M
y fingers dug
into the steering wheel as I answered Kelly’s call. I sat a few blocks down from Kipling Elementary, ready to head into the school when she called with a double whammy.
Kelly didn’t bother to say hello. “Kailey’s Internet access has definitely been restricted because a lot of the stuff in her email is from game sites and whatnot. But, if you look in her trash folder, there are five emails from a RRangerFan1, and every single one of Kailey’s replies came when she was at the babysitter’s, within a half an hour after school.”
“Did you trace the email back to anyone?”
“It took me a while because I had to trace the email back to an online forum for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fans.”
“Say what? Didn’t that show end a long time ago?” I was never much of a cartoon kid, but my oldest friend Kenny loved the Power Rangers. He still had a bunch of toys he insisted were valuable memorabilia.
“Yeah, but there are still people who love it and do role playing stuff. Anyway, I found our guy. And guess who it is?”
Stinging air rushed up my esophagus. I didn’t want to be right about this. “Justin Beckett.”
“Yep. He’s not very smart because he registered that email to the message board under his real name. From what I can tell, he and Kailey have been emailing for a few weeks.”
“What do the messages say?” Part of me didn’t want to know. As much as I was driven to stomp out the filth of this world, I constantly fought the urge to stick my head in the sand and pretend humanity was wonderful.
“Here’s the weirdest part. He’s not hiding who he is,” Kelly said. “He signs it Jay, but he’s not trying to talk to her like he’s a kid. He clearly talks like an adult trying to cheer up a lonely little girl.”
“Of course he does.”
“Sounds like Kailey had been bullied at one point, and Justin may have stuck up for her,” Kelly continued. “I can’t get the whole story from emails, but it’s definitely enough for the police to get a warrant.”
“If you found this, so will they. As long as Todd Beckett plays it straight.” That could be a big
if
. Stalwart cop or not, Todd was also human and fell into the messy tangle of loyalty versus responsibility. He wouldn’t be the first cop to choose loyalty.
“I thought his partner was handling Justin.”
“Yeah, but Todd doesn’t want his little brother to go back to prison. You don’t think he might try to cover up evidence? What if he thinks he needs to convince Justin to let her go and take off or something? Anything would be better than another round of prison.”
“I don’t know, Lucy. Todd’s been pretty decent to you so far, and he’s got a really good reputation.”
“Which is on the line because he vouched for his brother and promised to keep an eye on him. Did you find out anything else?”
Kelly cleared her throat. “Yeah. One other thing, and it’s worst of all.”
I braced myself, pushing my feet into the car’s floorboards. “Hit me.”
“Justin Beckett started working at A&M Sanitation three weeks ago.” I swallowed back the shock. Justin had access to dumpsters all over the city. The perfect place to drop little Kailey’s used body.
My head bounced against the back of the seat. “God Almighty.”
With ten minutes
until dismissal, parents were already lining up to pick up kids. A whiteboard at the main entrance–the only one unlocked–announced a strict sign-in policy. I didn’t expect to get past the office, but I just needed an excuse to be milling around when the kids came out. If I were lucky, I’d manage to talk to some parents.
Although one of the older buildings in the district, Kipling Elementary had the standard security cameras on all the doors, with a second set of alarmed interior doors acting as a barrier for unwanted visitors. The inside of the school showed its wear, scuff marks decorating the tile in long streaks. Yellow, textured walls boasted scratches, and I envisioned kids trying to claw their way out of their imagined prisons.
Inside the office, a grim-faced secretary greeted me. “May I help you?”
I plastered a smile on my face and hoped I didn’t look like a hyena.
I leaned against the tall counter, which was cluttered with various signup forms and pens with ugly flowers taped to the ends. “I’m Lucy Kendall, and my husband and I are looking at a house in the area. I’d like to check out the school.”
The secretary, whose nametag announced her as Mrs. Harris, was unfazed. “We don’t give random tours. It’s a matter of student safety, which I’m sure you can understand.”
“Of course. I just thought I could maybe talk to the principal, get a feel for the place.”
“He doesn’t take walk-ins unless your children actually attend Kipling,” Mrs. Harris said. “And he’s in a meeting right now. But I can certainly schedule you an appointment.”
