Because whether he was hot or not—and despite the tickle of adrenaline that licked at her nerve endings every time she caught sight of him in the hall—she wasn’t going down another dead-end romantic road with Zeke.

7

YOU READY FOR ME?”

As Cate spoke from the doorway of the study room, Zeke tamped down the sudden uptick in his pulse and looked up from the paper he was grading. “Yes.” In more ways than one—but he left that unsaid. “Come in.”

She entered, clicking the door shut behind her as he activated the white noise app on his phone and rose.

“I thought you’d be lurking in the stacks again, watching for me. Wondering if I’d blow you off.” She sauntered over to the table. Her loose tunic top downplayed her womanly curves, but her snug leggings left little to the imagination.

“You said you’d show on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I’ve never known you to break your word. Have a seat.” He pulled out the chair beside him.

She slid into it, avoiding eye contact, and extracted her Spanish book from the bulky backpack while he positioned the cell between them.

“Any news?” He flipped the book open.

“Some.”

In a clipped, no-nonsense style, she briefed him on her encounter with Noah Evans and the information she’d gleaned from her roommate.

“We did background checks on the entire staff.” He doodled on the paper in front of him. “Nobody earned a red flag.”

“We did the same. But I have County digging deeper on Evans.”

“You think he’s hitting on the girls?”

“Maybe. Since Stephanie appeared to have had significant contact with him, he’s on my list of suspects—though Kayla doesn’t think there was anything romantic going on.”

“I don’t see how whatever sort of relationship they had could be connected to my investigation.”

“I don’t, either—but it may be relevant to mine. Do you have any news?”

“I’m still getting to know the players. Eduardo Garcia interests me.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Our background check indicates he’s clean. Besides, I don’t think the kingpin of the type of operation you’re investigating would be working as a maintenance supervisor. Not with the sort of money he’d be pulling in. Targeting the one Mexican employee on campus reeks of profiling to me.”

“I’m not saying Garcia is running the show.” He flipped ahead in the book, keeping his attention on the pages. “And his ethnic background isn’t the main reason he caught my attention . . . though that may be relevant. I’ve spoken with him and observed him on several occasions, and my gut tells me he’s troubled.”

“Instinct, helpful as it can be, doesn’t take the place of hard evidence. People can be troubled for many reasons.”