Chasing Shadows (29 page)

I feel my eyebrows shoot up. "Who are
you
? And what were you doing
watching
that
building?"

"I'm Craig Chambers, with the Tribune." He
sounds all pissy and authoritative but I don't care. My face lights
up with recognition. "Craig!" I say smiling. "You're the reporter
Mads was going to!" I extend my hand. "Meegan Jones, nice to meet
you."

Craig's face gets all pointy. "What do you know
about that?"

I look up at Schuyler. "You have a pen?" He
nods and digs one out of his pocket. I love it, he always has a
pen. When he hands it to me, I reach into my jacket and get one of
the shots of Mads' killer. I jot my number on the back of it and
hand it to him. "You call me later, okay?" I tell him. "Not
tonight, but sometime, we should totally have coffee or
something."

Craig takes my number. He flips it over and
sees the photo of Mads and her killer. His eyes shoot to me. "You
know who this is?"

"Not by name." I say. "You gonna tell
me?"

Craig shoves the photo in his pocket. "Where
did you get this?"

I look up at Schuyler. He shrugs. "It's your
show."

I smile, and go with my gut. I think I need
this guy. "There are a lot, a whole lot of pictures in the basement
of that building. You should check them out, and then maybe call me
later." Craig looks at me intently for a moment. I can see a
burning desire to interrogate me, is wrestling with a desperate
curiosity about what's in the basement. He opens his mouth but I
cut him off. "We weren't that stealthy. If a neighbor saw us, or
even our tracks in the snow, they might call the cops, who would
find what we found and confiscate it for evidence. You might want
to see what's to be seen before that happens." He glowers at me.
"It's not like you don't have my number."

"Meegan Jones?" He asks.

"Yes Sir."

"And Simon Mills."

Schuyler laughs. "No. I'm Schuyler."

The reporter blinks. "Really?"

Schuyler nods. "Yeah really. Why? You expecting
to see Simon around here?"

Craig shakes his head and turns to leave. "I'll
be calling you, Miss Jones."

I give him a sarcastic thumbs up which he
doesn't see. "I'll answer my phone, Mr. Chambers." At this moment a
stiff breeze gusts over us and I'm reminded of the fact that I'm
soaked with snow. Fuck. My legs begin to tremble. I grab Schuyler's
arm and turn us away from Craig Chambers. We trot quickly down the
sidewalk.

"So... Madeline was talking to a reporter."
Schuyler says.

I look up at him. "Was that a
question?"

He shrugs. "What else have I
missed?"

I laugh. "Hell man, it's been
forever."

"It's been two days."

"More like sixty plus hours." I say. "Let's
see... I found the roommates."

"Lexi and Sara?"

I nod. "From them I got round about
information" Don't I gloss well? "Kelly was engaged to a guy named
Kevin Geoffreys with a G, or Burk, or Jeffries with a J, who I
looked up online, and if I got the right one, he's a suicide...from
South Florida. I spoke to Gwen, Mads' sister, she said a reporter
named Craig called for Mads after she'd been dead a few hours..."
Schuyler looks at me dubiously. "Oh! Mads had a boyfriend she
called Harley, but that was a nickname, he might have been a cop,
or the cop could be another guy. There was a dude who proposed, to
Mads and she laughed in his face."

"Anything else?"

I purse my lips. "Sex preferences on both Mads
and Kelly. Gwen told me I should stay out of it, or I might get
killed... Nothing else related to the murder." We take a left. My
teeth are chattering.

"So what about you?" Schuyler asks. "What's up
with your life?"

I turn red. Does he know somehow? Would he
care? I shrug and go the safe route. "Ashley talked to me. Started
out okay, then she yelled at me in public some more, but I think
she's about to forgive me. Don't ever do that by the way. I hate
it. Yell at me in private only."

"What'd you do anyway?"

I groan. "Just being myself. Isn't that enough
to piss
you
off sometimes? I listen too well, and not well
enough. I don't talk about myself, don't share information, which
is odd given how selfish she says I am." Schuyler gives a wry
smile. He can tell it was a one sided answer. "So what about you?
How were
your
last sixty hours?"

"Boring compared to this." he says.

I laugh. "This is nothing. No one even died
yet."

"So what are you doing this
weekend?"

My throat goes dry. "I'm busy Friday night and
Saturday but other than that..."

"So two more days until you can hang out
again."

"Yeah."

"But who knows what I'll miss in two whole
days? It's like missing an episode of Lost." I laugh. "So you're
seeing a guy." He adds. My laugh stops in my throat. "Because you
would have told me, if it was a girl. If it had to do with Mads
you'd invite me along, and you don't have your job back yet.
Besides that, you look very relaxed, so it has to be a
guy."

I bite my cheek. "Are you okay with
that?"

He looks at me weird. "Of course I'm okay with
that."

"Really?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

I swallow. We take another left. "Well that's a
downer."

Now Schuyler laughs. "Thanks. So what's his
name?"

"Qasim." I can see the Escalade now.

"You serious about him?"

"Hell if I know. You get mistaken for Simon a
lot?"

"All the time. Don't change the
subject."

"Why not?"

"It's rude"

"I'm always rude." I protest.

"No. You're not."

"Whatever."

"Whatever." He's grinning. "You coming
over?"

"Nah. I wanna go home and change."

"You have clothes at my house, and I do too. It
makes more sense for you to come over."

"I feel like I never go to my house. Like I
should check on it more, or I'll get squatters." Schuyler laughs.
We're approaching the car. He beeps it unlocked and we scramble in.
It's still kind of warm. Guess we weren't gone that long. "You can
come over." I say.

