Chapter Twenty-nine

It seemed as if I had just fallen asleep when my cell phone began ringing. When I looked, it was past nine. I overslept.

“Buddy Steel,” I answered sleepily.

“Bad news,” Marsha Russo said.

I immediately thought the worst about my father before she went on to say, “Steffi Lincoln.”

“What about her?”

“She was badly beaten on her way to school this morning.”

“By whom?” I said, sitting up in bed.

“Don’t know. She arrived at Freedom General about fifteen minutes ago and she’s still being evaluated.”

“I’m on my way.”

“Me, too,” Marsha said.

The Emergency Room was jumping when I arrived at ten-thirty. The waiting room was full, as was the trauma center.

I was greeted by Head Nurse Jill MacDonough, whom I’d known since high school. Small town. She ushered me to the ICU where Steffi Lincoln was being treated.

“What should I know?” I asked.

“Well, for openers, it’s not life-threatening,” Jill said. “She was pretty upset when she got here and Amir put her on a sedative drip. Contusions and bruising. She’ll need a few stitches and that shiner will linger for a few days, but otherwise she’ll be okay.”

We stepped inside.

Dr. Amir Abboud was dealing with a rather mean-looking head wound. He looked at me and nodded.

Steffi’s mother, Selma, sat in the corner. When she saw me, she glowered, the look in her eyes ranging from angry to downright hostile. I motioned for her to step outside.

Once in the hall, she unloaded. “This is because you insisted on interviewing her. Without that, it would never have happened.”

I saw Marsha Russo heading in our direction. I introduced her to Mrs. Lincoln, who ignored her.

“What exactly happened?” I asked.

“You can see for yourself,” Selma Lincoln said. “A pair of thugs beat the crap out of her.”

“Who were they?”

“They were wearing ski masks. Steffi couldn’t identify them.”

“Were they swim team members?”

“I just told you, she doesn’t know who they were.”

“Did they say anything?”

“They said for her to keep her mouth shut. If she didn’t, next time would be a whole lot worse. This is all your fault. Steffi was right about you.”

She turned on her heel and headed back to the ICU.

Jill MacDonough sidled over to me. “Such a special woman,” she commented, with the hint of a smile. “And so smitten with you.”

Jill always had a smart mouth on her. “When do you think I can talk to Steffi?”

“Too soon to tell. She’s pretty gaga. How about I call you when she’s more compos?”

“Okay.”

“Unless, that is, you wanted to stick around and keep the mother company.”

I stared at her.

“I could probably scare up a private room for the two of you.”

“Jill,” I interrupted.

“Give you a chance to patch things up.”

“Jill.”

“Yes?”

“Quit it.”

She grinned at me. “I’ll holler as soon as she’s awake.”

“Something’s wrong here, Fred,” I said to the Freedom High swim coach, Fred Maxwell. “People talk but don’t really say anything. There’s a schism between team members. And now one of the girls has been assaulted because she spoke with me. Tell me what you know, Fred.”

“I’ve already told you.”

I had caught up with him as he was leaving the gym. When he spotted me, he became nervous. His eyes were unfocused, darting every which way. A thin layer of sweat broke out on his forehead.

“What’s a play party?”

“A what party?”

“Don’t fuck with me, Fred. You’re the cheese here. You know each one of these kids. There’s something insidious going on. Something that separates the good-looking kids from the less attractive ones. It’s caused a serious rift that appears to have infected the entire swim team.”

“Look, Buddy, if I knew anything, I swear I’d tell you.”

I was having trouble believing him. My gut was screaming there was no way Fred Maxwell wasn’t aware that something untoward was going on under his nose. Perhaps he didn’t know all of the details, but a cagey veteran like him surely knew that something smelled bad. And if he refused to acknowledge it, it was because he had chosen not to. I didn’t like it one bit.

“If you’re involved in this, Fred, even if only implicitly, and I find out you’ve been looking the other way in an effort to escape accountability, I’m going to nail you for it. I don’t give a rat’s ass how long you’ve been here.”

He glared at me.

“Think it over. One person’s already lost his life. A girl has been brutalized. It’s your show. It’s time you produced answers to just what in the hell is going on here. And real soon, Fred,” I emphasized. “Real soon.”