Chapter 8
Evie glanced away from Cam in time to notice a plump woman with familiar facial features had stepped out of the front door of the high school. She abruptly grasped his arm. “Is that Beverly Jenkins?”
“I think so.” Cam’s brow furrowed. “She was a year ahead of us, right?”
“Yes. She and I attended the same college together, albeit a year apart. Let’s go over to talk with her.” She quickly pushed out of the car, then glanced at him over her shoulder. “Keep the car running for Bruno.”
“Okay.” He joined her as they approached Beverly, who looked at them in surprise.
“Hi, Bev.” Evie smiled. “Are you a teacher here?”
“Evie, wow, it’s been a long time. Hi, Cam.” Bev smiled and nodded. “Yes, who would have thought I’d end up teaching at the same high school I attended? But I really enjoy my job. Most of the time,” she added with a sigh. “The kids are getting mouthier as the years go by.”
“I can only imagine. It’s great to see you again.” Evie wished she’d thought through this interrogation. Asking point-blank about Dan Johnson might come across as odd. “I’m here to deal with my mom’s house now that she passed away from cancer.”
“I heard about that. I’m sorry, Evie. Your mother was lovely.” Bev glanced at Cam, then back to her. “Are you two together now?”
“Oh, we’re just friends.” Evie hoped her blush wasn’t too noticeable. “What about you? Are you married?”
“Yes, I’m married and have two kids.” Bev beamed. “We think Grand Haven is a great place to raise a family.”
Evie didn’t remember Bev having a boyfriend while they were in college, but that didn’t mean much.
Evie hadn’t dated anyone seriously either.
Until she was working full time at the hospital after graduating with her nursing degree.
She’d met Shawn Graves, a medical resident on the same unit she worked that first year, prior to her going to the operating room.
They’d dated for almost a year and had even talked about maybe getting married just days before she caught him kissing another nurse in the hospital cafeteria.
From that point forward, she’d avoided dating medical students, residents, or doctors. Which had narrowed the dating pool considerably.
“We’ve been walking down memory lane, just for that reason,” Cam agreed, speaking for the first time. She forced herself to pay attention to the conversation. “We ran into Jackson Dupree too. He’s a cop. Are there more of our classmates in the area?”
“More than you’d think.” Bev’s smile faded. “Speaking of cops, I heard the news about Skye’s remains being found in the nature preserve. It’s so horrible to know she was buried there all this time.”
“Yes, it’s a terrible tragedy,” Evie agreed. “I was shocked to learn the truth.”
“My husband mentioned they reopened the case.” Bev sighed. “So awful.”
Cam spoke up again. “I thought I saw Dan Johnson yesterday, is he still around?”
“Yes, Dan still lives here. Like I said, many of our classmates are still living here. I moved back after college. I think Dan stayed in town after graduation.”
“Do you know where he lives?” Cam pressed. “I’d like to drop in to say hi.”
“I think he’s—” She abruptly stopped talking when her cell phone rang. Glancing at the screen, she winced. “Sorry, I must take this, and I’m running late. It was great seeing you both again.” With that, Bev turned away, lifting the phone to her ear as she hurried toward her car.
“She was so close to telling us where Dan lives.” Cam muttered with a dark frown.
“Be careful, I’m sure many of our former classmates remember that you and Dan were far from good friends.” She turned toward her SUV. “At least we know Dan’s still here. That’s new information.”
“Yeah. I wonder who Bev is married to?” Cam followed Bev’s figure as she slid into the driver’s seat of her car. “Sounded like she might be married to one of the police officers.”
“That could be. I don’t remember her dating much in college.” Evie shrugged, opening the passenger-side door. “If it was one of our classmates, I’m sure she’d have mentioned him by name.”
“Yeah, probably.” Cam paused for a moment before he climbed in behind the wheel. “I would have liked to know more about which of our classmates still live here. Other than Dan Johnson, of course.”
“You know as well as I do that living here isn’t enough to make them a suspect in two brutal murders.
” The image of Jasmine’s face popped into her mind.
“We need to consider all possibilities. Besides, who’s to say the killer is a younger man about our age and in our class?
A forty-year-old man who’d started killing back then would only be fifty-four now.
