Mountain Peril (10 page)

Tears slid down her cheeks. She crossed her arms on her desk and laid her head on them. In the end what she’d feared most had happened—she’d lost somebody else she loved.

Jack stared at the phone on his desk. He’d almost called Danielle over the weekend, even gone as far as dialing half her number before he hung up. What good would it do him? He’d just be prolonging the inevitable anyway. She had her life, and he didn’t want to mess it up like he had for his wife.

He raked his hand through his hair and stood up. He needed something to distract him.

The door opened and Will walked in. “Morning, partner.”

“Morning.” Jack reached for the file he’d put together after talking to Landon Morse. “I think we need to follow up on this girl that Landon Morse was accused of stalking.”

“Good idea. Do you have telephone numbers?”

“The girl lives in Thomasville, Texas, and Landon taught at a small college in Austin. I thought I’d call the Thomasville Police first and see what they can tell me before I contact the girl or her family.”

Will motioned toward the phone. “Go on. I want to hear what they say.”

Jack punched the number into the phone and waited. A woman answered. “Good morning. Thomasville Police Department. May I help you?”

Jack cleared his throat. “This is Detective Jack Denton with the Webster Falls, North Carolina, Sheriff’s Department. I’d like to talk with the detective who investigated a case about four years ago involving the stalking of a young woman named Julie Travis.”

“Would you hold please, and I’ll try to locate one of our investigators.”

Jack drummed his fingers on the desktop while he waited. Within minutes a male voice came on the line. “This is Detective Todd Clark. You say you want to know something about the Julie Travis case?”

Jack sat up straight. “Yes. We’re investigating a murder in Webster Falls, and one of our suspects has a link to the case.”

Detective Clark sighed. “I remember that case. Julie Travis accused her college professor of stalking her. She took one of his classes and had some trouble with the work. When she went to his office hours for extra help, he hit on her and she left. After that she said everywhere she went he showed up and watched her.”

“That college professor was Landon Morse, and he teaches
at a college here in Webster Falls. One of the students, a girl, was murdered a few weeks ago.”

“Oh, man. I always thought he was a nut, but I couldn’t prove anything. Their stories didn’t match.”

“Yeah, Morse has told me his side.”

“Well, don’t let that influence you,” Detective Clark said. “The Austin police and our department both worked on that case. Just because we couldn’t prove he stalked her doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. I talked to that girl and her family. She was scared to death.”

“So what did you really think?”

Detective Clark hesitated. “Like I said I couldn’t prove anything, but I believed the girl. She had her facts together, times and places where he showed up. All he did was deny it and talk about how she invited him to her apartment. She said that wasn’t true, and I never could find anyone in her building who’d seen him visiting there.”

“What did you do?”

“I helped her get an order of protection and told her if he bothered her again to let me know. He violated it once and spent a few days in jail. I never saw him again after that.”

Jack picked up a pencil lying on his desk and pulled his notebook closer. “Spent a few days in jail, huh? Do you know how I could contact Julie Travis? I’d like to talk to her myself.”

“Yeah, I know where you can locate her, but it won’t do any good.”

Jack’s eyebrows arched. “You don’t think she’d want to talk to me?”

“It’s not that. She can’t talk to you.”

“Why?”

Detective Clark sighed. “A few days after Morse got out of jail, Julie was in an automobile accident that left her in a
coma. Her parents kept her at home for a while, but they finally had to put her in a nursing home. I went by to see her once, and it tore me up seeing that beautiful girl lying there just shriveling up and dying.”

A lump formed in Jack’s throat, and he swallowed. “Do you think he had anything to do with the wreck?”

“I don’t know. It happened on a deserted stretch of highway at night. She ran off the road and hit a tree. I figured Morse had to be involved, probably ran her off the road, but there wasn’t any evidence to support it and Julie couldn’t tell us what had happened. Since it was a state road, the highway patrol investigated and ruled it an accident. It wasn’t taken any further.”

