KEITH INSTRUCTED SKYLER TO STRIP OFF THEIR gloves and toss them into the bin.
“Keith!” he whispered desperately, pulling off his gloves with shaky hands. The gloves were suddenly like glue and wouldn’t come off. “What do we do?”
“We stay calm, and we put our hands up. No sudden moves. I’ll go first.”
He pulled out his badge and held it high along with his other hand. Skyler, heart in his throat, held up his hands too.
Keith yelled at the front door. “I’m FBI and I’m going to open the door and do exactly as you say, okay?”
“Open the door,” said the cop on the other side.
Keith grabbed the knob and turned one last time to Skyler. “We’re gonna be okay,” he said quietly. “Follow my lead and don’t say anything until I do.”
Mutely, Skyler nodded.
Keith pushed open the door slowly. “I’m holding up my badge,” he said loudly.
Once the door was open Skyler could see the flashing lights of the squad car. There were two cops, illuminated by the outdoor lights of the museum. Both officers were pointing their guns and flashlights at Keith.
Skyler kept admonishing himself for putting Keith in this situation. What if something happened to him? It would all be Skyler’s fault. He was an idiot. He really didn’t know what he was doing. Why did he keep doing these things?
Keith blocked the doorway. Skyler realized he was shielding him in case it went south.
One of the officers gestured with his free hand while still training his gun on Keith. “Let’s have the badge.”
Keith handed over the folded leather with his ID and kept both hands up. He was calm, at least he looked calm on the outside. But Skyler could tell that his breathing had sped up and his jaw muscles had tensed.
The one officer looked at his badge, looked at Keith, then studied the badge again.
“We’re friends with homicide detective Sidney Feldman if that helps,” said Keith.
The cop’s head snapped up. “Detective Feldman?” He read Keith’s badge again. “Keith Fletcher. I think I’ve heard her mention you. Who’s with you?”
“S-Skyler Foxe.” said Skyler, uncertainly. He nudged Keith aside. Skyler kept his hands up. “I’m Detective Feldman’s friend. Skyler Foxe?”
Finally, both officers lowered their weapons. The first one handed back Keith’s badge. “What are you two doing here? We got a call that someone was sneaking into the museum.”
Damn! Skyler never counted on nosy neighbors.
Keith stuffed his badge away and lowered his arms. “You might have heard that the director of this museum died the other day. It was determined it was a homicide. There have also been some items missing from the museum and the Bureau thought it might be connected.”
A little white lie, but Skyler saw the reason in is keeping his mouth shut while Keith wove his tale.
“Skyler here works at the museum. In fact, he’s acting director until they can hire a new one. He let me in.”
A flashlight was shined in Skyler’s face.
“Oh yeah,” said the officer. “I recognize you. You guys could have warned us.”
“We didn’t think it was necessary. We’re all done for now. Can we go?”
The guns were holstered and the other officer was radioing in the all clear on his shoulder set.
“I don’t see why not. Bureau’s investigating the thefts?”
“We’re looking into an Interpol connection. These are one-of-a-kind objects. Americana. The Bureau doesn’t look too kindly on them leaving the country.”
“Hell no. Abraham Lincoln.” He stuck his head in and gave a quick look. “I’ve never been here myself but I suppose I should give it a visit.”
“It’s free,” said Skyler shakily, getting his breath back. “Open from one to five every day.”
He smiled and tipped his hand in a salute to Skyler. “I’ll do that. Here.” He reached into his pocket for a business card and handed it to Skyler. It read Officer Frank Carey and a phone number. “Call me first next time. You gentlemen have a good night.”
“You, too, officer,” said Keith in his most officious manner. They watched the cops retreat to their squad car. Keith waved, friendly but professional, until the officers got in their car and drove off.
He dropped the façade.
“You told a lot of lies there,” said Skyler, relieved.
“Some whoppers. We’d better get out of here. Can we leave by the front?”
“Might as well.” Skyler let Keith by him as he pulled the doors closed. He input the number on the keypad.
Keith got in close and examined it. “Can you reset the code?”
“I guess so. I have the instructions in there somewhere.”
“Maybe you should do that. But don’t give it to anyone else just yet.”
“And how do I explain that?”
“Tell them it’s protocol. Do you think they’ll question you?”
“I don’t know. Jerome won’t like it. If he ever comes back.”
“Then do it now, Skyler. Go back in and get the instructions.”
