Widow's Island: An absolutely nail-biting crime thriller with a heart-pounding twist by L.A. Larkin

Author:L.A. Larkin [Larkin, L.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781800194373
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2021-06-02T16:00:00+00:00

Thirty-Seven

Wednesday, October 18, 10:43 a.m.

Stephanie tried hard to appear as if there were nothing wrong. But in her first tutorial of the day her mind drifted. A question was asked of her, and she didn’t hear it. Her students’ eager faces stared back at her, their expressions shifting from confusion to embarrassment.

“Are you okay, Professor?” one of them asked.

Of course, they all knew the stories that surrounded her. Their shy professor was now suddenly a seducer of young men, a drunk, and maybe even a murder suspect. “I’m going to have to cut this short,” Stephanie said, her voice as hoarse as a two-pack-a-day smoker. “I’m not feeling well. I’m sorry.”

The students left in a hurry, and Stephanie imagined the gossip that would spread like wildfire around the department. She sat behind her desk and covered her face with her hands so she could, for a brief interlude, pretend she was far, far away.

There was a knock on the door, and through the frosted glass panel, she could make out Florian’s lanky frame. She felt a twinge of anxiety as he strode in.

“Is everything all right?” Florian asked. “Your group left early.”

“I have a headache,” she lied. “I’ll take a walk around the block. Clear my head. I’ll be fine.”

Florian pushed his fingers through his hair causing his bangs to bounce into his eyes. “Look, I… We have to talk.”

She gripped her hands together tightly in her lap. “Of course. Please take a seat.”

“No need. Look, your personal life is, well, personal.” He cleared his throat, his eyes directed at the edge of the desk closest to him. “But when it spills into the work environment, I have to take the matter seriously.” He stopped. Ran his fingers through his hair again. “The accusations about inappropriate behavior and drunkenness are bad enough. But it gets tricky when you’re involved in a murder investigation, you see.”

“I’m a witness.”

“You’ve been described as a suspect.”

“They’re wrong.”

Florian cleared his throat again. “You have to understand the scandal is damaging to this department and to the university. The dean has asked to see me.”

There was a lump in her throat that felt like she’d swallowed a tennis ball. “But I haven’t done any of the things I’m accused of and I’m absolutely not a murder suspect.” She stood on shaky legs. “I’m being attacked by internet trolls. It’s all lies. It must have something to do with the SASC hearing. Somebody wants the bill to fail, and they’re discrediting me to undermine our case.”

“I get that. And perhaps we could have brushed over the earlier allegations if Jen’s death hadn’t happened. The sequence of events is most unfortunate.”

“Unfortunate?” Stephanie’s anger flared like a match struck in the dark. How dare he dismiss Jen’s death like that. “My friend is dead. Our friend is dead,” she said, emphasizing his connection to Jen through their Sunday kayaking group. “Don’t you care?”

“Stephanie, calm down. Of course I care. It’s terrible. But all this gossip impacts the university’s reputation as a respectable institution.

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