His eyes told her that she’d been wrong.
Odin’s eyes burned with a fury she hadn’t seen before. One that had her breath catching. One that almost made her think she was staring into the eyes of a stranger. “Odin?”
He blinked. Slowly lowered his hand. Let Clay go.
“He’s insane, Maisey,” Clay snapped. “Your boyfriend is out of his head. You need to be smart and get the hell away from him before he hurts you or someone else!”
“Shut up, Clay,” she ordered. Her fingers still pressed to Odin’s arm. His muscles were rock hard beneath her touch. This situation was going from bad to worse, and she wondered what could possibly happen next…
An alarm began to sound. A high, shrieking alarm.
Sandy backed up a step. “That’s the fire alarm.” His eyes widened as he glanced around feverishly. “Everyone, out, now!”
***
Chaos.
Odin was dead certain the chaos was deliberate. Students and faculty flooded out of the Humanities building in a thick crowd. There was no way to keep track of anyone. Anybody could have been in that throng that burst outside.
It was the perfect cover for a killer. The perfect way for him to escape.
“I had eyes on Clay until he went downstairs.” Jinx stood near Odin. “I knew you were down there, so I figured I should just hang back. That you had things covered.”
Odin turned his head to stare at him.
Jinx winced. “You’re looking a little crazy-eyed, my friend.”
“Maisey tried to shove me out of the way.”
“Okay.”
“She noticed that the shelves were falling before I did.” He was speaking between clenched teeth. “Then she tried to shove me.”
“The nerve,” Jinx muttered. “How dare she?”
Did it look as if he was laughing? “It’s not a damn joke.” Odin knew he had bruises all over his back from the stuff that had come raining down on him. He didn’t want to think about what that heavy crash would have done to her delicate body. “The shelves were massive, nearly touching the ceiling. They were stuffed with boxes, equipment, you name it. That stuff could have knocked her out.” Or, if something had slammed into her head…No, do not. Do not go there. But he was seeing red. Blood red. As in…I want Clay’s blood. I want to make that bastard pay. “She shouldn’t be trying to protect me. That’s not happening.”
“Maybe you should tell her that.”
He intended to. Loudly. Clearly.
“By the way, if we were trying to keep a low profile with Clay, I think that ship has sailed. He’s currently glaring at you, and I heard that blonde over there…” He motioned to the woman that Odin now knew was Heather Blass. “She was saying that you’d accused him of making people disappear. Is that true? You just threw that charge at him?”
“I was baiting him.”
“Is that what you were doing?” Jinx didn’t sound convinced. “And did he take the bait? Did he break down and confess his crimes?”
“No.” But there had been something in Clay’s eyes. A flicker, a break that showed emotion. Fear.
“You probably don’t want to hear this, but I think we have another problem.”
No, he didn’t want to hear about another problem. He had enough going on at the moment.
“If you look due south, you’ll find a friendly face.”
Odin took his time and casually glanced due south. Dammit. “How long has he been there?” Ramsey was casually leaning against one of the massive trees near the Humanities building. Like everyone else, he acted as if he was just watching the scene. A curious bystander.
Firefighters had rushed inside.
Odin hadn’t caught even a whiff of smoke.
“Noticed him right after everyone else came scrambling out. Interesting, isn’t it? That he’s here at exactly the same time someone attacked you?”
Not interesting. Infuriating. Suspicious.
Ramsey lifted his hand.
“Did that guy just wave to you?” Jinx demanded.
“No, I think he flipped me off. Better get your vision checked.” Ramsey had turned away and was casually walking from the scene. “Maisey is talking to the security guard and the cops. Make sure your vision is clear enough that you see her every second until I get back, got me? Do not let her out of your sight.”
“On it.”
Odin grunted and gave chase. There was no way he was letting Ramsey leave that scene without having a talk with the bastard. In moments, he and Ramsey had left the crowd behind. Ramsey was heading for a dark SUV.
He opened the door. Started to slide inside—
“Don’t make me drag you back out,” Odin warned.
Ramsey’s shoulders stiffened. He turned. Slowly. “You truly think you could?”
“With minimal effort.” Fury infused his veins. “You don’t want to test me right now.”
“Why? Because your Maisey almost got hurt today? Feeling a little bit tense, are you?” Ramsey closed in on him. “Then imagine how I feel. My Whitney wasn’t just hurt. She was taken. Killed. That means I feel a million times angrier than you do. So I will tell you…you don’t want to come at me.”
As if Odin would ever back down. “Maisey thinks you should know about a phone call she received last night. I think you might have made the phone call, so I wasn’t exactly rushing to contact you but then I looked, and surprise coincidence, here you are.”
Ramsey frowned. “I didn’t call Maisey.”
“No?”
“No.”
Odin measured him.
“I don’t have time for this.” Tension blasted in Ramsey’s words. “What the hell was the phone call about? Did you get a lead?”
“Whitney.”
Ramsey’s jaw tightened. “Do you know how annoying it is when someone gives you a one-word answer? Nothing pisses me off more.”
“The caller was Whitney.” He dropped this bombshell and waited.
All of the color drained from Ramsey’s face. He staggered. Caught himself. “Don’t lie.”
That reaction was real. Hell, Ramsey hadn’t been the caller. “The voice on the line was Whitney’s. Maisey confirmed it.”
The pain that flashed in Ramsey’s eyes was so intense. There was no denying the obvious. He really does care about her.
“What did she say?” Ramsey rasped.
“The caller asked Maisey for help.”
Ramsey grabbed him. Fisted his fingers in Odin’s t-shirt. “Then we help her! We do anything necessary to get Whitney back!”
“The call was probably fake. You take a breath for a second, and you’ll remember how easy it is to fake someone’s voice with those cheap apps that float around.”
Ramsey’s grip tightened. “You don’t know it was fake.”
“And you don’t know it was real.” He looked down. “You’re wrinkling one of my favorite shirts.”
Swearing, Ramsey let him go. “If you think it was fake, what was the point in even telling me?”
“To see your reaction.”
Ramsey stalked back to his vehicle. Jumped in. Before he could swing the driver’s side door shut, Odin caught it. “Why were you here today?”