“And why do you say that?” Colin asked.
“The blush on your husband’s cheeks paints a pretty vivid picture,” Nate replied, pointing to Joshua who husked out a frustrated breath.
“We weren’t having sex, if that’s what you’re implying.” Colin chuckled, leaning toward Nate.
“Well, you were havingsomething!” Nate insisted.
Joshua sat his coffee mug down. “There are some moments, my friend, whichtranscendsex.”
“That kind of momentisspecial,” David said, sitting down with his plate. “And damned rare.” He turned his attention to Colin. “I hear the task force is petitioning the university for a curfew.”
Colin scoffed. “Yeah, for all the good it’ll do us.” He tossed his fork to the table. “We’ve had three students sexually assaulted in the past three months, all in the same general area, all with the same MO. What’s the damned harm in a temporary curfew?”
“Three?” Nate blurted out in surprise. “Who’s the third?”
“A boy,” Colin replied. His girlfriend is a student who works at the Culbreth as a set designer.”
“What’s her name?” Nate asked, leaning toward Colin. As a professor of cinema and media studies, Nate spent a lot of time at the Culbreth theater with his students.
Colin picked up his phone and peered at it for a moment. “Gail,” he said, glancing at Nate. “Gail Pauley.”
“Iknowher!” Nate exclaimed. “She’s not in my class, but I know her! I know her boyfriend too. His name is Shawn! Shawn Arberton, if I’m remembering correctly.”
“That’s him all right,” Colin said.
“Oh my god, Colin, was heraped?” Nate asked, his voice thin with horror.
Colin shot him a look. “Nate, I can’t—I can’t discuss that kind of detail.”
“Jesus,” Nate whispered, reaching to grasp David’s hand as he lifted his eyes to Colin’s face. “Do you guys have any leads? God, Colin, tell me that youdo!”
Colin exhaled a long breath. He met Nate’s eyes, his lips pressed into a hard, thin line. “Buddy, I wish I could.” He reached to touch Nate’s arm. “But there’s a whole task force working on it. We’ll get this bastard. I promise you.”
Nate turned away, his eyes downcast, and he gripped David’s hand with white-knuckled strength.
“Nate, it’ll be OK,” David soothed, leaning toward him.
Nate spun back to face Colin. “Did you interview everyone who works at the theater?”
“More than once.”
“How about people whousedto work there?”
Colin’s head reared back slightly. “Yeah. We checked out previous employees for police records, stuff like that. Likewho,Nate? D’you have someone in mind?”
Nate released David’s hand and leaned back in his chair, staring down at his still-full plate. “About six months ago I complained to the theater owners about a guy who worked there part-time on the janitorial staff. He had a tendency to be drunk on the job, and I reported him twice for verbal abuse to my students who were there for rehearsal.”
He turned to face Colin. “He didn’t bother anyone else who worked at the Culbreth, but he wasalwayshostile toward the students.” He shrugged. “I don’t know why.”
“Jealousy perhaps?” Joshua added.
“How old was he?” Colin asked.
Nate shrugged again. “In his twenties maybe.”
“Around the same age as the students he abused,” Joshua said, his voice low. “He’s a janitor at the theater while they’re part of the privileged elite, enjoying their high-priced education while he cleans their toilets.”
Colin hissed out a harsh breath and grabbed Nate’s arm. “I want his name!”
