“Nice shirt,” Costa said dryly. Then he leaned in from behind me, arm brushing my shoulder, and rapped on the door. He was too close again; I could feel him, smell his spicy scent. I resisted the urge to lean back, just a couple of inches, to touch his hard chest.
The door opened to reveal a balding man. Wearing my three-inch work heels, I stood only a hairbreadth under six feet tall. The top of Mr. Donovan’s shiny head barely reached my chin. Eyes peered out at me through thick glasses, which he pushed up as he examined me. My worry over how Costa would feel about my outfit faded at the look of blatant interest on Donovan’s face.
“I’ve already spoken with the police this morning.
They just left, in fact,” he said briskly. “I’m afraid I don’t have all day to talk to you people.”
“You’re going to have to free more time in your schedule, Mr. Donovan.” Costa’s voice came out rough behind me.
Mr. Donovan frowned but gestured for us to come inside. A small bit of sweat beaded on his brow, and I wondered how such a thin man could be hot in this chilly office. The room resembled a closet more than a proper office, and the space felt too small for the three of us. I glanced at Costa. He didn’t look uncomfortable. Maybe it was just me.
“We’re sorry to inconvenience you, Mr. Donovan.
I’m sure that you have very important duties to attend to,” I said smoothly, pasting my professional yet slightly flirty smile on my face. Despite Costa’s heavy-handedness, I was confident that honey would, in this case, net us far more information than his rougher methods.
Donovan relaxed and gave me a small smile in return.
“I don’t mind, Detective…?”
“Oh, I’m sorry! You can call me Marisol.”
His smile grew then dimmed slightly as he shot Costa a less friendly glance.
“This is Agent Costa from the OWEA,” I explained, keeping my attention fully on the head of security. I tossed my hair behind my shoulder and Donovan’s eyes fixed back on me. Good. “Anyway, did you know either of the missing girls?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have much contact with the students.” He sat straighter in his chair. “I’m quite busy.”
“Of course. Can you find out who was working in the library yesterday afternoon?” I pulled a small notebook and pen out of my inside jacket pocket.
“Well, you met Barbara Fuller. She was working the checkout desk yesterday, too. We didn’t have any other full-time staff during the afternoon and evening, just students hired through the work assistance program. I gave their names to the other officers.”
“Do you routinely keep track of who is working the library, Mr. Donovan?” I asked.
A nervous laugh escaped him. “The officers who were here earlier had me call down and check.”
I suppressed a grimace. We might well be just repeating what other cops had already done, but I couldn’t risk not going through the steps, just in case they’d missed something. “If you wouldn’t mind, it would really help me out to get the student staff’s names as well.”
“Of course.”
“We’d also like to speak with Ms. Fuller,” I added.
He frowned. “Well, she’s off in a couple of hours. She said she didn’t have anyone to cover the desk until then.”
“Could you figure something out so we could speak to her? Maybe a student who works in the library could cover for her? I’d really appreciate it.” My perfected expression eased into something work appropriate, but it was close to being inappropriate.
Red splotches crept up Donovan’s thin neck. “If it would help, of course I’ll see if there’s someone here who could cover for her.”
He picked up the phone, but before he could dial, I asked, “What about security cameras?”
“I’m sorry, but we don’t have cameras in the library.
No budget for it.” He shrugged and Costa and I got up from our chairs.
I gave the man a small wave as we exited the office and suppressed a smile as he stumbled over his words into the phone.
I put my blazer back on when the cool fall air surrounded me, and I walked in front of Costa to the sidewalk that led down into the library. As I approached the door, he grabbed my arm, just under my shoulder, and pulled me to a stop. His grip wasn’t rough, but it was firm.
“What?” I asked, angling my shoulder away from him so he’d release me.
He let go, and his arm grazed my breast as his hand fell away. I took in a quick breath and glared at him.
“What the hell was that?” His voice was cold, but not void of emotion.
“Excuse me?” My mouth dropped open and I snapped it shut, ignored the way my pulse skipped faster under his gaze.
“Do you really think flirting while on the job is appropriate?” Anger coated his tone, giving it a hard edge.
“I’d think you could feed your desires on your own time.”
