His mind was made up, but his hand opened and closed slowly as he walked to his Jeep. He couldn’t feel her skin. The memory of touch had left his fingers.

He drove by the cabin. Her car wasn’t there. The place was dark. He had no idea where she was.

Just like the last time.

Then he patted the note in his pocket. Monday, she’d said. He’d wait.

Saturday

Saturday

Chapter 20 - Ketch

Chapter 20

Ketch

Ketch walked across the empty campus, feeling a stillness drifting over the old buildings and wide sidewalks. The grounds reminded him of an old warrior resting before the next fight. Now and then he’d stand and fight to change lives with the battle cry, “Grow. Learn. Evolve.”

Most schools would be gearing up for the weekend, but as far as Ketch could tell, there weren’t a dozen people back from spring break yet. Clifton College didn’t have much of a party life, or a single frat house, so no students were in any hurry to come back early after break.

That was one of the things that attracted Ketch. After four years in the army, he’d been looking for someplace quiet.

Thoughts of Tuesday Raine drifted in his mind as he headed toward the library. She’d wanted to help him on the research, but she’d been called in to help her boss do inventory. Ketch felt like he’d found a treasure in her. A unique soul, but he’d have to handle their friendship with caution.

The library closed at five on Saturdays and he needed to ask the librarian a few research questions. Miss Remington had access to studies on attraction from universities all over the world.

When he first saw the librarian, Ketch thought she looked fine. But as he stepped farther into her office, he saw bruises on the side of her face, and instead of her office chair, she sat in a wheelchair.

But, to his surprise, she smiled at him.

A man in his forties sat a few feet away from her, reading a book he didn’t look that interested in. He was friendly enough, but it was obvious he was there to watch over Miss Remington.

Within ten minutes, Ketch explained the study the professors were doing, and she promised to get him material that might be helpful as soon as possible.

As she worked on her computer, Ketch became the runner who collected the few resource books and articles that were in the Clifton Library.

An hour passed before the man stood and whispered something in the librarian’s ear.

She nodded to him. When she turned to Ketch, he could see the exhaustion in her eyes. The man must have gently reminded her that it was time to leave.