What on earth had happened?
And what was she going to tell the police when they asked her to give an account?
Chapter 3
Katherine had expected to sit alone in a small room, waiting for an officer to interview her under harsh lights. Apparently she’d been watching too much television.
That afternoon at the Moonstone Cove police station, she was led to what looked like an average employee break room with a coffee maker bubbling in the corner near a Formica table set. Several couches were placed along the edge of the room, and there was a small television tuned to a sports station high in one corner.
“Not what you were expecting, huh?”
Katherine turned and saw the dark-haired woman named Toni sitting in the corner. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a blue work shirt with Toni embroidered over the pocket.
“It’s not.” Katherine walked over and held out her hand. “We didn’t properly meet yesterday. I’m Katherine Bassi. I’m a physics professor at Central Coast State.”
“Fancy.” Toni smiled a little. “Antonia Dusi. Toni to my friends, family, and people I go through life-threatening situations with. Which is you.”
Katherine smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Toni. I just go by Katherine.”
“Not Kathy? Kat?”
“Katherine’s only two syllables, so it seems a little useless to shorten it.”
“Fair enough.” Toni had curly cropped hair and a no-nonsense demeanor. “You ever been to the police department before?”
“Uh…” Katherine racked her brain. “Not here exactly. I’ve been to city hall next door. You can renew your passport there.”
“Right.” She nodded to the glass window that looked out over the police department office. “My cousin works here. And I’ve had to bail some of my employees out over the years. It’s pretty low-key. I think Drew Bisset’s going to be interviewing us. He’s the detective handling the case.”
“I see.” Katherine cocked her head. “You’ve bailed out employees?”
“I have an auto shop here in town. Dusi Brothers? It’s my dad and me. Over the years, we’ve hired some guys who don’t always know their manners.”
Now her boldness made sense. She worked in a male-dominated field and managed a business. Though her stature was small, she probably commanded a great deal of respect since she came across as very competent.
Katherine took a seat on one of the couches seconds before the third person in their unexpected rescue squad came through the door.
“Hey, y’all.” Megan walked over and held her hand out to Toni. “Nice to see you again.”
Toni gave her a bemused smile, shook her hand, then turned her eyes to the television in the corner.
Megan shifted her attention toward Katherine. “Hello. Your name is Katherine, isn’t it?”
“Yes. And yours is Megan, and that’s Toni in the corner. How are you doing?”
“I’m fine! Sure glad I’ve been taking that kickboxing class, you know?”
Her smile wasn’t insincere, but it was a little forced. If Katherine had to guess, Megan was not fine.
Not that it had affected her fashion sense. She was just as color-coordinated as the day before, wearing a blue blouse that brought out the color of her eyes and a pair of wide-leg capris in summer yellow with a straw purse with blue and yellow trim.
Katherine motioned to the couch next to her. “Would you like to sit down? Apparently we’re waiting for the detective on the case. I’m sure he’s very busy.”
“Thank you.” Megan sat and clutched her purse. “It’s just all over the news, isn’t it? My kids were so shocked when they heard my name. My husband too.”
Katherine smiled, trying to set the woman at ease. “How many children do you have?”
“Three. My oldest daughter is eighteen, my son is sixteen, and my youngest daughter is fourteen. We just moved here from Atlanta about a year ago.”
“What brought you here?”
“My husband’s work. He sells agricultural equipment.”
In Moonstone Cove, the college might bring in young people, but agriculture still paid the bills. The Central Coast had one of the finest climates in the world to grow vegetables, berries, and wine grapes.
Katherine asked, “How do you like the area?”
Megan put on a bright smile. “I love the weather! It’s a little harder to get to know people here than back home.”
Katherine could only imagine. She and Baxter had lived here for years and she still felt like an outsider sometimes; though they had a close-knit community at the university, their neighbors still considered them the “new couple” in North Beach after fifteen years.
“And what do you do?” Katherine asked.
“Right now just… being a mom.” Megan flashed her “everything’s just fine” smile again. “I had an events-planning business back in Atlanta, but…”
“It’s hard to relocate things like that.”
Megan laughed a little. “More like impossible. How about you? Do you have any kids?”
“No. My husband and I are both professors, so we’re very involved at the college. We have four nieces and nephews though. Two in San Francisco and two in London.”
“Oh.” Megan’s eyes went wide. “What do you teach?”
“I’m in the biophysics department, which is an interdisciplinary department that involves people with degrees in physics, like me, but also biology, biochemistry, physiology, computational biology… all sorts of people. It’s very collaborative.”
Megan’s eyes were the size of saucers. Toni laughed in the corner.
“Damn, Professor, you’re like a certified genius or something. I could have sworn you were a football coach with that tackle yesterday.”
Megan’s mouth hung open a little. “That is really impressive. Wow. I bet you meet the most interesting people in your work.”
Interesting? That was one way to put it. “I’m on a research team right now, but I also teach. I really love teaching. I love students.”
“Cool.” Toni was engaged with the conversation again. “So did you know the kid from yesterday?”
“I didn’t recognize him,” Katherine said. “He was wearing a Central Coast