Heat flared in my chest and rushed up to my face.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Come on, any idiot could tell that you were coming on to that little weasel.”
“An idiot might think that, yes,” I hissed. I spun around and marched down the sidewalk. What the hell? Did he really think I was desperate enough for a lay that I’d flirt on the job, the day after my sister was kidnapped, with a guy as unattractive as Donovan? Asshole. He probably didn’t know any way to get information out of people that didn’t involve strong-arming.
Swallowing my anger and ignoring Costa trailing behind me, I stomped back to the checkout desk. Barbara Fuller gave me a small wave. As Costa moved into her view, her eyes widened and then she snapped them back to the next person in line, obviously unnerved by whatever expression I’d put on the OWEA agent’s face. She helped the student, and then moved away from her post as a young woman came to replace her.
I tapped my foot and motioned toward Ms. Fuller. She walked up to us, hesitant, and I plastered on my pleasant smile.
“Thank you for taking the time to speak with us, Ms.
Fuller,” I said.
“Of course,” she said, and tension faded from her stance as she examined me. She uncrossed her arms and pointed to a small meeting room next to the front desk she’d just vacated. “We can speak in there, if you would like some privacy.”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you.” I kept the smile firmly affixed to my face.
“So,” she said as she shut the door behind us, “what can I help you with? I’m afraid I don’t know much.”
“You said the police spoke with you earlier? Can you tell us what you told them?” I asked.
She nodded and her eyes lit up with excitement. I gritted my teeth and pushed down the flare of anger I felt at her reaction. This was probably the most dramatic situation the librarian had seen in her life.
A laminate table with several chairs surrounding it filled the small room. Ms. Fuller sat facing the door and I sat across from her. Costa eyed the door and dragged a chair to one side. The placement allowed him to keep the door in his periphery while watching Ms. Fuller at the same time.
“Well, as I told the other officers, I know all of the girls by their pictures. I didn’t know any of them by name except Wendy, though. They were all very nice. Quiet, you know? They didn’t cause me any trouble when they studied here.” She smoothed invisible wrinkles out of her blouse.
“Were you able to catch any bits of their conversation lately?” I asked. “Even something from several days ago could be relevant.”
“I’m sorry, I just don’t pay that close of attention. And like I said, the girls were quiet.”
“Did you see anyone else talking with them?” Costa asked.
She thought about that for a moment. “Not that I remember, no. I’m sure other students talked to them— they seemed very popular—but I didn’t notice anyone in particular.”
“They seemed popular? Why do you say that?” I asked.
She waved a hand in the air. “Oh, you know. They were just that popular type. Pretty. Giggly. Popular.”
I opened my mouth to ask her exactly what she meant by that description. My sister was smart—just because she was pretty that didn’t give the woman the right to assume she was an airhead—but Costa gave me a warning glance and spoke before I could.
“Can you recall any of the students who spoke to them more often than others? Any students who spoke to them this week?”
I stood up from the table, startling Ms. Fuller. I’d had about enough of her assumptions and Costa’s attitude. If he wanted to ask all the questions, then I’d let him. We weren’t going to get any information from this woman anyway. We were just fodder for her gossip. “I’m going to look around. Can you finish up here?” I smiled at Costa, knowing that for once my go-to expression looked forced, if not outright angry. I turned and left without waiting for his reply.
The chilly air cut through my jacket as I made my way out to the parking lot. I walked the path Teresa said Wendy and Elaine headed toward the last time she’d seen them. I pulled on my gloves and took in my surroundings.
The area was bustling this time of day, but Wendy and Elaine left the library late. Nine o’clock. There would still be people around then, wouldn’t there? This was a college campus, after all.
I could remember my college years vividly. There hadn’t been a lot of money, so I’d settled for a close commuter school that offered me a small scholarship.
It was enough to get me into the police academy. And it had given me time. Time to grow into my succubus powers. Time to learn to control them and keep them compartmentalized within me until I needed them. Time to start to grow into the adult I would become.
I’d wanted something better for Elaine. Because she hadn’t had the luxury of becoming a succubus slowly.
Because she didn’t get to feel safe. She had to live at home, but she did get to go to this beautiful campus.
