Last Breath

“Knowing that someone broke into your house the other day makes me inclined to say yes, he was after you specifically. But I think if he was going to kill you, he would have.”

“How would he have known I’d be in the library?”

“I don’t think he did. I don’t think he knew who you were. I think he just wanted to make sure you couldn’t ID him.” He squeezed her hands and asked, “Have you thought about maybe going back to your parents’ place until we catch this guy?”

“No. If someone’s going to come after me because of my co

“I’ll send people with you. I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

“I won’t put anyone in my family between me and him. I don’t want them involved in any way.”

She tugged on his hand. “Besides, you’re here, right? You’re not leaving Howe yet?”

“I’m not leaving until this bastard has been dealt with.” His eyes narrowed to dark blue slits. “One way or another.”

“Because, if he comes back…well, next time, he might get lucky.”

“I’m afraid his luck has run out. He blew the only shot he’s going to get at you.” He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Believe it.”

“Ahem.” The figure in the doorway coughed before entering the room. “Have I just ruined a moment?”

Co

“Not on your life.” The tall dark-haired woman laughed and came in anyway.

He sighed. “Daria, meet my cousin Mia Shields.”

“Hi.” Daria reached out to take the hand Mia offered.

“Good to meet you.” Mia smiled.

“When I said ‘Come now,’ I didn’t mean right now,” Co

“Well, then, perhaps next time you could make that distinction before I drive two hours to answer your call for help.” Mia sat on the opposite side of Daria’s bed from Co

“Yes.” He turned to Daria. “I didn’t have a chance to tell you I’d asked Mia to drive up and hang out with you while I tend to a few things.”

“By hang out, you mean babysit,” Daria said flatly.

“No, no,” Mia said before Co

“There are some things I need to do. I can’t leave you without protection, whether you’re here or at the house.”

“There’s a policeman outside the door, isn’t there?” Daria asked.

“Yes. And I’m sure he’s competent. But he isn’t…he isn’t one of mine. And right now, I need one of my own with you. Someone I trust.”

“Why, Co

“On the other hand, if her sarcasm becomes too much for you, you can boot her ass out and bring the cop back.”

“I’m sure we’ll be fine.” Daria smiled. “Thank you for being concerned about me. And thank you, Mia, for coming here on short notice.”

“You’re welcome. And much more gracious than Con.” Mia turned to him. “See? We’ll be fine. You can go…do what you were going to do.”

Co

“I’ll see you later. You have my phone numbers if you need me.”

“How long will you be?” she asked.

“Not sure. I just need to talk to a few people.” He pointed to Mia as he left the room. “Behave yourself.”

Mia rolled her eyes and turned to Daria. “Now, tell me how you got that lump on your head.”

“I need the names and phone numbers of the people who were in your office when you spoke with Daria on the phone last night.” Co

“Co

“With all due respect, Louise, I don’t have time. I have a lot of ground to cover.”

“All right. Dr. Bokhari was here-you already met her in the hospital. I saw her when she got back to campus earlier; she said Daria is doing better.”

“She’s doing much better. Who else was here?”

“Nora Ga

“I don’t recall that you mentioned he was here.” Co

“He picked Sabina up at the airport. The other two were already here. I was bringing them up-to-date on my dealings with the bank and the insurance company when Sabina and Stefano arrived.”

“Where can I find him?”

“He lives on campus, as does Sabina. I can give you their phone numbers, as well as Nora’s and Olivia’s. But I’m not sure I understand why you need to talk to them.” Louise thumbed through her Rolodex.

“Other than Daria, me, my boss, and two FBI agents who were enroute to Howe, no one knew that the e-mails to the victims had been sent from the university library. Until you called Daria and she told you. I’m assuming you repeated the story to the others when you got off the phone.”

The color drained from Louise’s face.

“I…I did.” She sighed deeply. “Dear God, I did. It never occurred to me not to.”

Her eyes met Co

“You couldn’t possibly think that one of them had anything to do with what happened in the library.”

“You tell me how else the killer could have known so quickly that the FBI was going to confiscate the computers. Someone had to have tipped him off. It wasn’t Daria and it wasn’t me.” His face was unreadable. “That brings me back to the little group in your office.”

“I can’t believe…” She shook her head.

“I need their phone numbers, Louise.”

She wrote down the names and looked up the numbers and handed them over.

“Thank you. Now do me one more favor.” He glanced at the note before tucking it into his shirt pocket.

“What’s that?”

“Don’t give anyone a heads-up this time.”

15

C o

“Hey, Jason. Claire.” He greeted them from the top of the steps, about to go down as they were about to come up.

“Co

“Not officially.” He reached the last step. “You finished with the computers?”

“Yeah. He only used that one.” Claire Mitchell told him. “And that one…there’s nothing left. He smashed it but good, took the hard drive with him. He left nothing behind.”

“Prints?” Co

“The computer’s in a public place, who the hell knows how many people have used that machine? I don’t think prints are going to help.”

“You’re finished here?” Co

“Yeah. There’s nothing we can extract, with the hard drive gone.”

“You’re sure none of the others were used?”

“Positive,” Claire told him. “This guy stuck to the one machine. We ran them all six ways to Sunday and back. They’re clean.”

“You taking what’s left of the computer with you?”

“Yeah. It’s evidence.” Jason pulled a plastic toothpick from his pocket and chewed on the end of it. “It’s ours.”

Co

“Co

“Yeah, but only one person beat the crap out of it. Maybe he got personal with it, maybe picked up a piece or two and smashed it against something else.” He got down on one knee and stared at the cracked edge of the laminate desktop, then looked up and smiled. “Let’s get the evidence guys in here to dust everything. Every piece of the machine, every inch of the desk, the chair. I have a feeling he left more of himself behind than he’d intended.”