It was turning into a banner first day. After she and Noah stopped by the justice building to pick up her badge, they were dispatched to the local high school, where a break-in over the weekend had been reported. So much for a slow-paced small-town crime rate.
The downtown shops and businesses of Resolute passed by Bree’s window as Noah drove through town. Well-maintained historic homes gave way to shotgun houses on small lots, and as they approached Resolute High, Bree craned her neck to take it all in. “This is a much bigger school than I imagined.”
“They built the new additions about five years ago, after they were finally able to buy the surrounding land for the sports fields.” Noah’s lips twisted to the side. “Would’ve been nice to have this when I went here.”
“Are all the fields just for this one school?”
“Gosh, no. It’s a sports complex for the area. Kids who live in the county, or in even smaller towns with no schools, are bused in for classes.” Noah parked in front of the main building. “And the fields are used by other schools in the county that don’t have facilities to host home games.”
As they walked toward the front of the building, Bree checked out the school’s entrance, searching for vulnerabilities in Resolute High’s security system. A surveillance camera, aimed at the front doors. Sweet. That camera would have caught the thieves if they entered this way.
Noah pushed through the front doors and held them open for her.
Unfortunately, no signs of forced entry indicated these doors weren’t the thieves’ point of entry. Bree checked her watch: quarter past ten in the morning. Except for those with free periods, most of the kids would be in class. She didn’t need to speed walk to keep up with Noah. He meandered down the nearly empty main hallway. Maybe taking a walk down memory lane, since he was checking out the glass display cases hanging on the walls. What was he looking at?
Each one contained sports trophies and pictures of the school’s star athletes for a given year. He paused at one, and Bree moved closer to read the names. The only player featured for that year was Nathan Reed.
“Relative of yours?” Bree tapped on the glass.
“My twin.”
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Noah, then the pictures in the display case and back to Noah. “You two don’t look anything alike.”
“Keen observation, Deputy.” His mouth pulled into a smirk. “Sure you’re not a detective?”
“Hilarious. It’s an interrogation method, wise guy. Stating the obvious. Gets suspects to talk.”
“So I’m a suspect and my crime is not looking like my twin?” Noah leaned in as if conspiring with her. “We’re fraternal, by the way—not identical. But don’t tell anyone. Most of the town can’t tell us apart.” He took a few steps down the hall, then turned back when she didn’t follow him. “Come on, newbie. The principal is waiting for us.”
But she wasn’t done looking at the display case. “Impressive. Football quarterback, baseball pitcher, captain of the basketball team.” Bree again glanced at Noah, automatically trying to peel back the layers of this man she’d be working with for the next week. What kind of man was he? Someone she could count on or just another class clown? “Weren’t you into sports?”
“I was.”
“Then why isn’t your picture in there?” Was it her imagination, or did his posture stiffen?
“Only star players for each year are featured, and Nate was the MVP of every sport when we were seniors.” The line of his jaw tightened. “If you squint, you can see me just there.” He tapped his index finger against the glass case. “In the team pictures with everyone else.”
She bent forward until her nose practically touched the glass and peered inside the case. Yep, there he was.
“Come on. Principal’s expecting us.”
Bree followed, almost growling when his pace once more went into hyperdrive. On purpose? She wouldn’t put it past him. Aggravating man. “So your twin—your fraternal twin, Nathan—is he also a deputy?” It seemed like half the sheriff’s department consisted of Reeds.
“Only one of the four of us who didn’t go into law enforcement.” Noah stopped at a door marked Principal and knocked.
“Come in,” a deep voice bellowed from behind the door, and Noah opened it. “Ah, good, good. You’re here.” A paunchy older man with a bad comb-over came out from behind his desk and shook their hands. “Seems like a dog’s age since I’ve seen you, Noah.”
“I’ve found it’s harder to get sent to the principal’s office once you graduate.” Noah smirked, then motioned toward Bree. “Mr. Jackson, this is Deputy Brianna Delgado. Today’s her first day on the job, but she comes with a lot of experience from the San Antonio PD.”
“That so?” Jackson gave her an appraising look, nodded his apparent approval and returned to his chair. “Nice to meet you, Deputy.”
“Pleasure is mine, Mr. Jackson.” Should’ve known the principal and Noah would be well acquainted. Everyone in this town probably knew everyone else. Bree assumed an impassive expression as she and Noah took the two visitor chairs. She pulled her notepad and pen from her shirt pocket, ready to question Jackson.
“Been to any of our basketball games this year?” The principal looked at Noah. “Heck of a season so far.”
“I’ve been to a few. Team’s looking good.” Noah leaned forward in his chair, arms on his knees. “But I made it to every football game. What do you think Armentrout’s chances are to get recruited by University of Texas?”
