We got up and made our way down the steps to the stage. The line of students wanting to talk to Ian was ten deep, so we waited off to the side.

I was impressed with how interested he appeared to be in each student's question. He gave all his attention to the person he was talking to. It was very charming.

Finally, the last of the students walked away, and he turned to look at us. His jaw dropped when he saw me, an audible gasp coming through his parted lips.

"My God," he murmured. "Who are you?"

"Brynn Landry," I said. "This is Kade Beckham."

Ian barely gave Kade more than a cursory look before his gaze swept my face once more. "You look just like someone I used to know."

"What was her name?"

"It was Kim," he said. "Kim Larimer."

I made a mental note of the last name. I had no idea if it was her real name, or one she'd bought, but it would help us track down her past. "Kim is my mother," I said.

He shook his head in bemusement. "I can't believe it. Your mother? I always wondered what happened to her. I had no idea she had a child. How old are you?"

"Twenty-seven." I stiffened when I realized he was adding something up in his head. Was he trying to figure out if I was his daughter? Was he my biological father? That thought shook me. Aside from his dark hair, I didn't feel like we looked very much alike, but then I had clearly gotten my mother's genes. "Did you and my mother have a relationship?" I asked. "When she was a student at NYU, and you were her professor?"

"Is that what you came here to ask me?" Ian challenged.

"It's one question, and you didn't answer it."

"Why are you here?" he countered.

"My mother was shot last Thursday," I replied. "Did you know that? It happened outside her house in San Francisco in the middle of the afternoon."

He stared back at me. "I don't know anything about Kim's life. I haven't seen her since before you were born."

"You didn't know she's living in San Francisco? It's just a coincidence that you took a guest lecturer job very close to her?"

"Yes. What is going on? Why are you asking me about your mother?"

"Because we think she might have been involved in the robbery at your brother's estate," Kade answered. "That robbery happened while Kim was a student at NYU. The thieves were never caught. They got away with a lot, including murder. A security guard was killed."

"Yes, I know," Ian said.

"Did you know that that guard was my father?" Kade asked.