Chapter 3

Despite what Grayson believed, the idea that one of her colleagues could do something like this was incomprehensible. Yet she also understood that the sooner he checked into each of the associate professors she worked with, the sooner he would move on.

As promised Grayson stopped at the precinct. She followed him inside, looking around with blatant curiosity. She had never been in a police station before. It looked like something portrayed on police shows, yet she knew the officers and detectives were real, not actors.

How could this be happening? She sank into the closest chair, her knees once again threatening to buckle. She was a weakling. Her parents had doted on her, and she'd excelled in school, specifically in science. Studying hard and obtaining her doctorate degree at the age of twenty-three had not prepared her for this.

Grimly, she was forced to admit that nothing could have prepared her for this.

She stared down at her hands, willing them to stop trembling. The danger was over, Grayson would keep her safe.

So why was she still shaking?

Eve had no idea how long she sat there, but she was startled badly when Grayson returned. He had changed into street clothes but still had the gun tucked in a holster looped on his belt. He also had a computer bag slung over one shoulder.

He looked good. Better than good. Drop-dead gorgeous. Which only made her more aware of her own bedraggled condition.

"Are you okay?" He looked at her with concern.

"Fine." She knew he could see through the lie but decided to put on a brave front anyway. "Although I'd still like to know if any of my colleagues were hurt or..." She couldn't finish.

"The initial report Rhy has so far is that there were no fatalities," Grayson said. "They are still searching of course. Do your colleagues get to work early?"

"Not always." She shook her head. "Some are night owls, coming in late, but then staying late."

He nodded. "I'm sorry I can't give you anything else yet. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes." When she rose to her feet, he took her hand. For some irrational reason, the warmth of his touch infused her with strength. She no longer felt as if she might keel over like a useless damsel in distress.

She followed Grayson through the building toward a door marked as an exit. Outside, the sun beat down on their heads as he led her to a black SUV. He surprised her by opening the passenger door for her.

"Thank you." She slid into the stifling hot car. Grayson left her door open to jog around to open the driver's side door, taking a moment to tuck his computer case in the back seat. Then he crossed over to the squad to retrieve the large bag holding her computer and notes along with her small suitcase, before sliding in beside her.

"It will take a minute for the vehicle to cool down." He shrugged as he waited for the air-conditioning to get up to speed. "No underground parking here at the cop shop."

"None for me either." She managed a smile. "Only the medical doctors working at the hospital rate high enough to have underground parking."

"Poor lowly researchers, huh?" he teased.

"Exactly." She turned one of the vents so that the cool air fanned her face.

After a minute, Grayson closed his driver's side door and put the car in gear. She closed her door, secured her seat belt, and rested back against the cushion. It seemed like days had passed since the early morning explosion rather than mere hours.

"Are you hungry?" Grayson glanced at her as they headed away from the relative safety of the police station. "There isn't any room service at the American Lodge, so we should pick up something for lunch along the way."

She wasn't hungry, but she understood that once they were tucked away in the motel, Grayson wouldn't want to leave. She forced herself to nod. "Sure. Whatever you'd like is okay with me."

He glanced at her. "Sub sandwiches? I seem to remember you're partial to a turkey club."

"Sounds good." She kept her tone light but was inwardly reeling from the fact that Grayson had remembered the one day they'd bumped into each other in the local sub sandwich shop. He was with one of his many cheerleader girlfriends—she'd lost track of which one—and had expected him to pretend not to know her. After all, she was hardly a member of the popular crowd.

Instead, he'd greeted her warmly, introducing her to his date as his amazing chemistry lab partner. She had flushed red with embarrassment and had barely been able to respond in a coherent way.

The memory of that brief meeting had stayed with her for a long time afterward, but she'd never imagined he'd remember it too.

"This should work." He pulled up into the drive-through window of the same submarine sandwich chain. He ordered four subs, two for each of them. Lunch and dinner, she assumed, but wasn't about to complain.

A few minutes later, he passed her the bag of food along with four bottles of water. "They have a mini fridge in the rooms, so cold sandwiches work best."

"You sound like you've spent quite a bit of time there."

He grinned. "Not the way you're thinking," he chided. "Our team uses the place as a safe house, nothing more."

She felt herself flush with embarrassment. "I didn't mean to imply..." She trailed off, unable to think of a way to salvage this train of thought.

"Sure, you did." He was still grinning. "I know I had a bit of a reputation in high school, but those days are long gone." The smile left his features, making him look sad. "I'm not involved with anyone, Eve."

"Okay." What could she say to that? She might want to know more about whether he'd been engaged, married, or divorced but managed to keep her mouth shut. He had a right to his privacy.

