Grayson, p.3
Grayson, page 3
part #1 of Oath of Honor Series
“How should I know?” she countered.
“That’s the point, Eve. He knows where you live and where you work. He likely knows you drive a bright-blue SUV that can be seen from a mile away. You can’t stay here. So please, pack a bag and come with me.”
Her agonized expression spoke volumes, but she silently nodded and walked with him to her front door. Once they were inside, she didn’t go straight to the master suite, though. She went into her office.
He followed, watching in surprise as she began gathering her papers and sticky notes together. “What are you doing?”
“I can’t leave these here.” She shot him a look of exasperation. “This was why he planted the bomb here, right? Because he intended to destroy my research? I need to pack it all together, especially now that I’ve lost everything in my office.”
With a sympathetic wince, he nodded. “Okay. Can I help?”
“No.” Her voice was thick as if she were on the verge of tears. “I’ll take care of it.”
He stepped back, giving her some privacy. He could understand why she was upset. He moved back into the living room and pulled out his phone to call the American Lodge.
“American Lodge, this is Gary,” a deep voice answered.
“Hey, it’s Grayson Clark with Rhy’s tactical team.” Gary Campbell was a former firefighter who was injured in the line of duty. He bought the motel and did a decent business there. He also offered police and firefighters a discount on rooms. Truth be told, the tactical team used Gary’s services often. “I need a set of connecting rooms.”
“I have the two rooms on the second floor that you can use for a few days,” Gary confirmed. “But the motel is booked solid over the weekend.”
Today was Tuesday, so they would have the room likely until Friday morning. “I’ll take them, thanks.”
“You got them,” Gary said. “I hope you’re not bringing more danger with you, though.”
“I’ll do my best to make sure we’re not followed.” Grayson knew Gary’s motel had suffered damage in the past, but it had been almost six months since anything had happened there, so he felt better about using it as a hideout. Gary had also installed security cameras last year, which helped.
“I’ll hold you to that,” Gary joked. “Keys will be waiting for you.”
“Thanks. See you soon.” He slipped the phone back into his pocket and walked back to the office. To his surprise, Eve had all the paperwork, sticky notes, and the laptop computer itself stashed in her large bag.
“Here, hold this for me.” She thrust the bag into his arms. “I’ll grab a change of clothes and toiletries.”
“Sounds good.” The bag weighed a ton, and he wondered how much other stuff she had in there. Knowing Eve, it was all work related.
He admired her passion and dedication to her research. But in looking around her house, he noticed there were only a few personal items. A picture of Eve standing between her parents wearing her doctorate hood and gown. He’d never met her parents, but they appeared older, almost as if they could have been her grandparents.
He didn’t remember hearing her talk much about her family. Every time he tried to get to know her on a personal level, she’d turned the conversation back to chemistry. She’d made it her mission to help him understand why they were doing the experiments their teacher assigned and what results they were looking for.
After the first week of school, Grayson had considered dropping the advanced chemistry class. But then he’d been partnered with Eve Shaw, the smartest kid in the entire school. So he’d decided to stick it out. It didn’t hurt that she was cute and funny. Along with being smart.
“I’m ready.” Eve’s voice interrupted his trip down memory lane.
“Great.” He reached for the handle of the small suitcase she was rolling behind her. “I’ll take that.”
“Thank you.” She glanced around for a moment, then crossed over to her family graduation photograph. She picked it up and held it close. “I’d like to bring this too.”
“Of course.” He could hardly begrudge her the memento. “There’s room in this bag.”
She reached up and tucked the framed photo inside. Her fingers brushed his arm, and he could have sworn an electrical current zapped him. “They died two years ago,” she said softly. “My mother died first, as you know, with complications from her poorly controlled diabetes. My father died three months later.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” He wanted to reach out to her, but his hands were full.
She nodded and preceded him out of the house. As they headed back down the driveway, she stopped near her bright-blue SUV. “Can I park this in the garage?”
“Yes, that’s fine.” Jina had already cleared the garage, so he waited for her to pull the blue SUV inside. Then she stepped out and used a push-button code to close the garage door.
He placed her personal items in the back of his squad. The danger was over, but there was still a lot of activity in the area. Mostly his teammates looking for evidence of who had left the bomb behind. The house had been locked when they’d gotten there, so whoever had gained access had managed to make a duplicate house key.
Her former boyfriend Andrew Thomas? Maybe. He had already given the name to Joe and Rhy, but he would try to dig into the guy’s background too.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“I’m going to drop this squad at the police station first, then we’ll pick up my SUV. From there, we’ll head to the American Lodge. We use the place on a regular basis and know the owner. Gary has set aside a pair of connecting rooms.”
She nodded. “Okay. But I hope they have internet access. I’ll need to work while we’re there.”
That wasn’t a surprise. “There’s internet access. And Gary also has security cameras in place. You’ll be safe there.”
Her brow furrowed, and she gazed blankly out the window for a moment. “I don’t understand why this is happening. I haven’t hurt anyone, and my research is geared to helping people live long and healthy lives.”
