Never Alone by C. J. Carpenter Page B

Right now we’re focusing on the possibility this was someone Ms. McAllister knew.”
    â€œThat’s absurd. I don’t believe that. She didn’t have any enemies.”
    â€œWas she seeing anyone?” Megan asked. “Her mother was adamant that she wasn’t.”
    Katelyn stammered briefly, “She did that speed-dating thing a few times. But that was ages ago.”
    Megan didn’t hide her ignorance. “Speed dating?”
    Kate sighed at the fact she was about to have to explain the process. “You have ten minutes to interview one another and then you move to the next table. It’s kind of a way to see if there’s interest on either part. It’s not a big deal. But it’s definitely not something her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Westport, Connecticut, would approve of.”
    â€œWhere was this?” asked Nappa.
    â€œShe did it a few times, once in Manhattan and once in Brooklyn. We have a friend who lives there, so Shannon went with her.”
    â€œDid anything come of it?” Megan asked.
    â€œI think she went out on a date with one guy—it was a while ago, maybe a year—but nothing came of it. Like I said, she wasn’t the type to sleep around.”
    â€œAnyone else, anyone at all?” Nappa asked.
    â€œUm, I love Shannon’s parents, but, well, they didn’t know … um … everything she did. Well, certainly not all parts of her, um, social life.”
    They could tell Kate was stalling.
    â€œWhat do you mean, all parts of her social life?” Nappa asked.
    â€œI mean, well …”
    Megan could see how uncomfortable Kate was getting, not looking them straight in the eye, rubbing her hands. Exposing your best friend’s secrets can bring that out in a woman. Then it hit her.
    Megan sighed. “He’s married.”
    Kate lowered her head, rubbing her temples. “One of her professors.”
    Megan reminded herself once again that Lieutenant Walker was often right. There are selective things daughters share with their mothers.
    â€œI can’t remember his exact name, Bower or Brower, something like that. She was working on a research project with him. She was into him, bought the whole ‘miserable in his marriage, loves his wife but not in love with her’ bullshit routine. I think he was playing her.” Katelyn’s tone turned from sad to bitter.
    â€œPlaying her?”
    â€œTall, dark, handsome type.” She looked over at Nappa. “No offense.”
    He cocked his head. “None taken.”
    â€œHe had a lot of young female students fawning over him, a real rock-star type. At least that’s what Shannon said.”
    â€œDid Shannon fawn over him like his other students?” Megan asked.
    Kate cackled at the notion. “Shannon? No. Shannon wasn’t the fawning type.” They didn’t interrupt Kate. She was telling them things about Shannon only her best girlfriends knew. “Listen, you need to know she wasn’t that type of girl. Shannon didn’t go out with married men. This was the first married guy—well, the only married guy—she ever went out with. It wasn’t her style at all. She didn’t search him out. If anything, she was turned off by him at first.”
    â€œWhat changed her mind?” Megan asked.
    â€œIt just kind of evolved. At least that’s what she said.” Kate mockingly held her hands up against her heart. “She thought she fell in love. I didn’t even know about it until they were seeing each other five, maybe six months.”
    â€œWhy do you think she waited so long to tell you?” asked Me gan.
    â€œI’m married and she knew I wasn’t going to give her an easy time of it. I was the voice of reason … reality, really. I would have convinced her to dump him a lot earlier than she did.”
    â€œSo she broke it off with him?” Nappa asked.
    â€œAbout two weeks ago.