Mountain Peril (9 page)

Across the room a man motioned to Danielle, and she placed her hand on Jack’s arm. “Could you excuse me a moment? I need to speak to Dr. Cranston. I’ll be right back.”

Jack watched as Danielle walked toward the paunchy man standing with a group of university faculty. They smiled and nodded as she approached. Within minutes she was involved in an animated conversation with them.

As he studied her face, he noticed the ease with which she fit into the group. This was her life. Two men walked by him, and he heard one of them say “derivative formula.” He had no idea what they were talking about.

Jack glanced around the room and realized this scene was far from anything he’d ever known. Conversations with intellectuals seemed foreign to him, and he wondered what he was doing here.

Suddenly he wanted to leave, to have Danielle to himself. But with that thought came the realization of his selfishness. Maybe he didn’t fit in, but Danielle did. This was her world, but it was far from his. He’d been deluding himself that they could overcome the differences between them, but now he knew they couldn’t. Sadness like he’d never known flowed through him.

Danielle backed away from the group and strode back to where he waited. “We can go now if you want.”

Jack gave a curt nod. “Good. You say your goodbyes, and I’ll get our coats.”

Without waiting for her to answer he headed toward the den at the back of the house and retrieved the coats they’d left there upon arriving. He turned and walked toward the door but hesitated at the sound of footsteps in the hallway. Not eager to start a conversation with another intellectual, Jack stepped behind the open door to keep from being seen.

“I was surprised to see Danielle with that policeman.”

Jack’s eyebrows arched at the sound of Nathan Webster’s voice.

“I know. I didn’t realize she was seeing him,” Jeff Newman replied.

“Have you told her about the promotion yet?” Jack pressed his ear closer to the door to catch Nathan’s words.

“I haven’t. I thought I’d wait until after the fundraiser.”

The sound of fingernails tapping on a glass drifted through the door. When they quieted, Nathan spoke again. “To be vice president of Webster is quite an accomplishment for a woman her age. If she’s become infatuated with Detective Denton, I hope she doesn’t lose sight of what’s best for her professionally.”

“Surely she wouldn’t do that.” Jeff’s voice sounded worried. “She’s worked for years to get an opportunity like this.”

Nathan sighed. “Maybe we shouldn’t wait until the new year to tell her. Go on and talk to her Monday morning.” The ice in the glass tinkled as if it was being swirled about. “When you offer her the job, perhaps you’d better remind her that she needs a man in her life who understands the academic life. Jack Denton obviously doesn’t.”

“I will.”

The men moved away from the door, and Jack stood there replaying what they’d said. It was clear they didn’t want Danielle’s relationship with him to destroy her chance at a promotion. He didn’t want that, either.

Jack clutched the coats tighter and hurried from the room. He spied Danielle standing near the front door. Landon Morse, his attention directed to Danielle, smiled down at her as she talked. Landon glanced up as Jack approached.

Landon’s eyes burned with a smoldering fury as Jack stopped next to Danielle. “Detective Denton,” he said, “imagine meeting you here.”

The dislike for the man that Jack had felt the first time he met him rose in Jack’s throat. He still considered Landon a chief suspect in Tricia Peterson’s death. He thought of their conversation in his office and the report on his desk that told of Landon’s stalking a female student at the school where he’d previously been employed.

Jack felt his eyes grow wide. He shouldn’t be pointing the
finger of guilt at anyone. Not with his guilt over his shortcomings as a husband. If it wasn’t for him, his wife would never have turned to another man and would still be alive. He swallowed and forced himself to speak. “We were just leaving, Dr. Morse.”

Landon glanced at him. “That’s what Danielle said. I suppose we are a boring group to somebody who’s used to chasing criminals.”

Jack glanced around the room. “You never can tell who may be hiding in a crowd. One thing I’ve learned since coming to Webster Falls is that a lot of people have secrets.”

Landon’s face mottled with rage, and Danielle stepped between them. “Would you help me with my coat, Jack?”

“Sure.” Jack pulled his attention away from Landon and held the coat while she slipped it on.

Danielle took a deep breath. “I’ll see you Monday, Landon.”

He nodded, then turned a somber stare toward Jack. “Goodbye, Detective Denton.”

Without speaking, Jack took Danielle’s arm and steered her to the door. Once outside he inhaled, and the fresh air calmed him. It had been evident from the minute he walked in the door of Nathan Webster’s house that he was out of his league. He didn’t understand any of the conversation around him, and he’d been ignored by most of the people in attendance.

He’d been wrong to come. He would have been more comfortable sitting in front of the TV watching a ball game than being in that bunch of people.

When they were settled in the car, Danielle snuggled back in the seat and sighed. “That was fun, wasn’t it? I’m glad we came.”

