Page 61 of Second Chance

“Sorry.” Tony pulls his shoes on with one hand, texting Colette with the other. “Something came up.”

He thinks about Gianna while he drives. It’s easier than worrying about Daniel. He’s kind of glad he missed her, all told. If he had seen her, if she’d been there—Tony can imagine what would have happened. He’d have apologized, she’d have accepted, and then he would have left, still pissed off that she thought she deserved an apology.

By the time he’s blown past the bridge, a little over the speed limit and his car complaining about it all the way, he’s accepted that it wouldn’t have helped. It would be a quick fix, a bandage on what’s bothering him with the bullet left under his skin. Hiswhole family seems to have moved on from everything that’s happened in the last year and left him behind.

He finds Colette standing beside Daniel’s car in the faculty parking lot. She has her phone out, frowning at it.

Cutting the engine and getting out of the car is less work than rolling down the windows, so Tony gets out. “Anything?”

She shakes her head. “You?”

“No.” There’s no point in saying it’s not like Daniel to go radio silent or miss an appointment with Colette without giving her a heads-up. They both know, or she’d never have texted him. Instead, Tony offers, “We could check his office?”

Colette shrugs. “I went there before I texted you. He wasn’t in.”

Neither of them has a better idea, so they take the winding pathway to Condelmuir to check again. They walk—briskly, but a walk all the same. Running would be admitting there’s something to worry about.

There are no voices to be heard in the hallway outside Daniel’s office. Why would there be? It’s past six, and classes are at an absolute minimum. No one wants to spend more time on campus when there’s a killer around.

Tony raps on the door to Daniel’s office with his knuckles.

No response.

He tries the doorknob. The door falls open with a creak.

He and Colette exchange a glance. Tony wonders if she’s thinking what he’s thinking—that going inside might be as stupid as the time she and Daniel decided to investigate an active crime scene with the murderer.

They do it anyway, of course.

Daniel’s computer is still on, his cup of tea half-drunk, and an untouched glass of water sits on the other side of his desk, leaving a ring of condensation in the wood.

“He was meeting someone from counseling,” Tony remembers. “Maybe he’s still there?”

“Maybe there was an emergency?”

“I hope not.”

Colette shrugs. “Sorry. I’m probably overreacting. After Mario…and then that knife…”

“No, I get it.” Tony rests a hand on her shoulder. “Everything with…with Amelia Lawrence keeps reminding me of… Well.”

“Of course it does.” Colette leans toward him slightly, bumping their sides together. “It’s a natural response to trauma.”

They survey Daniel’s empty office together.

“So now what?” Tony asks.

“Let me try calling counseling. Maybe he’s still there.”

Colette uses the landline in Daniel’s office to call the counseling center on the other side of campus, pressing an extension to reach them. It’s very old-school, matching the vibes of the building. Angel Automotive has had a dedicated office cell phone since the phone company jacked up the prices for the landline.

“Hello, this is Professor Ravel,” Colette says smoothly. “I’m calling to ask if Professor Daniel Rosenbaum has been in this afternoon.” There’s a brief pause, and then, “Oh, no, not as a patient. He mentioned a meeting with counseling, and he hasn’t come back to his office.”

Tony runs his fingers across one of the bookshelves—solid wood, not some IKEA shit. Daniel should get shelves like this for the apartment, not what he has now.

Colette makes a series of listening sounds that remind Tony so intensely of his own customer service voice he wants to laugh.

“He didn’t. No, of course, I understand completely. Thank you for your help.” She sets the phone down in its anchor. “Daniel hasn’t been in today.”

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