Mountain Peril. Sandra Robbins
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that something horrible had happened in the wilderness. She squirmed into a more comfortable position and glanced out the car window. The beam of a flashlight appeared on the path. She sat up straighter and strained to see who was coming out of the forest.
Danielle shoved the door open and ran to Jack before he’d even reached the end of the trail. “Tell me what you found.”
The dim light in the parking lot shadowed his face and accented the sadness in his eyes. He licked his lips. “We found Tricia’s body.”
“W-w-was it like the Web site?” Her lips trembled so she could hardly speak.
He took her arm and guided her across the parking lot. Then he slumped against the side of the car and rubbed his hands over his eyes. “It was horrible.”
Danielle remembered how Jennifer’s body had looked and how she had reacted. Her concern for Jack suddenly overshadowed her grief for Tricia. Nothing she could do would help the young woman, but Jack needed someone to care about him and what he was feeling.
She reached up and pulled his hand away from his face. Wrapping her fingers around his, she stared up into his face. “I know what you’re feeling. I’ve been there.”
The hard lines of his face softened. “I’m a police officer. I’m supposed to be able to see violence and not react. But somehow, I still can’t believe what some people are capable of doing.”
“You’re a man who doesn’t share his feelings, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have any. I can tell you’re strong, and you’ll be able to do your job.”
He straightened and pulled his hand loose. “Thanks. I’m glad I brought you with me tonight.” He glanced at the policemen across the lot. “There’s nothing you can do here, so I think you should take my car and go to the school. Someone has gone to notify Dr. Newman and Mr. Webster that I’ll meet with them at the school in an hour. One of the other officers will drop me off, and I’ll see you there.”
She thought of the problems this was going to cause the school. “Okay.”
Danielle watched Jack as he trudged back up the path into the dense forest and disappeared into the dark before she climbed into his car. As she drove along the winding road, the horror of what had happened began to sink in. She was glad she hadn’t seen Tricia’s body. She really didn’t want to remember her the way she did Jennifer.
Tears filled Danielle’s eyes as she remembered seeing Tricia dash across campus on her way to class. They’d often joked about how she could never get anywhere on time. But the spirited young woman had a talent like few Danielle had ever seen. When Tricia sat at the piano, she had the ability to weave lilting melodies and complex harmonies into a performance that transported her listeners on a breathtaking musical experience. Now her gift had been silenced forever.
Danielle shook as tears slid down her face. What kind of monster could end such a beautiful life?
Another thought popped into her mind. According to Jack, Jeff and Nathan were being notified. But what about Flynn? Tricia’s death would devastate him.
The aftermath of Jennifer’s death had been a nightmare for the school and its students. Now the horror had returned, and they were facing the same situation again.
FOUR
An hour later Jack paused outside Jeff Newman’s office. The door was cracked open just enough for Jack to hear inside. He listened for Danielle, but he could only make out Nathan Webster’s voice. “I can’t believe this has happened. A student murdered? We’ll be lucky if we have any applications for next year’s freshman class.”
“We’ll have time to worry about that after we’ve faced this latest crisis. Now’s not the time to discuss next fall,” Jeff Newman replied.
“Maybe not for you, but it’s my family’s endowment that’s on the line here. Who’d want to come to a school that can’t even protect its students? You’d better be thinking of some way to counter all the bad press we’re going to get over this.”
A chair scraped on the floor. “Don’t worry, Nathan. I will.”
Jack raised his fist and knocked. To his surprise Danielle flung the door open. Tears streaked her face. He cleared his throat and looked past her to Nathan and Jeff. “Excuse me. I hope I’m not interrupting.”
Jeff and Nathan turned to face him as Jack walked into the room. Nathan stepped forward. “Come in, Detective Denton. Do you have any news for us?”
Jack shook his head. “I wanted to tell you we won’t release Tricia’s name until we’ve notified her parents. I thought you would probably want to talk to them, too. I’ll be back in touch in the morning to answer any questions you might have.”
Nathan frowned. “Will you have the killer by then?”
Jack shook his head. “I don’t know, but I’ll do everything I can to assure Tricia’s parents that I won’t rest until he is found.”
Jeff sank down in his desk chair and raised a shaking hand to his forehead. “I can’t believe this is happening again. Do you think it’s the same murderer?”
Jack shrugged. “We don’t know at this point. It could be, or it could be a copycat who saw the Web site.”
A groan came from Danielle’s direction. “Oh, why did Tricia and Flynn get mixed up in this horrible situation?”
Jack glanced around, and his eyes widened at the paleness of her face. She needed to get out of there. “My partner’s gone to bring Flynn Carter to the station. I need to get down there, too, but I’ll come back tomorrow.” Jack turned to Danielle. “Dr. Tyler, you look like this ordeal has gotten to you. Why don’t I take you home?”
Nathan’s lips parted, and his eyebrows arched. “Don’t you have your car, Danielle?”
Before she could answer, Jack took her by the arm. “We were at dinner when she got Flynn’s call.”
What Jack interpreted as disapproving looks flashed across Nathan and Jack’s faces. Before they could say anything, he steered Danielle out of the room and down the hall. At the building’s entrance, he pushed the front door open and stood back for her to exit.
“Thank you,” she murmured as she walked outside.
The forlorn hoot of an owl from the distant hills matched the mood that hung over them as he walked beside Danielle to where she’d parked his car. He could almost feel the grief radiating from her body at this latest tragedy, and he felt helpless. Policemen weren’t supposed to become emotionally involved in their cases. Although he’d never let anyone know it, he hadn’t learned how not to care about those affected by violent crime.
They stopped at the car, and he opened the door. She looked up at him. The tears in her eyes shimmered in the glow from the inside light. Her lips trembled. “Thank you for all your help tonight.”
He jammed his hands into his pocket. “Just doing my job.”
She started to get in the car, but she turned back to him. “It really hit me on the way back from Laurel Falls. Tricia is dead. Just like Jennifer and Stan.”
He frowned. “Stan?”
“My fiancé.”
“Oh, I didn’t know his name. I’m sorry.”
“Stan,” she whispered. “Stan Winters. He was a wonderful man.”
She looked so vulnerable standing there in the parking lot shadows. A cold wind blew from the distant mountains, and she shivered. The urge to put a protective arm around her shoulders washed over him, and he shoved his hands deeper in his pockets. “Let’s get out of here. After all, there is a killer loose.”
Her forehead wrinkled, and her gaze darted across the lit area. “And he could be watching us right now.” She moved closer