Deception with Murder (A Rilynne Evans Mystery, Book Two) by Jenn Vakey Page B

the morning.”
    Ben just shrugged, but Rilynne couldn’t help but notice his expression was more that of pleasure than surprise. “So he’ll probably be bringing it up tomorrow then? Boy, will the rumors start to fly.”
    “It’s a good think the no-fraternization rule was lifted, or we would both be facing the disciplinary board instead of just rumors,” she said.
    He fumbled his fork, dropping it to the floor, but he didn’t reach down for it. “What?” he asked looking suddenly confused.
    “You didn’t know?” She studied his face and saw nothing but surprise. “They abolished it in lieu of the aftermath from Nicole.”
    “When did this happen?”
    “About a month ago. Actually, Wilcome told me about it on the first day you went back to work, right after he made the announcement about the ceremony.” She paused, soaking in his look of pure bewilderment. Part of her wanted to smile, but at the same time she suddenly found herself almost terrified. “I’d have thought you would have known by now. It was pretty big news around the station.”
    “No, but I went to a conference that week and was gone for a few days. I guess the excitement had worn off by the time I got back.” He slowly ran his knuckles across his chin as if working something out in his head. It wasn’t until the waiter brought him a new fork that he seemed to snap back to reality.
    Despite returning to pleasant conversation for the remainder of the meal, Rilynne could tell that his mind was preoccupied by something else.
    *
    The sun had not yet risen when Rilynne pulled herself out of bed the next morning. She had tried to make herself fall back asleep, but found that she had too much on her mind. After turning on the coffee pot, she slipped on her sneakers and stepped out the front door.
    The chilled breeze hit her hard on the face, sending chills running down her back. She jogged down to the end of the walkway, pausing only to decide which way to go, before breaking into a full run. The cool air whipping past her seemed to carry away all of her thoughts as it went. Before she knew it, her mind was completely clear and relaxed. She had just rounded the corner when she was blindsided by a brief round of flashes, Villarreal’s cell phone and a map.
    Before she had time to see anything else, she found herself being knocked painfully to the ground. When the street in front of her came back into focus, she discovered a large tree rising up from her feet. “Great Rilynne,” she said aloud to herself. Using the tree for support, she rose to her feet and started back toward her house. This time, she decided to walk.
    The sun had just peeked over the tree line when she stepped back in her front door. Pulling her shirt off, she walked to her bathroom for a better look at the source of her shoulder pain. Her reflection showed the front of her right shoulder was scraped and bleeding. She also had a tiny cut along her jaw line. While spontaneous flashes had often caught her by surprise, she almost never had one during a time where she could be injured. She was just glad no one had been around to see her run full force into a tree.
    After showering and taping a bandage to her arm, Rilynne got dressed and decided to leave for work early. There was still an hour before anyone else should be in, so she would be able to surround herself by the case information and try to make sense of the flashes.
    The lights were still off in the office when she opened the door ten minutes later. She sat her purse down on her desk and walked back into the conference room.
    “A cell phone and a map,” she said to herself. She sat on the edge of the table staring confusedly at the white board. She closed her eyes again and concentrated hard.
    Shane was making a cal, and then the scene shifted to a tall tower of some kind. There was something coming from the top of the tower. It looked almost like a cartoon; there were red rings sprouting from the tip of it, growing