The Curse Keepers Collection (145 page)

“Did you feel that?” I asked, turning to Collin.

“Yeah,” he mumbled with a scowl.

“I’ve had that same itch off and on for a couple of weeks. Like something’s there but not.”

“I think the smarter demons are figuring out how to camouflage themselves,” he said as we approached the door to the history building. “We’ll have to be more careful.”

“Great.” But I could see the truth in his words. If there was a way to hide from us, it made sense that some of them had figured it out.

Collin held the door open and followed me inside. “Back to Steven . . . our biggest question right now is if he typically keeps his class the entire time it’s scheduled or if he likes to let them out early,” he said, watching the students pass us in the hall. “Does he enjoy hearing himself talk?”

I glanced up at him with a scowl. “What kind of question is that?”

He tilted his head to the side with a smirk. “Does he talk a lot or not?”

I shook my head and admitted, “He talks a lot.”

“Then we go to his classroom.”

When we reached the second floor, I peered into his classroom, which was still full. Students furiously typed notes into their laptops while Steven stood at the front of the class.

“Good call,” I said. “He’s still lecturing.”

Collin shrugged with a smug grin. “So now we need a plan. We’ll catch him by surprise. Introduce me as a friend.”

“He knows that David’s living with me. He’s going to think it’s weird for me to be here with you.”

“Then tell him I’m a colleague of David’s.”

I looked him up and down, taking in his T-shirt and faded jeans, which hung on his hips in a very alluring way. I felt myself flush.

“Eyes up, Ellie. Focus.”

I cringed.

He chuckled. “You don’t think I look like a college professor?”

“Not just that. I’m sure Steven probably knows anyone who’s important enough to work on anything Roanoke related.”

“Then tell him I’m a family friend and don’t elaborate.”

“If he tells Myra, she’ll instantly know who you are.”

“I don’t care what he finds out about me after we leave. Right now we need the upper hand.”

“Okay.” This still felt wrong, but if there was the slightest chance he knew something that might help David, it was worth it, consequences be damned.

Collin put his hand on my arm and lowered his voice. “Don’t tell him anything about David being taken. Let’s see if he shows any signs of knowing it when we start asking questions. I’ll be able to tell if he feels guilty about something.”

I nodded. That sounded smart. “But he’s going to wonder why I’m not with David. And Myra knows I was in Chapel Hill with David this weekend. I had breakfast with her on Sunday.”

His head lowered closer to mine. “Was Steven there?”

“No, she wanted to talk to me alone. I was fine with it since I wanted to consult her about selling the inn.”

He froze. “You’re selling it?”

I sucked in a deep breath, the pain of my decision stabbing me with guilt once again. “Now’s not the time to discuss that.”

“Ellie,” his hand tightened on my arm. “You gave up everything for that place. You hawked the cup on multiple occasions to get money to keep it afloat. How can you just let it go?”

Now he sounded like Myra, making me once again question my decision. “Sometimes you have to know when to let something go. Just like this topic.” I heaved a sigh. I had enough to worry about without adding the inn to the mix. “I’ll tell Steven you’re a family friend; then what do we do?”

“Tell him you have a question about the colony. He’s an early-American history buff, right?”

I couldn’t hold back a smart-ass grin. “If you want to call a master’s and a PhD in the topic a
buff
, then yes.”

He laughed. “Ask him if he found any weapons when he was there, particularly swords, and we’ll see how he reacts.”

“But we’re not interested in weapons at the colony.”

“Right, but it will provide a natural segue into the work of the Guardians. If he’s involved with them, he’s going to know about them collecting the artifacts. Once you get him talking about weapons, let me take over.”

“Okay.”

Five minutes later, the door to Steven’s classroom opened and students poured out of the room as Collin pulled me around the corner to another hall. We waited several minutes and I was starting to worry that we’d missed him when I saw him round the corner, looking down at a stack of folders in his hand.

“That’s him.” I moved toward him, Collin following close behind me. My heart raced, and I forced myself to breathe normally. If Steven was involved, or if he at least knew something, I needed to get as much information from him as possible. Freaking out wouldn’t help a thing.

