Obsession & Eyewitness: Obsession / Eyewitness

“I have a rental.”

She hooked her thumbs in the pockets of her shorts where the bracelet burned against her leg. Maybe she should leave it here. She didn’t need the constant reminder of her mother gouging her thigh. “You know, I never even asked you where you live now. Are you in San Francisco?”

“L.A., although I’ve been thinking of requesting a transfer to San Francisco. One of my buddies is with the Bureau up there. He’s the one who first told me about Tiffany Gunderson’s murder.”

“The local cops realize now that you’re not here in any official capacity.”

“I know, but I still feel obliged to share my opinions with them—that the Gunderson and Frank murders are related, and I believe Amanda’s death is tied to theirs. This is the same guy.”

“But why? Does he plan to work his way through the entire Coral Cove class that graduated ten years ago? Does he have something against those particular women…or me?” She couldn’t stop the goose pimples that rushed across her arms.

Colin must’ve noticed her shiver because he took a step forward and rubbed his knuckles along her skin. “That’s what I’m here to find out, whether the local cops like it or not. My parents were friends with the Gundersons. I at least owe it to them.”

Michelle practically purred at his touch. If the local cops didn’t like Colin’s presence in Coral Cove…she did.

Two hours later, Colin stepped onto the sidewalk outside the Coral Cove Police Station and squinted at the sky. The sun was staging a valiant attack against the stubborn marine layer, hurriedly pricking through the gray muck before it was time to sink into the ocean.

Settling his shoulders against the brick facade of the building, Colin crossed his arms and dug his heels into the sidewalk. The small-town cops hadn’t appreciated his meddling. They’d found a smear of blood on the transient’s sleeve and had closed the case before the blood analysis had come back from the lab.

They hadn’t been interested in rose petals, class connections or class reunions. The summer tourist season loomed less than two weeks away, and the chief and the mayor wanted to make sure nothing more than the haze from the ocean was hanging over Coral Cove by the time the crowds staggered in from L.A. and San Francisco.

Michelle rounded the corner, accompanied by a pumped-up guy in jeans and a Coral Cove High School sweatshirt, and waved. After she’d had her turn with the police, she’d gone to the high school to collect an answer key for some quizzes she had to grade. Looked like she’d brought the mascot with her.

Colin pushed off the wall of the police station. Michelle had been holding up well under the shock of her friend’s murder and her proximity to the killer. But Colin had sensed her busywork and interest in helping him investigate sprang from a desire to keep her sadness at bay. Whatever worked. God knows, he’d employed a million devices to hold his own sorrow at arm’s length.

“That didn’t take long.” Her eyes sparkled above flushed cheeks. “Colin Roarke, this is Larry Brunswick. He’s head of the math department.”

Colin shook the man’s hand. Brunswick looked familiar. Must’ve been teaching when he’d attended CCHS. “I don’t think I had you for any classes, but I think you were teaching when I was in high school.”

“I started at Coral Cove the year your brother, Kieran, was a senior. So I had the thrill of watching him play. Helluva quarterback.”

Colin schooled his face into a bland smile. If he went off on Brunswick like he had with that other teacher, Michelle would have him pegged as a loose cannon. And her opinion of him mattered more than he cared to admit.

“Yeah, he was.”

“Not that you weren’t an amazing player yourself.”

Colin held up his hands and twisted his lips into a grin. “I’m not looking for kudos. Kieran was the better athlete.”

The better man.

Brunswick’s eyes clouded as he drew his brows together. “They still haven’t… I mean, is he still considered missing?”

“Yeah.” Colin felt Michelle’s sharp glance like a needle poking his flesh. He kept his gaze pinned to Brunswick’s sympathetic face.

“That’s rough.” Brunswick adjusted the satchel on his shoulder. “And now this in Coral Cove, Amanda’s murder, I mean. And practically on Michelle’s doorstep. I hear they got the guy.”

“Maybe.” His training had taught him never to give away too much information…to anyone.

“I hope so. My wife, Nancy, is nervous.” Brunswick clicked his tongue. “Glad I decided to clean out my desk today and ran into you at school, Michelle, and had that answer key you needed.”

“You’re a lifesaver. I didn’t want to do all those quadratic equations myself to grade the quizzes.”

“Anytime.” He rolled his wrist and checked his watch. “I’d better hurry or I’m going to be late picking up my wife. Good to see you, Colin.”

One quick wave and Brunswick was practically jogging down the sidewalk. “Does his wife keep him on a short leash or what?”

“She’s a judge’s daughter, kind of a diva.” Michelle studied his face, and he smiled to avoid her scrutiny, to mask any residual pain that might be marking his features. “Do you want to grab a late lunch, compare notes?”

“Yeah, let’s compare notes.”

He steered her toward his buddy’s restaurant, Burgers and Brews, but she shook her head.

“I just can’t, I just…that’s where Amanda and I had dinner last night.”

“I’m sorry. Stupid of me to suggest it.”

“I know Bryan Sotelo’s your friend. I hope the macabre association doesn’t hurt his business.”

“In my experience, it tends to help a business—curiosity seekers.”

“Ugh. I don’t get that.” She pointed across the street. “The Great Earth is pretty good.”

He grabbed his throat and stuck out his tongue. “I don’t do vegetarian.”

“They have burgers and brews over there, too. Don’t worry. I won’t force you to eat alfalfa sprouts.”

Five minutes later they were ensconced at a corner table, and Colin was running his fingers down a short list of burgers. “The sweet potato fries sound good.”

“They are.” Michelle’s menu covered her entire face and she had a white-knuckled grip on its edges.

Colin tapped a finger on the top of the plastic menu. “Are you okay in there?”

She inched the menu down so that her big, brown eyes appeared over the top. “Everyone’s talking about the murder. I keep catching snippets of conversation, and people keep throwing me sidelong glances. Maybe I shouldn’t be out.”

“Stop.” He clapped the menu closed with his hands and she flinched. “Of course everyone’s gossiping about the murder. It’s a big deal for a small town. Remember when that girl disappeared a few years ago from the music festival? I even heard about that and I wasn’t living here.”

“I hate it.” She dropped her lashes, where they created dark crescents on her cheeks. “The gossip.”

“It’s a small town. And you have every right to be out for lunch. It doesn’t mean you mourn your friend any less.”

She grabbed a napkin and bunched it up at her nose. “I’m going to miss Amanda. You have to catch her killer, Colin. Amanda needs justice. She deserves justice.”

“Maybe the Coral Cove P.D. has already caught him.”

She snorted and then blew her nose. “You don’t believe that any more than I do.”

“Did the chief tell you about the blood on Chris’s shirt?”