Chapter Ten
W ell that had worked out better than he could’ve ever planned. When he’d made the impulsive decision to visit the Lincoln Memorial to get some inspiration, he hadn’t even thought about park rangers having knowledge of the slain president. But as soon as he’d heard Vickie start talking, it had made perfect sense to him. He needed someone to help him on his quest for the documents, and who better to do it than someone who already had a working knowledge of the subject? Plus, it worked better that she wasn’t an academic. There would be no question as to who was in charge of the quest and who was assisting.
Hopefully John would have news for him once he got back to the office. If he could find out some of the details about what exactly Clark was after, that would at least point him in the right direction. And tomorrow night over dinner, he’d attempt to convince Vickie Harris to help him. He wondered if he should offer to pay her. Probably. Otherwise, what would her incentive be? And who knew how much time it would take. For all he knew, she could have a passel of kids waiting on her at home. A glance at her left hand had told him she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, but in this day and age that didn’t seem to mean a whole lot.
He finally arrived back on campus. Summer classes were over, and they were still a couple of weeks away from the date when students would start arriving back for the fall semester. The small number of people he passed on the way to his office was a welcome change from the bustling activity of the Lincoln Memorial. If he had to go there every day, he’d probably have a nervous breakdown.
Amanda Joyner poked her head into his office no more than a minute after he’d collapsed in his chair. Amanda was the department secretary, but everyone knew she ran the place. She’d been around forever and knew all the ins and outs of university politics. Amanda also wrote mystery novels on the side, and whenever anyone crossed her, she’d threaten to kill them off in her next book. “Thatch, you’ve had two phone calls. . .” she trailed off and smiled at him.
“Okay.” He looked blankly at her. “What’s the problem?”
She stared back at him with wide eyes. “It was the same woman both times. I’m not sure what she wanted. She didn’t leave a name or message.” She peered at him. “Were you expecting a call?” she asked, lowering her voice like they were sharing a secret.
He shook his head. It figured that some woman would call while he was out. If he’d been in, no one would’ve known. But when he was out, his calls rolled over to Amanda. He glanced at her cat-who-ate-the-canary-grin. “I wasn’t expecting a call.” His voice was gruff. “It was likely a helicopter parent of one of my incoming freshman.” Every year they got worse and worse. At this point, it wouldn’t surprise him if he had to start putting more chairs in his classroom in case parents wanted to observe their kids in college and post photos of them on Facebook. Look at my baby boy taking his first college history exam . It was out of control.
She raised an eyebrow. “If you say so. I was hoping maybe you’d finally found a lady friend.” Her broad smile spoke volumes.
It was beyond him why his personal life was ever the topic of conversation around campus. He’d dealt with quite a few rumors through the years, but none had ever had any merit. Since when was it a crime for a man to be single and in his late thirties? “I’m certain. But thanks for your concern.” He grinned. “Have you decided on your next victim?”
Her mouth twisted into a smirk. “I haven’t written the murder scene yet, but after that faculty meeting the other day, I’ll bet I know who gets your vote to be the victim.” As usual, Amanda never missed anything that went on in the history department. “If it makes you feel any better, I can vouch for you. I’m the one who goes over all the course evaluations. Yours are as high as anyone else on staff. Higher than most.”
“Thanks. That’s the kind of gossip I might need you to spread around.” He chuckled.
“No problem.” She winked and spun on her heel, leaving him alone.
He sighed and flipped on the computer. A ton of work-related e-mail messages to wade through waited for him. Everything was electronic now, from turning in class syllabi to end-of-semester grades. Even John gave him a hard time about sounding like a grumpy old man when it came to technology. But Thatcher couldn’t help but worry about the detrimental effect it was having on society. As a historian, he tried to look at things from a global view. And in his opinion, although people were constantly connected what with their iPhones and tablets, they were connected on a much less personal level. There was less interaction. It drove him crazy when he had to call an 800 number and couldn’t reach a real-live person. Sometimes it seemed that what was being touted as “progress” might actually be just the opposite.
His students were prime examples. They could win contests for sending the fastest texts, but many of them had a hard time carrying on a conversation. And forget debating facts. Students today seemed to value feelings over facts. There had to be a balance.
A rap at the door pulled him away from his thoughts. “I’ve got news.” John looked gleeful as he closed the door behind him.
“That makes two of us.” Thatcher said. “I met up with a park ranger today who I think might be able to help me, or at least be able to point me in the right direction.”
John looked sheepish. “I wish I had time to help, man.” He shook his head. “Megan would kill me though.”
Thatcher laughed. “I don’t want to get you in trouble with the wife. Besides, Avery will only be young once. I wouldn’t dream of keeping you away from her.”
“I know. Her favorite word right now is daddy and it makes me melt. I swear, it’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.”
Thatcher nodded. “I would imagine so.” He cleared his throat. “So, what’s your news?”
“Well, it might not pan out. But you know the guy who I told you was playing racquetball the other day with Clark’s grad assistant?”
“Yeah?”
“He and I have a game scheduled for later today. I’m going to try to dig for some dirt. You know how those grad assistants like to talk about what they’re working on. I’m hoping to slip in some questions about Clark and see if he falls for it.”
“Nice.” Thatcher grinned. “See, even if you don’t have much spare time, you can still pitch in.”
John made a face. “It if keeps Clark from becoming Department Chair, I’m in. And I’m in no position to go after the chairmanship myself, what with just starting a family.” He nodded at Thatcher. “So that means I’m throwing all my weight behind you.” He stood. “By the way, Amanda was all in a tizzy earlier looking for you.”
“She already stopped in. Said a ‘mysterious’ woman called for me twice.” Thatcher emphasized the word by making italics with his fingers.
John raised his eyebrows. “You’re not holding out on me, are you? Besides, if I remember correctly, you’ve already had your one allotted dinner date for the year.”
“That isn’t a hard-and-fast rule. It’s just worked out that way these past few years.”
“Whatever. Your outlook on the female species mystifies me. Didn’t you ever consider settling down?”
“A lifetime ago. Some of us were meant to walk through life alone. I’m like a lone wolf.”
John rolled his eyes. “If the right woman ever comes along, you’ll be in as much trouble as the rest of us. So who was the mystery woman, anyway?”
“Didn’t leave her name. Probably a parent.”
John nodded. “Probably.” He opened the door, then turned to face Thatcher. “I’ll let you know how racquetball goes. And if I don’t see you again, good luck with the park ranger.”
Thatcher nodded and watched his friend leave. He’d conveniently left out the part where the park ranger he was meeting happened to be female, attractive, and smart. After all, he was planning to ignore that part himself and focus only on business. That outlook had served him well these past years and he saw no reason for it to change now.