Mountain Peril (8 page)

J
ack had breathed a sigh of relief when Danielle arrived with the coffee. Although April had given him some interesting information, the interview had been a challenge. April’s flirtatious manner had prevailed throughout. Now April was off to run errands for Danielle, and he could relax.

Danielle took a sip from her cup and directed a mischievous smile at him. “I think you made a conquest, Detective.”

Jack waved his hand in dismissal. “I get the feeling I’m not the first one to be the recipient of her charms.”

Danielle laughed. “I forget you’re a policeman with fine-tuned skills in understanding human nature.”

Jack chuckled and reached for his notebook. “I don’t know about that, but I’m pretty good at spotting a phony. I imagine April is already gushing over the next male she’s encountered.”

Danielle’s gaze swept over the notebook. She crossed her arms, and he detected a slight shiver in her body. “What did you think about what she told you?”

“It’s definitely something to check out.”

“Are you going to see Landon now?”

He shook his head. “I’ll call him and ask him to drop by the station. I like to question suspects on my own turf. It gives me an advantage.”

Her eyes grew wide. “Suspect? Do you think Landon could be involved in Tricia’s death?”

“I don’t know. I’ll question him and go from there. Now I’d better go back to the station and let you get to work.”

She followed him to the door. “Thanks for coming, Jack.”

He stopped at the door and turned back to her. “I’m glad you called. I really enjoyed last night.”

She smiled. “I did, too.”

He pulled the door open but didn’t step into the hall. Being this close to Danielle made him feel like a schoolboy, and he didn’t want to leave. He took a deep breath and shifted from foot to foot. “Would you like to meet me after work at the Mountain Mug? We could have a cup of coffee, then maybe go somewhere for a burger.”

“I’d like that very much. I’m done by five. I’ll meet you there.”

Still looking at Danielle, he stepped into the hallway. “Good. I’ll see you…” A gasp reached his ears, and he jerked his head around. He’d plowed right into April, who was about to enter the room. She sagged toward him, and he grabbed her arms to steady her. “April, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you.”

She smiled up at him. “That’s okay, Detective Denton. I should have been watching where I was going.”

He cast what he hoped was a help-me-out-of-this-situation glance toward Danielle, and she reached around him and drew April into the room. “April, you need to be more careful around older people. Their reflexes aren’t as quick as yours.”

He could tell Danielle was thoroughly enjoying every minute of his predicament. Her body practically shook with the laughter she was suppressing. He glared at her and cleared his throat.

“Well, this old policeman has to go. I’ll see you later, Dr. Tyler.”

She gave a solemn nod. “Five-fifteen at the Mountain Mug.”

Jack gripped his notebook and strode toward the exit, embarrassment increasing with each step. Danielle had enjoyed making him squirm. Old people, indeed. Since when did a thirty-two-year-old guy qualify as a senior citizen? He could still run the department’s obstacle course faster than any rookie, and his sharp shooter skills were the best on the force. He’d have to inform Danielle that he wasn’t ready for retirement yet.

He stormed from the building and hurried toward his car. With each step he thought of how animated her face was and how her eyes had danced with amusement when he tried to extricate himself from April’s clutches. His steps grew slower as he remembered her mocking expression and her raised eyebrows.

Jack stopped next to his car. If he was honest, the whole situation had been funny. A young girl coming on to him. And April had been so obvious about it.

A chuckle started in his throat, bubbled upward, and exploded from his mouth. He leaned against the side of the car and laughed. Several students passing by looked at him as if he’d lost his mind, but he didn’t care.

Something wonderful had just occurred in his life. He didn’t feel as alone as he had, and he knew why. For the first time in years, he’d laughed at himself and enjoyed the feeling. He’d thought it would never happen, and it might not have except for one thing. He’d met Danielle Tyler.

Jack scooted his chair closer to the desk and stared at Landon Morse sitting across from him. The shaggy hair hanging over Landon’s ears and the rumpled suit that looked as if it hadn’t been pressed in weeks didn’t fit Jack’s image
of a professor at Webster. Neither did the big-framed glasses that kept slipping down his nose. There was nothing about Landon that suggested the professional demeanor of Jeff Newman, Nathan Webster or Danielle.

Jack had kept Landon waiting fifteen minutes after he arrived, but he didn’t seem upset. Jack pulled a legal pad from inside his desk and picked up a pen. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Dr. Morse. I appreciate you taking time out of your schedule to come down here today.”

Landon shrugged. “No problem. I didn’t have any classes this afternoon, but I do have a rehearsal with some students at four o’clock. I’m glad to answer any questions, but I will need to leave shortly.”