Jack gave a grunt of disgust. “I’ve had more fun questioning the suspect in a murder than I did with those snobs.”

Danielle sat up straight and turned to stare at him. “Snobs? I thought everyone was very nice to you.”

A cynical laugh came from Jack’s throat. “Yeah, nice to you. It was evident from the minute I walked in they thought I was way out of my league.”

Danielle’s eyes grew wider. “You’re imagining that.”

Nathan and Jeff’s words flashed into his mind, and he pounded his fists on the steering wheel. “I didn’t imagine what I overheard your two bosses say about you being there with
that policeman
. They said it like it was dirty.”

Danielle reached out to him. “Oh, Jack, I’m sorry.”

He drew back from her touch and faced her. “They made it very evident that any relationship with me might cost you a promotion in your job.”

She frowned. “What kind of promotion?”

Guilt flowed through him at the thought he might tell her the surprise they were planning. “It doesn’t matter. They made it plain that I’m not suitable for their circle.”

Danielle swiveled in her seat toward him. “I can’t believe they would say something like that.”

“Well, they did, and the funny thing is that they’re right. With all the baggage I have, there’s no way I can have a friendship, much less a relationship, with a woman. It’s better to find it out now than later I guess.”

Her chin quivered. “Are you saying that you don’t want to see me anymore?”

He turned the ignition and put the gearshift into Reverse. Looking over his shoulder, he backed from the parking spot into the road, stopped, and shifted into Drive.

“Yeah, I guess that’s what I’m saying. Better to stop now than end up with both of us getting hurt.” He turned toward her and he could see the pain he’d just caused her. He gripped the steering wheel to keep from reaching for her. “I think we’d better forget dinner in Gatlinburg. I’ll take you home.”

She turned her face away and stared out the window. With
a sigh he eased down on the accelerator and drove onto the mountain road toward Webster Falls. Neither of them spoke all the way to town.

When he pulled up in front of her house, she opened the door and bolted for the porch before he could get out. He sat in the car as she disappeared into the log cabin. His heart cried for him to follow her, but his head told him it was no use. All along he’d known how it would end, and he’d been right.

Nothing in his life had ever worked out. Danielle Tyler was as lost to him as everything else he’d ever wanted.

D
anielle sat at her desk on Monday morning and stared at the red rose that lay beside her computer. The card, written in the same script, sent chills down her spine. She picked it up and read it again.
Beauty surrounds you wherever you go.

She reached for the phone again to call Jack but pulled her hand back. What would she say? That she’d received another anonymous rose, and he would remind her she had nothing to worry about. She’d caught the attention of someone too shy to express his feelings.

In her heart Danielle knew the answer had to be something more. The notes sounded like lines from poems, but they could have been written by the sender. If she was to discover the identity of the sender, she’d have to do it alone. After Saturday night she doubted she’d be seeing Jack anymore.

Their conversation still haunted her. One minute they seemed to be enjoying the party, and the next Jack was ranting about snobs and promotions. His statement about having too much baggage to ever have a relationship with a woman troubled her most.

She got up from her desk and walked to the window. She stared at the mountains. Once those majestic peaks had thrilled her, but now every time she looked at them she
thought of Jennifer and Tricia. The hills hid the secret to their murders, but they weren’t divulging it. Not yet anyway.

The phone rang, and she turned and picked it up. “Danielle Tyler. May I help you?”

“Danielle, this is Betty. Dr. Newman wants to see you in his office. Can you come?”

“I’ll be right there.”

She hung up the phone and walked toward the door. Just as she reached it, a soft knock sounded from the other side. Opening the door, she sucked in her breath at the sight of Flynn Carter standing in the hallway.

His usual tan had faded, and his pale face looked as if he hadn’t slept in days. The once cocky student who’d defied the police about his Web site looked like a broken person. His shoulders drooped, and his hair tumbled across his forehead.

Flynn stuck his hands in his pockets and stood without speaking as Danielle’s gaze drifted over him. She tried to ignore the anger that burned in the pit of her stomach.

Tricia might still be alive if Flynn hadn’t persuaded her to pose for that Web site. That thought had entered her mind often during the past few weeks, and she wanted to rid herself of such ideas. She concentrated on the grief that radiated from Flynn and tried to understand what he was feeling.

Danielle reached out and drew him into her office. “Flynn, it’s good to see you. How are you?”

He shoved his hands in his pocket. “I’ve been better.” His chin quivered so that Danielle wondered how he spoke.

She smiled. “Well, it’s good to see you back at school. I’ve missed you. April has been doing your work, but she needs a lot of supervision.”

He rocked back and forth from his toes to his heels and blinked at the tears in his eyes. “I came by to tell you I can’t
come back to work for a while. I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to finish this semester.”

