"Hopefully, he's still here," Haley said as they got out of the car and moved up the steps to the front door, which was ajar.
He knocked on the door and then stepped inside. Harrington, dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt, came into the entry, carrying a large box, which he dropped in alarm when he saw them.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked.
"Agent Lawson, FBI," he said, showing his badge. "And this is Haley Kenton."
Harrington's jaw dropped, panic flaring in his eyes. His gaze darted past them, as if he was judging whether or not he could run.
"We need to talk to you, Professor," he added.
"I was just...I'm on my way to visit my sister in Portland. Family emergency."
"Are you taking your entire house with you?" Haley asked, waving her hand toward the stacked boxes visible in the living room behind Harrington.
"I'm taking a sabbatical," Harrington said. "To care for my sister. I can't miss my plane."
"I don't believe you're leaving because of your sister," he said. "You're scared. And you're on the run because Sabrina Lin was killed the day after she came to see you, and because you know we want to talk to you about Landon's death. You probably also know that Haley is Landon's sister."
"Yes. I remember you," Harrington said, his gaze moving to Haley. "I'm still very sorry about what happened to your brother."
"I don't need your compassion; I need answers," Haley said, shutting the front door behind her. "And you're not going anywhere until I get them."
"I can't imagine what I could tell you."
"Let's start with what you told Sabrina Lin," he said, drawing Harrington's attention. "You didn't act surprised when I said she was killed after seeing you."
"It was in the news. It was a terrible thing."
"Why did she come here to talk to you? And what did you discuss?"
"I taught a class in the law school on legal issues regarding cyber software. She was one of my students."
"But she didn't come here to talk to you about that class," Haley said. "She came to speak to you about my brother. She found out something that led her to believe Landon's death was not an accident. What was it?"
Harrington inclined his head. "She wanted to know about Landon's research, what he was working on that had to do with forecasting financial market fluctuations."
"What did you tell her?"
"That that subject matter was not part of the curriculum in my classes."
"But?" Haley pressed.
"But I knew Landon was working on something that would help investors with their strategies," he conceded. "Landon told me about his father losing all his money in a stock market crash and his subsequent suicide. He wanted to change the system."
"He told you about our father's suicide?" Haley said with surprise. "He never talked about that."
"It slipped out one night. We were working late. He was tired. But he was driven. He thought he was on to something that could be useful in preventing others from going through what his father and his family had gone through."
"After he told you about it, who did you tell?" Matt asked.
"No one," Harrington replied.
"You're lying," he said, noting the way Harrington's gaze averted with his answer. "You can't look at me or Haley now, because you're not telling the truth."
"I'm sorry your brother is gone, but you can't bring him back. You need to let this go. Look at what happened to Sabrina," the professor said. "She asked questions, and she's dead."
"Is that why you're running?" Haley asked. "You're afraid you're next? Why?"
