Page 22 of Innocence

“That shit makes me so hot,” whispered Miller to Gaspar. His older brother could only laugh, nodding at him.

“I-I’m only concerned for the children,” said the woman.

“The children? The children were never in danger. Never. A young woman was kidnapped, beaten, raped, and crawled out of those woods, and Sterling tried to help her. That’s what happened. You should be damn grateful he’s the kind of man that would help and not run away. Your children are in the best hands possible, and you should be thanking God he’s still here willing to coach your little tax deduction.”

The woman’s face was so red the men thought she might pass out from lack of oxygen. She took two steps back when a man came walking toward them.

“Tiffany! What the fuck are you doing?” She said nothing, still standing with her arms folded, staring at Kari. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Sterling? I’m sorry. We love your work with the kids. Tiffany was just spooked by all of this.”

“I understand,” he said, nodding at the man. “But y’all have known me a lot of years. I’ve never done anything to hurt any child or, for that matter, man or woman. It’s not within me. If y’all really cared about this, you’d help us find who took that young woman’s life.”

“Anything we can do, we will, Sterling,” said the man. He turned to his wife, gripping her elbow. “Let’s find a seat. Our son is about to play ball.”

The couple quickly left the field, climbing into the stands. Kari turned to Sterling, giving him a wink and a smile.

“That, my dear friend, is how it’s done. Don’t take shit from anyone, Sterling. You don’t deserve it.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Sterling’s return seemed secure, but he stayed out at Belle Fleur a while longer, wanting to be sure that everyone was truly alright with his continued operation of the park. On the surface, it all appeared okay, but he knew better than anyone the hidden anger, suspicions, and gossip were what got men killed.

When Baptiste, Rafe, Ian, and Angel stepped on the campus of UNO as the four new professors, the chatter was palpable.

“Have you seen the hot new calculus professor? O M G. I mean, he’s old, but he’s like super-hot.”

“Did you see the new French professor? He has a twin who teaches history. They are smokin’ hot,” said another young woman.

“Well, the old guy teaching military history is like a sexy James Bond or something. I’m not into older guys, but I’d do him.”

“Ladies,” said Ian, standing behind them. The young women jumped, turning to face their fantasy. “As much as I appreciate the comparison to James Bond, my wife thinks I’m much more like Jack Reacher. Either way, let’s focus on what your parents are paying good money for.”

“Yes, sir,” they giggled, walking away.

“Damn, this is going to be hard,” said Rafe. “I don’t think I’ve had this many young women look my way in twenty years or more. I mean, I don’t want to be the receiver of their admiration. How do I turn them away?”

“Easy. Go away,” said his brother.

“Look, we just need to focus and see if we find any cliques or groups that seem to be narrowing in on people’s fears. If we know that, we can hopefully stop them before the next victim,” said Angel.

“Focus. Right,” said Baptiste. “Just so you know, you’re the one they’re calling Thor.”

“Thor? I’m the last guy that should be called Thor. Maybe we should have brought Noah,” said Angel, frowning.

“Maybe,” smiled Mary, walking toward them. “Or maybe you should have brought your wife.”

“Babe,” he smiled, kissing her sweetly, “what are you doing here?”

“Faith and I are both taking over some classes as well. Four men coming in to replace regular professors is a bit suspicious, so we thought this would maybe be a good idea.”

“I didn’t think of that,” said Angel.

“Faith is teaching military strategy, and I’m teaching behavioral sciences,” smiled Mary. Angel frowned at his wife, shaking his head.

“Babe, that could make you a target,” he whispered.

“No. It won’t,” she said. “My lecture hall is right next to yours. Try not to make all the young girls swoon.”

The first few days were a whirlwind of activities, lectures, preparing slides, and answering ridiculous questions. Toward the end of the week, they all felt as though there were a few possible suspects in the group they wanted to take a closer look at. In fact, two of the suspects weren’t students at all. They were fellow professors.

---