Asha had decided to stay.
Though she had been in town only for a few hours, everyone seemed to open up to her.
Bold had made the right decision when he’d wrangled up his staff into the station’s boardroom for a pizza takeout.
To everyone’s surprise, Officer Jones had volunteered to pick up drinks, humming to himself as he’d stepped out. The paramedics, Justin and Stacey, had joined the party. Wilma had called Dr. Miller from the clinic. Nurse Norma hadn’t come, but no one seemed to miss her.
The shy doctor had joined in, stuttering and stammering as he told them about his favorite football team. While the others made small talk, Tanya observed every one of them.
Which one of you sickos left the threatening note on my Jeep?
If the culprit was among them, they were excellent actors.
Tanya didn’t eat much, anger and exhaustion overcoming her. The night before, she had tossed and turned, an unending nightmare whirling through her mind.
The heat of the blistering desert sun, the furious shouts in Arabic, and the potent smell of gunpowder overwhelmed her senses. In her dream, she was crouching in the ditch with Laura Fredrickson, as bullets rained around them.
The monster. He’s… coming back… for more…
Laura’s dying words echoed in her head as she held on to the girl’s hand, trying to keep their heads below the barrage of gunfire.
Tanya’s past was colliding with her present. And through those fogged-up hazy images, one question swirled in her brain.
Who’s the monster?
An hour later, after helping the crew clean up the pizza dinner, Asha and Tanya headed home with Max.
Tanya clutched the steering wheel, fighting to keep her eyes open, feeling every muscle in her ache. Next to her, Asha looked up from her phone.
“We just passed the town’s school.”
Tanya jerked up, alert. After a quick check in her rearview mirror, she squealed to a stop in the middle of the road.
Asha gave her an alarmed look. “What are you doing?”
Tanya did an illegal U-turn, turning her head to make sure she wouldn’t hit traffic coming from either end. A family sedan sped past, honking angrily.
Tanya swung the Jeep onto the side road. “Let’s check it out.”
“At this time?” said Asha, clutching the dashboard.
“See these cars parked along the side?” said Tanya as they sped down the narrow lane. “I spotted them when we passed, but I didn’t realize it was at the school.”
“That means something’s going on tonight,” said Asha as she checked her phone. After a minute, she flashed the screen Tanya’s way. “You’re right. There’s a football game.”
The game was over when they arrived at the school, but people were still milling on the grounds. The parking lot was busy with parents and children straggling over to their vehicles.
Asha shook her head. “You’d think they’d hold a memorial for their dead student, not a tournament.”
“That’s Mayor Bailey for you,” said Tanya. “He’s decreed all events should go as planned and no one can talk about the victim.”
Leaving Max in the Jeep, they got out and followed a group of teens making their way back to the school grounds, away from the parking lot. They were joking and jostling, like they were headed to a party.
Soon, the smell of marijuana and cheap beer hit Tanya and Asha’s noses. That was when they noticed the large garden shed at the bottom of the school grounds.
The teens slipped inside, giggling, without even realizing they were being followed.
Tanya and Asha stayed back, debating whether to walk in, pretending to be teachers from the opposing team’s school, when they heard the loud smooching nearby. They turned around and peered at the shadowy corner by the sports center.
Two teens were fumbling with each other’s clothes, kissing with more noise than finesse. The shirtless young man stumbled over the sports bag at his feet. A pair of sneakers and a phone fell out but neither noticed nor cared.
“Tim Patterson,” said Asha, recognizing the young man from the pictures in the case files.
“Laura’s body’s not even cold and he’s already moved on to a new girl?” Tanya’s mouth scrunched in distaste. “I’d love for him to be the unsub.”
“He’s just a kid—”
The girl’s high-pitched screech made them both jump. Tanya pulled her Glock out and whipped around, looking for what had frightened her.
“Perverts!” screamed the girl.
With a wild look their way, she pulled her shirt down and darted across the lawn, her hair streaming behind her. Tanya and Asha stared as she dashed inside the party shed and banged the door shut.
“You sickos!”
They turned around to see the boy jumping up and down in fury. “You were spying on us!”
Tanya took a step forward. “Tim Patterson? We’d like to talk to you.”
He replied with a rude gesture. “You chased away my girlfriend!”
Tanya holstered her weapon. “I thought your girlfriend was lying in the morgue.”
Tim stopped and stared at her open mouthed. His eyes wandered to the gun on her belt like he’d just noticed it. He gulped.
Tanya sized him up. Tim was tall for his age and well built, but he was the kind who loved to bark but had no bite.
“What…. what do you want from me?” he stammered.
“We just want to talk to you, Tim,” said Asha in the calm voice she reserved for the most sensitive of her private clients.
“Who… who are you people?”
“I’m from the chief’s office,” said Tanya. “We have a few questions about Laura.”
“What do you wanna know?”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
Tim swayed unsteadily, gaping like a fish out of water. Tanya waited for an answer with her hands on her hips.
Asha stepped up to him, bent down, and picked up the phone that had spilled out with the jumble of smelly shoes from inside his duffel bag.
She glanced at the screensaver of him with another girl.
“You’re one popular dude.”
“That’s mine!”
Tim lunged to grab his phone, but Asha pulled back and stepped away just in time.
“I love technology,” she said as she stepped backward, clicking on the photo app. “Face recognition software works so fast.”
“Gimme that!”
Tim took another step toward her, but Tanya’s stern glare and her gun stopped him from snatching his phone.
Asha swiped through the images. “My goodness. You must be dating all the girls in this school.”
Tanya stepped up to Tim. “Where were you two days ago?”
“How am I supposed to know?”
Tanya’s voice hardened. “Think.”
“Um… at football practice.”
“You were playing ball twenty-four hours a day?”
He stared at her mutely for a few seconds, then rubbed his eyes. “We were playing in the next town. We were gone for three days. I just got back today.”
“Which town?”
“Langley. On the peninsula, three hours from here. If you don’t believe me, ask our coach. I swear I don’t know what happened to Laura. She was gone weeks ago.”
“That didn’t worry you?”
“I thought she was mad at me. She’s super jealous. Our teacher told us she ran away from home.”
Tanya glared. “You never inquired after her?”
Tim gave her a strained look, but didn’t answer.
“You could have at least called her family,” said Asha.
“You mean that cleaner woman?” he spat out.
Tanya took another step forward, towering over the boy. “Yeah, the cleaner woman whose daughter you were dating. Didn’t it cross your mind to—”
“Oi!” A loud yell came from behind them.
Tim glanced over Tanya’s shoulders and started jumping up and down, panic in his voice. “Over here!”
Tanya and Asha turned around to see a bald man with large biceps march toward them.
“Coach!” Tim screeched, flailing his arms. “Help me! They’re going to arrest me!”
“We were doing no such thing,” said Tanya, giving him a stern look.
“Get away from my boy,” shouted the coach as he approached them. “Stop harassing my players.”
“We were just asking a few questions,” said Tanya.
The coach came over and stuck an angry finger inches from her face.
“I know who you are. Just because you work for the chief doesn’t mean you can come here and push my boys around.”
“We’re in the middle of a murder investigation.”
“The mayor will hear of this. Just wait. You’re fired!”