“Steven!” I called out, sounding bright and happy. I had no idea how I pulled it off when I felt like I was about to throw up. Maybe Collin was right about me being a natural con artist.

Steven looked up, confusion flickering on his face, then smiled when he caught sight of me. “Ellie, what a wonderful surprise. What are you doing here?” He didn’t act like a man who was wracked with guilt over the kidnapping of his colleague and the boyfriend of his girlfriend’s daughter.

“David’s in Chapel Hill doing some research. I’m surprised Myra didn’t tell you.”

“She did, but she said you were headed back yesterday.”

“We got delayed.”

Steven’s gaze had turned to Collin, not that it was surprising. Collin had a commanding presence, despite what he said about his ability to go unnoticed. I was far from convinced that he was capable of blending in anywhere.

“Steven, this is my friend, Collin.”

His eyes flickered with uncertainty for a moment before his mouth stretched into a smile. He extended his hand. “Hello, Collin.”

“Nice to meet you Dr. Godfrey,” Collin said, shaking his hand.

“What are you two doing at Duke? I believe Myra has a free period this morning if you’re hoping to see her.”

I smiled up at him. “Actually, I wanted to see you.”

“Me?”

“David has come across some interesting information in his research. I was hoping to ask you a specific question about what you found at the colony while you were there.”

“Why didn’t David just call?”

Oh, crap.
Think, Ellie. Think
. “There was a departmental staff meeting today. Since he’s been out of town, he felt he should go.” I leaned closer. “He wanted to cross-reference some information he found in the library, which is why he asked me to talk to you.” My smile widened. “I hope that’s okay.”

His forehead wrinkled and he looked unconvinced. “Sure, but can we talk on the way to my office? I believe I have a student waiting for me.”

“Of course.”

I fell into step beside him, with Collin on his opposite side. Steven cast him a quizzical glance and then turned to me. “What do you need to know?”

“Did you find any weapons at the site? Maybe some spears or swords?”

“Or any other weapons of significance,” Collin added.

Steven slowed and his face paled. He glanced at Collin and back to me before he continued to walk. “Of course, Ellie. It was a colony on the brink of a war. We expected them to have weapons, and they did.”

A heaviness filled my heart. It was obvious from Steven’s reaction that he was involved, and although Collin said he’d take over the questioning, I saw another way to draw Steven out that wouldn’t occur to Collin. “David’s ex-girlfriend was an expert on weapons from the Middle Ages. She told me about a special sword from the Crusades. She showed me a photo of it too.”

He rubbed his forehead, breaking eye contact. “Myra mentioned that you were in Chapel Hill this weekend because David’s ex-girlfriend had seen a collection of weapons and he wanted to speak with her about it.”

Sweat broke out at the base of my head. I only told Myra David was meeting a colleague—no other details.

Collin moved in front him. “Dr. Godfrey, do you happen to know anything about the Ricardo Estate?”

His mouth opened then closed like a fish’s.

“Ellie’s mother spoke to you about it fifteen years ago. I’m sure you remember it. It happened shortly before her murder.”

Steven took several more steps before stopping and turning back to look at him. “And who are you again?”

“I’m Ellie’s friend.” His face hardened. “And you didn’t answer the question.”

Steven turned to me, anger tensing his shoulders. “Ellie, what is the meaning of this? Does David know this man is here?”

“Steven, I’m sorry.” I tried to look contrite, but I had to force it. I wanted to punch him in the face myself, but we were already showing too much of our hand. We’d be lucky to get him to give anything away. “Collin is a family friend.”

“You didn’t answer the question, Dr. Godfrey,” Collin repeated. “What do you know about the collection that got David’s ex-girlfriend killed on Saturday night?”

Obviously, Collin had assumed the bad cop role.

Steven’s face turned white. “I don’t have to answer anything.” He swallowed. “In fact, I’m going to call security.”

“Steven, please,” I said.

He looked around, his eyes wild, before pinning me with his gaze. “Ellie you need to stay out of this.”

I grabbed his arm. “I can’t . . . because of David. Please.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t help you.” He shrugged off my hand and took two steps down the hall, which had gotten more crowded in the last minute.