Jackson waved his hand. “He’s a shoo-in for the Longhorns. But I know for a fact Texas A&M wants him, and I’ve heard rumors Baylor will be throwing their hat in the ring.”
“Kid’s got a bright future, that’s for sure.” Noah glanced at Bree. When she arched one brow in his direction, he pulled out his own notepad and cleared his throat. “So, Mr. Jackson, what can you tell us about this break-in?”
“All I know is they hit the science, computer and athletic departments. I told the department heads to cobble together lists of whatever they found missing or damaged.”
Bree kept her pen poised over her pad. “Mr. Jackson, we’ll need to see the footage from your security cameras.”
Jackson gave a sardonic laugh. “Which cameras?”
“All of them. I noticed one by the front entrance when we came in, but there were no signs of forced entry.” Bree tapped her pen on the paper. “I’m assuming the perps entered another way, so we’ll need footage from all exterior doors.”
“Oh, we know exactly where they got in. Through the gymnasium door. Tried to pry it open, then broke the glass right out of it.”
“Wasn’t your alarm company alerted?”
The principal offered a pleasant smile. “Most incidents these days are nothing more than harmless pranks, like what you might expect seniors to get up to right before graduation.” He shot Noah a knowing look. “You can find out more about those from this guy here. True, he never broke in—but as I recall, he masterminded most of the pranks during his years here at Resolute High.”
“Why, Mr. Jackson, that is so not true,” Noah’s overly dramatic protest almost made her laugh. “You’re making me look bad in front of Deputy Delgado.”
That piqued her interest. But stories to ask him about another day. She turned to face the principal again. “May I ask what point you’re making, sir? About the pranks?”
Jackson stood, apparently ready to shoo them away.
Noah got to his feet, but Bree remained sitting. She’d obviously hit a nerve, and she wasn’t letting Mr. Jackson off the hook that easily. Keeping kids safe was a big deal to her, and it should be to this man, too.
Jackson must have realized she wasn’t ready to leave, because he plopped back into his chair. “We had some budget cuts about four, five years back and decided we could save money by getting rid of the monitored alarm system. Like I said, we typically only have pranks.”
Budget cuts that happened right when the athletic fields were purchased. Bree clenched her teeth and her jaw went rigid. Figures. She breathed in deeply, nostrils flaring as she struggled to regain her impartiality. But based on the principal’s reaction, she failed miserably. Damn her lack of a poker face.
The middle-aged principal sat up straighter, his face coloring red. “It’s the school board that makes those kinds of decisions, Deputy, and I make do with what I get. A situation I’m sure is quite similar to your department being at the mercy of Boone County’s budget.”
His point might be valid, but the decision to save money by sacrificing security wasn’t. “We still need the footage from the cameras.”
Jackson shrugged. “A while back we had some technical problems with them recording. It’s been on our list of things to take care of.”
“May I ask how long a while? A couple days? Weeks?”
“I’d say more like a couple years. We’ve just never had a serious need for them.”
“I know. You’ve only had pranks.” She stood. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Jackson.” Then to Noah: “Let’s go talk to the heads of the departments that were hit.” She left the office and walked down the hallway.
After a moment, footsteps followed her. “Hold on, Bree.”
She kept walking.
“Delgado, wait.”
She stopped and faced Noah.
“Is there something wrong?”
“You tell me.” Bree glared at him. “Your school board thinks it’s more important to build out the athletic department and fields than to provide security for the school itself, as well as the students.” She bet he regretted telling her about the school expansion now.
“Come on. This is Texas. You know—Friday-night football, barbecue, Lone Star Beer.” When Bree didn’t return his grin, Noah asked, “You were born in Texas, weren’t you?”
“I was, and I’m for all the Texas traditions.” She inhaled a deep breath, then exhaled, accompanied by an internal chant of You wanted a small town, you got a small town.
“Look, this is a small county, and the school district doesn’t have a budget the size of those in places like San Antonio. Everyone’s doing the best they can.” Bree opened her mouth, but Noah held up a finger. “And that’s another thing that’s different from San Antonio, where most people you deal with are strangers. Here, these people are our friends and neighbors. Sometimes for generations. Law enforcement in Resolute is true community policing.”
Bree huffed a breath of frustration. “The bottom line is, one of your so-called ‘friends’ or ‘neighbors’ now knows how to break into this school. If the principal—no, make that the school board—doesn’t stop prioritizing sports over safety and invest in an adequate surveillance system, statistics say the thieves will come back. And frankly, I think your principal back there has more power in this regard than he lets on.”
