AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Kit smiled in her best unfriendly way. “Would you know where we can find him?”
“No. We just share space here. We’re not…friends or anything. We don’t share plans.”
He’s lying. There was something in his manner that screamed it.
Acting on her gut, she chanced a reply. “That’s not what his mother said. She said you were good friends.”
Stanza swallowed. “She’s…out of the loop. We were friends, but not anymore. Not for months. He, um, tried to steal my girlfriend.”
“I see,” Kit said mildly. The man really was lying, but she didn’t know why. It could be that he was simply covering for a friend, or he could know something. Like where Archie really was. “That’s unfortunate for us, because we’d really like to find him.” She gave Stanza her business card. “Please contact us if you see him. His life may be in danger.”
Stanza paled. “What? In danger? What kind of danger? From who?”
Connor gave the man one of his cards. “Here’s mine. We’d appreciate whatever help you can provide. And if you do see him, tell him that we want to keep him safe. Despite your differences over a woman, this isn’t a game. People have died.”
Stanza’s hands trembled as he clutched the business cards. “If I see him, I’ll tell him. But I won’t see him. We don’t hang out together.”
Kit pointed to the sign on the door with their office hours. “He’s supposed to be here now. When was the last time he was here for his normal office hours?”
Stanza closed his eyes for several seconds. When he opened them, he was visibly calmer. “I saw him on Friday, here in the office. I think he called in sick yesterday. I hope you find him. He might be a girlfriend stealer, but I don’t want him to get hurt.”
Not wanting him to get hurt might have been the only true statement to come out of the man’s mouth. “Thank you,” Kit said. “We’ll probably reach out again, so please keep your eyes and ears open.”
She backed out of the office and had started for the elevator when Connor touched her elbow. “This way,” he said, pocketing his phone.
“Where are we going?” she whispered as she followed Connor down the hallway. A few of the office doors were open, but most were closed, a few sporting pictures of turkeys and other Thanksgiving decorations.
Kit had forgotten that Thanksgiving was only a few weeks away.
“To find Professor Chen. Adler is the TA for his class,” Connor said. “How did you know to use Archie’s mother to get to Stanza?”
“He was lying. I can usually tell. Growing up in foster care makes lie detection an important survival skill.”
Connor’s jaw tightened. “I’m sorry you had to learn that skill.”
She smiled at him. “That was a long time ago. The McKittricks took me in and then I was safe.” Her sister hadn’t been safe, but that had not been Harlan and Betsy’s fault. Kit had always known that, even as she’d grieved Wren. “But thank you all the same.”
Connor stopped, the nameplate on the closed door reading the professor’s name. “Here we are. I googled Adler’s name plus ‘TA’ and Chen’s name came up. He teaches cryptography.”
Kit was intrigued. “Including encryption systems?”
“Yep. It was one of those ‘rate your teacher’ sites. For the record, the students really like Chen but think Adler is a pompous, stuck-up ass who acts like he’s better than everyone.”
“Huh. Good to know.” Kit knocked on the door. “He’s probably gone for the day.”
“Not yet,” a mild voice said from behind them. They turned to find an older Asian man watching them carefully. “I’m Professor Chen. It’s good to know my students like me. You two, however, are not my students.”
“No, sir,” Connor said, showing his badge. “Detectives Robinson and McKittrick. We’re with—”
“Homicide,” Chen interrupted. “I read the papers, Detectives. I remember the case you closed six months ago. That was good work.” He unlocked his office door and gestured them inside and into the two chairs in front of his desk. He took his own chair and folded his hands on his desk. “How can I help you?”
“We’re looking for Archie Adler,” Connor said. “We understand he’s your TA?”
“He is. For now.”
Kit watched the professor’s face carefully. She saw truth and regret. “Why for now? Is Archie graduating?”
“No. He was doing very well, but this year his work has slowed. I think he has outside distractions. Why are you looking for him? Has he done something wrong?”
