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His head whipped toward her. Finally.
“What is going on? Is all of this because of me?”
He marched to her side. Muttered something to the female cop that had her edging away. But his hands went to his hips. His badge flashed with the movement, and he grimly told her, “You can’t come inside.”
She could so. “I work here. I need to get some files. Check some things on my computer. I have to desperately try and salvage the dedication ceremony.” With each word, she inched a little bit more inside the administration building.
Then her eyes narrowed.
“Why is the floor red?” she asked him. “We need a cleanup crew here, now. The president is a stickler about things like this. If he comes here and he sees this, he will explode.”
Jonah’s hands closed around her shoulders. “There was a murder here last night.”
She kept staring at that red floor. “When the president is pissed, he is such a complainer.”
“Someone killed Harvey.”
She laughed. Then stopped because… “OhmyGod.”
Jonah frowned at her.
Her breath came, shuddering in and out. In and out. Her heart slammed into her chest. “Are you serious right now?” She wanted to jerk away from him but forced herself to stay still. “Is the floor red because that’s his blood?”
A grim nod. “He was stabbed. I found his body. One of the alarms in the building went off. The killer must have triggered it when he left.”
I see you. “I knew someone was here.” The words came too fast. “I knew it. I told you, I told Harvey.” Now she did wrench away. “You were supposed to search!” Anger boiled. “You said it was clear, but he must have been here the whole time. He was here, and now Harvey is dead, and I’m in charge of PR at freaking Murder University!”
“Calm down, Kimber.” He reached out to her.
But she knocked his hand away. “This is bullshit.” A hard shake of her head. “If he was here…oh, God, he wanted to kill me, didn’t he? I was his target. But I got away, and he had to take out Harvey because Harvey probably saw him.”
“We have no reason to think—”
“I want protection! I want safety!”
A muscle flexed along his jaw.
“I bet you offered protection to Shelby.” She was sure he had. “I bet you have her in a nice, secure safe house, don’t you?”
“Shelby refused my protection. She’s staying with her bodyguard at an undisclosed location.” He glanced back over his shoulder. “I have to keep searching here.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Go home.” He looked at her again. “You won’t be working in this building any time soon. Go home. Stay safe. If you need me for anything…” His face softened. “Just call me.”
Wonderful. She’d call him. She stomped away from him, heading back to the parking lot. And as she did…
Someone was waiting near her vehicle. Propped up against the Benz like he didn’t have a care in the world. Sunlight hit his hair and glinted off his aviator sunglasses. His arms were crossed over his chest—over the polo shirt that he wore.
Her breath huffed out and her heels tapped as she closed in on him. “I don’t need your drama today.” The man was walking drama. Always involved with students…one PR fire after another. So what if Professor Gabriel Parker was hot? He was trouble.
“Someone tried to kill Shelby Carter at my house last night.”
Wasn’t really his house. To her, it would always be the Shiloh estate. “I heard. Caught it on the news.” She jerked her hand over her shoulder. “Someone did kill the admin security guard, Harvey Wyle. That’s why the cops are swarming.” In case he was curious.
“Harvey Wyle,” he repeated thoughtfully. “I know that name.”
She needed him off her ride. “Harvey trained Jonah, back when Jonah first came to town. They worked the Sorority Seven Killer case together.” She motioned toward him. “Gonna need you to move. Apparently, I’ll be working from home today.”