moved on to the article. No wonder she’d never met him in college. He had come to the United States as a missionary of sorts. His church had sponsored his trip to the States and he’d lived off campus with the pastor’s family.

She thought back to the reunion, when she’d finally met Edgar….

“Lauren Owens, I’m glad you could make it tonight.” Edgar had greeted them as they came in the door. He smiled at her sister, but his eyes caught Dee’s and he paused.

Lauren smiled back and flung her arms around his broad shoulders. “It’s not like I came all the way from Brazil for the reunion! What are you doing now, Edgar?”

“I’m living here in Magnolia Falls, for starters. I’m in the process of naturalization.”

Dee had intervened. “You’re the assistant director of admissions, now, aren’t you?” She’d seen his picture in the Gazette a while back. It was impossible to miss a picture of Edgar, ten years ago, or now. She’d seen him on occasion at business events, but somehow their paths hadn’t crossed in school or now.

He glanced at Dee and offered his hand. “I am. You must be Lauren’s sister. Lauren, why didn’t you ever introduce your sister and me?”

“Didn’t I?” Lauren pretended to be puzzled, but Edgar simply laughed.

“I wouldn’t have forgotten someone so beautiful.” Edgar’s grasp was warm and firm, not bone crushing like most men she worked with. He kissed the back of Dee’s hand, and she couldn’t help but smile.

Typical Brazilian, suave and macho, wrapped in a to-die-for package. Too bad he’s wasting all this charm on me. I’m tired of the love-’em-and-leave-’em type.

Lauren leaned close to Edgar and whispered intentionally loud enough for Dee to hear. “That’s because she doesn’t like to be noticed for her looks. Dee is a brilliant public relations specialist.”

“She exaggerates,” Dee said with slight embarrassment.

“Forgive me for noticing the obvious, Dee. Lauren used to tell us you couldn’t join us on Sunday nights because you were studying. She was always very proud of you.”

Dee had stopped going to church after the pastor mishandled counseling family and friends through her best friend’s illness. She recalled how, after calling in the pastor, Annie’s parents had refused treatment for her cancer, insisted if they had enough faith, God would heal her. She’d watched Annie fade away. Dee had been angry at the parents, at the church members for not intervening, and at God. Surely God hadn’t given doctors the wisdom to heal if He’d meant for humans to turn their back on medical care. She let out a sigh and felt the familiar old emptiness. Her sister had tried to convince her that being a Christian didn’t mean using one’s faith as a crutch. That had been a decision made by one family. Everyone made mistakes, she realized.

Before Dee could respond, Jennifer Pappas joined their group. “I’m sorry to intrude. Edgar, Dee, it’s so good to see you both here. Lauren, could you help me with something?”

“We’ll catch up later.” Lauren gave Edgar another quick hug then dashed off to the foyer of Moss Hall, leaving Dee awkwardly alone with him.

“It’s good to see everyone again.” Edgar’s gaze settled on Dee. “Could I get you a drink?”

Why hadn’t she taken her chance to escape with Lauren and Jennifer? She’d never known him in school, and now it would be awkward to just walk away and leave him there alone. Edgar seemed nice, but…there was something she just couldn’t quite figure out about him.

“I’d love some mineral water.” She heard herself say.

“With a lemon?” Edgar said.

“With lemon would be wonderful.” Dee followed him, surprised that Edgar had left his assignment on the welcoming committee. “I understand the school will be conducting a search for a new director of admissions soon. I presume you have put your name into the running?”

Edgar shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “I’m still thinking on the subject. There’s much to consider before taking such a position.”

“So you aren’t interested?” Dee inquired, noting that his English was so proficient that she’d forgotten it was not his native language. It didn’t make sense that Edgar would pass up an opportunity like that when he already had a foot in the door. “Director would look very good on a résumé, even if it is at a small college. Magnolia College has an outstanding reputation nationally, which I’m sure you’re very aware of.”

Edgar smiled with an overdose of confidence. “I am, but I’m more than happy that you share my opinion. What did you like most about Magnolia College?”

Little had she known that their chance meeting would end up landing her a job with the college weeks later. She’d definitely enjoyed the evening. They’d eaten dinner together and continued their conversation.

Edgar had proved a puzzle to Dee, and she regretted her initial opinion of him. In one respect, he was no different than most of the businessmen she met—out to sell and charm. In her line of work, the majority of the men were more concerned with appearances than they were sincerity or honesty.

With Edgar there was a difference, though. He could pour on the charm, but she still sensed his integrity. He believed in Magnolia College, heart and soul.

In the weeks since, he had both surprised and disappointed her. At first, she thought she’d felt a personal interest from him, but there again, she’d been wrong. It appeared now that he was only interested in her professional expertise. In that regard, his determination had been overwhelmingly flattering. He had called her a month after their reunion, asking her if she would come to the college to discuss the skeleton incident and give her opinion on reversing the damage. Next thing she knew, he’d managed to get her hired on a temporary contract, not an easy feat with all the red tape of a college. And then his flirting had ended.

She missed it.

Dee closed the article on Edgar, understanding his love for Magnolia College a little better. It had given him the chance to succeed in America and the means to provide a better life for his family. Yet the more Dee learned about Edgar, the more she wanted to get to know everything about him. And despite him pushing her away, Dee was determined to figure out why.