coated in sweat and wearing just a sports bra and shorts.
When I returned back downstairs some fifteen minutes later, freshly showered and dressed in jeans and a long sleeve T-shirt, I found the boys sitting with Professor Barker in the formal dining room. Or, as I was starting to think of it, the interrogation room.
They weren't even trying to be subtle, either. Archer sat opposite Professor Barker with his gun on the table in front of him. Steele leaned on the wall behind Archer, and Kody slouched causally at the head of the table.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," I commented with a tight smile, not meaning a damn word of my apology. "I'm a bit surprised to see you here, Professor Barker."
"Please, call me Roy," he told me with a brittle smile. He'd told me that once before, and just like then, I pretended I hadn't heard him.
"So, what can we do for you, professor? I withdrew from your class weeks ago." I sat down in the chair that Archer pushed out for me beside him.
Professor Barker cleared his throat, his eyes flickering uncomfortably to the gun in front of Archer, then back to me. "Well, I got the feeling our last meeting might have left you the wrong impression of me, Madison Kate."
"It's Miss Danvers," Archer corrected him. "You're not on a first-name basis."
Professor Barker flashed a tight smile. "Or is it Mrs. D'Ath?"
Archer stilled beside me, and I gently placed a hand on his knee under the table. I wanted to hear what the fuck the creepy professor was here for before his brains decorated the ugly wallpaper.
The professor puffed up a bit like he had regained a bit of his confidence. "See, I noticed your engagement announcement in the Gazette and thought it was a bit odd... After all, I could have sworn I saw your filed marriage certificate at the courthouse more than a year ago."
I heaved a sigh. "That's a shame."
His smile faltered. "What is?"
"You," I replied with a shrug. "We're probably going to have to kill you now. But I guess if you came here with some important information for us...?" I left the question open, quietly hoping he had nothing. I didn't like him; he gave me the damn creeps. Apparently I'd already become jaded because I had zero qualms about leaving Bark without a dad.
Professor Barker gave a short, uncomfortable laugh, like I was making a joke. Then his eyes flickered around at the boys, then at the gun on the table, and his face paled.
"Look, I'm not here to make trouble," he quickly told us, holding his hands up. "I just wanted to explain. I'm writing a book, you see? It's fiction, but I've based the crimes all on real events here in Shadow Grove. The more I dug into old case files and newspaper articles, the more I discovered, and I just got a bit... uh... obsessed. I guess. I knew your mom back in the day, but we were never involved or anything. She was way out of my league, you know?" He gave another uneasy laugh, and sweat beaded on his brow.
I drew inspiration from Archer's interrogation techniques and said nothing in response. The silence thickened, and Professor Barker shifted in his chair. Fuck, I hoped that was the chair Jase had sat in naked.
"Why'd you come here, Professor Barker?" I asked after a painfully long silence.
"I'm asking myself the same damn question," he admitted with a wobbly smile. "I, uh, I guess I just wanted to ask if maybe I could interview you properly at some stage? I'd really love to pick your brain about how all this crime in Shadow Grove goes so unnoticed by city and state officials."
Wow. Professor Barker seriously had a death wish. It was almost laughable.
I exchanged a look with Kody, who just cocked a brow at me. The implication was clear. It was my choice whether Professor Barker walked away on his own two feet... or became pig food.
Decisions, decisions.
Taking a deep breath, I gave Archer's knee a quick squeeze in a silent warning to not argue with me.
"Get out of our house, Professor Barker," I said in a cold voice. "I suggest if you value your life, or your children's lives, you won't keep digging. Stick to fiction, or you'll be killed. Understood?"
The professor blinked at me a couple of times like he thought I might be joking. Then Archer reached out and placed his hand over the gun on