They arrived at the American Lodge ten minutes later. The white two-story building appeared nice enough. There were several cars in the parking lot, and she could see a family of four getting into a sedan with swimsuits and towels. They were likely heading to Bradford Beach to swim on the shore of Lake Michigan.

Something she'd never done despite living her entire life here in Milwaukee.

A few minutes later, she and Grayson had keys to rooms eleven and twelve on the second floor, near the staircase on the opposite end of the building from the lobby. They made two trips to the car and back for their respective computers, her oversized bag, suitcase, sandwiches, and water bottles. Seeing the suitcase, she quickly rummaged through the items she'd packed, choosing the comfy capri jeans and blue short-sleeved top. She ducked into the bathroom to change out of her business attire she'd been wearing beneath her lab coat. Shedding the clothing made her feel more feminine, and she wasn't entirely sure if that was a good thing or bad.

She was being ridiculous. Grayson would never be interested in a woman like her. And the sooner she made peace with that fact, the better.

Per Grayson's request, she unlocked her side of the connecting door. Then went to work on her computer. After a few minutes, he poked his head in, appearing surprised at how she'd already set up her computer on the small table.

"Ready to go to work, huh?" He held her gaze for a moment. "You look nice. We should eat first."

He'd noticed she'd changed? The minute the thought entered her mind she shrugged it off. What kind of cop would he be if he didn't pick up on details like clothing? He might not be an ace in chemistry, but he was still smart and street savvy. In truth, he was smart in ways she was likely very dumb. Like when it came to bombs. And crime in general.

"Okay." She would rather get to work on trying to figure out how much of her research had been lost in the explosion but knew he'd insist. Fuel was important for her brain, so she crossed the threshold to enter his room.

He had a laptop computer as well, but it was still lying on the bed. He'd set two of the sandwiches on the table, along with two water bottles. He gestured to one of the two chairs. "Please, have a seat."

She sat, trying to tuck her knees out of the way as he did the same. Their closeness was disconcerting, although she did her best to ignore it. She bowed her head and clasped her hands in her lap, silently giving thanks to the Lord Jesus for providing this food and for keeping them safe.

When she looked up, Grayson had his hands folded in his lap, too, waiting. She flushed again, seemingly off balance when it came to him. "I, uh, was taught to pray before meals."

He nodded. "Several of my teammates do too."

But he didn't? She decided not to ask, taking a moment to unwrap her sandwich. They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"How long do you think we'll need to stay here?" she asked.

"As long as it takes," he answered with a shrug.

She frowned. "As long as it takes to what? Find the person responsible for setting those bombs?"

"Yep." He took a bite of his sandwich. "I hope to start narrowing the suspect pool as soon as we're finished eating."

She wouldn't be the only one working then; Grayson would do his part too. And that meant he needed the names of her colleagues.

Rising to her feet, she crossed back into her room for a pencil and pad of sticky notes. Between bites, she listed the five names of the assistant professors that could be harboring some resentment regarding her promotion.

She handed the note to Grayson, he looked down at the names with interest. "Anyone else you can think of who might be jealous of your work?"

She sighed, chewing slowly. Then shrugged and reached for the pencil again, jotting down the name of Dave Firestein. "This professor does the same sort of research I do. He's located in Madison, working out of their lab. We share ideas on occasion, but I'm using a different approach compared to his." She hesitated, then added, "He was the one who arranged for this live presentation. I was honored to speak to my fellow colleagues about a subject I'm so passionate about."

Grayson took that sticky note too. "Have you met this Dave Firestein in person? Or do you mostly talk on the phone and through video conferences?"

"I've met him in person several times," she admitted. "But that's mostly at research conferences."

"Hmm." Grayson put the two sticky notes together. "Anyone else?"

She grimaced. "I told you about the extremist groups. There was an animal rights group that camped outside the research institute a couple of weeks ago. I don't know anything about them, though. Other than what I read on their signs."

"Which group was it?" Grayson asked.

She scribbled the abbreviation on a third sticky note and handed it over. "I don't know how you could possibly track down which members were picketing outside the research institute a few weeks ago."

"You'd be surprised, most of these animal rights organizations are proud of the work they do, and they don't mind sharing their names and things they've done."

She finished her sandwich and took another sip of water. "I hope it's not them because I love animals, especially dogs. I would never harm them. How could anyone who claims to love animals go to the lengths of planting a bomb in my office and in my home?"

"Extremist groups can attract unstable people," he said with a shrug. "Most of them are true believers of their cause and wouldn't harm anyone. But there could be someone with a screw loose who joined the group. Besides, we don't know for sure they're involved in this; it's one avenue to pursue."

