The guy definitely didn’t belong in the dorm. I pegged him for about a decade older than me—too young to be a parent and too old to be a student. He also wasn’t the kind of man who would blend into the background. With his dark hair, scruffy beard, aviator sunglasses, tall, muscular body, leather jacket, and animalistic prowl, he was guaranteed to draw the attention of every woman whose path he crossed.
My breath stalled in my lungs when he glanced toward me as he shut Stacey’s door behind him. I couldn’t tell what was going on behind the darkened lenses covering his eyes, but I had the sneaking suspicion he was checking me out as closely as I had done with him. A shiver raced up my spine, and I tried to convince myself that it was because of his dangerous air and not a reaction to the possibility that he was attracted to me.
“Are you a cop? Has enough time passed for you guys to finally put some effort into looking for Stacey?” My gaze drifted down his torso, and I took a step back when I didn’t see a badge clipped at his waist.
He must’ve recognized my fear because he lifted his hands, palms facing me in a placating gesture. “I’m not a cop, but I am checking into what happened to the girl who used to live here.”
“I guess that ‘used to live here’ is the polite way to describe what happened to Stacey,” I scoffed with a shake of my head as I tried to keep a handle on my reaction to his raspy growl. “But it’s not how I’d describe it.”
He pulled his sunglasses off, and I felt as though I was pinned into place by his dark stare. “How would you put it?”
I narrowed my eyes, trying to decide if telling him my suspicions was worth the effort. Nobody else seemed to care that Stacey was missing, and he looked like a guy who could get things done, so I decided to go for it. “I would say that Paul Barrington had something to do with whatever happened to her, and that’s why nobody is willing to do anything about it. Stacey went to the cops about him a month ago because he was harassing her over something. She wouldn’t give me any details because she said I’d be in danger if I knew too much, but I’ve heard enough rumors around campus to hazard an educated guess.”
Most people would’ve been shocked by my accusation, but the only reaction I got from him was a muscle jumping in his jaw. “What do you suspect Barrington did to your neighbor?”
“I think he was pressuring her into either selling drugs or pimping herself. I’ve heard that he goes after vulnerable girls who don't have anyone to speak up for them.” My grip on my travel mug tightened as I thought about how excited Stacey had been when Paul first started paying attention to her. “He pretends to be into them—asking them out on dates, taking them to nice restaurants, sending flowers. Whatever it takes until he’s got the girl convinced that he only wants the best for them, and that’s when he goes in for the kill.”
The guy took a step toward me, and I backed up again. Although I was spilling my guts to him, he was still a stranger, and I was acutely aware of my vulnerability after Stacey’s disappearance. He held completely still as my doorknob pushed against the middle of my back. “You seem certain that Barrington is responsible for the girl’s disappearing act.”
“It’s not an act,” I hissed. “Getting her degree was too important to Stacey for her to risk messing up her grades. She’s here on scholarship, and the school will pull her funding if her average falls below a three point four. Before she met Paul, Stacey hadn’t missed a single class in three semesters. She even went when she was sick. There’s no way she wouldn’t have let her professors know if she was going to be gone, and I know she didn’t reach out to any of them because I asked.”
Dimples appeared in his cheeks when he frowned, making him even more attractive. “And you already went to the cops with your suspicions?”
“Yup.” I let the P at the end pop, and his eyes darkened when his gaze dropped to my lips. I barely resisted the urge to wet them with my tongue before I added, “And the police didn’t want to hear any of it since Stacey is an adult. Pretty much all they did was pull up her record. They told me she had a history of running away from foster homes when she was younger so she probably did the same now. Without any proof that something actually happened to her, they filed a missing person’s report and promptly put it at the bottom of the pile. I don’t think they even bothered to check the nearest hospitals since I’d already called around.”