Shadow of Vengeance by Kristine Mason Page A

coincidental. My money’s on Rohypnol. Could be whoever took the boys wanted to make sure Bill was out of it so they could go back to the dorm room and clean up any evidence they might have left behind.”
    She nodded. “That makes sense, but it doesn’t work for me. The only people in and out of this building on a Saturday night would be other students. And that’s what doesn’t work. Wexman Hell Week has been going on for twenty years. This hall is filled with nothing but freshmen and sophomores. Some of them wouldn’t have been born when the first Hell Week student went missing.”
    “What about a maintenance worker? The broken lock is also a little too coincidental.”
    “But it sounded as if more than half the campus buildings had, and still have, malfunctioning locks. Why would the kidnapper take the risk of disabling all of the locks, then grab the boys when they were walking to the library?” She moved to the door. “All of these possibilities won’t matter until we get the tox screen results on Sean and Bill.”
    “Would a professor have access to the residence halls?” Owen asked after they left the room and she locked the door. “Specifically, a professor who pursues legends like Bigfoot and Wexman Hell Week?”
    “Dr. Collin Stronach is next on our list.” She pressed the elevator key. “Let’s find out just how far he might go to keep the legend of Wexman Hell Week alive.”  

Chapter 5
    Talking Bill into going to Dixon Medical Center for a physical hadn’t been an issue. Owen had been impressed with how Rachel had handled the security guard, giving him just enough info to prompt him to cooperate without telling him their suspicions. If Rohypnol had been used to drug the boys and Bill, with the little evidence they had, he didn’t want to see that information leaked.  
    While Bill took care of finding someone to cover his post, Owen drove Rachel across campus to meet with Dr. Collin Stronach. The professor’s office was located in Milton Hall, one of the many beautifully detailed Gothic buildings he’d seen during their initial drive through the campus. As he followed Rachel inside, Milton Hall immediately impressed him. With its grand foyer, numerous murals, and the imposing staircase framed with brass and mahogany rails, the building’s interior rivaled its exterior.  
    After they checked in with the building’s security guard, they headed up the staircase. “This building it beautiful,” Rachel whispered. “Now I know why the tuition costs a fortune.”
    “It’s nice.” He glanced at her and smiled at the way she gaped at the tapestries and furnishings with childlike wonder. Considering he’d worked for the U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, and their embassy was in the heart of Rome, he’d seen plenty of architectural and artistic wonders. Sure, Milton Hall impressed him, but it wasn’t exactly the Sistine Chapel.  
    “Nice? I’ve never been in anything like it.”
    “Why are you whispering?”
    She furrowed her brows. “Old habit,” she said, now in a normal tone.
    “Those Catholic nuns do like their discipline, don’t they?” He didn’t know if Rachel was Catholic or why he cared whether or not she answered him. But he did. Rachel made him curious. Again, he didn’t know why. Outside of imagining what her great ass would feel like in his hands and beyond imagining her kissable lips against his mouth, he’d been trying to decipher this strange and complex woman from the moment he’d met her. Confident, yet insecure, brilliant, yet naïve, abrasive, yet considerate…he simply couldn’t figure out what or who was the real Rachel Davis. He could care less about her religious preference or background, but if it led him closer to understanding this puzzling woman, then maybe he could stop thinking about her in ways he really shouldn’t be thinking.  
    “I did eight years at St. Ambrose, then another four at Holy Name.”
    He chuckled. “You make it sound like