world? “Recently the letters have been sent to the station and the phone messages have been left there. Before that, I got them in my mailbox at home. Then I moved downtown and stopped mail delivery. He must know my real name.”
“I’m sure he does,” Declan said. “It wouldn’t be hard to find out. He’d just need a computer and a good search engine. And it’s only a matter of time before he comes looking for you here.”
Panic suddenly exploded inside of her. “You have to stop him,” she said. “Before the whole world knows who I really am. This could ruin me professionally. No one will take me seriously.”
Declan reached out and grabbed her hand, then pressed a kiss to her wrist. Strangely, the simple show of affection calmed her. He reached out and smoothed a hand over her face, brushing the hair from her temple and tucking it behind her ear. “Don’t worry, we’ll get him before that happens.”
“You’re sure?”
“I am.”
Rachel sat back in the leather seat and took a deep breath. She’d have to trust that Declan knew what was best. If he asked her to jump off the balcony of her apartment, then she’d do it. If he asked her to eat worms, then she’d comply. And if he dragged her into her bedroom and demanded that she make love to him, then Rachel would have no choice but to do exactly what he wanted.
For now, it was best to follow all his orders without question.
DEC SAT ON THE LEATHER SOFA in Rachel’s office and pretended to read the latest issue of the
The good professor and Rachel sat at a work table stacked with books and covered with manuscript pages, the two of them hunched over their latest journal article. Dec’s gaze came to rest on Ellsworth’s arm, casually draped across the back of Rachel’s chair.
From the moment he’d met the man, there’d been an obvious tension between them. Rachel had introduced Dec as her friend and Daniel Ellsworth as her colleague. But it was clear that Ellsworth considered himself much more that that. He took every opportunity to brush against Rachel’s body, to touch her hand or pat her back. And to Dec’s frustration, she barely noticed.
A soft knock sounded on the door and Rachel’s graduate assistant, Simon Lister, poked his head inside. Dec hadn’t been too fond of him either, immediately pegging him as a snotty little sycophant.
“Dr. Merrill,” Simon said in a nasally voice, “there’s a phone call for you. Dean Wilson on line two.”
Rachel glanced up. “I’ll take it on your phone,” she said to Simon. Smiling at Dec, she excused herself and followed her assistant out the door. Dec decided to take the opportunity to get to know Professor Ellsworth a bit better. But to his surprise, Ellsworth began the interrogation.
“So, how long have you and Rachel been seeing each other?” he asked, turning in his chair and stretching his legs out in front of him.
Dec wasn’t about to give this guy any information he didn’t have to. “Not long,” he said.
“What do you do?”
“Rachel and I?” Dec knew what he was asking, but he wanted to see the guy’s response.
Ellsworth gave him a haughty smile. “Professionally. What’s your profession.”
“I guess you could call me a salesman,” Dec lied. He turned back to his magazine, hoping that his indifference might irritate Ellsworth. It did.
“You just don’t seem like her type,” he said.
“What type is that?”
“Intellectual. I always imagined Rachel would prefer an academic. She’s so focused on her work.”
“Hmm,” Dec replied, continuing to read the magazine. “We really don’t discuss her work.”
Ellsworth gasped. “Her work is very important. Rachel has a great future and I would hate to see her jeopardize it by confusing her priorities. Until she gets tenure here at the university, she has to work very hard to prove herself. And I intend to help her.”
“I’m sure she appreciates that,” Dec said. He tossed the magazine on the table, then grabbed his cell phone from his breast pocket, distractedly scrolling through the missed calls. “So what do you think of her? I mean, she’s hot, right?”
“Hot?”
“Yeah,” Dec said. “Hell, the first time I met her I thought, this woman is a total hottie. She was dressed in this-”
“I’m not interested in Professor Merrill’s…hotness. She’s a colleague.”
“But you’re a guy. You must have noticed. I see how you look at her. Hey, I don’t blame you. There’s no harm in looking.”
“I’m a happily married man,” Ellsworth said.
The moment the words were out of his mouth, Declan knew they were a bald-faced lie. There was no emotion behind the statement, nothing that would make Dec believe Daniel Ellsworth preferred his wife’s company to Rachel’s. Suddenly, Dec had a suspect, a man who had something to gain from Rachel’s fear. Perhaps he’d hoped that she’d confide in him, ask for his help or his protection.
Dec made a mental note to have his staff do a background check on Ellsworth. Every ounce of his experience told him that there was something not quite right about the guy.
“You know, I’m surprised Rachel didn’t mention you,” Ellsworth said, twirling a pencil back and forth through his fingers. “It’s odd, isn’t it?”
“Does Dr. Merrill usually confide in you about her personal life?” Dec asked.
“You answered a question with a question. Is there some reason why you don’t want to answer my question?”
“Actually,
“I protect Dr. Merrill’s interests here on campus,” he said. “I look out for her. I make sure she knows everything that’s happening, what people are talking about, who’s getting grant money, where certain professors are being published next. I consider myself something of a mentor to her.”
Dec snatched up another magazine, this time the
“Popular culture is the opiate of the masses,” Ellsworth muttered, turning back to his papers.
Dec chuckled. “Did you just make that up?”
“No. Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer first posited the idea. They said that pop culture is like a factory producing goods designed to manipulate the masses into passivity. Pop culture makes people happy and content, no matter how dire their circumstances.”
“Interesting,” Dec said, nodding. “Tell me something. Have you been sitting under any trees lately?”
Ellsworth raised his eyebrow. “No.”
“That’s odd. Because I’m trying to figure out where you picked up that big old stick that’s stuck up your butt.”
At that moment, Rachel strolled back into the office and smiled at them both. “Sorry, that took a little longer than I anticipated.” She walked back to the work table and picked up a page of the manuscript. “Now, where were we?”
Ellsworth shoved his chair back and stood. “Perhaps we should go through this when you don’t have any distractions. Call me and we’ll meet for coffee.” With that, the man strode out of the office, slamming the door behind him.
Rachel glanced over at Dec, a frown wrinkling her brow. “Did you say something to him?”
Dec shrugged. “No. We were just having a pleasant conversation. Getting to know each other. You’re aware that he has a thing for you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s married. I know his wife. Our relationship is strictly professional.”
Dec shook his head. “Don’t be so sure. I watched him-watching you. You and him haven’t ever been an item, have you?”
“No,” she insisted. “We knew each other in graduate school. We used to belong to the same study group. When