That’s not too old to be a serial killer. ”
He shifted into gear and made a circle through the parking lot to head back out to the highway. “You’re right. We need to keep an open mind.”
She was glad he said the words, even though she knew Dan Johnson was still high on his suspect list. “Where to now?”
“I think we should head to the lakefront, the city beach area where we used to lifeguard. Maybe we’ll run into more of our former classmates.” Cam turned right out of the parking lot to head back toward the lakefront. “I thought it was cute that she assumed we were together.”
Her cheeks heated again, and she strove to sound casual. “It’s funny how people who are happily married think the rest of us should be happily married too.”
“It’s rather surprising you’re not,” Cam said. When she shot him an ached look, he lifted a hand. “I’m just saying, you’re beautiful and smart. I’m not sure why some guy hasn’t put a ring on your finger.”
“Because he was too busy cheating on me with another nurse.” The moment she said the words she wished them back.
She waved her hand, avoiding his gaze. “Forget I said that. It doesn’t matter.
I’m over it. True love and happily ever after just hasn’t worked out for me.
Besides,” she hastily added, “you’re still single too.
What’s your excuse? Did some mean woman stomp all over your heart? ”
The corner of his mouth quirked up in a half smile.
“Pretty much. I dated a female soldier named Glynna for a while, but she ended up getting out of the army after her first tour. We tried to stay together, but it wasn’t long before she told me she met someone else.
” He lifted a shoulder. “Not a surprise really. Long-distance relationships rarely work. And as it turns out, I wasn’t as heartbroken as I thought I would be.
Things were heating up in the desert, and I had bigger issues to worry about. ”
“Yeah, I can understand how you needed to focus on staying alive in enemy territory.” Time to change the subject.
“The lakefront will be busy; parking is always a nightmare in the summer.” Even as she spoke, she noticed the line of cars parked along the east side of Lakeshore Drive.
Parking wasn’t allowed on the west side of the street.
From there, she could see plenty of people splashing and swimming in the water.
There was even a sand volleyball game going on.
Fun memories from their lifeguard days.
“Hey, someone’s leaving.” He slowed her SUV as another car edged out of a parking space. He grinned at her. “Perfect timing.”
She had to smile back at him. Glancing back at Bruno, she knew it would be good to let the dog out for a while. After Cam executed a nearly perfect parallel-parking maneuver, she pushed open her door. “Open the hatch for Bruno, please.”
“Sure thing.” He did so, and the large German shepherd didn’t hesitate to jump down.
They had to wait for traffic to pass before crossing the street to the lakefront.
The sun was behind them, providing a clear view of the beautiful endless stretch of water.
Lake Michigan was so big you couldn’t see across to the other side.
The sandy beach of lakeshore stretched for a full mile, but most of the activity took place in the designated swimming area that was roped off with buoys to keep boaters out of the area.
There hadn’t been any buoys back when she and Cam worked as lifeguards, but she could appreciate the added safety feature now.
In addition, there were three tall white lifeguard stands with young, tanned guards on duty seated in chairs covered by red-and-white striped umbrellas.
“They look so young.” She eyed the two males and one female lifeguards for a long moment before turning to Cam. “Easy to forget how young we were back then.”
“True. Although it didn’t seem like it at the time. Remember how you jumped into the water to save that little boy?”
“Yeah, and you saved that older lady who had gotten caught in the riptide.” She smiled wryly. “We thought we were invincible.”
“We sure did.” He gestured toward the clear blue water. “There are way more boats on the water now than I remember from when we were younger.”
She nodded, sweeping her gaze over the boaters enjoying the summer day. They were standing in an area that was a hundred yards away from the swimming area, enabling them to see the boats and those driving them more clearly.
Bruno ran toward the water, then paused to glance back at her, as if asking permission.
“Go ahead, boy.”
Bruno didn’t need to be asked twice. He jumped right into the water, swimming in a circle for a while before heading back toward shore. She walked closer to the edge of the water to keep an eye on him. Bruno came out of the water and shook himself, spraying her and Cam with water.
“Bruno!” She laughed and pushed her wet hair away from her face. “I guess I should have expected a shower.”
“Hey, I don’t mind, the cold water feels good.” Cam grinned at the dog’s antics. “Has he always liked swimming?”