Jack nodded. “Then let’s get started.” He shuffled through the pages of the legal pad until he found a blank one. “Now, Dr. Morse, I believe you were a student at Webster when Jennifer McCaslin was murdered. Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“How well did you know Jennifer?”

Landon shrugged. “Not very well, but I knew who she was. I kept to myself, wasn’t too social, but I saw her around campus a lot.”

Jack nodded. “With her roommate, Danielle Tyler?”

“That’s right.”

“What about Tricia Peterson? Did you know her well?”

“No more than any other student until recently. You know she was a piano major. She and Flynn were scheduled to play for the Christmas Fundraiser. They were going to perform a piano and violin work that I wrote. I’d been attending some of their rehearsals, so I got to know her better over the last few weeks of her life.”

Jack scribbled on the paper. “Is Flynn one of your students?”

Landon shifted in his chair. “Yes. He’s a violin major and plays in the orchestra I conduct. He’s a very talented young man.”

“Did you ever see Flynn demonstrate any violent actions toward Tricia?”

“No.”

“Did you ever hear him threaten her?”

Landon’s eyes grew large. “No. He seemed to care about her very much.”

Jack leaned forward and stared at Landon. “And what about you? Did you have any feelings for her?”

Landon’s mouth gaped open, and he half rose from his chair. “What? She was a student.”

Jack frowned and glanced down at the pad on his desk. “Well, you knew Julie Travis was a student at your last school, but that didn’t keep you from being interested in her.”

Landon’s face became mottled with rage, and he pulled the glasses from his face. Holding them in one hand, he shook the spectacles in Jack’s direction. “Who told you about that? Have you been snooping in my past?”

“It’s a matter of public record, Dr. Morse. You were accused of stalking a student.”

A fleck of spittle hung in the corner of Landon’s mouth, giving him the appearance of a rabid dog. “Check your facts, Detective. Accused, but not charged.”

“Then why don’t you tell me your side of the story.”

Landon stood up, turned his back on Jack and walked to the one small window in the room. He propped his hands on his hips and stared outside before he put his glasses back on and returned to his seat.

“I’m sorry I got so upset. It happens every time I think about that period of my life.”

Jack tossed the pen he held onto his desk, leaned back in
his chair and clasped his hands across his stomach. “Then why don’t you tell me about it.”

Landon nodded. “Along with my other teaching responsibilities I got stuck with teaching the Physics of Music course one year. Being a violin player, I’d always been intrigued with how physics plays a part in the production of tones on instruments. Unfortunately, many of the students weren’t.”

“And Julie was one of them?”

Landon gave a wry chuckle. “She couldn’t understand the first thing I said. So one day she came to my office, batted her big blue eyes at me, and asked if I’d go over the notes she’d taken in class and offer her some more help. When I said yes, she pulled her chair up next to me and spent the next hour hanging on every word I said.”

Jack had a mental vision of the unkempt professor and the beautiful young girl. It almost sounded like the way April had acted earlier. He pushed the thought from his mind. “So what happened next?”

“She started coming by every day. Sometimes she’d bring food, and we’d even work through dinner.” His eyes took on a faraway look. “I loved to hear her laugh.”

“And?”

Landon jerked his attention back to Jack. “Soon it just seemed natural for me to go by her apartment and eat dinner with her. We’d talk about her assignment some and then we’d watch TV. She’d sit close to me on the couch and hold my hand. By the end of the semester I was head over heels in love, and I’d even gotten up the nerve to kiss her. She was the first girl who’d ever paid me any attention, and I wanted to marry her.”

“How did she feel about it?”

“She encouraged me. That is until she got her final grade, a C that I padded a lot just to pass her. She came to my office,
thanked me for all my help, told me she was going home for the summer and kissed me goodbye. When she didn’t take my calls or answer my e-mails, I drove the two hundred miles to her home to find out what was the matter.”

Although Jack knew the answer, he had to ask anyway. “What had happened?”

“Her father met me at the door, told me to get off their property. It seems Julie had told them how I had stalked her on campus and how scared she was of me. I couldn’t believe it. I could see Julie standing inside the house, and I begged her to tell her father the truth. She just screamed at me to leave her alone and quit following her. Her father was so angry he even turned his dog on me. I had to run for my life when that rottweiler came after me.”

“Did they file charges against you?”

Landon nodded. “They called the police in the town where I lived, but the police couldn’t find any evidence to support her claims. They never filed any charges. Julie didn’t come back to school the next year, and I left when Jeff offered me a job back here.”

Jack made a few notes on the legal pad. “It sounds like you had a pretty rough time of it.”

