Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun (Finlay Donovan, #3)(38)

Nick stopped at the entrance of the building. We waited through an awkward pause while a group of academy students filed out the door. I bit my tongue, resisting the urge to tease Nick when several of the women in the group (and at least one man) turned to ogle him as they walked by. Max and Riley were the last to exit, and I tucked myself behind Nick, hoping to avoid them.

I cringed when Max spotted me. “Hey, Finlay! Are you and Vero coming to movie night? Officer Roddy’s making popcorn.”

“Movie night?” I asked Nick.

“Silence of the Lambs in the auditorium. Starts in half an hour.”

I shuddered as I called out to Max, “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”

Nick bit down on his grin, waiting for the last of their group to disappear from view before reaching for my hand.

“I’m sorry about tonight,” he said in a low voice, probably so we wouldn’t be overheard. “For what it’s worth, I was having a really good time before my partner showed up.”

“I had a nice time, too. Thank you for dinner.”

He pressed a chaste kiss to my cheek, and it took every ounce of willpower I had not to turn my head and catch his lips. He smiled as if he knew. “You’ve got a long day tomorrow. Get some sleep.”

“You, too,” I said, a little breathless as he pulled away.

He watched me scan my lanyard, waiting until I slipped inside and the locks snapped closed behind me before he limped from the building. I raced up the two flights of stairs to our room, listening with an ear to the door before throwing it open.

Vero bolted upright in bed. “Oh, it’s just you.” She dropped facedown against the mattress and used the pillow to cover her head.

“I brought you dinner,” I said, fishing the cookies from my pockets.

“Not hungry.”

“All they had was chocolate chip.”

Vero shot up, the pillow dropping to the mattress beside her. I set both cookies in her lap. “Where’s Javi?” I asked.

“Left,” she said around a mouthful of crumbs. “He said he’ll call when he has the money. Where’d you disappear to?”

“I missed dinner. Nick took me to the kitchen and made us something to eat.”

She stopped chewing, a hopeful gleam in her eyes. “Please tell me that included dessert.”

“Joey came and I lost my appetite.” I kicked off my shoes and flopped down on my bed. “He’s been increasingly hostile to me ever since we got here. It’s like he doesn’t want me anywhere near his partner.”

“More like he doesn’t want you anywhere near his work. Probably because he’s hiding something.”

I stared at the ceiling as I considered that. What if Vero was right and it wasn’t my proximity to Nick that Joey was worried about? What if it was just my being here at the academy?

I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. Each of the instructors had been issued a temporary office for the week so they could keep up with their cases and their regular job responsibilities while they were here. “Do you have your schedule?” I asked.

Vero frowned at my sudden urgency. She reached in her backpack and handed me her class schedule. I skimmed it for Joey’s name, remembering what Nick had said in the kitchen about Joey having someplace he was supposed to be this evening. I paused over the listing for movie night. Roddy and Joey were scheduled to staff it.

The report will be on my desk if you manage to get your head out of your ass …

Meaning Joey’s office door would likely be open. The movie would run at least two hours. I turned the schedule over, studying the campus map.

“Where are you going?” Vero asked as I got up and shrugged on my coat.

“Snooping.”

Vero narrowed her eyes at me as I tugged on my shoes. “If you’re going snooping, what the heck am I supposed to do?”

“How do you feel about Silence of the Lambs?”



* * *



I peered into the window of the auditorium. The movie had already started. Joey sat with his arms crossed in the aisle seat of the back row. Roddy walked up and down the steps, handing out paper bags full of popcorn. “You promised I’d get to snoop,” Vero said as I nudged her to the door.

“You can snoop and go hungry, or you can do reconnaissance and have snacks.” Roddy had taken the microwave from the faculty lounge and wheeled it to the auditorium on a kitchen cart. He’d plugged it into an outlet in the hall, beside a folding table packed with soda cans and a case of microwave popcorn.

Vero eyed the snack cart and snagged herself a Coke. “Fine. You do the snooping. I’ll handle recon. What’s the code word?”

“What code word?”

“The one I’m supposed to text you to warn you if Joey’s coming.” She peeped in the window. “How about Hannibal Lecter? He kind of looks like Hannibal Lecter. He gets that same crazy look in his eyes when he stares at you, like he’s thinking about eating your liver with—”

“Go!” I whispered, shoving her through the door. “We don’t need a code word. The movie just started. I have plenty of time.”

I started briskly toward the faculty offices, checking the room numbers against the ones listed on the map, praying none of the instructors were working late tonight.