The door opened, and J.L. strode inside with a bag of chips from the hallway vending machine. He locked the door. "Okay, let's talk."
"Harrison was lying," she whispered.
"I know. Whenever you hear a lie, you get all stiff and prickly looking."
She stiffened. "I do?"
"Yeah, just like that." He opened the chips and the smell of nacho cheese filled the room. "So we're thinking the same thing? Harrison's the one sending you apples?"
She winced. "It's a terrible accusation to make. We can't assume he's guilty just because we don't like him."
"Okay, emotions aside, let's look at the facts." J.L. removed a chip from the bag. "He lied to you. He knew where you were vacationing. He's had opportunity - that's contact with Otis. And he has motivation." He popped the chip into his mouth.
"What motivation? I know he doesn't like me - "
"It could be more. You're the one who took Otis's latest confessions. They might be trying to make you look unstable so no one will believe you." J.L. offered her a chip.
She shook her head and paced across the room. "Otis was already convicted before he met me. I don't think making me look crazy will help his appeal."
J.L. bit into another chip. "What would help his appeal?"
"He would have to appear innocent." She halted in mid-step. "He could swear that an accomplice did the murders."
J.L. winced. "And you've been insisting that he has an accomplice."
"Because of the apples, yes. But if he can convince everyone there was an accomplice during the murders..." Olivia groaned. "He's playing me. The bastard's using me."
"It looks that way." J.L. stuffed another chip into this mouth. "We need to be careful about this."
"We need proof." Olivia pressed a hand to her stomach. Just the idea that a federal agent could ally himself with a serial killer - it was a nauseating thought.
"I'll check on Harrison," J.L. offered. "Don't worry. I'll be discreet."
Olivia nodded. "I'll step up my investigation on Robby." She would contact MacKay S&I. If Robby MacKay was secretly sending the apples, she'd uncover it. She'd prove his innocence.
And then she'd be free to love him.
CHAPTER 13
I don't know why you have to take me," Constantine grumbled.
Robby didn't know, either. Usually, Roman took his son, but for some reason he was unavailable tonight. Connor, too. Shanna had called Robby to the waiting room of her dental office at Romatech and informed him that Tino needed help getting to school. Then she'd hurried off to an examination room, leaving him alone with Tino.
It had to be a conspiracy of some sort. Robby smiled to himself when he pictured Olivia calling him paranoid.
Constantine puffed out his wee chest. "I could teleport myself."
"'Tis a long way to the school." Robby wasn't sure of its exact location since that was a heavily guarded secret, but he knew it had to be several hundred miles from Romatech. "'Twould be verra dangerous if ye got lost on the way."
Tino's bottom lip jutted out. "I wish everyone would stop treating me like a baby. Sofia's the baby. I'm almost three."
"Och. 'Tis a wonder ye havena cut yerself shaving." Robby opened his cell phone and punched in the number Shanna had given him.
"Dragon Nest Academy," a female voice answered.
She sounded vaguely familiar, but Robby dismissed that thought since he'd never been to the school before. "Just a minute." He covered the phone with his hand and gave Tino a questioning look. "Dragon Nest? Is that the right place?"
Tino nodded. "Mom named it that because our last name is Draganesti." He hung his head and kicked at a chair leg. "But there aren't any dragons there."
"What a shame." Robby uncovered the phone. "Could ye keep talking a wee bit? I need yer voice to know where to teleport to."
"Sure. Are you bringing a student with you?"
"Aye. Constantine." Robby scooped the boy up in his arms. "Keep talking." He would use the woman's voice as a beacon to ensure he arrived at the right place. After this, the location of the school would be embedded in his psychic memory, and he'd no longer need a beacon.
"Okay," the woman said. "I'm Constantine's teacher. I know he may seem a little young for kindergarten, but he's doing very well. I only have three students in the class, so they get a lot of individual attention."
Robby materialized in a classroom with two short round tables encircled with little chairs. The shelves along the walls were neatly stacked with supplies. A little girl with long black hair sat at one of the tables, coloring a picture of a ball with the word written underneath. With a quick sniff, Robby could tell she was a shifter. Or she would be once puberty set in. He figured she was one of Carlos's orphans from Brazil. A were-panther.
Tino squirmed out of his arms and ran to the table to take a seat. "Hi, Coco."
The little girl grinned at him. "Hi, Tino."
Robby closed his cell phone and dropped it into his sporran.
"Thank you for bringing Tino." A pretty young woman with reddish-blond hair approached him with a shy smile.
Bugger. His conspiracy theory had been correct. Shanna was playing matchmaker. His eyes narrowed. He'd met this woman before. He thought back. "Wolf Ridge?"
Her smile widened. "You remember! I'm Sarah. Sarah Anderson." She extended a hand.
"Robby MacKay." He shook her hand. "How are you?" The last time he'd met this woman, he'd used vampire mind control to help her regain some painful memories. She'd been one of the imprisoned girls at Apollo's compound, and he'd helped Jack and Lara rescue them.
"I'm okay." She nodded her head slowly. "I love my job here. And I love the children."
"That's good." Robby shifted his weight. Apparently, Shanna thought he'd hit it off with this mortal lass.
"I'll be so happy when you guys finally defeat Casimir," Sarah added.
"Aye, 'twill be a good day." Robby knew this lass had good reason to hate Casimir. The bastard had used vampire mind control to subdue her and rape her.
Sarah stepped closer and lowered her voice. "Shanna told me what he did to you. I'm so sorry."
He nodded. Shanna must have figured he'd be attracted to Sarah since they'd both suffered under the hands of Casimir. They did have that in common, but it seemed like a miserably sad basis for a relationship. And the torture wasn't something he wanted to be reminded of anymore. Olivia had shown him there was more. She'd brought joy and laughter back into his life.
"Hey, Sarah! Everything okay?" A young man rushed into the classroom. From the alarmed look on his face, Robby guessed the young woman already had a serious admirer.
"Oh, hi, Teddy." Sarah gave him a reassuring smile. "Everything's fine. This is Robby MacKay. He brought Tino to school."
"I could have brought myself," Tino grumbled.
"I'm Teddy Brockman." The young man shook hands with Robby. "The headmaster of Dragon Nest Academy."
"Teddy's very supportive," Sarah explained. "He comes by every night to make sure I have everything I need."
Robby nodded. "I'm sure he does." He gave the young male mortal a pointed look. "Good luck to you."
Teddy's eyes shifted to Sarah, then back to Robby. "Thanks."
A form wavered, then materialized. It was Jean-Luc Echarpe, holding his stepdaughter Bethany in his arms. He set her down, and she skipped over to the table to greet her classmates.
"I need to get started now," Sarah announced. She glanced at Robby with a smile. "It was nice to see you again."
"I'll see you guys later." Teddy waved at Robby and Jean-Luc and rushed out the door.
Jean-Luc greeted Robby with a slap on the shoulder. "Mon ami, stay for a while. I'm teaching a fencing class in thirty minutes. You can help me warm up."
"Verra well." Robby accompanied the Frenchman into the hallway. "I could use some practice."
Robby had been Jean-Luc's bodyguard for years, first in Paris, and then in Texas. A few years ago he'd helped Jean-Luc defeat his archenemy, Lui. Since then, the job had become too routine and boring for Robby's taste, so he'd requested a transfer.
Jean-Luc was a master swordsman, and he could usually take care of himself, so Dougal Kincaid had been given the job as his new bodyguard. Dougal had lost his right hand in a battle in New Orleans.