Page 9 of Nora
She had her key on the reader when the door across from her opened and Lucian stepped out. He paused, then let the door close behind him. His eyes remained fixed on her, and she held his gaze. She considered saying something. She considered asking him what had him so upset. But then good sense got a hold of her. Judging by the scowl directed at her, he wasn’t in a chatty mood. Instead, she simply nodded and slipped into her room.
From behind her closed door, she heard his footsteps travel down the hall, then he entered the stairwell. When the floor was quiet again, she set her bag down and started pulling out the labeled samples. A few minutes later, the samples and her notebook were locked in the safe—an overly cautious decision, no doubt—and she was washing her hands.
Glancing at herself in the mirror, she debated whether to put makeup on. She didn’t tend to wear much and never wore it on a daily basis. Her olive skin coupled with her dark brows and lashes did a decent job of highlighting her features. And her lips. She had no idea where the naturally pink hue had come from. No one else in her family had it. It certainly made it easier when it came to choosing lipstick, though. Because that was a special kind of hell she didn’t have to do. A little gloss and she was good to go. That is, if she even bothered with that.
Deciding to skip the makeup, she changed into a clean pair of jeans and pulled on an olive-green cashmere sweater. Then, tucking her key into her back pocket, she headed down to the dining room. The rumble of conversation and an occasional laugh filled the hall as she neared, and the atmosphere seemed congenial and pleasant.
When she entered, she found the fire roaring and everyone already seated with their dinners. And of course, the only open spot was beside Lucian at the end of the table closest to the fireplace. Biting back a sigh, she headed to the buffet and helped herself to salad, a serving of vegetarian lasagna, and a bread roll. Not exactly the most inspiring of meals, but it would fill everyone up.
“Lucian,” she said, taking a seat beside him. He barely tipped his head in her direction. Sophie sat across from her—another cheery person to spend time with—and Willa was beside Sophie. At least Willa would be pleasant. Hopefully.
Nodding to both the women, she made small talk with them as Lucian remained silent. She learned that Willa was getting married in two months and that Sophie had recently lost both her parents in a car accident. That bit of news had Nora questioning her quick judgment of the woman. But even as she formed opinions about the two women, her mind wandered to Lucian.
He’d been such a fun young man when they’d first met the summer after her graduation. She, Six, Cyn, and Devil were all scheduled to attend Harvard in the fall and their families—well, everyone’s family but Devil’s—had encouraged them to take the summer off and have some fun. With the means to do so, the four of them gladly followed their families’ advice.
For nearly three months, they traveled the world. From Vietnam to Zanzibar to Chile and so many places in between. Until they wrapped up their trip with a week at one of Six’s family homes in Capri. Lucian and his brother, Gianni, had joined them. Together, the six of them had whiled away the nights with cocktails, wine, and good food, and slept the days away by the sea. Thinking back on that time, there were two things Nora remembered most. The first was that she was pretty sure she’d had more to drink in that week than in the next five years put together. But the second was that Lucian had beenfun. Not only had he been fun, but he’d encouraged her to have fun. To come out of her shell. He’d encouraged her to dance at the café, swim at midnight, and sing karaoke. He’d even convinced her to skinny-dip with him in the Mediterranean one night. Never in her life had she been so bold—not with a man, at least.
But his love of life had inspired her. He hadn’t bullied her or dared her to do any of the things she’d done. He’d simply reminded her, in so many ways, that life was meant to be lived and savored. Yes, sometimes it could be scary and dangerous, but dancing at a café or singing karaoke? Those weren’t the scary things. Those were things to be enjoyed and laughed about. Even more so if you were bad at them. Which, ironically, she was not.
This man who now sat beside her, though, was so far from the young man she knew that he was a bit of an enigma. Most people carried traces of themselves throughout their lives. People grew and changed, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. But usually, there was some part of them that remained the same. Not the exact same, but similar enough that people who knew them could recognize them. But Lucian was almost unrecognizable. At least in the short interactions she’d had with him since arriving.
That thought gave her pause. She hadn’t actually had many interactions with him in the six hours she’d been on-site. Maybe with time, she’d see hints of his old self?
Internally, she cringed as she heard her friends’ voices inside her head. No doubt they’d be telling her that not everyone was as good or as kind as she was. She didn’t think she was particularly good or excessively kind. But she did have a habit of looking for the best in people. Even if they didn’t deserve it.