I cleared my throat and checked my watch. “I’m not sure I can schedule that right now. I took today off work to check out the area. I’ll have to look at our calendars and call for an appointment. Sorry to have bothered you.”
Turning up the collar of my coat, I headed out of the office and into the hall. Outside, uniforms milled around, watching for someone suspicious. With Jenna’s permission to look for Kailey, I had every right to be here. But I knew Todd wouldn’t appreciate it.
Near the entrance, a janitor with a jingling key ring fiddled with the latch on a worn-looking display case. I gave him a wide berth, not wanting to disrupt his work.
“Ouch.” He cursed under his breath and dropped his screwdriver. The tip of his index finger was red from being pinched in the uncooperative latch.
I quickly bent down and grabbed the screwdriver. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.” He shot me a cursory glance, and then he froze, the tool clutched in his hands. His face was cherubic, although his expression distinctly hostile. Beneath a shock of blond hair was fair skin that looked like it hadn’t seen the sun for a while. Sallow came to mind, ravaged with the dark shadows of either drug use or insomnia. Darkness flashed through his eyes, and his fist clenched. I swear he started to step toward me.
I stepped out of the stranger’s reach. “Excuse me.”
The janitor said nothing, looking at me with such hate I wanted to run. I hurried outside, my skin burning from nerves and the heavy sensation of being watched.
My throat felt swollen, caked with anxiety. Students began to trickle out, and their voices were muted, as if I’d thrown a thick towel over them. I didn’t know the janitor. I’d remember that face. But he thought he knew me.
More students burst happily out of the doors as the bell rang. I took a deep breath and tried to focus. After Kelly heard about the older girls fibbing, she’d scoured the school website in the hopes of finding a picture of one of them. Turned out Josie was quite the actress and had the lead in the fourth-grade play last year. Her picture was front and center on the fine arts page. Now I waited for her to exit.
She trailed out with the last group of students, looking tired and sad. She walked alone.
“Josie?”
The girl stopped and eyed me suspiciously. “Yeah.”
I quickly showed her my badge. “I’m helping Jenna Richardson look for Kailey, and I have some questions.”
Josie’s eyes flooded with tears. “I already told the detective I was sorry. He yelled enough.”
“I’m not here to scold you. We all make mistakes.”
“I’m not supposed to go with anyone.”
“Of course you aren’t.” I stepped out of the way of the milling kids and settled near the bushes adorning the school’s front. “We can talk right here. I just have a few questions.”
“Okay.” Josie came close enough to hear but maintained a safe distance. Good girl. “I know I wasn’t supposed to be in the lot.”
“That’s between you and your parents. Can you tell me about Kailey? Did she ever mention any adults or older kids who scared her?”
“No. And I told the cops that, you know.”
“I know. What about anyone in your neighborhood? You ever notice any adults hanging around when they shouldn’t be?”
Josie shrugged. “I don’t pay that much attention. But no one’s ever freaked me out.”
“Good.” I opened the browser on my smartphone to the picture of Justin. “Do you know him?”
Josie flushed. “Sure. That’s the boy who lives across the street. He’s really cute. My mom says he’s out of high school, so I shouldn’t be calling him a boy.”
“Do you know his name?”
“Justin.” She managed a small smile. “He’s nice to us. Sometimes we see him when we’re coming home after school. He likes to sit on his porch and draw. He’s really good.”
I nodded. “But if he lives across the street, you probably don’t get to talk to him much.”
Josie’s cheeks flamed brighter. “Well, he’s really cute. So…me and Bridget like to walk home on that side of the street in case he’s out. When he is, we get to talk to him. But we don’t stay long. Bridget always tries to get him to draw our picture, but he never will. She’s good at drawing, too, and yesterday morning she stopped to give him a picture she’d drew for him. We were almost late to school.”
I sucked in a hard breath and hoped Josie hadn’t heard. “Do you know if Kailey ever hangs out with Justin?”
Josie nodded. “A few weeks ago, one of the boys in Kailey’s class started pushing her around. He lives on our street, and he is always hanging out. He’s mean and smelly and no one likes him.”
“I bet they don’t,” I said. “What happened?”
