of relief, Dee pulled her staff ID card from her wallet and brushed it past the scanner. “Are the yearbook archives still in the basement?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Dee hurried downstairs. At a table in a quiet corner facing the exit, Dee piled decade-old school yearbooks and newspapers from when she attended Magnolia College around her and started through them, recalling events she’d almost forgotten.
She laughed quietly at the costume contest pictures from her freshman year. The girls on her dorm floor had gone in the pajama party theme. She and Steff Kessler wore their freshly curled hair in banana clips on the back of their heads. Jennifer Pappas had her toothbrush tangled in dental floss hanging around her neck like a necklace; Josie Skerritt’s curling iron was twisted and dangling from her hair. That was her last name—Skerritt! Trying to place the other girls in the photo, she looked closer. Payton…Payton Bell and Alicia Whittaker.
Dee knew from the e-mails that Josie hadn’t been at the reunion, but was Payton there? That was her only regret about the reunion: she’d spent so much time with Edgar that she hadn’t really talked to anyone else there, besides her closest friends. She smiled. It had been a wonderful night.
Now, looking through the old photos, she couldn’t believe how much they had all changed. It took her a moment to find Cassie Winters in the group photo. Who was that in the baby-doll pajamas? Penny Brighton. And next to her, Kate Brooks dressed in footie pajamas and bunny slippers with her hair in knots all over her head. They’d nearly caused a riot on campus with their outrageous ideas. But they had won the gift certificate which allowed them to order pizza a couple of nights. Pure gold in those days.
Suddenly she stopped reminiscing. The body had been buried ten years ago. The skeleton could be one of us, she realized. She pulled her PDA from her bag and started a list of classmates and who she’d known in the photos, along with the issues of the newspapers. She hoped someone’s picture or name would leap out at her and remind her of the mystery caller’s voice. She noticed another photo of Josie and Payton and added them to her lengthy list.
After an hour of skimming through several old newspapers, Dee wondered if she should skip the search and call the police with her list. Then again, Detectives Anderson and Rivers had pretty much dismissed her when she reported the flames over their reunion picture. Dee was hesitant to go to them again without strong proof. She still couldn’t believe she’d accidentally deleted it from the server. Without actual evidence, the police didn’t have anything to work with.
As she picked up another newspaper, her stomach growled. Dee checked at her watch and considered running to get a bite of supper, but decided that by the time she walked to her car, drove over to Burt’s Pizza, then back, she’d waste at least an hour. The library didn’t close for four more hours, and she knew she wouldn’t sleep a wink if she didn’t figure out who had called. She hated to let this go even another day. She’d find a snack machine and see if they had something semihealthy to get her through another hour or two.
Dee headed up the back stairs on her search for food. The hallway was dim and quiet, reminding her again why she’d never studied here. She liked noise, felt a sense of security in crowds. The soft voices and pages turning here did nothing to soothe her nerves.
Neither did the dark-haired woman in the black sweatshirt standing outside the main entrance.
Was that the same person I saw outside? From this angle, she couldn’t tell for sure if the woman’s sweatshirt was hooded. The woman didn’t seem to notice Dee, so she hurried back to the lower level—chocolate bar and a bottle of iced tea in hand, annoyed at her own paranoia.
The research section seemed emptier than it had been when she arrived. The library assistant was nowhere to be seen, or heard. Dee clutched her purse a little closer and opened the next newspaper.
Soon she was distracted by a feature article on Edgar. She forgot about the lack of noise and barely heard footsteps at the next table. She glanced up to see a young woman set a book on the table and sit down to read.
Dee glanced quickly at the picture of Edgar with longer hair and moved on to the article. No wonder she’d never met him in college. He had come to the United States as a missionary of sorts. His church had sponsored his trip to the States and he’d lived off campus with the pastor’s family.
She thought back to the reunion, when she’d finally met Edgar….
“Lauren Owens, I’m glad you could make it tonight.” Edgar had greeted them as they came in the door. He smiled at her sister, but his eyes caught Dee’s and he paused.
Lauren smiled back and flung her arms around his broad shoulders. “It’s not like I came all the way from Brazil for the reunion! What are you doing now, Edgar?”
“I’m living here in Magnolia Falls, for starters. I’m in the process of naturalization.”
Dee had intervened. “You’re the assistant director of admissions, now, aren’t you?” She’d seen his picture in the Gazette a while back. It was impossible to miss a picture of Edgar, ten years ago, or now. She’d seen him on occasion at business events, but somehow their paths hadn’t crossed in school or now.
He glanced at Dee and offered his hand. “I am. You must be Lauren’s sister. Lauren, why didn’t you ever introduce your sister and me?”
“Didn’t I?” Lauren pretended to be puzzled, but Edgar simply laughed.
“I wouldn’t have forgotten someone so beautiful.” Edgar’s grasp was warm and firm, not bone crushing like most men she worked with. He kissed the back of Dee’s hand, and she couldn’t help but smile.
Typical Brazilian, suave and macho, wrapped in a to-die-for package. Too bad he’s wasting all this charm on me. I’m tired of the love-’em-and-leave-’em type.
Lauren leaned close to Edgar and whispered intentionally loud enough for Dee to hear. “That’s because she doesn’t like to be noticed for her looks. Dee is a brilliant public relations specialist.”
“She exaggerates,” Dee said with slight embarrassment.
“Forgive me for noticing the obvious, Dee. Lauren used to tell us you couldn’t join us on Sunday nights because you were studying. She was always very proud of you.”
Dee had stopped going to church after the pastor mishandled counseling family and friends through her best friend’s illness. She recalled how, after calling in the pastor, Annie’s parents had refused treatment for her cancer, insisted if they had enough faith, God would heal her. She’d watched Annie fade away. Dee had been angry at the parents, at the church members for not intervening, and at God. Surely God hadn’t given doctors the wisdom to heal if He’d meant for humans to turn their back on medical care. She let out a sigh and felt the familiar old emptiness. Her sister had tried to convince her that being a Christian didn’t mean using one’s faith as a crutch. That had been a decision made by one family. Everyone made mistakes, she realized.
Before Dee could respond, Jennifer Pappas joined their group. “I’m sorry to intrude. Edgar, Dee, it’s so good to see you both here. Lauren, could you help me with something?”
“We’ll catch up later.” Lauren gave Edgar another quick hug then dashed off to the foyer of Moss Hall, leaving Dee awkwardly alone with him.
“It’s good to see everyone again.” Edgar’s gaze settled on Dee. “Could I get you a drink?”
Why hadn’t she taken her chance to escape with Lauren and Jennifer? She’d never known him in school, and now it would be awkward to just walk away and leave him there alone. Edgar seemed nice, but…there was something she just couldn’t quite figure out about him.
“I’d love some mineral water.” She heard herself say.
“With a lemon?” Edgar said.
“With lemon would be wonderful.” Dee followed him, surprised that Edgar had left his assignment on the welcoming committee.