Jack dropped the pencil to his desk and rubbed his hand across his eyes. “Well, thank you for your help. I’ll let you know if we end up charging Morse with anything.”

“Do that. I’d sure like to see him get what’s coming to him.”

Jack hung up and sank back in his chair. After recapping the conversation to Will, he pushed back from his desk. “So now we know more about Landon Morse’s past, but the girl who might be able to tell us about him is in a coma.”

Will shook his head. “If that guy ran her off the road, then he’s also capable of killing Tricia Peterson.”

Jack nodded. “And don’t forget he was here when Jennifer McCaslin was killed, too.”

Will gave a low whistle. “Man, he’s looking good for a suspect. We’ve just gotta figure out how to catch him.”

As Will talked, Jack became aware of the tension in his body. Pains like small electrical charges shot up his back into his head. He stood, stretched his arms over his head and clasped his hands together. He pulled and twisted until the kinks in his back loosened. This case had him tied up in knots, and he needed to solve it.

The thought came to him that it might not be the case that had him out of sorts. It could be a woman who’d made him want to live again. That situation had about as much chance of working out as Julie Travis had of regaining consciousness. Both appeared hopeless.

O
n the way back from lunch, Danielle rounded the corner to her office and blinked in surprise at April standing outside the door in the hallway. The girl straightened from leaning against the wall when Danielle approached.

“There you are, Dr. Tyler. I wondered if you were out of the office this afternoon.”

Puzzled, Danielle shook her head. “No, but why are you out here? Anytime you get here before me you can go in and begin work.”

April followed Danielle into the office and headed to her desk. “I know, but I didn’t want to come in alone. I didn’t mind waiting.”

Danielle studied April as she walked to her computer and turned it on. Her mood wasn’t as perky as usual, and her eyes looked tired.

“April, is something wrong?”

She leaned over to pull something from the bottom drawer of the desk. “I’m okay.”

Danielle frowned at the quiet tone of the girl’s voice. “You’re not yourself. Tell me what’s bothering you.”

April straightened in her chair, and Danielle’s eyebrows arched at the fear she saw in the girl’s eyes. As if an internal
faucet had been turned on, tears flowed down her face. “Oh, Dr. Tyler,” she cried, “I’m so scared.”

Danielle rushed past the desk and put her arms around April’s shaking shoulders. “Tell me what’s happened.”

April pulled a tissue from her pocket and wiped her eyes. “For several weeks I’ve been getting these anonymous messages. At first I thought they were a joke, like one of my friends was trying to creep me out, but they’ve all sworn they didn’t send them.”

The skin on the back of Danielle’s neck prickled as if an icy hand had clamped down on her. “Did they come in the mail?”

April shook her head. “Not through the postal service, but through campus mail.”

“So that’s why you thought they were being sent by a friend.”

“Yes. There was no return address. Just my name and campus box number written on the envelope. I asked the man who runs our post office if there was any way to trace where it came from, and he said no. Since their service doesn’t require postage for anything delivered on campus, students and faculty can send each other mail by just dropping it in the box.”

Danielle stood up and peered down at April. “What did the messages say?”

“Oh, they’d mention how good I looked that day and describe what I was wearing and where I was at a certain time. I knew it had to be a guy by the way he described the way I looked. Then they got worse.”

“How?”

April twisted the tissue between her fingers. “He said when I least expected to see him, he’d be there. That we were meant to be together, and he could make me happier than any of the guys I’d dated before.”

Chills ran up Danielle’s spine. “Do you think you’ve been followed by anyone?”

April nodded. “I went to the library Friday night, and when I was going back to my room, I thought I saw a man in the trees by the dorm. I ran inside and peeked out the door, but he’d gone. Then last night I came back from eating dinner with friends. When I walked from my car to the dorm, I heard footsteps behind me.”

Danielle walked back to her desk, dropped down in her chair and reached for the phone. “I don’t like the sound of this. We’ve got to call the police.”

April’s tears flowed again. “I wanted to call them, but I was afraid they’d say I was paranoid and that they couldn’t do anything for me.”