Skyler grumbled as he keyed in the code again. He passed through the darkened museum to the office, switched on the light since it didn’t matter anymore, and rummaged through the files until he found the instructions and pulled them out.
He walked slowly back to the front door with his nose in the papers when Keith snatched it out of his hands.
“Hey!”
“Sorry, it’s just that I have a lot of experience with these things.” Keith zipped through it and nodded his head. “Pretty standard. Here’s what you do.” He explained it to Skyler and when Skyler picked another code, he entered it and checked that it worked. He then called the alarm company and verified the new code.
“No one gets the new code, Skyler. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it. I just think everyone is going to be pissed off at me.”
“Only the thief will be.”
“Oh! Good thinking!”
“Let’s get out of here before the nosy neighbors call the cops again.”
They got into the truck and headed back home.
* * *
Skyler brooded in the living room in the dark.
“Skyler! Come to bed,” said Keith from the other room.”
“In a minute.”
“Skyler, you aren’t going to solve this crime having spent two minutes at the museum.”
“I know! I just…what did we learn from that little trip anyway?”
There was a rustling from the other room and then Keith appeared in the doorway, hair pleasantly ruffled, bare-chested in wrinkled boxers. He scrubbed at his hair. “You learned that someone was able to steal something right out from under your noses.”
“Yeah. About that. I am positive those opera glasses were there when I left. Almost positive. It wasn’t written down as missing, anyway. So someone clearly broke in right after we closed.”
“But you also learned that it isn’t so easy to get in there after hours because of nosey neighbors.”
Skyler sat up. “That’s right,” he said thoughtfully. “They would have been spotted, too. So how did they do it?” He snapped his fingers. “I bet they used the cover of the Redlands Bowl! With all these people coming and going across lawns and parking lots, who would notice if someone got into the museum? Oh man. I wonder if these things were stolen on Tuesdays and Fridays. I bet they were. I’ll ask at the museum tomorrow. What a scam!”
“I think maybe you’re right. That would be the easiest method.”
“Will you buy the cameras tomorrow while I’m at the museum? And then we can install them after hours. Tomorrow’s Thursday. We can certainly test my theory on Saturday.”
“Great. Now can we go to bed?”
Skyler glanced at Keith sidelong. “Why? Is there something in particular you wanted from me?” He batted his lashes.
Keith’s features softened. “As a matter of fact, there just might be. How did that attacking thing go again? I’m supposed to grab you from behind…” He lunged for Skyler, and laughing, Skyler ran for the bedroom.
* * *
After a morning of workshops Skyler got to the museum half an hour early. That way he figured he wouldn’t have to explain about the code yet. In fact, if he put himself on the schedule for the rest of his run he wouldn’t have to explain it until school started.
He set up his laptop in the office and set his folders next to it. He had already turned in his lesson plans, but he had some coordination to do. And lots of curriculum tweaking.
But before he did all that, he grabbed the clipboards of the missing exhibits. Randi and Rob had even noted when they noticed them turn up missing, and when Skyler compared the dates to the days of the week…sure enough. They happened Wednesday and Saturday, the days after the Redlands Bowl had its concerts. So he must have been mistaken about the opera glasses. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
“You certainly are.”
Skyler jerked back in his seat, pressing a hand to his racing heart. “Jeez, Jerome. You scared me.”
“Yeah, you’re getting somewhere. Getting comfortable in my uncle’s chair?”
“Look, Jerome.” He stood, edging away from the offending desk. “I didn’t know any of that was going to happen…”
“Sure you didn’t. ‘Course not. That’s why you flexing there and I’m looking for another job.”
“Jerome, you shouldn’t…”
“Look, I get it. I know how it is. This is Redlands. Lily-white Redlands.”
“Oh, now that’s out of line. You know perfectly well…”
“I don’t know shit, Skyler. How many board members are black, huh?”
Skyler paused. Jerome had a point as far as that went. And it made him think about the school and how many African American teachers there were. Not many.
“I…I can’t speak for the board but everyone here…” Everyone here apparently didn’t like Jerome. But that didn’t make them racists. He let his sentence drop away. “Look, Jerome. Don’t do anything drastic, okay? In a week, I’ll be back in school and then things will go back to some kind of normal, I guess.”
“For you. But I’m assed out of my job, and on top of that, I’m been told my uncle was murdered.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“You know?”
“Um…I was told. Because I found Lester…”
“I see.” He stared at the floor.
The silence went on uncomfortably. Skyler reached for the schedule for something to do. “You aren’t on the schedule for the day. Did you want to hang around anyway?”