“That man in there—” Noah pointed back toward the office they’d just left “—has been the principal of this school for more than two decades. He’s always been trapped within the confines of the school board’s budget and always had to rob Peter to pay Paul. I agree, he needs to find money somewhere and reallocate it to school security. But let’s give him the benefit of the doubt for now. Maybe he’s hit a brick wall with the finances, and the board needs to answer to that.”
Bree opened her mouth, a retort on the tip of her tongue. Then she snapped her mouth shut and walked off in the direction she’d been heading. There was no point arguing with someone as stubborn as Noah Reed. Especially since he had some valid points. And some of hers were best kept to herself.
“Where are you going?” he called after her.
“Science department.” She picked up her pace. Let him catch up to her for once.
“See you there.”
Bree slid to a stop and looked behind her at Noah’s retreating back. “Why are you going that way?”
He turned his head around. “’Cause the science department is this way.” He and his annoying smug grin made a right turn down another hallway and disappeared.
Muttering a curse, Bree made a U-turn and followed him. Such an aggravating man.
NOAH SCOWLED AT the pile of swept-up glass in a corner of the chemistry lab. Wanton vandalism stuck in his craw. A darn shame to waste resources like that.
“As you can see, they broke a lot of glassware.” Joan Metcalf, the fortysomething head of the science department, was a barrel-bodied woman with an ample bosom, rosy cheeks and a dimpled grin. This morning, though, her grin was absent as she picked up a jagged shard of glass from the counter and dropped it into a nearby trash can. “But what’s on the floor doesn’t begin to account for all that’s missing. I’ve asked Mr. Jennings, the chemistry teacher—this is his classroom—to provide me with a complete inventory of the missing items. Should be ready in no time. He’s extremely organized.”
Noah stepped around shattered beakers and funnels. “Do you have a preliminary idea of what’s missing?”
“Well, now, that’s the strange thing. Looks like they took a bit of everything. Bunsen burners, mortars and pestles. There’s really no rhyme or reason to what was stolen.” The department head shrugged. “The biology lab is the same. Dissecting-tool kits, petri dishes, litmus papers... It makes no sense.”
“Will the biology teacher also do up an inventory list?” Bree asked.
“Has to. For the insurance claim.” Metcalf’s brow furrowed. “The physics teacher, too. Neither of their labs have as much damage. Even so, we moved all classes to other rooms so you can dust for fingerprints and whatever else you need to do for your investigation.”
Bree glanced around the room, and Noah could see the exact direction of her thoughts. Don’t say it. Don’t say it. “How many classes per day are in each of the science labs, and how many students per class?”
Noah inhaled. She said it. Tactful, Bree was not.
“Well, we have...” Joan faltered. “I see what you’re getting at, Deputy Delgado. Fingerprints would be a challenge.”
“Not a challenge. An impossibility.”
“But you did the right thing. I only wish more people thought about possible evidence being destroyed.” Noah smiled at Joan. “And, of course, it will keep the students from getting cut.”
Joan returned his smile. “Thank you. This is the first time since I’ve been here that anything like this has happened. It’s a bit jarring.”
“Yes, it can be, and I’m sorry you have to deal with this. Let me ask you, have—”
“Have you or the other teachers had problems with any of the sutdents?” Bree interrupted. “You know, someone who might have wanted to get even for a bad grade or recent discipline?”
“Not that I’m aware of.” Joan’s vacant gaze drifted toward the ceiling as she seemed to sort through memories. “I know there are students who act up in class or smart-mouth the teachers, but as a department, we try to handle it with humor rather than escalate the situation. Nothing stands out as having warranted this kind of destruction.”
“Thank you for your time, and we’d appreciate copies of those lists.” Noah handed her one of his cards. “You can email the inventories to the address on there.”
Nodding, Joan took the card. “Stay as long you like. As I said, no students will be using this room. But I must get ready for my next class. You know where to go from here?”
“Yes, ma’am, and thank you.”
“Please call us if you or the other teachers think of anything that might help.” Bree gave her a distracted smile.
Once Joan left, Noah and Bree went into investigative mode. As if they’d been partners for years, they seemed in tune with one another as they worked the room, making notes and taking cell phone pictures of the damage, all the while looking for the smallest shred of evidence that might prove useful.
Finally, Noah closed his notebook and tucked away his cell phone. “Next up, biology lab.”
Without a word, Bree returned to the main hall. Where she’ll have to wait for my directions.
Noah shook his head as she strode away, her gun riding low on her hip. Oh, man. You’re in so much trouble with this one.
He followed her, forcing his thoughts away from the fascinating view ahead of him. The week couldn’t be over fast enough.