“They won’t think that. They’re here to protect citizens.”

April’s eyes grew wide, and a smile creased her lips. “Are you going to call that good-looking detective who questioned me?”

Danielle sighed in exasperation. “April, it doesn’t matter who comes. I want you to back off your flirting. That may be what got you in this mess to start with. You have a reputation on campus as a girl aggressive with the opposite sex. Somebody may be trying to scare you because you’ve teased the wrong person.”

April’s face paled, and she clamped her lips together. She didn’t say anything but nodded. With a sigh Danielle picked up the phone. She knew the number she had to dial, but she hesitated. What if Jack thought she was using this situation as a ploy to get him back to her office?

One look at April’s face told her it didn’t matter what Jack thought. She had a responsibility to the students at Webster, and she wouldn’t back away even if it meant she had to endure Jack’s presence.

She breathed a quick prayer for strength to talk to him again and dialed the number.

Jack sipped a cup of coffee as he looked over the notes he’d made while talking to the detective on the Julie Travis case. Although he’d never seen the girl, he felt sympathy for her and her family. They were like so many others he’d known, shattered by tragedy in their lives.

He couldn’t help but wonder if Landon Morse had anything to do with her accident. Maybe he should call the man in and talk with him again about the circumstances surrounding the dismissal from his job in Austin. And what about Jeff Newman and Nathan Webster? Had they knowingly hired a man suspected of stalking a student? If they had, they needed their heads examined. A teacher with a problem of stalking didn’t need to be around female students.

The phone rang, and he reached across his desk. Without looking at the caller ID, he spoke into the receiver. “Jack Denton.”

“Hello, Jack. This is Danielle.”

He swallowed and straightened in his chair. He tried to respond, but the words wouldn’t come. He pushed the notepad away, propped his elbow on the desk and rubbed his eyes. A vision of how she’d looked when she ran into her house on Saturday night returned, and his heart pounded.

“Danielle, how are you?”

“I’m fine, but I’m calling about April. She’s in my office and needs to talk with you.”

Jack groaned inwardly at the memory of the girl and the way she’d scooted her chair so close to his when he questioned her. “What is it this time, Danielle?”

The door opened and Will, his attention directed to a sheet of paper in his hand, ambled in. “I wanted to check with you…” He hesitated and took a step backward when he saw
Jack on the phone. “Sorry,” he whispered, “I didn’t know you were on the phone.”

“Hold on a minute, Danielle,” Jack said. He covered the phone’s mouthpiece with his hand and motioned for Will to come on in. “Danielle says one of her students needs to talk to us. I may ask you to go out to the school with me.” He grasped the receiver tighter, clenched his jaw and removed his hand from the mouthpiece. “Now what is it that April wants to report?”

He listened as Danielle told him about the anonymous messages and April’s suspicions that she was being followed. As Danielle spoke, he tried to concentrate on her words but found himself thinking about how sad she’d looked on the ride back from Nathan’s house on Saturday night.

When she mentioned the suspected stalker, Jack sat up straight in his chair and glanced down at the notes he’d made when speaking to the detective in Thomasville. If Landon Morse had stalked Julie Travis, he might be doing the same to April. This could be the break he’d been waiting for in this case.

“So,” Danielle said, “I really think you need to talk with April. She’s terrified, and I believe her.”

Jack nodded. “Will and I can be there in fifteen minutes. Have her stay in your office, and we’ll talk to her there.”

“I will, Jack, and thank you.”

“Thank you for calling. See you in a few minutes.”

Tiny shivers ran up his arm as he replaced the receiver in the handset. He knew it came from the pleasure he got in hearing her soft voice. He wondered how she looked this morning, if her weekend had been as unsettling as his. He’d rattled around his apartment all day Sunday trying to forget how abrupt he’d been with her after they left the party. He
needed to apologize for that, but she might take it as a signal he wanted to see her again.