“I understand how anxious you are to get to work, but you need to think about every person you’ve come into contact with over the past few months. Anyone who has seemed envious of your research or upset with you in some way.” He reached over to take her hand. “I’m convinced this guy knows you, Eve. He’s someone you interacted with and relatively recently. The sooner you give me a list of names to investigate, the better.”
“But I don’t know anyone who would do this!” Her voice was strained. “I can’t imagine anyone hates me enough to kill me!”
“He may hate your research more,” he felt compelled to point out. “Killing you might be an added bonus.”
“That’s sick. Really sick.” Her voice had dropped to a whisper.
“Yes, it is. And I’m sorry about that. But you’re viewing this as a personal attack, and that is entirely possible. But targeting your work office and your home office tells me it’s about the research itself.”
“Diabetes research?” She shook her head in exasperation. “That’s so inconceivable. Especially when you consider that this same person set two bombs. Not just setting fire to the office itself, but a bomb.”
“I know it sounds over the top.” He thought for a moment about the experiments they’d done in their chemistry lab. They hadn’t made explosives, but they were talking about scientists who knew all about how to make things go boom. “Let’s try this from another angle, then. What about professional jealousy? Is there some sort of hierarchy in place at the research institute? Anyone whose toes you stepped on recently?”
“Yes, the world of academia has a worse hierarchy system than most. Promotions are granted based on research papers and expertise in the lab. I was recently promoted to a full professor.”
His pulse kicked up at that. “What were you before, a junior professor?”
She cracked a wan smile. “We call it associate professor. And there’s also an adjunct professor, but that’s more for those medical doctors who are also doing research.”
“Are you telling me that you were promoted over a bunch of older guys?” he asked, trying to clarify the situation.
“Yes, exactly. I was one of six associate professors in my field of study until I was promoted. Now there are five associate professors, and each of them has been working on their research for several years longer than I was.” She shrugged. “I guess they might have a reason to be jealous.”
“See? This is exactly what I’m talking about. You just mentioned five possible suspects.” He felt certain they were onto something. Jealousy was the sort of emotion that could eat at a person over time until it became an obsession. “I need their names along with any others who have reason to be jealous or upset with you.”
“Okay, I’ll write down their names for you.” She shot him an exasperated look. “But I can’t imagine any of them setting a bomb in my office and in my home. That’s a big step beyond rational.”
“That’s because you don’t live in a world of violence like I do.” He pulled into the parking lot of the precinct and turned to face her. “People can look and act normal up until the time that something pushes them over the edge.” He reached for her hand again and felt the same zing of attraction. Wrong time, wrong place, wrong woman, he thought with a flash of annoyance. He didn’t need this right now. With an effort, he thrust the weird awareness between them aside to focus on the present. “Please, Eve. I need you to trust me on this.”
She searched his gaze for a long moment before nodding. “Okay, you have a point about the fact that I’ve lived a sheltered life. Yet it doesn’t make sense that any of my colleagues would blow up the lab, impacting their own research too.”
That much was true. “Still, jealousy and anger can be a powerful motivator.”
“Okay.” She glanced up, her gray eyes intense. “And you should know that I do trust you, Grayson. More than anyone else.”
“Good.” He shouldn’t have been so thrilled at her steadfast belief in him and his abilities.
Or so scared.
He realized he was in the same situation several of his teammates had been in over the past few months. Protecting an innocent woman from a crazy bomb-setting killer was an overwhelming responsibility.
And he could only pray he didn’t fail in his job of keeping Eve safe.
Chapter Three
Despite what Grayson believed, the idea that one of her colleagues could do something like this was incomprehensible. Yet she also understood that the sooner he checked into each of the associate professors she worked with, the sooner he would move on.
As promised Grayson stopped at the precinct. She followed him inside, looking around with blatant curiosity. She had never been in a police station before. It looked like something portrayed on police shows, yet she knew the officers and detectives were real, not actors.
How could this be happening? She sank into the closest chair, her knees once again threatening to buckle. She was a weakling. Her parents had doted on her, and she’d excelled in school, specifically in science. Studying hard and obtaining her doctorate degree at the age of twenty-three had not prepared her for this.
Grimly, she was forced to admit that nothing could have prepared her for this.
She stared down at her hands, willing them to stop trembling. The danger was over, Grayson would keep her safe.
So why was she still shaking?
Eve had no idea how long she sat there, but she was startled badly when Grayson returned. He had changed into street clothes but still had the gun tucked in a holster looped on his belt. He also had a computer bag slung over one shoulder.
He looked good. Better than good. Drop-dead gorgeous. Which only made her more aware of her own bedraggled condition.
“Are you okay?” He looked at her with concern.
“Fine.” She knew he could see through the lie but decided to put on a brave front anyway. “Although I’d still like to know if any of my colleagues were hurt or . . .” She couldn’t finish.
“The initial report Rhy has so far is that there were no fatalities,” Grayson said. “They are still searching of course. Do your colleagues get to work early?”