Danielle took hold of his arm and guided him to a chair. With his chin touching his chest he slouched in the seat. After a moment he raised his head and looked at her.

“Flynn, I know how you’re feeling. I felt the same when Jennifer was killed, but you can’t let this ruin your life. Tricia wouldn’t want that.”

A tear escaped his eye, and he wiped it away. “I can’t think of anything but her. I loved her, Dr. Tyler, but I can’t get past this guilt that I’m responsible for her death. If I hadn’t asked her to pose for that Web site…”

Danielle shook her head. “You can’t dwell on that. You have to go on with your life. It’s not easy, but it can be done.”

He clasped his hands in his lap. “I don’t think I can stay here.”

“The semester’s almost over. We’re well into November, and finals are coming up the first of December. Thanksgiving break will give you some time off. So we’re only talking about a few weeks. Don’t throw away a whole semester’s work with such little time left.”

He sat in thought before he answered. “I guess you’re right. I’ll try, but I don’t know if I can do it.” He took a deep breath. “Do you think April could keep working for you? I don’t think I can do the job and classwork.”

Danielle stood, and he rose from his chair. “Don’t worry about the job. We’ll make it fine. After Christmas if you feel like resuming the responsibilities of my assistant, you can come back then.”

A weak smile pulled at his lips. “Thanks, Dr. Tyler. I’m sorry for all the problems I’ve caused.”

She placed her hand on his shoulder. “I know you are. Now go on to class. Get back in the routine. It’ll be good for you.”

Biting his lip, he nodded and walked from the room. Danielle watched as he trudged down the hall. Flynn’s hunched figure looked as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. She’d felt the same way after Jennifer’s murder. Those feelings, though, didn’t compare to the grief she felt when Stan died.

The face of Jack Denton materialized in her mind. Three nights ago they’d laughed and talked, and she’d felt herself drawn to him. Those hopes had been dashed the next night by his curt dismissal of her. Perhaps he’d been right when he’d said it was better to end it before it went any further.

Danielle glanced in the direction of Jeff’s office and gasped. With Flynn’s arrival, she’d forgotten all about Betty’s call. She hurried across the hall and into the reception area of the president’s office.

Betty looked up from her computer. “I thought I was going to have to call you again.”

“I’m sorry. Flynn Carter came by my office.”

Betty took off her glasses and let them dangle on the attached chain. “How is he?”

Danielle shook her head. “Not good. He wants to drop out of school, but I think I convinced him to stay until the end of the semester.”

“Good.” Betty tilted her head toward Jeff’s door. “He’s expecting you. Just go on in.”

“Thanks, Betty.” She stopped at the door and tapped before entering.

Jeff rose from his chair behind his desk as she entered his office. “Come in, Danielle. How are you this morning?”

He motioned to a chair, and she sank into it. “I’m fine. I would have come sooner, but Flynn came by my office.”

“How is he?”

“Not good. He looks terrible, and I think he feels worse. He wants to drop out of school.”

Jeff’s eyes widened in surprise. “Now? This close to the end of the semester?”

Danielle nodded. “I think I convinced him to stay, but I’m not sure.”

“Maybe I need to talk to him.”

“Oh, Jeff, that would be great. Let him know that we only want what’s best for him.”

“I will.” Jeff picked up a pen from his desk and rolled it between his fingers. He stared at it for a moment before he glanced up. “I want what’s best for all the students and faculty at Webster.”

“I’ve always known that, Jeff.”

He took a deep breath. “There’s no one I want it for more than you, Danielle. You’ve become very special to me.”

The tone of his words reminded her of thick syrup as they poured over her, and she fidgeted in discomfort at his intense stare. “Wh-what do you mean?”

Jeff dropped the pen, leaned forward and clasped his hands on his desk. “You have a bright future here at Webster. Nathan and I are very pleased with the work you do. We don’t want to see you do anything to jeopardize that.”

The memory of Jack’s words about what Nathan and Jeff said about him returned, and her heart pounded. Could Jack have been right in what he heard? She sat up straight. “What are you trying to say, Jeff?”

He shrugged. “I’m just saying that Nathan and I have big plans for you.” He smiled. “I called you in here to tell you that after the first of the year we’re making you vice president of the college. You’ll be moving into the office next to Nathan’s, and you’ll be the liaison between the board and my office.”

She rocked against the back of her chair in surprise. “Vice president? But I thought Milton Cranston was in line for that promotion. He’s been here much longer than I have.”

Jeff shook his head. “Milton’s a good man, but he doesn’t have your vivacious work ethic. Nathan thinks you can take this university to a higher level. And who knows, when I decide to retire, you may even take my place.”

Danielle stood up and rubbed her forehead. “This is all happening too quickly. I had no idea.”