He snorted a humorless laugh. “Why the hell would I do that? Later, Foxe.”
He pushed Skyler aside making his way out of the office. Skyler was beginning to see what the others complained about.
Seth walked through the office door. “Just saw Jerome leave. Is he still in a huff?”
“Seems like it. Hey by the way, Seth. When you noticed the stuff missing, what day was that?”
“What do you mean? What day of the week?”
“Yeah. If you can recall.”
He scratched his head, bobbing his man bun. “Seems to me it was a Wednesday. Yup. Is that significant?”
“Might be, thanks.” Aha! Skyler watched the man set his go-cup on the front counter in the rotunda and settle in. Keith had suggested he question the docents. Now was as good a time as any. “So, uh, how’s it going, Seth? It seems we don’t get to talk much.”
He turned a placid expression on Skyler. Seth seemed like a mellow guy. He, too, worked at the museum only in the summer.
“I can’t recall what you said you did for a living, Seth.”
“Oh, this and that. Whatever will pay the rent. Mostly I work at the medical marijuana clinic.”
“Oh. But you’re here one to five every other day.”
“They have some pretty flexible hours. And I like working here. It’s quiet.”
“So that works out for you. Moneywise.”
“I get by. I don’t need much. I got my bike, I got a cool roommate. It’s sweet.”
“That’s…awesome.” Skyler smiled.
“How about you, Skyler? You’ve been into some pretty weird shit.”
“Weird…?”
“Murders, dude. That’s some scary shit.”
“Well… It’s not like I mean to get into it. It just sort of happens.”
Seth shook his head. “Not me, bruh. Not me. I stay as far away from dead dudes as possible. Oh!” His face crumpled. “Oh shit. I didn’t mean about Lester. I mean, I was glad you were there, you know.”
“I know. I kind of feel the same way.”
Seth grabbed his go-cup and sipped at it, looking away. Skyler took the hint and wandered back into the office.
Seth seemed okay. This was the second summer he’d worked with him and he was as mellow as they came. But he’d seen enough TV to know that it was always the guy you least suspected. It’s not as if he would broadcast that he was short of cash. Who really knew what was going on in the secret lives of people he only knew scantly?
He squinted back at Seth over his shoulder, but the man was looking through the paperwork, as he always did.
Skyler shook his head. This being suspicious of his co-workers was not what he had planned. He certainly didn’t like the way it made him feel. He slumped back into the office, thinking hard about what he wanted to accomplish and if it was all worth it.
* * *
With the museum up and open and the occasional tourist wandering in, Skyler worked a little while on his schoolwork, poking his head out of the office occasionally when he felt guilty that he wasn’t doing his fair share out in the rotunda. He finally emerged from the office late in the afternoon just as his favorite former sophomore students entered. First came red-headed Amber Watson. Amber was his star pupil who was also on Student Council. And by the cheerleading outfit she was sporting, it looked as if she was branching out with her school spirit held high.
Her Goth best friend Heather Munson trudged in right after her. Except Heather was looking decidedly un-Gothy since she was also in a cheerleading outfit.
Rick Flores came ambling in the rear, one earbud in his ear, the other dangling across his chest.
“Hi guys,” he said to them. He couldn’t avoid staring at Heather and her unusual garb.
“Hi, Mr. Foxe,” said Amber cheerfully.
“What are you guys doing here?”
“We’re waiting for Alex,” she said, bouncing on her tennis shoe heels.
“And where is he?”
“At the police station,” said Rick. Before Skyler could react, Rick continued. “He’s taking classes at the Teen Police Academy, remember?”
Skyler breathed again. “Oh that’s right! How’s that going for him?”
Rick tucked his hands into the back pockets of his low-slung shorts. “He’s in his element, that’s for sure. Who knew my boyfriend was cop material?”
“It seems really good for him,” offered Amber. “He’s really serious about it. I think we’ll see a whole new Alex when school starts.”
“I think that’s great.” His gaze slid toward Heather again. She seemed fidgety and quiet. “Uh, Heather, I couldn’t help but notice that you’re, uh…” He gestured toward her. “Dressed as a cheerleader?”
She rolled her eyes, eyes that used to be raccooned in heavy black kohl but were now limned with a delicate hand of eye-liner. “I’m not dressed as a cheerleader. I am a cheerleader.”
“Okaaay. So congratulations…right?”
“I guess.” She slumped, toeing the floor with her shoe.
