Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Dave’s food was waiting when he sat in the booth across from Cody. There was also an iced tea, condensation just forming on the plastic sides of the cup.
He lifted the top piece of bread and checked out the sandwich. “Wow, you got everything right.”
Cody feigned shock. “Did you have doubts?”
Dave gave him a look before taking a bite of his sandwich. The horseradish hit first, just enough spicy zip before the muenster cheese going soft against the savory beef. Once he’d swallowed his food, Dave took a long drink of his iced tea.
“I grew up with you. You’re the one who served me worm sandwiches. Of course I had doubts.”
Cody chuckled and picked a fry off his own plate. “That was a classic. Worm sandwich.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Dave took another bite. But Cody was looking closely at him.
“What?” Dave said.
Cody raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes. “What?”
“Why are you staring at me like a science project?”
“Not really the way I would have put it…”
“Then tell me.” Dave switched to the soup and closed his eyes a moment. Margie really ran an amazing kitchen.
“I’m just taking it all in.”
“What’s that mean?” Dave frowned as he dabbed soup from his beard.
“You. Us. The fact that soon you’re going to be legally married.” Cody held up his hands as if in surrender. “And I’m not even razzing you about marrying Ollie, of all people.”
“What you just said counts as razzing.”
Cody lowered his voice. “You can still back out of it. Are you being coerced? Blink once for yes, twice for no.”
Dave met his eyes and delivered two blatant blinks.
“Fine. That’s the last I’ll mention it.”
“Doubt that,” Dave muttered as he picked up his sandwich again.
“What’s that?”
Dave gave him an innocent look. “You were saying?”
“I’m just trying to take it all in, you know? My little brother getting married, planning his life out, growing up and being a full-fledged adult man.”
“Not according to Roman.”
Cody’s expression darkened. “I don’t want to talk about him.”
“How’d you convince him to come to the wedding?”
“Guilt.” Cody gave a subtle shrug. “Told him how it would look if he was the only brother not in attendance. And that it might be mentioned on social media, which could somehow make its way to the other hedge fund bros whose opinions seem to mean so much to him.”
“Seriously?” Dave grinned. “That’s brutal. I love it.”
“Roman’s been the cautionary tale all my life.”
“Not Grant?”
They laughed together.
“Grant’s a whole other level of caution,” Cody said.
They ate in silence for a moment, then Dave asked, “Hey, have you talked with Brady lately?”
“I’ve sent a few texts to check in and got pretty short responses.” Cody waved a dismissive hand, but his jaw was set. He glanced away out the window.
“You know he loves you. But Roman took him on as a project before you could.”
“Kind of like Sith training.”
“I have to admit, I’m impressed with the level of your geek knowledge.”
“You know who I’m married to,” Cody said with a chuckle. “I need to be able to keep up.”
“I’m glad you finally realized who makes your heart happy.”
“Yeah, me, too.” Cody slouched a bit and gave Dave a long look. “Is that how Ollie makes you feel?”
Dave wiped his hands on a napkin and sat back. This felt different from Cody’s usual teasing.
“You know how Oliver and I met.”
“Won’t ever forget that awful night.” Cody’s forehead furrowed, and cold fury flashed in his eyes. “I almost lost everything.”
“I know. And I just stumbled into it all with no idea werewolves or Bigfoot or vampires or witches even existed. Not yet. I had flown up here to broker a peace deal between you and Roman and then…”
“The hounds of hell were released,” Cody said.
“Pretty much. But I was lucky and found you in the middle of it all. I knew my big brother would do everything in his power to keep me safe. With your last breath, you would stand in front of me against a goddamn pack of werewolves.”
Cody’s eyes shone with tears, and his voice cracked when he said, “I would. No matter what it is, I would absolutely take it on to protect you.”
Dave nodded. “I know that. And I also know what you did that night to keep Demetrius safe.”
“Well, I pretty much failed at that one.” Cody scoffed and wiped his eyes.