"Yes, I know." She sat back, toying with her water bottle. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't come up with anyone else who could possibly hate her enough to set two bombs intended to kill her. And to put the rest of her colleagues in jeopardy.

The whole situation made her head hurt.

Finally, she capped her water bottle and rose to her feet. "I have work to do."

Grayson stood, too, moving out of the way so she could edge past him. It took all of her willpower not to throw herself into his arms, seeking reassurance that everything would turn out okay.

Normally, getting lost in her work was a surefire way to push the outside world aside. But not today.

Not with Grayson moving around in the next room.

She closed her eyes. She absolutely needed to get over this ridiculous crush she had on the guy. And soon.

Before she made a giant fool out of herself.

* * *

Digginginto Eve's work colleagues wasn't as difficult as Grayson had anticipated. These guys were proud of their research studies and wanted everyone to know it. He found all the researchers listed on the main page of the research institute, along with a photograph. The pictures were enough to help him estimate their age as he painstakingly performed criminal background checks on each one.

One guy, Geoff Abbott, had a ticket for driving while intoxicated when he was nineteen years old. Probably not an indication of criminal intent, but he still made a note about it. The next three guys were clean, but the last one, a Nick Strong, had a surprising arrest for assault and battery, also when he was nineteen.

He would ask the team's tech specialist, Gabe Melrose, to get him more information on both cases, although he mentally placed Nick Strong at the top of the list. If the guy had lost his temper once, he could easily do it again.

Granted, placing bombs was a task generally well planned ahead of time, not done in a spur-of-the-moment flash of anger. But for all he knew. Nick Strong had learned to rein in his temper.

When he'd finished a surface look at her colleagues, hoping they'd survived the blast, he did the same background check on associate professor Dave Firestein. The Madison professor was also clean.

He'd need to dig deeper into their social media sites, but he decided to go to the animal rights group first. He found the website without difficulty and clicked on their news and events page.

The group did some great work, rescuing dogs and cats from horrible owners, breaking up dog-fighting rings. But it didn't take long for him to find the picture of the dozen people who had camped outside the research institute two weeks ago.

He blew up the photograph, examining each member's face closely before reaching for his phone. The photograph was clear enough for facial recognition, so he called the team's tech guru Gabe Melrose.

"What's going on, Grayson?" Gabe asked.

"I need your help running twelve faces through the facial rec program."

Gabe sighed. "Okay, shoot me their pictures."

"They happen to all be in one large photograph. Do you have a minute? I'll show you where to find it."

"Go ahead," Gabe said. "I'm ready."

He quickly gave Gabe the website and walked him through to the picture of interest. "See the group photo? This was taken outside the research institute two weeks ago."

"Hmm. I see it. This will take a little time," Gabe said. "I can do it, but I'll have to manipulate the pictures a bit first to sharpen them up. I hope you don't expect the names in an hour."

"I'd like them as soon as possible, but I understand it may take some time." He tried to soothe Gabe's ruffled feathers. "Oh, and there's another thing. I need the full arrest reports on a Geoff Abbott and Nick Strong. Abbott was charged with DUI and Strong for assault and battery."

"Hang on a minute." Grayson could hear Gabe clicking on the keyboard. "I found them."

"Great. Shoot them my way and then call me when you have the list of names to match the photographs of the animal rights group, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." Gabe sounded irked. "It's not like I'm sitting around eating donuts over here."

"I would never say that," he protested. "You're a rock star, Gabe. Thanks." Grayson disconnected from the call before Gabe could say anything more. The guy was a whizz at tech stuff, and despite his protests, Grayson knew Gabe would dig into the task immediately if nothing more than to prove himself worthy. The guy took their requests as personal challenges.

He went back to dig into each suspect's social media sites. That took a lot of toggling back and forth to compare photographs, but he located the social media pages he was looking for.

Except for one. Nick Strong.

Well, well, wasn't that interesting? The professor with a temper avoided social media. Granted, he and his teammates didn't have social media pages either. Most cops tended to avoid them. But he had created a page without a photograph just so he could search the site.

He checked his email, but there were no arrest reports from Gabe yet. He rose and stretched, realizing several hours had passed. Crossing to the connecting door, he looked at Eve. He smiled when he saw at least ten sticky notes strewn about her workspace.

It seemed as if the pretty professor had to write notes to herself in order to work. And why he found that adorable, he had no idea.

"Eve?"

She startled so badly she slammed her knee against the leg of the table. "What?" She sounded cross as she rubbed at her injured knee. "Is that a cop thing, to sneak up on people?"