Amber smiled. “She’s doing it for Drew.”
“I am not!”
“But…he is your boyfriend, isn’t he?” asked Skyler. The two seemed to really connect at the GSA summer trip to the beach.
“Yes, but…gah!” She shrugged as if shaking off the weight of the world. “You don’t need to make a big deal out of it. Amber talked me into it. I never thought they’d actually put me on the team.”
“Oh…um, so…”
“Don’t listen to her, Mr. Foxe,” said Amber in a stage whisper. “She’s really loving it. And so is Drew. He was so busy watching her at cheerleading practice today that a football he was supposed to catch hit him in the head.”
Heather turned away but Skyler caught the glimmer of a smile on her face. Ah, the mating rituals of the teen animal.
“Well, feel free to look around. If you have any questions, let me know.”
“It’s so great that you do this, Mr. Foxe,” gushed Amber. She still seemed to have a bit of a crush on him. “Maybe I could—”
Oh God, just what he needed. He rushed in with, “You have to be eighteen, Amber. Maybe in a few years.” A little white lie.
Reluctantly, she turned away, but Rick startled them all when he cried out, “Whoa!” He yanked out his ear bud and then he pulled the ear jack from the phone.
Suddenly, there was Keith’s voice coming out of the speakers. What was he doing on the radio?
“They’re interviewing Coach Fletcher,” said Rick. He turned up the volume.
Keith was in mid-sentence. “…best choice for the team and we’re pretty proud of her.”
The female interviewer then asked, “But won’t there be all sorts of problems with a girl as part of the football team? I’m not just talking about locker rooms either.”
“Yes,” Keith admitted. “But I’m sure the same was said when talking about integrating football, too. We have to make these changes if we are to progress. I’m not saying that just any girl can make the team. They have to have certain qualities. Of course, the same can be said of our male team members. It’s a skill set not everyone has.”
“What about head injuries? There has been so much lately in the news about concussions causing brain damage. Last year Missouri high schools simply cancelled their football programs. Should any child be playing the game? Should James Polk High get rid of their football program?”
“I’ve done some soul-searching on that very matter of late. I’m in talks now with our league coaches. It comes down to either cancelling the program altogether—which kids are reluctant to do—or a fundamental change in the game itself. I’m for changing how the game is played so we can continue to allow our kids to play. But let me make it clear. It’s a tough game. But it shouldn’t be life-threatening or severely handicap you later in life. It’s supposed to be fun, to promote sportsmanship and teamwork. If I didn’t think Elei Sapani was up to it, believe me, I wouldn’t have put her on the team. She’ll be a wonderful asset. And as far as I’m concerned there will be no harassment. I’m gonna see to that.”
“There you have it. Thank you, Coach Fletcher. The newest up and coming football star, Elei Sapani at James Polk High. This is Sandra Contreras, KAEH, Beaumont.”
Keith on the radio. Weird.
“Hey, Coach did aight,” said Rick, popping the earbud back in his ear.
“Yeah. He sounded great.”
“I am worried she’s going to get hurt though,” said Amber. “It won’t look good for the school if she is.”
“Coach says she won’t be harassed on his watch,” said Heather, “but I just know she’s going to get shi—um, crap from the team. Well, if not them, then from the opposing team.”
But Amber suddenly brightened. “You know what we should do? We should come up with some cheers just for her!”
Heather wilted. “Oh, I don’t know, Amber…”
“I bet the squad will love the idea. We should go work on something—”
Heather hesitated. “I thought you wanted to check out the museum.”
“Yeah,” said Rick. “And it’s nice and cool in here.” He grabbed the front of his buff tank top and flapped it. Skyler didn’t think Rick would be interested in the Civil War but the teen often surprised him. “Besides, I gotta wait around for my homey. But you don’t have to stay.”
“No,” said Amber primly. “We agreed we would. And yes, I do want to look around.”
Skyler gave them a little wave. “We close at five, guys, in about twenty minutes. I have to get back to work.”
“Thanks, Mr. Foxe,” said Amber. “That was awesome about Mr. Fletcher on the radio, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. Awesome.”
Keith sounded good. So professional. Like those sports guys on TV. He was proud of his man. But he worried, too, about any possible repercussions should she get hurt…or hazed. Although if he knew Keith—and he did—he’d make sure the team was too scared of him to do anything to her.
