Down Came the Rain (NOW FREE!)

21

Chapter 21

Nick Lockhart's background check came back clean. So did the Google search. But that didn't mean the good professor hadn't done anything wrong. It simply meant he hadn't gotten caught. And Myles wouldn't put anything past a pervert who deliberately used his authority to take advantage of frightened young women. Who knew how many other students had fallen victim to his unwanted advances over the years?

The one piece of particularly interesting evidence Myles did uncover was that Professor Lockhart was a long-standing member of St. Michael's Church. He'd grown up attending services there, was an honor roll student at the adjoining private school, and it's where he and his wife had gotten married nearly nine years before. Both of his children had been baptized on the alter, and every other Saturday, he offered his free time organizing the church's local food bank. On paper, Lockhart looked like a model citizen—but was he? Myles wasn't convinced.

Some of the world's most hardened criminals posed as decent members of society. Providing charitable services one minute and the next minute assaulting unsuspecting victims. Look at John Wayne Gacy. Once upon a time, he'd had everyone fooled. Then he'd raped and slaughtered over thirty teenage boys over the course of several years. No, you could never be too careful. And if Hudson was suspect of her former professor then so was he. There was no reason for him not to be.

But to threaten her with passages pulled straight from the Bible? That's what threw him off track. Nick Lockhart might be an active member of the church, but did he really believe all that shit about submission? Did his wife? From what Myles had learned, Mrs. Lockhart was the vice president of some big deal advertising firm right there in downtown Chicago. Not exactly a passive role.

The pieces just didn't fit. He may not have been a cop for very long, but even he could see that. And why the hell was Frank acting so stubborn? More than anything Myles wished he could call his partner and brainstorm about everything he'd just learned. But if he did, he knew he'd be in for a world of trouble. Frank may have agreed that Hudson's a sweet girl, but he'd flat out told him not to get involved. More than once.

Shit! What the hell was he supposed to do now? The police department issued him a partner for a reason—so they could work together. The last thing he wanted to do was figure this out on his own. Hudson needed his help—and fast! The second break-in proved that time was not on their side.

Myles' thoughts drifted to the night before. To their date, their time alone in her apartment, Hudson's sudden request to make love—although that's not exactly how she'd worded it. He couldn't wrap his brain around that one either. What was with the sudden urgency? Every time he recounted the conversation his stomach dipped. Partly because it had been a huge turn on. What guy didn't want to hear those words coming from a beautiful woman? But he couldn't shake how uncharacteristic it was coming from her. Maybe Hudson had more experience in that department than she'd lead on. She'd confessed she hadn't dated much, but never said she hadn't had sex. And dating and sex didn't necessarily go hand in hand.

Still, he couldn't wait to see her again. If the timing felt right, he'd bring all of this up. If he and Hudson were going to get involved, he'd want to know her sexual history anyway. He'd have a right to know. And she should know his. Not that it was terribly exciting. He'd been too shy in high school to even attempt getting that close to a female. And in college there'd only been three girls he'd gotten involved with. He just wasn't one to sleep around. Maybe he was old-fashioned, but when he made love, Myles wanted it to mean something. He hoped Hudson felt the same way.

Stop daydreaming! You'll see her again soon enough. Right now, you need to focus on the professor.

One thing he hadn't looked into yet was Facebook. Perhaps Nick Lockhart had an account, and maybe, just maybe it would give him a lead. Myles pulled his cell from his back pocket and logged into the social media site. He sifted through several men all sharing the same name until finally he came across a man who worked at The Chicago Art Institute.

Well-dressed, dark-blond hair slicked back, mid-forties, handsome in a polished, slightly over-confident way, and more "friends" than the average person had on their friends' list. And judging from the looks of it, most of them were attractive, college-aged females.

And possibly the most incriminating evidence of all—in his profile picture, he wore a thin silver chain with a cross around his neck.

Bingo.

Not that any of this proved Nick Lockhart's guilt. But it definitely proved the professor wasn't afraid to befriend more than his fair share of women. That, along with the hint of religious references, meant he was worth looking into.

It wasn't much to go on, but it was more than what he'd had before. And one thing was for certain. He needed to figure out if Nick Lockhart was involved—before it was too late.