"I wasn't trying to scare you, but I wanted your input on a guy named Nick Strong." He edged closer into the room. "Do you need ice for your knee?"

"No." She frowned and stopped massaging the injury. "What about Nick?"

"He was charged with assault and battery," he said.

Her eyes rounded in shock. "No way! When?"

"He was nineteen, so almost fifteen years ago," he quickly clarified. "I don't have the full arrest report yet, so I'm not sure what happened."

"Fifteen years ago?" She looked at him as if he were crazy. "What does an arrest record from fifteen years ago have to do with this? You think punching some guy in a bar is a stepping stone to planting bombs?"

"Is that what happened? He told you he punched someone in a bar?"

"No, he didn't tell me anything. I have no idea what happened." She waved a hand impatiently. "But that's the sort of thing a nineteen-year-old might do."

"Nineteen isn't old enough to be in a bar," he pointed out.

She sighed loudly. "Look, Grayson, I understand you're trying to investigate this thing, and I appreciate that. But I'm telling you, the men I work with are dedicated scientists. I can't see how some crime from fifteen years ago has any bearing on what is happening now."

"I thought you trusted me?" He was getting tired of hearing her defend her coworkers. "This happens to be my area of expertise, remember?"

A hint of movement outside the motel room window caught his eye. He frowned and moved closer, peering through the opening in the curtains. He scanned the parking lot but didn't see anything suspicious.

He reached for his phone and called Gary Campbell. "Are your security cameras on?" he asked.

"Yes, why?" Gary sounded concerned. "Did you see something?"

"Check the cameras across from our rooms," he directed. Then to Eve, he said, "Gather your notes and shut down your computer. We may have to leave in a hurry."

To her credit, Eve didn't argue. She picked up all her sticky notes and shoved them into the computer bag along with the laptop itself.

"First camera is clear." He could hear Gary using a computer in the background, no doubt pulling up one video camera at a time. Then Gary whistled. "Grayson? You have trouble. An armed man ducked behind the trees across from your room."

"Call Rhy, tell him we need backup ASAP." He disconnected from the call, grabbed Eve's computer case, and then took her arm. "Go to the bathroom and climb into the tub. Take your large bag holding the computer with you and use it as a shield, if necessary, understand?"

"The tub?" She looked surprised by the directive, but when he gave her a little push toward the bathroom, she quickly complied, holding the computer to her chest. Seconds later, she disappeared into the bathroom.

"Grayson? Rhy wants you to know Cassidy and Flynn are on the way," Gary said. "ETA is roughly seven minutes."

"Thanks. Stay in the lobby behind the counter and away from the doors." He peered through the curtains again. He knew the trees made for a good hiding spot; they'd been used in the past by other bad guys. And now that it was summertime, the leaves offered plenty of coverage, making it that much more difficult to see who might be hiding up there.

As he watched and waited, his mind whirled. How had their location been found? He knew they weren't followed.

Eve's computer? Maybe. It was the only possibility that made sense.

He pulled his sidearm and moved to the side of the window farthest from the door. Depending on the weapon, the perp could easily shoot through the wall, taking him out of commission. That had been done in the past by a perp attempting to shoot Joe and Elly too.

He didn't like this. Not one bit.

"Grayson? Where are you?" Eve called. "I thought you were coming in here too?"

"Soon," he lied with a wince. "Stay down in the bathtub. Our backup is on the way." Seven minutes could easily be six minutes too late.

He drew in his breath and let it out slowly, then moved the curtain just enough to see outside. Keeping his gaze on the trees directly across from their room, he searched for a sign of movement. There was a slight breeze that shuffled the leaves on occasion, so he tried to look for signs of unnatural movement.

There! What appeared to be an elbow poking out from the tree trunk about six feet off the ground flashed in his line of sight. He pressed the nose of his sidearm against the window, but then the target was gone.

Grayson stayed right where he was, hoping the perp would have to show himself again to take another shot at them.

There was another slight movement, this time higher up in the tree. He blinked, realizing the shooter had somehow managed to get up into the tree without his noticing. Maybe he'd seen a knee, not an elbow.

He waited with infinite patience for another glimpse of the perp. Another knee came into view. Then there was the crack of gunfire.

He didn't hesitate to return fire, the rounds piercing the glass window.

The man in the tree dropped to the ground and then began to run. Grayson ran to the door and wrenched it open, intending to follow, but then caught himself.

What if there were two perps? One intended to draw him out, the other waiting for the opportunity to get to Eve?

He slammed the door and locked it, then returned to the window to watch.

Staying put and allowing his teammates to give chase was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do.