Page 12 of Line of Sight (Second Sight #4)

SEAN NICHOLS was as elegantly dressed as the last time they’d seen him.

He greeted them warmly and ushered them into his office, after telling his PA he didn’t want to be disturbed.

Rather than sit behind his desk, he gestured to the small coffee table and three chairs that stood near the window, through which could be seen the hustle and bustle of St. James Avenue and Copley Square.

Sean indicated the tall coffee pot. “I was about to have a cup, if you’d like to join me.”

“Thank you.” Gary took one of the chairs, and Dan the other. “And thanks for seeing us. I know you must be busy.”

“Running a hotel—especially one like the Fairmont Copley Plaza—can be taxing, certainly, but I am allowed coffee breaks, you know.” He poured, then handed them cups. “So, was the list of attendees useful? Have you started your investigations?”

“It was, and we now have a total of five murders to look at.”

Sean blinked. “Including Brad’s?” Gary nodded, and Sean expelled a breath. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? You want to ask me questions about Brad.”

Gary removed his notepad from his pocket.

“Yes. Specifically…. What can you tell us about his interests? When he was home, he used to like going on hikes. I already know he was a voracious reader—there are a ton of books at my parents’ place.

Did he have any hobbies I don’t know about?

” He paused. “I’d also like your opinion of him. I’m kinda biased.”

He wanted to see Brad through someone else’s eyes.

Sean smiled. “I get that.” He picked up his cup of coffee and took a drink.

“We started dating in ’93. He was funny, lighthearted, responsible…

. I cottoned on to the reading, though, right from the start.

He always had his nose in a book, but I soon learned how to…

distract him.” His face flushed. He cleared his throat.

“Anyway, we compromised. I learned not to bore him to tears talking about water sports, and he joined a club at college where he could talk about books to his heart’s content with other book nerds—I mean, readers. ”

Dan smiled. “Be very careful what you say.”

Sean grinned. “Aha. Another reader.”

“Who did he hang out with? Any students he saw a lot of?” Gary flipped open the notepad to the list Barry had given them. Brad had gone with them to the concert in NYC, right? So maybe some of them were his friends, not that he’d ever mentioned them, at least not that Gary could recall.

His chest tightened. We didn’t talk enough . Okay, so he’d been in his early teens when Brad went off to college, but they’d always been close until that point. Then again, Brad had his reasons for not sharing.

He was keeping a secret.

Sean stroked his neatly bearded chin. “There were a couple. Come to think of it, they were readers too.”

Dan stilled. “Would they be—” He leaned across and peered at Gary’s notes. “—Greg Collins, Amy Walsh, Jennifer Sullivan, and Jason Kelly?”

Gary liked that they were on the same page. Literally.

Sean stared at him. “How did you—Forget I asked. Yes.”

Dan leaned forward. “I know this is painful, even after all this time, but can I ask you something?”

He shrugged. “Ask whatever you like if it’ll help you find his killer.”

“Before he died… was there some indication anything was wrong? Maybe something on his mind?”

Sean stared at him in silence for a moment. At last he let out a heavy sigh. “Ever since the night of the ball, Brad has been on my mind. I’ve gone over the last three months we spent together again and again.”

“Why those months?” Gary asked.

“Because at some point during that time… he changed.” Sean frowned. “I haven’t mentioned it before because it couldn’t have anything to do with his murder, but now you’ve got me thinking.”

“In what way did he change?” Gary was no psychic, but right then his senses were suddenly alert, his body tingling.

Sean put his cup down. “He got… I don’t know… quieter. More thoughtful. He had trouble sleeping, not that he ever said a word about it, but he tossed and turned in the night. There were nightmares too, but when I asked him about them, he wouldn’t tell me.”

“Can you be more specific? Can you nail down the moment when the changes started?”

Gary had been about to ask the same question.

Sean studied his clasped hands. “Yeah. Early February, I think.”

“Did anything happen that February?” Gary scribbled a note.

“If it did, he never said. The only thing that sticks out is what took place the previous month. One of his friends went through a horrible time. His stepbrother died in terrible circumstances.” Another shrug. “Maybe his grief rubbed off on Brad.”

There was that tingling sensation again. The same murder they were presently investigating.

I don’t believe in coincidence.

Dan tilted his head to one side. “But you don’t believe that, do you?”

Sean raised his chin and looked Dan in the eye.

“No. All I do know is up until that moment, we’d been making plans for after graduation.

We were going to move in together. But suddenly he appeared distracted.

I don’t know what was on his mind, but something was.

Like I said, I never mentioned this to anyone because Brad’s mood change couldn’t have any bearing on his murder. ” Sean stared at Gary. “Could it?”

Gary closed his notepad. “If anything else occurs to you, please let us know, no matter how insignificant you feel it is.”

“I will, I promise.” The phone rang, and Sean glanced over at the blinking light. “Oh well. No rest for the wicked.”

“We’ll let you get back to work.” They stood, and Sean walked with them to the main door of the hotel.

They headed back to the car, both of them silent. When they reached it, Gary paused, his hand resting on the roof.

“I think Sean and Brad were a good fit. I’d like to think they would have been together for a long while. They might even have gotten married when the law allowed.”

Dan’s brow furrowed. “The fact that Brad was murdered so soon after Scott’s death….”

“What about it? What do your senses tell you?”

Dan stared at him. “That the two events are connected. I just don’t know how.”

Gary shivered.

His detective brain was telling him the same thing.