Skyler spent some time in the office on his laptop, checking some auction sites and their catalogues before he thought to check eBay. But even as he clicked along, he was pretty sure anyone who stole from the museum wouldn’t be stupid enough to…
“Oh my God!” And there it was. On eBay of all places. One of the missing exhibits. Mary Todd’s gloves. “Who is this son-of-a-bitch?” But as he suspected, there was a company name, not an individual. Could he report it to eBay? But he didn’t want to scare the suspect off. Call Sidney? She’d be proud of him for once. He got on the phone but of course it went to voice mail.
“Sid, you’re never around, you know that? You always say you want to talk to me about something but then when I call you… Never mind. Look, remember about the stolen stuff at the museum I left a message for you about? Well I found a piece on eBay. What should I do? It’s a fake company name, no person. Should I contact eBay or…? You know what? I did my job and reported it to you, so I’m going to contact eBay. Bye. Try to find time to call me.”
He clicked her off. She was really beginning to annoy him. Cancelling on him and Keith for dinner, she never answered her phone. And she kept saying she needed to talk to him. “So talk!” he admonished to the ether.
He found the contact email and fired off a sternly worded message, putting the contact info for the museum at the bottom, including the museum’s phone number. But then he deleted that and put his personal phone number instead. No need to tip off the staff that he’d found it.
The last twenty minutes breezed by. He got up to drag in the open sign. Rick and Heather were already outside, but Amber was talking intently to Seth about a display. Heather rolled her eyes and stuck her head back in the door. “Am-ber! These people would like to close up.”
“Oh! Sorry.” She thanked Seth and he followed her out, unchaining his bike from the outside bike rack. He waved to Skyler as he stood outside, just as Alex came trotting up. He offered a big smile to Rick, a smaller one to the girls, and then widened his eyes at Skyler.
“Mr. Foxe. What are you doing here?”
“I work here.” He gestured toward the museum.
“You work here? You aren’t giving up being a teacher are you?”
“No, Alex. I have to have a summer job when I’m off work. They don’t pay me through the summer, you know.”
“They don’t? That sucks.”
“Yeah. So I hear you’re doing well at the Teen Police Academy.”
He couldn’t seem to stop the smile from spreading across his face. “Yeah. The officer in charge, Officer Hitchens, said that I was really far ahead of the others. She said she’d write a recommendation for me to the real police academy.”
“Wow, Alex. That’s wonderful.”
“I know. I’m pretty stoked.”
“Hey guys, while I’ve got you here.” They gathered around him. “I’m going to be having a sixth period this year. You probably know that since most of you have signed up for it; English Comp? So that means two things for the GSA. Number one, it’s going to have to be after sixth period on Fridays—so let me know if that might interfere with any of your afterschool activities, like football or cheerleading. And because of the change in time, it will be in my classroom instead of Mr. Fontana’s.”
“That might interfere with football,” said Alex.
“Well, I have an alternative. We could meet on Fridays in my class during lunch period. How does that sound?”
“I think that might work out better for most people,” said Amber. “Especially the drama kids.”
“That’s what I thought. Well then, spread the word, would you? We’ll need flyers.”
“I’m on it!” said Amber with a salute. They turned and walked together down the path, the girls leaning in toward Alex as he talked about his day at the teen academy, while Rick looked on, beaming.
He was so darned proud of his kids!
All the docents had gone and Skyler slapped off the lights as he retreated into the office. He turned off his laptop and stuffed it into his satchel. As he rose and turned to leave, two people stood in the doorway.
Jerome stepped into the light of the office and for the first time, Skyler was a little leery of him. “Hey Jerome. What’s up?”
“I wanted to get some of my things. Who knows when I’ll be back here?”
“Jerome,” he began wearily.
“Just being realistic, Skyler.” He moved in and grabbed a leather case from the top of the file cabinet.
The step in the doorway reminded Skyler that Jerome hadn’t come alone, but the other figure still stood in the shadows. Jerome noticed Skyler looking as he grabbed his mug from the coffee area. “That’s my boyfriend. I don’t think you ever knew I was bi. Not that you bothered to find out.”
No, he hadn’t known. He could kick himself for not knowing.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
He shrugged. “Didn’t seem important. Ethan Cooper, meet Skyler Foxe.”
“We’ve met,” said that voice that Skyler couldn’t seem to get out of his mind.
He turned. The man stepped out of the shadows. The blond head, the snarky curve of his lips. He smiled at Skyler, waited for Jerome to pass him in the doorway, and then aimed a finger at Skyler like a gun, pretending to shoot.