He did want to see her again, to sit with her and feel the peace he had just listening to her talk. He shook the thought from his head. There was no going back now. She probably hated him after the way he’d spoken to her the last time they were together.

“Are you going to tell me what that was about, or are you just going to sit there all day thinking about it?”

Jack jerked his attention back to Will who sat down in the chair facing his desk. “Sorry. That was Danielle on the phone. Her student worker thinks she’s being stalked. We need to go out to the school and talk with her.”

Will jumped up from the chair. “Then let’s go. Maybe we’ll get a lead in the murder case.”

Jack stood, walked to the coatrack beside the door, and pulled his jacket from one of the hooks. Slipping it on, he opened the door. “Come on. You drive.”

Jack strode down the hall toward the parking lot with Will behind. With each step he grew more excited. Once outside, he increased his gait until he reached Will’s car. He reached out to open the door and glanced over his shoulder at Will, who was just rounding the back of the car.

Will glared at him over the top of the car. “Remind me not to challenge you to a foot race. I might have a heart attack trying to beat you.”

Jack chuckled. “Just eager to question this girl, Will.”

Will opened the door and laughed. “You can’t fool me. It isn’t the student you want to see.”

Jack’s face warmed, and he climbed in the car. Closing the door, he reached for his seat belt and buckled it. “You’re really funny, Will. Just drive. Okay?”

As the car pulled out of the parking lot, Jack turned his
head and stared out the window. He wondered if his excitement to see Danielle again was evident. If so, he’d have to guard his behavior around Danielle today.

It didn’t matter what he felt. Danielle deserved more from someone than what he could offer. Now everything would be fine if he could just keep that in mind when he saw her again.

When the soft knock tapped on the door, Danielle swallowed her apprehension at seeing Jack again and put her hand on April’s arm. “I’ll get it.”

As if she moved in slow motion, Danielle crept across the floor. She’d hoped to have more time before seeing Jack again. Now with him here, she had to mask any feelings she might have and concentrate on April’s dilemma.

Her heart pumped as she opened the door for them to enter her office. “Come in. I’m glad you could come.”

Jack nodded, the remoteness in his eyes chilling her. “Will and I are very interested in what April has to tell us.”

Danielle smiled at the detective she’d met the day after Tricia’s murder. “Hello, Detective Bryson. It’s good to see you again.”

He smiled, and the dimples in his cheeks winked at her. “Thank you, Dr. Tyler. I’m surprised you remember my name. We had such a brief meeting.”

His easy manner relaxed her. “Jack has told me a lot about you. He really values you as his partner.”

Will’s eyebrows arched, and he punched Jack on the shoulder. “You’d never know it from the way he treats me.” He grinned at her. “He’s a tough cookie. Not one to give out many compliments.”

Danielle wanted to say that Jack had a side he kept hidden from most people, but the glare he directed at Will changed
her mind. “Detective Bryson, this is April Brockwell. Jack is already acquainted with her.”

Will slipped past Danielle and walked toward April with his hand extended. “Miss Brockwell, I’m Detective Bryson. We’re here to question you about the problem you’re having.”

Danielle glanced back at Will and April, who sat down facing each other just as April and Jack had done days before. She took a deep breath. “I think I’ll go get a cup of coffee while you two talk to April.”

She turned to go, but Jack reached out and touched her arm. “Don’t say anything to anyone about us being here. We need to keep this quiet.”

When he released her, the skin where his fingers had been tingled. “I’ll be in the dining room if you need me.”

She whirled and rushed out the door before he could say anything. In the hallway she sagged against the wall and rubbed her arm where his hand had been moments before.

After several minutes she straightened and gritted her teeth. She had to quit thinking about Jack Denton. He’d been honest with her from the beginning about his determination not to repeat old mistakes by becoming involved with a woman. No matter what her feelings had become, she was better off without him.

All she needed to do was get through the next few weeks and she could leave Webster University and Jack Denton behind. There were far more important matters waiting to occupy her mind, and she could hardly wait to let them replace the empty feeling she had every time she thought about Jack.