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The smile on Beckett’s face didn’t reach his brown eyes. “Glad you seem fine this morning. Scary night, wasn’t it? I was terrified for you, but fortunately I managed to keep you all alive.”
“How did you know where I was?” When his lips tilted in a smirk, she fisted her hands. “What? You were watching me?”
“The campus has cameras all over, Savannah. It wasn’t hard to figure out your location. It never is.”
An unnamed threat was just under the surface of his expression and words. Bile rose in her throat at how he’d put Simon in danger. “What do you want?”
“Nothing much. Just ensuring you understand how important it is to leave the investigation to me, or future events might turn out worse for you. And Simon. I understand what’s going on and how to handle it. You don’t. Stay out of it.”
“You don’t need to threaten me.”
“Is that what I was doing? I’m sorry—I intended merely to assure you I can handle things without any help from you or Hez. It was a close call last night. It took a lot of persuasion for me to avert an unfortunate incident.”
Cold fear shuddered down her back. “Simon has nothing to do with what is going on at the university.”
He shrugged. “You and I know that, but certain other people might not look kindly on him barging in where he isn’t wanted. I hesitate to say this, but that put a target on his back. I have convinced those involved it was an aberration and it won’t happen again. Will it?”
On that, at least, she could wholeheartedly agree. “Absolutely not!”
“Good. And you and Hez will leave things to me.”
“I understand.” But she refused to say they would stop. She couldn’t—not while Jess was in jail.
“Does Hez?”
“I’ll make sure he knows your demands.”
“Demands?” He let out a theatrical sigh. “I’m just trying to explain the situation and keep you safe.” He glanced at his watch. “I have class in half an hour, so I’d better get back to campus. Don’t you have a class late morning yourself?”
Beckett’s smarmy fake concern made her skin crawl. “I’m leaving shortly too.”
He gave a satisfied nod, and she watched him move back down the path toward the picturesque view of the campus with its beautiful old buildings and green spaces. From up here the decay and urgent need for upkeep couldn’t be seen. Beckett’s true nature had been that way—handsome on the outside and rotten under the facade. He’d been very good at masking his true wicked nature. It sickened her that she’d ever considered him a friend.
When he disappeared down the steeper slope, she exhaled and started that direction too. There had to be some way to find the truth without putting her nephew in danger. Jess was facing a conviction for two charges of capital murder, and Savannah’s greatest fear was that her sister would be sentenced to death. Maybe Hez would have an idea how to get Jess released. Once that happened, Savannah could whisk her and Simon out of Beckett’s reach and get to the bottom of what was going on here.
So many things were riding on the truth. She’d read Ephesians 6:14 this morning in her devotions, and it had told her to stand with the belt of truth. More truth. Beckett couldn’t silence her or frighten her. There had to be a way to bring the evil being done here to light.
* * *
Hez was sure hell had fluorescent lights—the kind that buzzed and flickered constantly. Like the one in his office. It had annoyed him for months, and the maintenance staff had ignored several requests for a replacement. Hez’s concussion-induced headaches made the situation intolerable, so he decided to take matters into his own hands. He went to Home Depot, picked up a replacement bulb, and took it to his office. And that’s how he discovered the bug.
He got up on his chair and took the cover off the light fixture—and a tiny microphone fell out. He stared at it for a long moment. His first instinct was to smash it and then search his office for more. Then he’d search Savannah’s office, her cottage, and his condo.
He lifted his foot to crush the little spy, then stopped. Even if he was able to find and destroy every single bug, Beckett and his minions would just install new ones and hide them better. Or they might conclude that Hez and Savannah were continuing to investigate despite Beckett’s warning and simply kill them.
He lowered his foot and gently replaced the bug. With a twinge of regret he decided not to replace the satanic light bulb. If he fixed it, Beckett might notice and realize that the bug had been found. Hez sighed and put the cover back on the fixture.
His office phone rang as he got down from the chair. The number looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. He picked up the receiver. “Hello, Hezekiah Webster.”
“Hi, Hez. It’s Hope Norcross. I’m calling to give you a heads-up that Erik Andersen has disappeared. The forensic techs found drops of blood on his living room floor, and his home was ransacked. Also, someone emptied his bank accounts around the time he vanished.”
The phone was probably bugged, so Hez chose his words carefully. “Is the blood his?”
“I’m waiting on DNA results. I’ll send you a copy as soon as I have them.”
“Thanks. Do you agree that everything related to Andersen’s disappearance is subject to disclosure because it indicates that whoever is targeting university employees is still at large, which undermines the state’s case against my client?”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll argue that. So I’m making this disclosure out of an abundance of caution to avoid any claim that the state is withholding exculpatory evidence.” Hope paused. “And I was hoping you might be able to give us a hand. You said you would give me a package on Andersen and a Beckett Harrison. When do you think you’ll have that ready?”