Did Lucian deserve it, though? And if he did, where would giving him the benefit of the doubt get her? There might be remnants of the young man he’d been inside him somewhere. But if she found them, that didn’t change the fact that she still had to investigate him. That didn’t change the fact that he was still a suspect in the murders of nine people. Despite the drastic changes to his demeanor, she still didn’t think he was involved. But she had her duty to Franklin, so what she thought didn’t really matter all that much.
“Willa, as soon as you’re done, shall we go check Hagen?” Nora asked, unable to let her mind consider the conundrum of Lucian any longer.
Willa glanced at Nora’s half-eaten dinner, her straight blond hair swinging into her face as she did. “I can wait,” she said. Then stifled a yawn.
Nora smiled and rose. “There’s no need. I had a late lunch. Why don’t you go get him ready? I’ll run up and get my equipment and meet you at your room.”
She felt Lucian’s eyes on her. She wished she could ignore him the way he’d been ignoring her, but she didn’t have it in her. Turning, she gave him a small nod. “Good night, Lucian.” Then to Sophie, she said, “Sophie, it was lovely to spend more time with you.” That was a little bit of a stretch. Nora felt a tremendous amount of empathy for her, but Sophie still wasn’t someone she wanted to spend a lot of time with.
Before heading up to her room, she walked to where Craig, Collin, and Jonah were sitting. Pausing, she waited for a break in their conversation, but Jonah cut himself off and turned to her. With a charming, if not entirely sincere, smile on his face.
“I’m heading out to do my check on Hagen. Don’t cut your dinner short on my behalf, but if you could text me when you’re ready for me, I’d appreciate it. My number is in the welcome packet,” she said.
Craig rose before she’d finished her request, leaving her to wonder if her offer was an excuse for him to exit the conversation. He offered to have Miles ready for her as soon as she was done with Willa, then he strode from the room. She glanced at Collin and Jonah. They both mumbled something about not being far behind, but she suspected they’d be more than a few minutes.
Regardless, if she had to stay up late to finish the blood work, she’d stay up late. The gig was long, but it wouldn’t be particularly strenuous. After tonight, she’d perform the same well-checks periodically throughout the course. But unless an emergency arose, she’d have time on her hands. Time she would need to use for the investigation, but time nonetheless.
CHAPTERFIVE
A few minutes later,she knocked on Willa’s door, her bag in hand.
“Come in,” Willa called
Nora entered to find the room already immaculately arranged with nary any evidence that Willa had arrived only a few short hours ago. She even had two books on her bedside table.
“This is Hagen,” Willa said, resting her hand on the dog’s head. “Friend, Hagen,” she said. The dog’s tail swished across the floor.
“May I?” Nora asked, gesturing to him. Willa nodded, and she approached, holding out her hand for him to get a good sniff. “He’s gorgeous,” Nora said. “I love the shepherds and Malinois, but you, you beauty,” she said, kneeling in front of the huge dog, “are a gorgeous creature.” Hagen’s tail swished again, and he leaned forward a touch.
She rubbed the dog’s long silky ears for a moment. It was always a pleasure to work with working dogs. Their intelligence shone through in their eyes, as did their pride. That was one of the things she loved most about them. As a vet, they were some of the easiest dogs to work with because of their training. But what made them so special was how much theylovedtheir work. They loved being useful and wanted nothing more than to do a good job. There were some people who claimed it was cruel to train any animal to the extreme level working dogs were trained. But the fact of the matter was, if they didn’t love it, they wouldn’t do it. You couldn’t beat an animal into being a good tracker or a military K9. It didn’t work that way. That wasn’t to say people didn’t try. Because they did. And as far as Nora was concerned, those who did had a special place in hell reserved for them. But for dogs like Hagen, and all the others participating in the training session, they wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. Of that, she was certain.
Nora started her check and, knowing Willa wasn’t a suspect, she used her newbie status as an excuse to ask all sorts of questions about the program. Including the camaraderie among the handlers. Willa’s careful answers revealed a woman who saw far more than she let on. Nora didn’t begrudge her caution, but she did make a note to herself to befriend the British handler. She had a feeling that Willa’s insights might prove valuable.