"You sure?"

"Of course, I'm sure." And now I'm not. I never
did clean the tub. "Don't judge me."

He laughs. "Is it filthy?"

"Kind of, but not as bad as it could
be..."

He grins. "I can't wait."

"No, let's go to your place."

More laughter. "Is it that bad?"

I shake my head. "You don't have clothes at my
house. It's selfish of me to insist we go there when I know you
need to change."

"Ah, so now you're noble."

"Is that a crack? Because fuck you, I'm often
noble."

"Of course not. I meant every word."

"Okay your house first to change then mine to
do whatever."

"To eat?"

"You like frozen dinners?"

Schuyler laughs. "Sure."

"Okay." Well shit.

"We don't have to go to your place." Schuyler
offers.

I smile. "My tub is filthy."

"I don't care about your tub."

"What do you care about?"

He grins. "I don't want to miss
anything."

Chapter
Thirteen

We're all showered and clean. Schuyler is
wearing a brown t-shirt under his pea coat. The color makes his
eyes stand out, and his hair look like spun gold. He uses a hair
dryer, go figure. Just for variety we're taking the El. We're
standing on the Madison/Wabash platform when I hear,

"Meegan!" It’s a female voice.

I turn. Huh. Francis, Ralph, Carol and Sergio
are standing half way down the platform. Francis, who looks
voluptuous in a red knit wrap, comes sashaying across the platform.
"You look good." I say when she's close enough to hear
me.

"Thanks. What's up?"

I shrug. "Nothing, this is Schuyler." Schuyler
smiles and extends a hand.

"Francis. Nice to meet you."

"You too." He says. The other three are on
their way over to us.

"So, where you headed?" Francis
asks.

"My apartment."

She gives me this look. "I heard you at Qasim's
the other night."

I feel my face turn red. "Yeah." I smile.
Francis eyes Schuyler.

"I'm not her boyfriend." Schuyler
blurts.

Francis smiles. "Good to know."

Ralph reaches us, and wraps his arms around
Francis. "I'm Ralph. Nice to meet you."

"Schuyler." Schuyler says.

Sergio and Carol stand with us, and now we form
a circle. Carol's many piercings shine like tinsel in the lights.
"We're headed to a party." She says.

Sergio grins. "Wanna come? I'll buy the
Heineken."

I smile. "I'll try to keep my clothes on this
time..." I look at Schuyler. "If you want to go."

He grins. "So if I
don't
want to go, you
won't
try and keep your clothes on?"

"Shit."

Francis laughs merrily. "You should come. It'll
be fun."

"Qasim gonna be there?" I ask, and now wish I
hadn't. Did that sound needy?

Francis smiles with approval, and rubs Ralph's
bald head. "I'll call him." She takes a few steps away and pulls
out her phone. Well hell. I'm not sure I want Qasim and Schuyler to
meet. I straighten my spine. It’s not like it’s a big deal.
Schuyler doesn't like me that way. Beside's we haven't even decided
if we're going. I look up at Schuyler. He's smiling.

"You want to?" I ask quietly.

"Sure. Sounds fun."

Sergio gives a wry smile. "That's because the
word 'party' always
sounds
fun but whether it is or not..."
He doesn't finish. Carol lights up a cigarette which naturally
reminds me that I want one too.

I dig in my bag and open a fresh pack. Sergio
makes a show of looking in my bag while it’s open.
"What?"

"Trying to see if you brought a costume
change." He grins and Carol laughs. He laugh is pretty. Sergio
turns to Schuyler. "Last time Meegan showed up in this purple
dress..."

"A dress?" Schuyler looks at me in
disbelief.

I shrug. "Fin made me wear it."

Sergio continues. "I guess it was chafing or
something, because just before she left with Qasim she pulls out
this whole other set of clothes and just changes right there. We
think Qasim fell in love on the spot."

I bury my head in Schuyler's shoulder.
"Whatever." I mutter. See? This is why I almost never mix social
groups.

Schuyler throws his arm around me. "We're
definitely going."
Now Francis rejoins the group. "Qasim's gonna try and come, but he
says he has to work early tomorrow so he can't stay
long."

"Where is it?" I ask.

"8609 Glenwood Street."

My face goes all shock weird. "That's my
house!"

"Really?" Francis says. "Sergio's friend,
what's his name?"

"John."

Francis nods. "Yeah. John in 3A, is having
it."

Huh. "Well... Holy shit. I think that's my
neighbor."

Carol smirks. "You think, but you don't
know?"

I shrug. "Why would I know?"

"He lives right there. You've never seen him in
the hall or anything?"

I'm feeling defensive now. "I use my back door.
I've never seen him... maybe I've seen him. I don't know. I've
heard
him that's for sure."

Carol smiles. "X-box."

I roll my eyes. "Thud, thud, explosion, thud,
thud, thud." Carol laughs. Was that funny?

Sergio nods. "We play on X-box live all the
time."

"
All
the fucking time. I'm glad we're
going." I say to Schuyler. "I bet his music's much better with
treble."

Sergio looks serious. "He's into
music."

Ralph cuts in. "I've probably been there when
you were home asleep."

"Just a paper wall away." I nod. "Think, if I
were a friendly person, we might have all already known each
other.”

Schuyler makes a serious face. "It’s really too
bad you're such a..."

"Watch it." I jab his ribs. He laughs. The El
arrives. We pile in and Francis turns to me.

"So how long have you two been
friends?"

My eyes go wide like I'm looking for the
answer. "You know, the night I came to band practice?" She nods.
"Next night."

"So, not long then." Francis says.