“You didn’t fail. Demetrius took that on himself. And he talked it through with you, got you to see it was what had to happen.”
A muscle in Cody’s jaw tightened and released. “Fucking Nicolae turning him. I hope he’s burning in werewolf hell and howling at a full moon of fire.”
“I like that. It’s poetic.”
“Yeah, yeah. Where are you going with this? Are you just trying to make me cry?”
“Not at all. I’m telling you this because everything you feel for Demetrius, I feel for Oliver.
I met him when you and I found each other.
Talking with him made me feel calm. He admitted he felt like he was going crazy as well.
You were focused on so many different things, the most important being Demetrius, as you should have been.
But Oliver kept me grounded that night. And he still does.
When I’m with him, the world makes a little more sense, and I feel lighter. Happier.”
A corner of Cody’s mouth lifted. “I’m really glad you found your other half, little bro. And I do actually like Ollie, even though he gives me a hard time.”
“That seems to be a two-way street,” Dave said.
“Hey, I help him keep his reporter instincts sharp.”
“He’s not a reporter.”
Dave’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He slid it free and saw it was Oliver. Holding it up for Cody to see, Dave said, “I think we summoned him.”
“Like a demon?”
Dave glared at him as he accepted the call. “Hey babe, I was just talking about you.”
“Dave, I’m in trouble.” Oliver’s voice shook, and in the background, Dave could hear multiple people talking and phones ringing.
“What’s wrong? Where are you?”
Across the table, Dave saw Cody sit upright and reach for his wallet.
“I’m in the Glenmont police station. I’ve been arrested.”
At the station, Montroig turned him over to a detective.
He was a big man, tall and broad, but going soft after years behind a desk.
The detective tossed a case file onto a pile of others, sighed, and pointed to a chair beside his desk.
He introduced himself as Detective Carter and, after a quick search of Oliver’s bag, allowed him to keep it.
Carter also allowed him a phone call. Hearing Dave’s voice helped steady him.
Dave’s simple, “I’m on my way,” helped even more.
Dr. Brennan sat with another detective a few desks away. He caught snippets of her interview.
“It had to be him, I trust my team implicitly.”
“This is a priceless artifact, the body of an Egyptian scribe.”
“I don’t know where he might have taken it, ask him!”
She paused now and then to throw an icy glare across the room.
“All right,” Carter said, locking his desk drawers with a small key on a crowded ring. “Let’s have a chat.”
“What? Where? We can’t talk here at your desk?”
“Not with her shouting and shooting daggers across the room.” Carter stood and gestured for him to follow. “Come on. You can bring your belongings.”
Oliver followed the detective to a hallway lined with heavy metal doors. Were these cells? Was he going to be locked up? Ice cold fireworks boomed inside his brain. Dazzling sparks danced across his vision. His breathing was shallow and fast.
Carter stopped outside a door and opened it.
Oliver was slightly relieved to see it was only an interview room.
He sat on the side of the table facing the door.
The room was smaller than in movies, and when Detective Carter entered and closed the door, it seemed to shrink even more.
The man wore some kind of super masculine cologne or deodorant that was doing its best to cover up the smell of sweat, but he was apparently quite the accomplished sweater.
“Okay,” Carter said with a sigh. “Tell me what happened.”
“Nothing happened!” Oliver paused to draw a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I swear I didn’t do anything.”
“Uh huh. Walk me through it from the beginning.”
After collecting his thoughts, Oliver started with when he met Robin in class.
His explanation took longer than he’d anticipated because every so often Detective Carter would interrupt with a clarifying question.
Oliver finished up with dropping Robin off at their sister’s house before going back home.
“And your roommate Dave can corroborate this?”
“He’s my fiancé, but, yes. He’s on his way here now.”
“All right. Give me a minute.”
Carter pushed his chair back and opened the door. Air from the hallway rushed in, fresh as the first hint of spring.
“Someone actually stole Amenmose’s body?” Oliver asked.