Landon shook his head. “It taught me a lesson. Now I keep my distance from students. I remember that I’m the teacher, and I don’t cross that line.”

Jack pursed his lips and arched an eyebrow. “So what were you doing in the parking lot with Tricia Peterson the afternoon before she was murdered?”

For a moment Landon didn’t speak. Then his shoulders sagged, and he pulled off the glasses again. “So you think because of Julie I must have something to do with Tricia’s death.”

“Not necessarily. We’re questioning everyone who saw
her that day, and as far as I can tell you were the last one with her. Except for the killer, whoever that may be.”

Landon leaned forward, his eyes narrowed. “Do I need a lawyer?”

“Do you want one?”

Landon stood. “I don’t think I want to answer any more of your questions until I have an attorney present. Now if you have nothing else, I have a rehearsal to attend.”

Before Jack could stop him, Landon strode to the door, opened it and hurried down the hallway. Jack stood behind his desk and thought about what he’d just learned about Landon Morse.

His story about the flirtatious Julie sounded plausible. It could happen to any man working with a young woman who saw herself as a temptress of the opposite sex. His encounter with April earlier in the day led him to believe Landon’s story could very well be true.

If it was, then why wouldn’t he answer questions about Tricia?

Jack rubbed his chin in thought. Landon could have been scared because there was more to his relationship with Tricia than he’d indicated. Maybe Landon had become obsessed with Tricia as he’d worked with her and Flynn for the fundraiser.

Jack sighed and put the legal pad with the notes he’d made during the interview in his desk. Landon Morse had just made it to the top of his suspect list in the Tricia Peterson murder. To prove his theory, though, he’d have to find a motive. Maybe the answer lay in what Julie Travis could tell him about her experience with Landon. What she had to say might very well shed some light on two unsolved murders.

E
very table in the Mountain Mug appeared occupied by people sipping coffee and staring at their laptops. Nobody looked up as Danielle weaved her way between the tables to the back where Jack sat stirring a cup of coffee.

He looked up and smiled as she dropped into the chair opposite him. “Glad to see you made it.”

Danielle pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear and sighed. “I thought five o’clock would never come. I’m exhausted.”

Jack pushed his cup back and stood. “I’ll get you a cup of coffee. Maybe that will help.”

She nodded. “That would be great.”

As Jack headed toward the counter, Danielle couldn’t help but notice the woman at the next table glance up from her computer and stare as he walked by. Danielle thought of how April had flirted with Jack earlier and now a strange woman also seemed to be studying him. Although Jack did nothing to attract the attention of women, it was obvious he did.

Her heart thumped as she recognized the unfamiliar sensation that pricked her thoughts. She hadn’t felt it in years, but she identified it right away—jealousy.

The realization hit her and she gasped. Why should she
resent other women looking at Jack? After all he was a handsome man, and they were nothing more than friends. She still pondered the question when he returned to the table and set a cup of coffee in front of her.

“Here you go.”

She straightened in her chair and reached for the steaming mug. “Thanks. I needed this. I’ve been tied up all day with this fundraiser.”

He eased back into his chair. “You mentioned that you were planning it. What’s it for?”

Danielle swallowed a sip of the hot liquid before responding. “In early December each year we have a dinner to honor all the donors to the school. It comes right after semester final exams, and everybody’s in a good mood with the holidays approaching. It’s a big affair with no expense spared. Most of the students have already left campus, but we involve a lot of them who stay until after the fundraiser.”

“What do they do?”

“Students from the art department decorate the dining room and foyer with exhibits of their work. After dinner, students from the music department and the drama program perform.” Her eyes misted, and she paused. “Flynn and Tricia were supposed to be on the program together this year.”

Jack nodded. “I think you told me that.”

She sniffed and pressed a napkin to the corner of her eye. “Anyway, it’s a huge night. We have to impress everyone so they’ll open their checkbooks and give generously for another year. Nathan has been worried that the media coverage of Tricia’s murder may affect the donations, so he wants this fundraiser to be spectacular.”

Jack grinned. “I have a feeling he picked the right person to direct it.”

His gaze traveled over her face, and her breath caught in her throat. “Tell me that the morning after the gala.”

“I will.”

She drained the coffee from the mug and picked up her purse. “Now how about that burger you promised me?”

He chuckled and lifted the two cups from the table. “Wait for me at the door while I return these. We need to keep everything tidy so they won’t dread seeing us the next time.”

Danielle stood up and sidestepped the tables on her way to the exit. Jack’s words about their next time here sent ripples of pleasure through her. She stopped at the door and watched him set the cups on the counter and saunter toward her.

He smiled when he caught sight of her, and Danielle recalled how she had thought him aloof and remote when they first met. Each day she found herself liking him more, and that frightened her.