“I told Isaac to back off, but he didn’t listen to me. He’s kind of big for his age, big as me. He started pushing Kailey, and she fell into a mud puddle. Justin ran across the street and told Isaac to get lost. He asked Kailey if she was okay and helped her get cleaned off.”
“That was very nice of him.” My cheeks hurt from pretending not to be disgusted. “Did he take Kailey to his house?”
“No, he just went over and got some towels and dried her off, and then he went back to his drawing.” Josie’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you asking about Justin?”
“I just want to know about Kailey’s friends.” I gave her yet another encouraging smile. “Do you girls see Justin a lot?”
“Sometimes after school, but we aren’t supposed to talk to him.” Josie pushed a lock of her brown hair out of her eyes.
“Why?”
“Our moms say he’s too old and that we’re bugging him. But that’s not why we leave. Justin always tells us to go on home before our parents get worried.”
“Where’s Kailey when this happens? Is she with you, or does she go on to your building?”
“Until Justin got rid of Isaac, she just hung around. She’s shy and little.” Josie’s tears returned. “Last week, she fell on the way home and ripped her jeans. Her knee was bleeding, and we didn’t have anything to put on it. Justin saw her crying. He gave her some paper towels and a BandAid. He’s so nice, isn’t he?”
That’s how these guys work. The smallest acts of kindness go a long way to earn a child’s trust.
My stomach rolled. “It’s very nice. Do you know if Kailey ever saw Justin without you or Bridget around?”
Another shrug. “She never said anything. But she didn’t really tell us stuff.” Josie wiped her cheeks. “We sort of ignored her. And I never should have let Bridget talk me into going to the lot. She likes to go play just because she knows she isn’t supposed to. But I think she just wants to keep from going home and helping out with her little brother. He’s a brat.” She shivered, drawing her arms around her. Her eyes clouded over. “I hate the vacant lot. If I hadn’t gone there with Bridget, Kailey would have stayed with us and she’d be okay.”
“It’s not your fault.” Her face pinched so that it resembled a pug as she tried not to cry. I wanted to give her a hug. “Bad things happen. Now we’ve just got to find Kailey.”
A uniform on the fringe of the crowd glanced my way, and I knew it was time to go. I handed her my card. “Listen, if you ever need anything or you remember anything else, you call me anytime, okay?”
Josie shoved the card in her pocket and wiped her tears. I patted her on the head and slipped between chattering parents and kids. So Justin and Kailey must have started emailing after he’d gained her trust with Isaac. He didn’t need to hide who he was in the email because she already thought of him as a good guy. No doubt Todd and his partner would find out this information, but I’d make damn sure it happened today.
I noticed a sleek, black Audi parked behind my car. Through the tinted windows, I saw Chris Hale behind the wheel. The car’s black rims gave the stealthy appearance of a government official. Or a terrorist.
Chris exited the car looking cocky, his bright eyes dulled by black-rimmed glasses. “Hi.”
“You seriously have to stop following me.”
“I can’t help it. And I didn’t follow you this time. I had a hunch.”
“Really?”
“Sure. I knew the little girl disappeared from Kipling, and I thought you might be snooping around. So I took a chance and came looking for your car.” He glanced in the direction of the school, completely at ease, as though he wasn’t the creepiest guy in the vicinity. “What did you find out?”
My adrenaline still pumped from Josie’s information, and I was pounding with the urge to tell someone. I didn’t get the chance.
“Excuse me.” The throaty voice came from behind me. Instinctively, I reached into my pocket, my hand closing around the canister of pepper spray. I turned to find the janitor standing a foot away, the same seething question still glued to his face.
“Can I help you?”
He took a long step into my space, his action so quick he was within an inch of me before I realized it. “You killed my brother.”
I
’d like to
say I was prepared for this moment, that I had a smooth response at the ready, but I froze like a confused deer in the headlights. Cold air whooshed into my chest; I was breathing too fast. My mouth opened, but the words didn’t come. They didn’t even generate in my brain. The only thing I could muster in my terrified, shocked mind was, ‘Oh shit.’
Suddenly I stared at the back of an expensive wool coat. Chris had stepped in front of me. He and the janitor were about the same height, and the tension resonating between the two reminded me of the UFC fights Kelly liked to watch. Two prized fighters circling, each trying to outdo the other one with stony looks and rippling muscles.