A floorboard groaned out in the hallway, and Nikki whirled, catching a glimpse of a silhouette through the doorway. Startled, she swung her legs inside and grabbed the flashlight as she hopped down from the ledge. “Who’s there?”
A deep voice said from the shadows, “Adam Thayer. Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I didn’t know anyone would be up here.”
Really? He just happened to come up to the third floor, to the very room Nikki had always claimed as her domain?
“What are you doing here?”
“Exploring.” He appeared in the doorway then, a tall, lean figure with eyes that seemed to pierce through the gloom until he found her. “It’s Dr. Dresden, isn’t it? I saw you on the bank earlier.”
Nikki gripped the flashlight. Why she felt threatened by Adam Thayer, she didn’t know, but that niggling familiarity unsettled her. “Yes, I saw you down there, too. You’re the one who found Dr. Nance’s body.”
He remained on the threshold as he took a quick survey of their surroundings. Was he noting how alone they were? How isolated this place was? Nikki didn’t want to be that person who eyed a stranger in town with unwarranted suspicion, but neither could she ignore the little voice in her head that told her to tread carefully with this man.
“I saw the vehicles drive off a little while ago,” he said. “I would have thought you’d left with the others.”
I should have. I really, really should have. “I needed some time to think,” she said with an uneasy shrug. “I’ve always found this place peaceful.”
“This place?”
Strangely, his incredulity relaxed her a little. She allowed a slight smile. “I guess that does sound strange, considering.”
He ran a hand through his clipped hair as he glanced around. “No, I get it. I think. If you want peace and quiet, you can’t get much more secluded than this. The view of the lake from that window is killer.” He paused. “Mind if I take a closer look?”
She stepped away, keeping him in her line of sight and the doorway in her periphery.
He walked across the room, testing—she could have sworn—the loose floorboard she’d noted earlier. But his hesitation was undoubtedly her imagination.
Propping his hands on the ledge, he leaned out into the breeze. Nikki studied his profile. He looked tall and lean and dangerous in the gathering darkness. Déjà vu taunted, prickling her spine and lifting the hair at the back of her neck.
Who are you, Adam Thayer?
“I can see my grandmother’s house from here.” His voice was a deep, rich baritone. The low timbre seemed intimate in the quiet room.
“In the winter after the leaves have fallen, you can see all the way across the state line into Louisiana,” Nikki told him.
He pulled back to glance at her in the shadows. “You come out here a lot, I take it.”
“I used to. Not so much anymore.” She surprised herself by moving up beside him and leaning into the breeze. The air had finally cooled and the lake looked soft and shimmery under a full moon. “When I was a kid, I could spend hours sitting in this window reading or just staring out at the lake. It was my favorite place in the whole world, though granted, my world was pretty limited back then.” She closed her eyes for a moment, letting the scent of honeysuckle and old memories whisper over her.
“You weren’t afraid of all those trapped souls?”
The teasing quality in his voice made her warm to him, but she didn’t want to warm to Adam Thayer. She didn’t want to feel anything for him tonight or ever. “I was never afraid here. There are far, far scarier things than ghosts.” Her gaze lifted to the scar at his scalp. “You probably know that better than I do.”
“I’m betting we’ve both seen our share of horror stories.” He turned, propping his shoulder against the window frame as he gazed at her in the thin light. “It’s always hard when the victim is someone you know.” A slight pause. “You and Dr. Nance were close?”
“He was a mentor and a dear friend.” She was amazed at how unemotional she sounded when tears burned behind her eyelids.
He folded his arms, seemingly at ease. “I got to know him pretty well before my grandmother passed away. He spoke often about someone he called Nik. He never mentioned a last name, only that you were a doctor. He was very proud of you.”
Nikki cleared her throat. “He was a very special person.”
“Yes. That was the impression I had of him.” Adam turned back to the window, staring out into the night with a brooding frown. “What do you think happened? The overturned boat would suggest an accidental drowning, but things aren’t always what they seem.”
Nikki struggled to keep her voice dispassionate. “I don’t like to speculate. Hopefully, the autopsy will give us some answers.”
“Do you really think it will, though? After that long in the water?”
“We have one of the finest forensic pathologists in the state on our team. If there’s anything to find, Dr. Ramirez will find it.”
“That’s good to know.” He pressed fingertips to his temples as he closed his eyes briefly. Nikki thought again about the shooting, about Tom Brannon’s suspicions. About how easily she’d leaped to a stranger’s defense because of her past experiences with Tom’s father. She liked to keep an open mind, but there were times when it paid to be cautious.
“Are you all right?” she couldn’t help asking.
He dropped his hands to the ledge without answering. “If I were you, I’d pay close attention to the toxicology screen. Minute traces of toxins can go undetected in cases where cause of death is presumed accidental.”
Nikki bristled. “I don’t presume anything. Contrary to what
