Margaret Daley - Don't Look Back

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To the other authors who worked with me on this

continuity: Valerie Hansen, Shirlee McCoy,

Carol Steward, Lenora Worth and Marta Perry.

You all are the best!

Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Margaret Daley for her contribution to the REUNION REVELATIONS miniseries.

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“I didn’t want it to come to this, but you just couldn’t stop snooping. You forced me to do this.” The intruder approached the figure sprawled on the floor, nudged him, then bent down and felt for a pulse.

With the job finished, the killer scanned the room to make sure nothing was left behind before walking to the door and slipping outside. On the steps he placed a call and said, “It’s done. He won’t be a problem anymore.”

“Good. We can’t afford for this to get out. We’d be ruined. Did he tell anyone about what he’d discovered?”

For a few seconds the killer fumbled for an answer. “I think I got here in time. I have his computer and recorder.”

“You think you got there in time?”

“I’ll make sure I did.”

“I don’t have to tell you what will happen if you don’t.” The connection went dead.

Two months earlier

Cassie Winters spied him across the Event Hall at the Mossy Oak Inn where the dinner and fund-raiser for the library expansion was being held. Her heartbeat increased at the sight of him, just as it had when she’d been in his journalism class ten years ago. But instead of his usual jeans, blazer and tie, he was dressed in a black tuxedo. She’d never seen him in formal attire, but Dr. Jameson King had changed little over time. His dark brown hair still looked tousled, and his tall, muscular build was still on the lean side.

“Cassie, are you listening?” Her friend Jennifer Pappas moved into Cassie’s line of vision. “Have you heard anything about the skeleton they found under the library sidewalk?”

“Who hasn’t? Everyone has been talking about it.” Cassie shivered.

Kate Brooks, another friend, sidled closer and lowered her voice. “I hate to think what happened to the woman. Do you think it was someone who attended Magnolia College?”

“I hope not. But there were some women who didn’t come to the reunion in June, who haven’t been heard from in years.” Suddenly cold, Cassie shuddered and hugged herself. “To think a murder happened ten years ago, not too far from here.” Murder on their quiet campus. The very thought unnerved her.

“To someone we may have known,” Jennifer added in her usual quiet voice.

Cassie scanned the crowd again, hoping to get another glimpse of Jameson King. Quinn Nelson, the assistant basketball coach, and Edgar Ortiz, the assistant director of Admissions, had joined him and Dr. Cornell Rutherford, the head of the English Department. The coach patted Jameson on the back, then laughed at something Dr. Rutherford said.

Cassie started to look away when Jameson turned his head, and her gaze connected with his cobalt-blue eyes. For a few seconds, she experienced all over again the lure those eyes had for her.

He smiled at her. Heat scored her cheeks at being caught staring at him. He said something to Dr. Rutherford, then weaved his way through the crowd toward her.

“Excuse me,” Cassie said to her two friends who were still discussing the recently found skeleton. “I see someone I haven’t had a chance to talk to yet.”

Kate laughed. “I see who’s heading this way. Although you didn’t major in journalism, I do believe he was your favorite teacher.”

“He was a lot of students’ favorite teacher.” Cassie brushed her hair behind her ears, a nervous habit she wished she could break.

“He still is. His classes are always full from what I hear.” Jennifer took a sip of her punch.

Cassie walked toward him before he had a chance to join the three of them. All she needed was an audience when she finally talked to him after all these years. She wondered what else he had been doing besides teaching. Her brother had kept her informed some since Jameson had been Scott’s college adviser, but she’d dared not ask her brother too many questions or she would have never heard the end of it. It was bad enough her friends kidded her about her college crush on her professor.

Jameson stopped in front of her. “Cassie, it’s so good to see you again.”

The other people crowded into the room faded away. Cassie offered a smile, clenching a glass of punch in her hand. “It’s good to see you, too. I wanted to tell you how sorry I was to hear about your wife’s death last year.”

One of his dark eyebrows rose. “You knew? It wasn’t common knowledge in Magnolia Falls.”

“As you know, Scott works for the Savannah paper, and he told me.” She remembered her surprise when her younger brother had called her about the news. Although Jameson had always worn a wedding ring, there had never been any evidence of a wife. All the students had speculated about the mysterious woman whom no one had ever seen. Some people had even wondered if a wife had really existed.

“How’s Scott doing? I haven’t talked to him lately.”

Suddenly she wanted to share her good news with someone who would care. She glanced around her, the press of people making a private conversation impossible. “I could use some fresh air. Care to join me for a walk?”

For a brief moment surprise widened his eyes before he said, “Sure.”

Cassie put her glass cup on a nearby table, then led the way toward the entrance. After Jameson opened the door for her, she stepped outside into the warm August evening, but the large live oaks dripping with Spanish moss offered a cool, private canopy over the stone path. She paused near some gardenia bushes. Their sweet, heavy fragrance laced the light breeze.

“Is something wrong with Scott?” Jameson came to her side, his expression etched with worry.

“Oh, no. I didn’t want to say anything inside, but I know you’re aware of Scott’s drinking problem. He has been sober for the past year. We went out to dinner the other night to celebrate his success.”

A smile lit Jameson’s face. “That’s wonderful news.”

“He owes you so much. Getting the job at the newspaper really helped him turn his life around after the accident. He wouldn’t have gotten it if you hadn’t contacted your friend there.”

“Scott landed the job on his own merit. I just gave him a reference. Your brother’s work was, is, excellent, and since he couldn’t play pro ball, what better job for him since he majored in journalism.”

Cassie glimpsed a stone bench nearby. “Do you want to sit?”

“No, let’s walk some. I’ve been sitting at the computer way too much lately.”