“Pick something, or I will.” She’s eaten nothing since it happened.
“Maybe butter noodles.”
I roll my eyes, and she rewards me with a small smirk.
“Yes,” Sheri says, lurching to her feet. “Ethan and Avery like buttered egg noodles. But that’s a little minimalist for Shane and me, so maybe eggplant parm for us?”
Sheri’s eggplant parmesan is one of the best things about her. Also, I’m up for an olive branch, since she’s offering.
I nod. “That would be great.”
Sheri heads to the kitchen, and I wait to see if Avery will join her to help the way she used to. Avery doesn’t move though, or even look in the kitchen’s direction. Her gaze is on her hands. A crease reappears between her brows, and she picks at her cuticles. “Daniel doesn’t fit the FBI profile. Do you think if the FBI advised against it, the dean would hold off on saying Daniel was Casanova?”
My hands close over hers to protect them. “Maybe, but you said you didn’t want to talk to the FBI again.”
“I don’t.” Her gaze flicks to my face, and she tilts her head forward, beckoning me to volunteer.
After a beat, I nod. “All right.”
“Thank you.” She leans closer and kisses my cheek. “I think I’ll help make dinner.” Avery slides from her chair and leaves the room.
Ethan stares after her for a long moment before he looks back at me. “How long have you guys been a couple?”
“Not long.”
“At the risk of opening a can of worms…”
I wait, but incline my head for him to keep going.
“She’s pretty fragile right now, Shane. It’s not the best time to start a new relationship, is it?”
“Avery will be fine. She’s not as fragile as she looks.”
“Why? Because she managed to survive a violent attack?”
“Yeah, actually.” I run a hand over the table’s smooth surface. “And because she’s always been able to handle herself where I’m concerned.”
“What does that mean?” Ethan asks.
“It means…she’s the one, and she knows it.” I stand and stretch with a wry smile. “Sullivans don’t talk to feds, Dad. We avoid them. Now excuse me while I find the card an FBI agent gave to Avery, so I can call him for her.”
* * *
AVERY
On the grassof GU’s main quad, Shane and I stand among a group of mostly female students. We’re waiting about twenty feet from a wooden platform that’s a makeshift stage for the upcoming announcement. News teams point their huge cameras at the podium.
Cold wind blisters my face as I pull my coat’s hood tighter. The dean, the chief of the campus police and a woman who is probably from GU Media Relations walk up the steps to the platform.
There doesn’t seem to be anyone from the FBI present. Or anyone from the city’s police department.
The dean’s gray hair ruffles in the wind. He wears a dark suit with a sprig of holly pinned on his lapel.
“Ladies and gentleman, thank you for coming. I will only make a brief statement today, out of respect for the families who even in the midst of this holiday season are uncertain about the fate of their missing daughters. Our thoughts and prayers are with them, as ever.”
His cold-reddened fingers grasp the podium as his eyes scan the assembled faces. “It is with both sadness and relief that I’m here to identify twenty-one-year-old Daniel Taake as the criminal known as Casanova. A few days ago, he attempted to attack a female student who courageously defended herself. Thankfully, she is uninjured. He, however, is dead.”
The murmurs begin immediately.
