Under the Cover of Darkness by K.D. Richards

Author:K.D. Richards
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-09-21T18:45:45+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Brandon was disappointed to get Yara’s text canceling their noon rendezvous with Professor Jasper Reinholt. After a brief period of consideration, he decided to speak to Jasper on his own. The attack on him at Tanya’s apartment had made the situation more than just a quest to do right by his client. It had made the situation personal.

So Brandon was waiting in the corridor of Blair Hall at noon when students began streaming out of the classroom where Jasper had just finished teaching Anthropology 201: Ecological and Evolutionary Anthropology. He waited for the students to clear the door, then went inside.

Jasper Reinholt stood at the lectern at the front of the class stuffing papers into a backpack. He was about five foot six, thin with dark, almost black, hair and square rimless glasses. He wore dark brown corduroy pants and a brown-and-white-checked shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. There were no scratch marks or bruises on his hands or the parts of his arms that were visible, and Jasper was at least forty pounds and three inches too small to be the man who had attacked him at Tanya’s place.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t her killer, though.

“Professor Reinholt?”

Jasper looked up from collecting his things. “Yes?”

“My name is Brandon West.” He plucked a business card from the gold-plated holder in the breast pocket of his blazer and handed it over. “I was retained by Tanya Rutger prior to her death.”

Jasper’s eyes widened. “Retained for what?”

“I can’t get into that, I’m sorry.” Literally couldn’t get into it, but Jasper didn’t need to know that. “I’m hoping you can answer a few questions and help me sort a few things out. I understand you and Tanya dated for a period. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you, that’s kind of you to say. But Tanya and I have been broken up for some time now.”

“I did hear that you’d broken up. When was the last time you saw Ms. Rutger?”

Jasper played with the business card in his hand. The man was nervous. But that wasn’t altogether unusual. Having an attorney show up at your workplace and start asking questions about your dead ex-girlfriend had the tendency to make some people nervous.

“We broke up six months ago.”

Brandon noted that Jasper hadn’t answered the question, but he was willing to give the man a little bit of rope. “So you hadn’t seen or spoken to Tanya in six months?”

Jasper glanced around the empty classroom nervously.

He already knew the answer to the question based on what Bailey had told him and Yara earlier that morning, but he could see Jasper trying to work out whether to tell the truth or to lie.

“I saw her a few times after the breakup. Why are you asking me all these questions?”

He injected warmth into his smile, knowing it would have the effect of calming the jittery man. “As I said, Tanya hired me, and although she is unfortunately no longer here, I want to complete the job I was hired to do.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.