His gaze darkened. “Then she’s a damn fool. What the hell is it with her?”
“She’s trying to make sure no one else gets hurt.”
He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “You know why she’s out here, right?”
“Because Elijah was released from prison.”
“That’s a convenient excuse. She’s been put on leave by the Philadelphia police. She’ll likely lose her job soon.”
“How do you know that?”
“I made some calls. She screwed up an investigation. Miscalculated her interviewing prowess, which led to the release of a crazy woman who’d burned her roommate alive. Joan is fast and loose with the facts now, just as she was in college.”
“That’s not true.”
“I know she painted me as some kind of albatross around your neck in college.”
“Joan had nothing to do with our breakup. You wanted to get married, and I wanted to wait. You pushed, and I felt backed into a corner.” Footsteps sounded outside the classroom. “I don’t want to get into this with you now.”
“We need to talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“My son was in your home when the shed caught fire.”
A muscle pulsed in his jaw, as it did when he regrouped. “Come to dinner with Nate and me next Wednesday. It would be nice for the three of us to share a meal as a family.”
“We’ll have family time at his birthday party. It’ll be fun.” She added the last bit just as much to convince herself as him.
“That’s not the same. I want the three of us to share at least one meal.”
She drew in a slow breath. “All right. Next Wednesday. Got it.”
His frown softened into a grin. “Thank you.”
“Sure. Of course.”
The classroom door opened, and two young women walked in. Clarke stepped back. “I’ll pick Nate up after his class and see you later tonight when I drop him off,” he said quietly.
“Nate finishes with class at three.”
“Good.” He glanced over his shoulder at another set of students. “See you then.”
“Terrific.”
Clarke strode down the center, pausing for several girls to pass, and then went out the door. Ann carefully opened her lecture material and tried to refocus.
A few whispers rose up among the women and men, and she raised her gaze to see Elijah walking in, his textbook tucked under his arm. If he was aware of the comments, he did not show it. His pace was unhurried and his posture relaxed as he took a seat in the front row. He carefully opened his notebook and clicked the end of his pen before he looked up and smiled at her. “Good morning, Professor Bailey.”
Gideon returned to the jail as Ryan was being processed out. It had taken the young man a day to recover from his binge and another to find a bondsman before he could post bail with the magistrate.
Ryan looked up, his still-bloodshot eyes reflecting grief and anger. “Thanks for coming.”
“You had something important to tell me?” Gideon asked.
“Yeah.” Ryan threaded his belt into the loops on his pants and fastened the buckle. “I’ve been thinking about Lana.”
Gideon escorted Ryan out of the holding area and through the security doors to the lobby. “Are you hungry?”
“Starving.”
“I know a diner.”
Ryan nodded, sliding into the front seat of Gideon’s SUV without a word. Gideon drove across town and parked in front of the Buffalo Café. Inside, the sweet scents of cinnamon and maple syrup blended with the crispy tang of bacon. A tall waitress with red hair poured coffee for both and took their orders.
After she left, Gideon asked, “What did you want to tell me, Ryan?”
Ryan set his cup down. “Lana always had a thing about texting through encoded apps. She didn’t want her mother snooping, which she did a lot when we were dating. When Lana told me that she wanted to see me again, she sounded off, so I logged into her account.” Ryan fished his cell from his pocket. “I figured she’d changed her password and username and stuff, but she hadn’t. She could be lazy about that kind of thing.”
The boy had a nervous edge that came with a juicy discovery.
Ryan turned the phone around, his face hardening as the meaning of his find settled. “It looks like she was pregnant, and her boyfriend didn’t want it. That explains now why she called me. She always came back to me when she was having a hard time.”