Carter paused in the doorway. “Seems that way. I’m going to speak to the other detective. Do you need water or coffee?”
“Water, please.”
Carter left and returned with a small bottle of water, barely chilled.
Oliver sipped it as he waited. Had they already questioned and released Robin?
Who would steal a mummy? How would they go about it?
Did they just throw it over their shoulder and walk out?
Had the other members of Dr. Brennan’s team been brought in for questioning as well?
He unlocked his phone, not surprised to find the signal blocked. Opening the Photos app, he scrolled through pictures, taking comfort from the memories.
The door opened. Dave stood there, handsome and solid and safe. Tears filled Oliver’s eyes.
“Hi,” he managed.
Dave entered the room. Oliver didn’t remember standing up, but suddenly he was in Dave’s arms and trembling slightly.
“I take it you two know each other,” Detective Carter said from the door.
Oliver snorted a laugh against Dave’s shirt and stepped back. “Yeah, we do.”
“Well, that’s good, because Mr. Bower here provided your alibi for last night.”
“We were together all night,” Dave said, keeping an arm firmly around Oliver.
“All right, you’re free to go. But we may have some follow up questions.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Oliver said. “We’re getting married in a couple of weeks.”
“So soon?” Carter smiled, and it appeared genuine. “Congratulations.”
Oliver followed Dave out the door. In the hallway, he turned back to Detective Carter. “Have you spoken to the other members of Dr. Brennan’s team? Do they all have alibis?”
Carter moved past them, leading the way toward the exit. “We’ve been able to talk to all but one. We’ve got campus police working on tracking him down now.”
“Can you let me know which team member that is?”
The detective gave a tight smile. “Not on an active investigation.”
“I understand.”
When they stepped outside, Oliver was surprised when Dave led him off to the side of the front walk and pulled him into another hug.
“You okay?” Dave whispered in his ear.
“I’m okay. Thanks for coming to my rescue.”
“All right, break it up before they write you up for public indecency.”
Oliver peered around Dave. Cody leaned against the front of his truck, arms crossed and a devilish smirk earning him appreciative once overs from women and men alike.
“What are you doing here?” Oliver said.
Cody’s mouth dropped open, and he placed a hand on his chest. “Is that any way to treat your concerned future brother-in-law?”
“Probably not,” Oliver said, following as Dave approached Cody. “But it is the way I treat my past and current tormentor.”
“Tormentor?” Cody grinned. “I like that. Makes me sound a bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger.” He lowered his voice. “The Tormentor.”
“All right, leave him alone,” Dave scolded. “He’s been through a lot.”
“Did they put you in a cell?” Cody asked.
Oliver’s face flushed. “No!”
Cody waved a dismissive hand. “He’s fine. Until you’ve been held overnight for ‘probable cause’—” He made air quotes as he sneered. “You haven’t really been arrested. That’s always been Lucia’s go to.”
“Sorry my questioning didn’t live up to your ghoulish expectations.”
“Wow, someone’s sass meter is just off the charts right now,” Cody said. “I’m impressed.”
Oliver addressed Dave. “Again, what is he doing here?”
“Cody and I were having lunch when you called. He offered to drive, and he promised to behave himself.”
“I’m behaving just fine. Your fiancé is verbally accosting me.”
“Oliver!”
He turned, grateful for the interruption. Cody was the master of spinning things, and Oliver wasn’t in the right frame of mind to keep up.
Robin had come out of the station and was hurrying toward them. Their eyes were wide, expression tight.
“Did you hear?”
“About Amenmose going missing? Yeah, of course. That’s why we were brought in.”
“No, about Lucien.”
A mental image of the man flashed in Oliver’s mind: handsome with dark, almost black hair, and a pair of black-framed glasses. He and Dylan had gotten into some kind of competitive head-butting the night before.
“What about him?”
Robin took a step closer and lowered their voice. “Beryl just sent me a text. Campus police found his apartment broken into and him dead inside. Someone murdered him.”