“Not always.” She shook her head. “Some are night owls, coming in late, but then staying late.”
He nodded. “I’m sorry I can’t give you anything else yet. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes.” When she rose to her feet, he took her hand. For some irrational reason, the warmth of his touch infused her with strength. She no longer felt as if she might keel over like a useless damsel in distress.
She followed Grayson through the building toward a door marked as an exit. Outside, the sun beat down on their heads as he led her to a black SUV. He surprised her by opening the passenger door for her.
“Thank you.” She slid into the stifling hot car. Grayson left her door open to jog around to open the driver’s side door, taking a moment to tuck his computer case in the back seat. Then he crossed over to the squad to retrieve the large bag holding her computer and notes along with her small suitcase, before sliding in beside her.
“It will take a minute for the vehicle to cool down.” He shrugged as he waited for the air-conditioning to get up to speed. “No underground parking here at the cop shop.”
“None for me either.” She managed a smile. “Only the medical doctors working at the hospital rate high enough to have underground parking.”
“Poor lowly researchers, huh?” he teased.
“Exactly.” She turned one of the vents so that the cool air fanned her face.
After a minute, Grayson closed his driver’s side door and put the car in gear. She closed her door, secured her seat belt, and rested back against the cushion. It seemed like days had passed since the early morning explosion rather than mere hours.
“Are you hungry?” Grayson glanced at her as they headed away from the relative safety of the police station. “There isn’t any room service at the American Lodge, so we should pick up something for lunch along the way.”
She wasn’t hungry, but she understood that once they were tucked away in the motel, Grayson wouldn’t want to leave. She forced herself to nod. “Sure. Whatever you’d like is okay with me.”
He glanced at her. “Sub sandwiches? I seem to remember you’re partial to a turkey club.”
“Sounds good.” She kept her tone light but was inwardly reeling from the fact that Grayson had remembered the one day they’d bumped into each other in the local sub sandwich shop. He was with one of his many cheerleader girlfriends—she’d lost track of which one—and had expected him to pretend not to know her. After all, she was hardly a member of the popular crowd.
Instead, he’d greeted her warmly, introducing her to his date as his amazing chemistry lab partner. She had flushed red with embarrassment and had barely been able to respond in a coherent way.
The memory of that brief meeting had stayed with her for a long time afterward, but she’d never imagined he’d remember it too.
“This should work.” He pulled up into the drive-through window of the same submarine sandwich chain. He ordered four subs, two for each of them. Lunch and dinner, she assumed, but wasn’t about to complain.
A few minutes later, he passed her the bag of food along with four bottles of water. “They have a mini fridge in the rooms, so cold sandwiches work best.”
“You sound like you’ve spent quite a bit of time there.”
He grinned. “Not the way you’re thinking,” he chided. “Our team uses the place as a safe house, nothing more.”
She felt herself flush with embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to imply . . .” She trailed off, unable to think of a way to salvage this train of thought.
“Sure, you did.” He was still grinning. “I know I had a bit of a reputation in high school, but those days are long gone.” The smile left his features, making him look sad. “I’m not involved with anyone, Eve.”
“Okay.” What could she say to that? She might want to know more about whether he’d been engaged, married, or divorced but managed to keep her mouth shut. He had a right to his privacy.
They arrived at the American Lodge ten minutes later. The white two-story building appeared nice enough. There were several cars in the parking lot, and she could see a family of four getting into a sedan with swimsuits and towels. They were likely heading to Bradford Beach to swim on the shore of Lake Michigan.
Something she’d never done despite living her entire life here in Milwaukee.
A few minutes later, she and Grayson had keys to rooms eleven and twelve on the second floor, near the staircase on the opposite end of the building from the lobby. They made two trips to the car and back for their respective computers, her oversized bag, suitcase, sandwiches, and water bottles. Seeing the suitcase, she quickly rummaged through the items she’d packed, choosing the comfy capri jeans and blue short-sleeved top. She ducked into the bathroom to change out of her business attire she’d been wearing beneath her lab coat. Shedding the clothing made her feel more feminine, and she wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good thing or bad.
She was being ridiculous. Grayson would never be interested in a woman like her. And the sooner she made peace with that fact, the better.
Per Grayson’s request, she unlocked her side of the connecting door. Then went to work on her computer. After a few minutes, he poked his head in, appearing surprised at how she’d already set up her computer on the small table.
“Ready to go to work, huh?” He held her gaze for a moment. “You look nice. We should eat first.”
He’d noticed she’d changed? The minute the thought entered her mind she shrugged it off. What kind of cop would he be if he didn’t pick up on details like clothing? He might not be an ace in chemistry, but he was still smart and street savvy. In truth, he was smart in ways she was likely very dumb. Like when it came to bombs. And crime in general.
“Okay.” She would rather get to work on trying to figure out how much of her research had been lost in the explosion but knew he’d insist. Fuel was important for her brain, so she crossed the threshold to enter his room.
