have to work early in the morning?”
“Nah. I’ll go in around noon, probably,” he smiled softly. “How about you?”
“My first class is at ten,” she said, grateful for that fact now.
“So there’s really no reason why you can’t stay here with me awhile and tell me what the hell is going on, is there?”
Dani loved the way his brown eyes crinkled up when he smiled and almost seemed to twinkle.
“My boss, Joe Abraham, came over around nine,” she said. “It was kind of weird, I mean, he’s never said anything personal to me at work at all.”
“So, he got personal?” he raised an eyebrow.
“No, not that kind of personal,” she nudged him with her shoulder. “I mean talk about anything besides work.”
“Just checking,” he pretended to be jealous. Or was he pretending?
“Do you want to hear this or not?” she teased. “Okay, then,” she continued when he nodded. “He worked here when those kids disappeared, and he said there was another lab assistant who thought they didn’t look hard enough for them or something. Anyway, the guy asked a lot of questions and said he was coming back out here to comb the woods himself, then he never came back to school. They said the next week that he moved away suddenly, but it was in the middle of the semester.”
His expression told her he was taking it all in. “Why’d he feel the need to come here and tell you all that tonight?”
Dani shrugged. “He said I reminded him of this guy, that I take my work seriously and all that. I think he felt bad because he never said anything back then and didn’t want it to happen again. But you know what else? This afternoon, he said he could recommend me to Dr. Crane for some work over at Ophidian, then tonight, he acted like maybe that wasn’t a good idea. Weird, huh?”
Dani watched a variety of expressions flicker across his face before it settled into his “cop” expression. To her way of thinking, it was a mask designed to keep anyone from knowing what he was thinking. She imagined there was a ticker tape of questions and possible solutions running directly behind his eyes. His appearance was deceptively casual but she knew his mind was always working.
“Interesting. Did you tell him you’d seen someone out there tonight?”
“No,” she shook her head.
“Did you tell him someone locked you in the cellar?”
“No, why?”
“Don’t,” he said somberly. “Don’t tell anyone.”
“Noah,” she pulled back a little and examined his expression. “You’re scaring me.”
“No,” he shook his head, frowning. “I’m not trying to scare you. I just need to look into some things.”
Dani laid her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. She was tired and it felt so good to have him here.
With twenty minutes before her next student was due, Dani took a chance and laid her head down on her desk. Even though she’d slept later than usual, she didn’t sleep well. Bizarre dreams kept intruding then receding from her memory, leaving her with vague feelings of unease and nothing real to blame it on. Every time the dreams came, she found herself alone in the woods running for her life from an unknown pursuer. To further complicate things, she’d awakened this morning tucked safely into her own bed with Noah fast asleep beside her. She must have dozed off on the couch talking to him last night. She didn’t remember anything else. At least they were both fully clothed when she woke. There wasn’t a chance in hell she could have slept through a session of lovemaking with him.
Lifting her head when she heard the door open, Dani smiled at Joe Abraham.
“Danielle,” he smiled back. For some reason, he insisted on using her full name, even though nobody else ever did. “Your student called to cancel for the afternoon. Here’s your schedule for Dr. Crane’s lab.” He laid a slip of paper in front of her. “You start tomorrow when you finish up here.”
“Oh, thanks,” she
“Nah. I’ll go in around noon, probably,” he smiled softly. “How about you?”
“My first class is at ten,” she said, grateful for that fact now.
“So there’s really no reason why you can’t stay here with me awhile and tell me what the hell is going on, is there?”
Dani loved the way his brown eyes crinkled up when he smiled and almost seemed to twinkle.
“My boss, Joe Abraham, came over around nine,” she said. “It was kind of weird, I mean, he’s never said anything personal to me at work at all.”
“So, he got personal?” he raised an eyebrow.
“No, not that kind of personal,” she nudged him with her shoulder. “I mean talk about anything besides work.”
“Just checking,” he pretended to be jealous. Or was he pretending?
“Do you want to hear this or not?” she teased. “Okay, then,” she continued when he nodded. “He worked here when those kids disappeared, and he said there was another lab assistant who thought they didn’t look hard enough for them or something. Anyway, the guy asked a lot of questions and said he was coming back out here to comb the woods himself, then he never came back to school. They said the next week that he moved away suddenly, but it was in the middle of the semester.”
His expression told her he was taking it all in. “Why’d he feel the need to come here and tell you all that tonight?”
Dani shrugged. “He said I reminded him of this guy, that I take my work seriously and all that. I think he felt bad because he never said anything back then and didn’t want it to happen again. But you know what else? This afternoon, he said he could recommend me to Dr. Crane for some work over at Ophidian, then tonight, he acted like maybe that wasn’t a good idea. Weird, huh?”
Dani watched a variety of expressions flicker across his face before it settled into his “cop” expression. To her way of thinking, it was a mask designed to keep anyone from knowing what he was thinking. She imagined there was a ticker tape of questions and possible solutions running directly behind his eyes. His appearance was deceptively casual but she knew his mind was always working.
“Interesting. Did you tell him you’d seen someone out there tonight?”
“No,” she shook her head.
“Did you tell him someone locked you in the cellar?”
“No, why?”
“Don’t,” he said somberly. “Don’t tell anyone.”
“Noah,” she pulled back a little and examined his expression. “You’re scaring me.”
“No,” he shook his head, frowning. “I’m not trying to scare you. I just need to look into some things.”
Dani laid her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. She was tired and it felt so good to have him here.
With twenty minutes before her next student was due, Dani took a chance and laid her head down on her desk. Even though she’d slept later than usual, she didn’t sleep well. Bizarre dreams kept intruding then receding from her memory, leaving her with vague feelings of unease and nothing real to blame it on. Every time the dreams came, she found herself alone in the woods running for her life from an unknown pursuer. To further complicate things, she’d awakened this morning tucked safely into her own bed with Noah fast asleep beside her. She must have dozed off on the couch talking to him last night. She didn’t remember anything else. At least they were both fully clothed when she woke. There wasn’t a chance in hell she could have slept through a session of lovemaking with him.
Lifting her head when she heard the door open, Dani smiled at Joe Abraham.
“Danielle,” he smiled back. For some reason, he insisted on using her full name, even though nobody else ever did. “Your student called to cancel for the afternoon. Here’s your schedule for Dr. Crane’s lab.” He laid a slip of paper in front of her. “You start tomorrow when you finish up here.”
“Oh, thanks,” she
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