Jack had been up front with her from the beginning about his determination to avoid relationships. If she didn’t get control of her feelings, he would likely discontinue their friendship, and she knew that would hurt. She’d already lost too much to let that happen.

Two hours later Jack pulled his car to a stop behind Danielle’s in her driveway. He climbed out and hurried forward just as she stepped onto the graveled path that ran beside her house.

She grasped her key ring and located the one for the house. “Thanks for following me home, Jack. I really enjoyed our dinner.”

He laughed. “It wasn’t much of a meal. Just a burger and fries, but I like to eat at The Copper Kettle. I guess it’s a guy place, but I’m glad you liked it.”

She walked toward the house, and he fell into step beside her. “The food was good, but so was the company.”

They climbed the steps to the front porch, and he waited while she unlocked the door. When she turned to face him, he sucked in his breath at how beautiful she looked in the moonlight. He didn’t want the evening to end, but he didn’t know what else to do.

Finally he spoke. “I enjoyed the company, too.”

She smiled. “From the tone of your voice, I suspect you really didn’t want to say that.”

He shook his head. “It’s hard for me. I’ve made a habit of cutting myself off from everyone for so long that sometimes I think I must be the most boring person around.”

“You don’t bore me.”

The soft-spoken words stirred him, and he stared at her lips. They looked so inviting, and he could imagine pulling her to him and tasting the sweetness of her mouth. He inched forward. “I didn’t mean to get involved with you, Danielle.”

She tilted her head up. “Are we involved? I thought we were just friends.”

“I don’t understand what we are. I just know you’ve opened the world up to me again, and I’m enjoying every minute of it.”

“You have for me, too,” she whispered.

He raked his hand through his hair. “I promised myself that I would never allow myself to hurt another woman, and I don’t want to do that to you.”

She nodded. “I know. After Stan’s death, I knew I couldn’t stand another loss. I don’t want to end up being hurt again.”

He exhaled. “Then what are we going to do? There’s something happening between the two of us, and it scares me.”

Tears glittered in her eyes. “It scares me, too.”

He clenched his fists at his side. “Right now I want to kiss you more than anything, but I’m not going to.”

She nodded. “I think that’s wise. It’s not time for that
between us. Not yet, and it may never be. We need to give it more time.”

He backed away. “When can I see you again?”

She thought for a minute. “Tomorrow’s Saturday, and we don’t have to work. We could drive over to Gatlinburg. Maybe go to the aquarium. Have dinner somewhere.” Her eyes widened at something she’d forgotten. “Oh, Nathan is having a party at his chalet for the staff. I have to go to that. You can go with me.”

He stuck his hands in his pockets and chuckled. “Me at a party with intellectuals? I’d be out of place.”

She laughed and swatted his arm. “You would not. Besides I’ll need somebody to rescue me early from a boring event. How about it?”

The time had come that he had to confess something else he’d never told her. He hesitated, afraid that what he was about to tell her would mean an end to their friendship. “Will there be any alcohol there?”

She frowned. “I suppose so, but I don’t drink. So I never pay much attention to that. Why?”

He swallowed. “After my wife’s death, I went through a time that I drank a lot. I finally went to Alcoholics Anonymous, and I haven’t had a drink since.”

“Then you’ve recovered.”

Jack sighed. “The truth is you never recover. That’s why we call ourselves alcoholics. We have to fight it every day.”

She smiled. “Then I’ll help you. I’ll be right beside you and drink the same soft drink you do.”

He thought for a moment. “In that case, I would love to go to Mr. Stoneface Webster’s party.”

Danielle burst out laughing. “Stoneface? Have you looked in the mirror lately, Detective Denton? You might find Mr. Webster’s not the only one who forgets to smile.”

Laughter rumbled from Jack’s throat. “Oh, Danielle, I’ve never met anyone like you. I think you’re good for me.”

“Then will you go?”

He thought for a moment. “What time?”

“We need to be there about four o’clock. It’s a come-and-go type thing. We can make an appearance, sample the appetizers, and leave because we have dinner reservations in Gatlinburg.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Do we have reservations?”

She smiled. “We do if you make them tomorrow.”

He laughed. “All right. I’ll pick you up about three-thirty, and we’ll go to Mr. Webster’s party. See you then.”

She opened the door, stepped inside and turned to face him. “Good night, Jack. I had a wonderful time.”

His chest tightened and he struggled to smile. “I did, too, Danielle. See you tomorrow.”

She closed the door, and he stood there thinking about his evening. Their dinner might not have been at the fanciest restaurant in town, but there was no denying how much he enjoyed the evening.

