"Woot, woot!" hooted one of male students, triggering new laughter.
Deidre quickly masked a scowl. "We'll be right back," she said, as they shuffled out en masse, laughing and talking.
"Hey, you," Angus said softly. The room fell quiet, and the window behind him showed an evening sky the color of frozen blueberries.
"Hey back at you." Nat pulled over a chair, vaguely uneasy. It felt as if something had changed between them, but she figured it was her imagination.
"Love the boots."
Or not. "Now I see why you wear yours."
"Why?"
"Attitude."
"No, laziness. Attitude, I was born with." Angus cocked his head, eyeing her. "You look so happy. What's going on with you, girl?"
Damned if I know. "I had a couple of good classes today, and even my seminar went really well."
"Good for you! Making inroads, huh? I knew you would. They're coming around."
"Maybe." Nat felt happy inside. "It's just nice, is all. To connect that way."
"It's why we teach, isn't it?"
"Exactly." Nat hadn't realized it before today.
"What was the class about?" Angus shifted up on his pillow, interested.
"Gideon."
"Great case. Wonderful movie, too, with Henry Fonda."
"I believe it, because it's a great story."
"All cases are great stories, I think."
Nat nodded. It was fun to talk about work without having to explain everything.
"So what happened?"
"So when I told them the story of the case, we actually had a moment. I don't even really know what happened myself."
"They got it."
"Yes, right." Nat thought about it. "I taught it, and they understood it, and for a minute, we met somewhere in the space between us, between me on the stage and them in their seats. It was like the lecture had an academic hang time." She shrugged. "That's the only way I can describe it."
"How about love?"
Gulp? "What do you mean?"
"It's love. It's not that the students love us or that we love them. It's that we both love the same material-whatever principle you're trying to teach them-and in turn, it connects us." Angus made a full-circle movement with his hand. "We actually share that moment in time. It's a connection of human minds, and souls."
"Right." Nat felt caught up in his words, then stopped herself. Was she losing it? She had to get off the topic. "Well. Anyway, did you really mean it when you said that the car accident might not be an accident?"
"Yes. It's not a coincidence." Angus shook his head. "We were warned off, and the next day we almost got killed. If we put it together with what we think about Upchurch's murder, it makes sense. Some-body doesn't want us digging any deeper, somebody associated with Graf or the prison."
Nat thought of her meeting with McConnell. "Then here's another coincidence, one you won't like." She told Angus the news that he was banned from the prison, and his cheeks flushed as red as his bruises.
"Damn him! That bastard! He can't do that."
"McConnell or Machik?"
"Both! Either!" Angus's eyes flashed a brilliant blue. "That extern-ship program has served almost every inmate at the prison at one time or another. They can't just cut it off."
"Widener's going to step in."
"The hell they are! That's my program! What about my students? Those kids?" Angus pointed at the door, wincing as he tried to get up from the bed. "They benefit from representing inmates there. They came to us because of the clinic!"
"Don't get upset." Nat felt for him. "Lie back. Let me get you some water."
"No, thanks." Angus smacked the bedsheets in frustration. "I have to get out of here. I'm so cut off. My cell phone died. I lost my Black-Berry in the crash. I'm lying here like a fish, and they're undoing everything I've done."
"We'll take care of it when the dean gets back." Nat went to the bedside tray table, poured water from a tan plastic pitcher into a Styrofoam cup, and handed it to him, which was when she noticed a wetness in his eyes, a sheen that he blinked rapidly away. Her heart went out to him. "Here you go."
Angus nodded and accepted it, drinking thirstily. He cleared his throat, keeping his head down. Nat remained silent, standing over him. She couldn't see his face from this angle, only his tawny strands of hair. She let her gaze travel to the muscular roundness of his heavy shoulder, the cut of a thick bicep, and the freckles covering his arm, then felt her throat catch with a distinct, albeit unwanted, thought:
What a beautiful man.
"Thanks." Angus recovered and handed her the cup.
"You're welcome," Nat answered, getting back in control. "More water?"
"No. Thanks."
"Feel better?" She set the cup on the table, and suddenly Angus reached for her free hand. His hand felt warm on top of hers, connecting them, and she didn't move her hand away.
"Natalie, listen," he said, his voice husky. He looked up, his eyes dry and intensely blue. "I have to tell you-"
"Excuse me?" came a female voice from the door.
Angus dropped Nat's hand, and they both turned. It was Deirdre, leading the Mongol horde of students. She looked from Angus to Nat and scowled.
"Sorry to interrupt, but your dinner has arrived."
"Dinner?" Angus checked the wall clock. "It's only five o'clock."
Natalie, listen, I have to tell you… what?
"The trays are here." Deidre helped the orderly slide a full tray of food from the tall rack and brought it to the bedside table herself. "Dinner is served," she said. "Roast chicken, peas, and a salad. Yum."
Rrring! Rrring! Nat startled. It was her cell phone. She pulled it from her purse.
"You can't answer that here," Deirdre said. "Cell phones aren't allowed."
Thank you, India. Nat checked the display, praying it wasn't Hank, not here. But she didn't recognize the phone number. She opened the phone.
In the background, Angus was saying, "I'm sure it's fine, Deirdre. We won't bust Professor Greco."
"Hello?" Nat put her hand over her other ear and walked toward the door, while a woman's voice came on the line.
"Ms. Greco? This is Barb Saunders."
Nat turned and caught Angus's eye, mouthing "Barb." Into the phone, she asked, "How are you?"
"Not great. Can you come over tonight?" Barb's voice sounded so choked that Nat almost felt like crying herself. "I need to talk to you. There's so much I want to know, about, you know, the end."
"Yes, I'll come. What time?"
"How long will it take you to get here? I'm sorry about the short notice, but I can't risk another headache."
"I'm halfway there now. It'll take me half an hour or so."
"Thanks so much. See you soon," Barb said, and hung up.
Nat flipped the phone closed.
"You gonna go?" Angus asked, and Nat didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
"Please wait until I can go with you," he said, and the students looked back and forth, like stepkids between Daddy and New Mommy.
"She can't wait. Sorry."
"Then be careful." Angus looked disapproving. "Look out for black Ford pickups. Call me here as soon as you can."
"Okay," Nat said, grabbing her bag, as Deidre and the students closed the circle.
Natalie, listen.
Chapter 22
Nat steered the Volvo along the last stretch of country road on the way to the Saunders house. Raindrops pounded on the hood of the car and sliced the night in front of her headlights, which froze them like a camera flash, making vision difficult. She'd checked for pickups on the way, but none had a Delaware plate. Still, she was relieved to finally reach Barb Saunders's house. She parked, grabbed her purse, and, putting it over her head, got out of the Volvo and ran up the driveway to the front door. She rang the bell. The door was opened quickly by Barb's sister Jennifer.
"Come in! It's pouring!" she said, hurrying Nat inside. "Can I take your coat?"
"Yes, thanks." Nat slid out of her coat, trying not to get water everywhere, and while Jennifer left to hang it up, she scanned the living room. Duct tape crisscrossed the couch cushions where they had been slashed, and the computer workstation looked bizarre without the computer, like an eye socket without an eye. The children's books and DVDs had been returned to the shelves, but one of the drawers In the credenza hung by a screw, broken.