He laughed. “Of course not, but that’s what we’ve been planning.”

“Of course I’m flattered…” His first statement flashed into her mind, and she hesitated. “Jeff, what did you mean when you said you didn’t want me to do anything to jeopardize my work here?”

His face flushed, and he got up from his chair. “I’m going to be honest with you, Danielle. Nathan and I were both surprised to see you with that policeman at Nathan’s on Saturday.”

“
That policeman?
What do you mean?”

He came around the desk and faced her. “I know your personal life is your own, but we have high standards for our faculty here at Webster. Detective Denton is a little too rough around the edges to fit in with your friends. Besides, with your new position, you’ll probably be making three or four times his salary.”

Danielle frowned. “Money isn’t the most important thing in life, Jeff. People and relationships come before that. I’ve always believed that.”

“I know you do, but you need to think about impressions, too. As vice president of the school you will deal with the donors, and we have some of the richest people in the country on our list. I hardly think Jack Denton fits into their world.”

Danielle took a step back from Jeff and shook her head. “Have you forgotten where I come from? My parents struggled to make their living in one of the toughest industries in
the nation. They always told me they considered everybody they worked with important to their music, even to the custodian who swept up the studio after they were through recording. That’s the way I feel, Jeff. I don’t see differences in people and where they fall on somebody else’s idea of a social scale.”

Jeff spread his hands in a pleading manner. “Danielle, we just want to help you.”

“We?” Her body straightened. “Does Nathan feel the same way?”

Jeff nodded. “Yes. You have a great future here, and we want you to achieve it.”

Jack had been right. Nathan and Jeff had made him feel like he didn’t fit into her world. She’d been oblivious to his feelings, and their friendship had ended. In her heart she knew something else—she would never feel about Webster University the same again.

She’d held such hopes for how this school was preparing her for life when she’d come as a freshman. Now she saw it as something entirely different. She could never think of Webster again without thinking of Jennifer’s and Tricia’s deaths. Now she would have to add Jack Denton and what might have been to that list.

Danielle squared her shoulders. “Thank you for wanting to help me, Jeff. I think you have.”

He smiled. “That’s wonderful. I knew you’d see it our way.”

She tilted her head and regarded the man she’d respected for years. “No, I don’t think I’ll ever see it your way. A long time ago my parents taught me that God loves me in spite of all my faults, and because of that I have to show love and respect to everyone around me. I don’t see class distinctions the way you and Nathan do.”

He cocked an eyebrow and directed a skeptical grin toward her. “Come now, Danielle. You can’t make me believe that you see the janitors and cooks at this school as important as those of us who educate the students.”

“Oh, but I do, Jeff. They may not have had the opportunities I’ve had, but that doesn’t change the fact we’re all God’s children.”

He waved his hand in dismissal. “Well, after you become vice president, you can treat them any way you want.”

The picture her father had shown her of a Batwa man flashed into her mind, and she shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll be doing that because I don’t plan to take the job.”

His mouth gaped open. “What?”

She smiled. “No, I’ve been thinking about leaving Webster for quite some time. After the first of the year I’m going to work with my parents in their ministry to the Batwa people in Africa. I’ll have my resignation on your desk in the next few days. I’m sure you can find somebody else to take my place here.”

Before he had time to respond, she whirled and strode from the office. Betty looked up at her, but Danielle didn’t stop. She could hardly wait to get to her office and call her parents. The decision she’d weighed for so many weeks had been made clear, and she realized God had chosen the right moment to reveal the answer. Webster held no future for her, but her parents’ ministry did.

She closed her office door behind her and sank down in the chair behind her desk. The rose still lay where she’d left it. She picked it up and smelled the fragrance of the petals. The sweet odor couldn’t cover up the smell of evil that she’d come to equate with Webster. Whoever was sending her these roses could be a part of it, too.

Grasping the bloom with one hand, she pulled the petals
from the stem and threw them in the trash can. Then she dumped the stem and the card in with them. If someone had become interested in her, he needed to let her know, not play a silly game.

She stared into the can, and her heart pumped at what she’d just done. She picked up the phone to call her parents and glanced around the room. The office had become her second home over the past three years, but it would soon become a part of her past.

Tears formed in her eyes. She’d first met Jack in this room, and they’d talked here many times since. Regret filled her at the thought that leaving Webster also meant leaving him. She wondered how he would feel when he heard she was taking the job with the ministry. He, too, would soon be relegated to an interval in her past, and the thought made her sad.

The feeling she’d tried to ignore wouldn’t be suppressed any longer. Jack Denton had become special to her. She shook her head—more than special. For all the good it did her, she’d succumbed to what she said she’d never do. She’d fallen for Jack, but he’d made it clear he didn’t feel the same.