His confession about his previous drinking problem didn’t seem to worry her either. He wondered if the faith she talked about helped her to accept people and their flaws without being judgmental. If it did, then maybe he could learn something from her. Not that he could ever see himself becoming a believer, but he had to admit she had something he’d never encountered in anyone else.

As he got to know her, he found they shared other things in common. Tonight at dinner they’d talked about their likes and dislikes, and he’d been surprised to find out that she liked baseball almost as much as he did. He smiled and hopped down the steps.

He jumped in his car and turned the ignition. What a day!
He’d laughed for the first time in a while and he’d almost kissed a woman. The memory of Danielle standing in the moonlight returned as he backed the car from the driveway. This might not have been the right time for a kiss, but he felt sure there would be the perfect moment in the future.

Jack took a sip of his ginger ale and glanced around at the people spread across Nathan Webster’s formal dining room and the huge living room beyond. When Danielle had said chalet, he expected a rustic cabin tucked in the mountains, not this huge mansion that towered among the maple and pine trees at the end of a gated trail. When they’d first driven up, he thought they must have come to a lodge, not a home where a man lived alone.

Danielle smiled up at him. “Enjoying yourself?”

Jack chuckled. “So this is how the rich and famous live?”

She raised her glass of ginger ale to her mouth. “I don’t know about that. Everybody here, with the exception of Nathan, is a faculty member just like me.”

He let his gaze rove over the group of mostly middle-aged men and women and grinned. Even if he hadn’t known, he could’ve guessed their occupations. Each one of them had an academic look about them. Maybe it was their dark-colored clothes or perhaps the impression of high IQs they projected that he’d come to associate with the teaching profession. All of them looked the part. All of them except Danielle.

He smiled at her. “They may be faculty members, but there’s not one here like you.” Color rose in her cheeks. “How many teachers are there at Webster?”

She thought a moment. “I think at the beginning of the year we had over ninety.”

Jack’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Ninety? For four hundred students?”

Danielle nodded. “When the Webster family endowed the school, they wanted only the most gifted students. So they offered full scholarships to anyone with high SAT scores who could pass the difficult entrance exams. They also wanted to keep the enrollment low and faculty numbers high so there would be more one-on-one attention to the students.”

“And you were one of those that got in.”

Danielle glanced across the room at Nathan. “Yeah, but it wasn’t easy. Even after I passed the exams, the screening committee was still reluctant to admit me.”

Jack’s mouth gaped open. “You’ve got to be kidding. Why?”

She set her glass down on a table beside her and chuckled. “Nathan had been a fan of my parents and knew about their drug and alcohol abuse. He thought I might be tainted because of my heritage.”

“So how did you get in?”

“The committee invited me for an interview. I was so scared when I walked into that room. But from the minute Nathan met me, he liked me. The interview was a success, and Nathan became one of my best friends. I don’t know what I would have done without him after Jennifer’s and Stan’s deaths.”

Jack thought of seeing Danielle with Nathan at the restaurant and tried to ignore the twinge of jealousy that nibbled at his mind. “He seemed to be very attentive the night I saw him with you at the restaurant.”

Her eyes grew wide. “Like I said, he’s been a wonderful friend.”

Jack took a sip from his glass. He groaned as Nathan Webster, who’d been circulating about the room and chatting with his guests, spied them standing in the dining room and headed in their direction. “Here comes Stoneface now.”

Danielle frowned at Jack and held out her hand. “Nathan, what a wonderful party. Thank you so much for inviting me.”

Nathan cupped Danielle’s hand in both of his and smiled. “I’m so glad you’re enjoying it, Danielle.” He released her fingers and shook Jack’s hand. “Detective Denton, I’m happy you could join us.”

Jack cut his eyes toward Danielle. “Danielle invited me.”

Nathan smiled. “I didn’t realize you had become such good friends.”

“Danielle’s been helping me with the case.”

Danielle looked up at Jack, a hint of surprise on her face.

Nathan leaned closer. “Do you have any leads that you can share with me? We’re eager for this sad affair to be brought to a close.”

Jack shook his head. “Nothing yet, but maybe soon.”

Nathan pursed his lips. “That’s disappointing.” After a moment he exhaled and turned to Danielle. “I spoke to the food services director, and he told me he’s very impressed with the menu you chose for the fundraiser. I knew I’d put the right person in charge when I chose you.”

Jack nodded as Nathan turned and walked away. Danielle watched him before she turned back to Jack. “Did you hear that? He liked what I chose. I was afraid he’d want something different.”

Jack smiled at her. “I’m not surprised that he was pleased. You’re successful at everything you do.”