“We know about the Guardians,” Collin said.

Steven stopped and turned around, his face expressionless. “What did you say?”

“We know about the Guardians.” Collin took a step closer and lowered his voice. “And we know what they’re doing.”

He spun around, hurrying toward the open elevator car at the end of the hall. We ran after him but had to push our way through a group of students, and the doors closed before we could reach it.

“Now what do we do?” I asked.

“He obviously has information we need, so we’ll stake out his office. He said he was meeting with a student, although that might have been a ruse to get rid of us.”

“Do you think he knows about David?”

“No. If this group has levels of membership, he must be at a very low level. He sucks at subterfuge. He gave away so much without even saying a single word, but he asked if David knew you were here with me and he didn’t look like he was being coy. He doesn’t know what happened.”

“So what is his involvement?”

“I suspect they use him to get information, but give him little in return.”

Just as I pushed the elevator call button, the doors opened and Myra walked out. Her eyes widened and she stopped in her tracks. “Ellie! What are you doing here? I thought you left yesterday.”

“We had to come back. I needed to ask Steven a few questions.”

She moved to the side, grabbing my hand and pulling me with her.

My palm tingled.

I looked up at her wide-eyed. Why was my palm burning now? My gaze fell to the base of her throat. She was wearing a round pendant with symbols raised in bas-relief. “Myra, what’s that?”

Her hand lifted to it. “This? After Steven saw the markings on my door, he gave me this on Sunday night. Wasn’t that sweet of him?”

My stomach dropped. “I don’t think it’s safe, Myra. You need to take it off.”

“Ellie, what’s gotten into you? Is this your way of getting back at me for bringing up my concerns about David?”

“What? No!”

“Then what are you doing here? You said you wanted to ask Steven questions. What kind of questions?”

“About something he may have found at the colony site.”

“You could have just called him.” She cast a glance to Collin.

I considered introducing her to Collin. While she’d never met him in person, she knew enough about him from what little I’d told her to disapprove. Ignoring him seemed the best policy unless she asked. “We stuck around Chapel Hill yesterday, so I thought I’d just come over and see him. And of course you.”

“I wish I had more time to spend with you, but I’m on my way to a class. Will you be around for lunch?”

“No,” Collin said. “We need to get going.”

“Oh.” She frowned at Collin. “Well, I guess this will just be a quick hello and good-bye then.” She hugged me tight and whispered in my ear. “Be careful, Ellie. Think this through, and don’t let poor David get hurt.” She pulled back and cast a dark scowl at Collin before hurrying down the hall.

“I don’t think your stepmother likes me much.” He laughed. “I can usually charm the mothers. It’s the fathers who tend to hate me.”

“Wow, that’s a shocker,” I said sarcastically as I watched her round the corner. “She’s worried I’m going to hurt David by being with you.”

Collin’s smile fell. “Let’s go find Dr. Godfrey and then get on the road to Manteo. David told them the location was by the aquarium, so I’d like to scope it out and find a possible place to use as our supposed gate to Popogusso.”

“Let’s make it next to the sound. Who knows, Big Nasty might show up to help me.”

“Good idea.”

We took the stairs up one flight, looking for Steven’s office. When we found it, the door was locked and several students were waiting in the hall.

“Have you seen Professor Godfrey?” Collin asked.

A guy who looked like he should be in high school frowned. “No, but I had an appointment with him and he hasn’t shown up.”

A woman walked past the group, casting a glance at the closed door. “Dr. Godfrey won’t be in for the rest of the day. I just ran into him in the hallway. He was rushing out the door and he told me he was going home sick.”

Collin’s eyebrows shot up. “Come on. Let’s go.”

When we left the building and were walking across campus, Collin looked down at me. “Do you have a home address for him? He’s sure to have it unlisted to keep students from showing up at his house.”

I pulled my phone out of my purse. “I think I have his cell phone number
and
his address from when Myra first started visiting him here.” I pulled up my list of contacts. “Here it is. Myra was paranoid about leaving me alone, so she made sure I had lots of contact information for her.” I rattled off the street address.