Now his head turned and he could see them. His mouth gaped open.
“Before what gets worse?” Odin asked, tone ever so cold. “Because from where I’m standing, things are definitely bad enough.”
A gasp came from Heather.
Clay’s stare jumped from Odin to Maisey. “This isn’t what it looks like.”
Odin advanced, and Clay seemed to automatically step back—or retreat—for him. Maisey slipped right inside after Odin.
“It’s not?” Odin’s voice was mild. “What do you think it looks like? That a professor is having a personal relationship with his intern?”
“I’m not—” Clay said.
Just as Heather cried out, “I love him!”
Maisey schooled her expression. Sure seemed like those two were not on the same page.
Clay spun toward Heather. “For the last time, there is nothing between us! I was helping you on a project. I don’t know how you got the idea that we were romantically involved, but we are not.”
Forget being on the same page. From the sound of things, they weren’t even in the same book.
Heather’s lower lip trembled. “But I broke up with Steve. I’m free now. I did that so we could be together.”
“It’s not happening, Heather.”
Her eyes flashed with fury. “Is it because they’re here? Are you just saying this in front of them?” She rushed to Clay. Grabbed his hand. “Because you were different with me last night. You felt the same way, I know you did.”
“You need to go.” He pulled his hand away from her. “Before this gets worse. You are an intelligent, beautiful young woman, but I cannot give you what you need.”
She sucked in a pained breath and jerked back, as if he’d hit her. Then she bolted for the door. Maisey hurriedly stepped out of the way so that Heather wouldn’t careen into her. As Heather ran out, Maisey caught the gleam of tears behind her glasses.
Heather slammed the door. The slam was so hard it seemed to shake the frame.
Clay cleared his throat. “That’s—it’s not what you think.”
Maisey wasn’t sure what to think.
Odin, apparently, was. He said, “You mean you aren’t screwing your intern?”
Maisey wrinkled her nose. Obviously, Odin was not going to be coy with this interrogation. But then again, he hadn’t been coy even once during their association.
Clay flushed. “I am not screwing her. Heather developed a-a crush on me recently. It happens sometimes with students. I just needed to set her straight.” He rolled back his shoulders. “I certainly didn’t expect her to show up here.”
“Sometimes, people just don’t live up to our expectations.” Odin crossed his arms over his chest.
Alarm flashed on Clay’s face. “Look, I am not in the mood to deal with more of your madness.” His attention shifted to Maisey. “How about you take your crazy boyfriend out of here?”
“How about you don’t call him crazy?” Maisey fired back. She took a quick step toward Clay.
Clay’s jaw dropped. “Maisey, the man attacked me and basically accused me of murder earlier! It doesn’t get crazier than that!”
“Oh, it could get a lot crazier,” Odin assured him. “Especially if you’re the killer we’re after.”
Clay blanched. “Killer? Are you for real?”
Maisey made sure she stood at Odin’s side. “We are. We have questions for you.”
“Oh, for shit’s sake.” Clay threw his hands into the air. “Maisey, you’re cute, so I’ve let you get away with some crap, but it ends, okay? I’m over it. I get that you do your little podcast and you talk about killers, but this is going too far.” His hands dropped. “You’re in my house now? Accusing me of—of—”
“What happened to Hannah Martinez?” Maisey asked. She was going right to the point.
Anger flashed on Clay’s face. “I knew you were talking about her.” But his words weren’t directed at Maisey. They were thrown at Odin. “Back on campus today, when you were talking about making people disappear, I knew you were talking about Hannah.” His breath heaved out. “What? Did the two of you dig into my life? Is it because of those break-ins that Maisey had? You thought her only neighbor must be the culprit, so you tore into my past?”
Odin just stared back at him.
“She left me.” Clay swallowed. “We were freaking kids. It wasn’t some big, epic romance. Hannah broke up with me. Said she wanted more out of life than to stay in some tiny, Tennessee town forever. The next thing I knew, she was gone. I thought she’d run away. I told her parents that. I told the sheriff. Hannah wanted more than she could get in that town.” He raked a hand over his face. “But then she never came back. She never contacted anyone. Everybody started looking at me suspiciously, like I’d done something to her.”
“Did you?” Odin asked.
“No!” A yell. Then, softer, “No.” Adamant. “I’ve been accused of hurting her so many times now, you’d think I’d be over it.” A shake of his head. “Let me be clear. I did nothing to Hannah Martinez.” A muscle jerked along his jaw. “I liked her, okay? I didn’t love her. We weren’t soul mates. I didn’t go into some jealous frenzy because she broke up with me. That’s the most popular story, by the way. The old jealous rage.” He puffed out his cheeks and exhaled. “After a few years, her family decided she was dead. Not missing. Dead. And maybe she is—I don’t know. I have never known what happened to her.”
Emotions vibrated in his voice. Rage. Pain.
“If that’s all,” Clay snapped, “how about you get out of my house?” He jerked his chin toward the door.
“Jenny Lynch.” Odin didn’t move. His arms were still crossed over his chest.
Clay’s face hardened even more. “You are not seriously suggesting—”
“You took her job when she vanished,” Maisey noted as she continued to carefully watch him.
His gaze cut to her. “What the fuck am I?” he breathed. “A podcast for you?”
Maisey didn’t flinch. “Three women tied to you have vanished. There is no overlooking your connection to them.”
He stalked toward her.
Odin moved into his path. “Jenny Lynch,” Odin said again.
“Get the fuck out,” Clay ordered.
“Were you involved with her?” Maisey asked as she shifted to the left in order to get a view of him around Odin’s massive form.
“Yes. So the hell what? Jenny and I hooked up a few times at conferences. No big deal.” He had a sneer on his face. “Oh, wait, was that the wrong answer? Should I have said…we hooked up and then she broke up with me. In a rage—because, you know, apparently, I suffer from jealous rages—I killed her. I took her body out on my boat and I weighed her down and I dumped her.”
Odin’s hands dropped to his sides. “What kind of boat do you have?”
“Get out of my house!” Clay snarled as his face mottled. “I am two seconds away from calling the cops.” His hand lifted and he pointed at Maisey. “The only reason I haven’t is because of you. I thought we were friends, Maisey. But all along…what? You just figured I was killing women? First Hannah, then Jenny, and—”