“Shut off, son,” Sandy raised his voice. “Shut. Off.”
Odin narrowed his eyes. “Who shut them off?”
“Heck if I know. Was trying to pull up the stuff for the cops—you know, they need to investigate all that vandalism—but just got static. Looks like the whole campus system went down around eight. Thought we might see something, but…nope.”
Great. Fabulous. He glanced at his watch. They were wasting time. He needed to confront Clay, before Ramsey got to him. “Come on, Maisey.”
She took his hand immediately. His fingers curled around hers. Touching her seemed to steady some of the pulsing tension that coursed through his body. He didn’t speak, and neither did she, not until they were out of the building and the warm sunlight was hitting down on them.
“Convenient, isn’t it?” she finally murmured.
“It’s a lot more than that.” Odin turned toward her. “He’s on campus. An employee. A student.”
“Has to be,” she agreed with a quick glance around them. “It has to be someone who is familiar with the layout of the college. Someone who knew about those tapes in Whitney’s storage boxes.”
“That takes us back to Clay.” Round and round they went. “He knows we suspect him now.”
“Because you wanted to rattle his cage,” she noted with a crook of one eyebrow.
Oh, he hadn’t just been interested in rattling. “I want to shove the fucker into a cage.” Just so they were clear.
Her lips tightened. “But when you were doing all that rattling, he didn’t give up anything to you.”
For a moment, Clay almost had. “There was something in his eyes. When I talked about making people vanish—I could have sworn that for just a moment there, I saw fear.”
She inched closer. “Fear doesn’t equal guilt.”
“But you’re only afraid if you have something to hide.”
“Excellent point.” She shivered. “Okay. So maybe we need to rattle him a little more.”
“Yeah, but the problem is that Ramsey is ready to go after him, too. We need to get to Clay first.” His Jeep waited. They turned as one and started rushing toward it.
“We’re done.” A woman’s voice. Angry. Sharp. “I don’t care anymore. I don’t want to hear your excuses. You are never there when I need you. I have put everything on the line for you, but now I don’t think you’re worth it.”
Odin glanced to the left. Saw the blonde from earlier—Heather—arguing with a thin, lanky guy in the parking lot. As he watched, Heather spun away from the man and started to storm off. But the man—with thick, brown hair and a swirling tattoo sliding up his neck—grabbed her. He whirled her to face him.
“Hey!” Maisey immediately called out. “Is everything all right?”
Odin was already closing in. When the man had grabbed Heather, he’d grabbed her a little too hard. “Let her go.”
The guy didn’t. “Mind your business!”
“This is my business. You’re being an asshole in public, so that makes it a public concern.” He looked at the hard grip on Heather. “Let her go.”
“Let me go, Steve,” Heather snapped. “Right now. God, this is so embarrassing.”
Steve let her go. But he was glaring for all he was worth. “Don’t come crawling back to me!”
Heather straightened her shoulders. “I don’t crawl to anyone. You must have mistaken me for someone else.”
Steve’s hands were fisting. Odin stared at them, then looked up to lock eyes with Steve. “What you’re gonna want to do is take some breaths, calm the fuck down, then get the hell out of here.”
Steve’s face flushed a deep red. It was easy to see the other man’s intent. It was also apparent that Odin had about eight inches and nearly seventy pounds on the guy. “Try it, though,” Odin invited.
Steve apparently thought better of trying anything. He bolted. Jumped in a sports car and flew out of there like his life depended on it.
“He is such a dick.” Heather sniffed. “Sorry you had to see that, but he needed to know we were done.”
Odin swept his stare over her. “He get physical like that a lot?”
“Steve? No. First time.” She straightened her glasses. They’d already been straight. “You think you know someone, and then they have to go and show you their true colors. Disappointing.”
Maisey touched her shoulder. “Do you need a ride home?”
“No, I got it, but thanks. I appreciate you trying to look out for me.” A quick smile. “You remind me of Dr. Augustine. She was always looking out for people, too, you know. Her interns weren’t just her students. We were family.” She swiped at her cheek. “I need to go. I-I’ll see you around soon.” She scampered toward a parked four-door car.
Odin could tell Maisey was worried as she watched the younger woman. “What do you know about that guy?”
“Not a lot. Steve Barrington is a computer science grad student. I don’t see him much. Just when he comes around and I happen to pass him and Heather in the halls. He always seemed quiet. Pretty devoted to her.” Maisey met Odin’s stare. “But sometimes, we can all trust the wrong people.”
Odin thought about the scene that had gone down between him and Clay. Maisey had seen every brutal second of it. “I’m not like—” Odin stopped. “I would never hurt you.”
Her brow furrowed. “You don’t need to tell me that.” She walked around. Jumped into the Jeep.
He found himself lingering by the passenger side of the vehicle. “But I want to tell you. I don’t want you thinking that I could turn on you. That’s not me. I would never do that.”
Her hand slid against his cheek. “Big, tough Odin. I know who you are.” She leaned forward. Pressed a kiss to his lips. “And I know what you would and wouldn’t do. I know you wouldn’t hurt me. But I also know that you would hurt anyone who tried to come for me.”
Yes. He would. In a heartbeat. “Do I scare you?”
“Do I look scared?” Her hand lingered against his cheek.
“I think you look absolutely beautiful.” But then, he always thought that about her.
Her smile bloomed. Her dimples flashed for him. “Careful, or I’ll start to think there’s a whole lot more between us than just the case.”
She didn’t get that yet? “What do you think last night was about?”
Her lips parted. She didn’t speak. He realized he needed to get his ass in the vehicle and move. He hurried around the ride. Leapt inside. Had the engine growling moments later.
But Maisey touched his hand. “Last night…why don’t you tell me what it was about?” She seemed to hold her breath.
His head turned toward her. “It was about me wanting you more than anything else in the world.”
“I felt the same way.” A whisper.
“I still feel that way.” It was all he could do not to pull her into his arms. “It’s not about the damn case. I want you, and I intend to have you, over and over again. When the case ends, you’re not getting away.” Shit. That had come off way too possessive and hard, but he felt that way. “Ah, Maisey…”