“Part of me misses being there, part of me doesn’t.” His face crinkled into a frown as he leaned toward his friend. “I loved the subject matter, the actual learning part of it. I’m good at that, and I left with a good feeling about my abilities.” He shrugged and picked up his fork again. “But I let myself succumb to the competition of it all andthatdamn near killed me.”
“I would think you’d be around the same competitive attitudes as an attorney,” David reminded him. “Lawyers tend to be ‘A’ type personalities.”
“And his boss is encouraging him,” Joshua said, grinning. “She can’t stop throwing raw meat at her pet tiger.”
Colin grimaced. “It’s not that bad, Josh.”
“Notyet,” Joshua replied.
Colin shot him a look half annoyed, half embarrassed. “Stop it. I’m home every night for dinner, aren’t I?”
“You two aren’t allowed to fight,” Nate interrupted, and Joshua laughed out loud.
“We’re not,” Joshua told him. “I’m just aggravating him by voicing my unreasonable fears.”
“I’m not saying they’re unreasonable. I’m saying that I haven’t yet given you anything to be fearfulabout.” He leaned toward Joshua. “I ask again: Am I not home every night for dinner?”
“You are.”
“Are we not getting tons of quality time together?”
“We are,” Joshua replied.
“The prosecution rests,” Colin said with a smirk.
“I heard about your task force,” David told Colin. “It sounds like a great idea.”
“We’ll see,” Colin said. “I hope so, but we haven’t even gotten off the ground yet.”
“Are you going to be looking at the recent abductions on campus?” David asked.
“That case hasn’t been assigned to us yet,” Colin told him. “But I’ve asked Esther to let us take a whack at solving it. It would be a great place for the task force to begin.”
“I know one of the girls,” Nate said, his voice low. “Marie Laveton. She was a student of mine, and she dropped out after the attack.” He shuddered. “What happened to her was horrible.”
“How long did the guy hold her hostage?” Joshua asked.
“Almost two days I think,” Nate replied. “Thank god he didn’t kill her.”
“That’ll be next,” Colin stated, his voice flat. “He’s working his way up to it.”
“Two students were abducted and raped in the last couple of months. D’you think the cases might be connected?” David asked.
“From discussions I’ve had with Lenny and other campus cops, we think so,” Colin told him. “The MO is the same. Happened in the same general area. It’s possible we’re looking at a serial rapist, and so far, we don’t have a clue as to who it might be.”
“So campus police handling it?” Joshua asked.
“City police are in on it too,” Colin told him. “That’s why it’d be a great case for our task force.” His lips drew back over his teeth, and his face was grim as he stared at his plate. “This would have beenmycase when I was a cop,” he grumbled.
“Maybe Esther will assign it to you,” Joshua said, resting a hand on Colin’s arm.
“So farClaytonis handling it,” Colin replied, glancing at Joshua.
“Damn,” Joshua muttered in response.
“I heard he’s good,” Nate said, and reared back in surprise when Colin shot him a glance, his eyes narrow. “What?Ihaveheard that!” Nate protested. “Why give me that look?”
“He does have a reputation as a good prosecutor,” David added. “Have you had problems with him, Colin?”
