Christy Barritt - Squeaky Clean 08 - Foul Play (19 page)

CHAPTER 28

T
he second crime scene was as painfully awkward as the first. Chad had never acted like this toward me before, and it made me feel terrible.

I had this crazy vision of one day having everything together. I guess life didn’t work like that. At least
my
life didn’t work like that. But, in truth, there was a restlessness stirring inside me.

Lord, what are you trying to tell me? Is all of this unease a sign? And why do I keep returning to the same areas of struggle? Is there any hope of me overcoming these strongholds? Is there any such thing as a life without struggle?

After Chad and I finished at the second scene, I realized I didn’t have enough time to go back home. Instead, I headed toward the Cultural Arts Center. I needed to study my lines. Opening night was only three days away, and I still had a lot of work to do.

When I pulled up at the school, there were no other cars in the lot. On a whim, I decided to see if any doors were unlocked. To my surprise, the first one I tried opened.

“Hello?” I called.

There was no answer.

Just to be on the safe side, I checked the office. No Paulette.

Peter, the maintenance man, wasn’t here either, nor was volunteer assistant Bennie.

I perched myself in a chair in the auditorium, trying not to stare at the stage too long. I had too many visions of both dead bodies and choking while performing—choking as an actress, not actually choking. Though that was horrifying in its own right. None of those thoughts were appealing. Instead, I read my lines, trying to ingrain them in my memory.

“Gabby?”

I looked back and nearl
y jumped out of my skin.

The Shining Twins stood
there staring at me.

I pulled myself to
gether, fanning my hot cheeks with the script. “You two scared me to death. You’re both as quiet as …”
serial killers from a 1980 horror flick
. I didn’t say that, though. I stuck with the well known instead. “Quiet as mice.”

“We ar
rived early to work on the set,” one of them said.

“How’d you get in? I thought the door was locked.”

“No, the door by the old gymnasium is always unlocked. Other times, the maintenance man lets us in.”

I stored away that information.
“Oh, Peter?”

The one who always wore red nodded.
“Yes, he’s nice.”

They glanced at each other
and when they looked back, both had wrinkles on their forehead.

“We have something to tell you,” Blue said.

“Yes, Karen?” I asked.

“I’m Sharen,” she said.

“Sorry. Go ahead, Sharen.”

“We feel like we should tell someone,” Karen said. “But we don’t know who
, but you seem more down to earth than some of the others here.”

I lowered my script.
“You can tell me. What’s going on?”

They glanced at each other. Finally, Sharen spoke. “We overheard Arie bragging to someone on her cellphone
before practice on Saturday. She didn’t know we were here.”

“What did she say?”

“She told someone that she’d convinced Paulette to pay her off. Something about a contract.”

I shifted, letting their words sink in.
“Did you hear anything else?”

They both shook their heads.

“That was all we could make out,” Karen said.

“Thanks for sharing,” I told them, mulling over what they’d said.

I remembered that Arie had threatened to take her play elsewhere. Had Paulette paid her to ensure she wouldn’t do that? I knew Paulette was desperate to keep this production going and prove to her father she could be someone. Would she take it that far?

I
tried to put the idea out of my mind and study the script for the remaining forty-five minutes until practice started.

But I also stored away the information about the gym door. Was that how someone was getting in and out?

Twenty minutes later, Paulette walked into the auditorium and cast a faint smile my way. “Hey, Gabby.”

“P
aulette, I need to talk to you,” I whispered.

“What’s going on?”
She set her purse to the floor and swiped a hair behind her ear.

“Did you pay off Arie?” I watched her face closely.

Part of her lip pulled down in a frown. “What … what do you mean?”

“I mean, did you give her hush money?”

Paulette looked away. “I simply decided to give her a bonus royalty for letting us use her work.”

“Why would you do that?” I tried to keep my voice quiet but it rose in volume
anyway.

“She was going to pull out! I had to do something.” Panic
built in Paulette’s voice as well.

“She was under contract. She couldn’t
pull out!”

“She said she had ways out of it.”

“Paulette, it’s like you said when we were talking about Roberto at your house. If your dad knows anything, it’s contracts. I’m sure whatever Arie signed was iron clad.”

She sighed. “I just couldn’t risk it. I figured if a little more cash would make her feel better, then it was worth it.”

At the moment, I wanted to shake my friend. “How much did you pay her?”

“Ten thousand.”

My mouth dropped open. “Are you crazy?”

She raised her tiny chin.
“I did what I had to do.”

“What about your bills? Aren’t you overdue on some of them?”

She stared at me a moment, an unknown emotion flashing in her eyes. “How do you know that?”

“I went into your office looking for you. You left a ‘Past Due’ notice on your desk.”

“My manager here quit. I’ve been trying to juggle a lot. I didn’t know what else to do.” She sat down hard and buried her face in her hands. “I’m going to blow this, aren’t I?”

I sat down beside her, trying to put all my suspicions about Paulette out of my mind. I patted her back. “You’re not going to blow this.”

“Everything is falling apart, Gabby.”

My phone buzzed. I wanted to ignore it, but I knew by the double vibration that I’d just gotten a text. Since Paulette’s face was still buried and she couldn’t see anything, I slowly pulled my phone from my back pocket. I glanced at the screen.
The text was from Clarice.

“I’m still not speaking to you. But I
can’t resist solving a mystery either. Follow this link and watch the video. I knew I recognized that tune from somewhere.”

I looked at
Paulette. “I think we need to go to your office.”

***

“I don’t understand,” Paulette muttered.

She’s said that ten times already.
Her eyes were fixated on the computer screen.

I put my hand on her shoulder. “It’s clear, isn’t it? Arie stole this script from someone else.”
The wretchedly awful script. Why hadn’t she at least picked a good one to rip off?

“How could she
do this? Can things get any worse?”

I’d learned not to ask that question
because things could always get worse. Silence fell between us, so I continued watching the video link that Clarice had sent me. It was for this web-based reality show that was looking for the next great American musical.

A woman named
Harlot Jenkins had written a play called
The Specter
but had been voted out before getting to finals. The music and storyline weren’t exactly like Arie’s play, but they were close enough.

Harlot may not have been the brightest bulb in the socket because
she’d actually posted the play online in hopes of selling it. As a result, anyone could read it or claim it as their own.

So, Arie had been that person. She’d seen the musical and, like a predator, she’d seized the opportunity. Maybe she’d even scoured local theaters, looking
specifically for one with a history. Oceanside Middle and Rose Hines were perfect. That still wouldn’t explain the murders, though.

“We’ve got to talk to Arie.”

“No!” Paulette popped out of her seat. “Not now. Wait until after the play. Please.”

“If Harlot Jenkins finds out we’re doing her play, we’re going to be in serious trouble.” And by
we’re
, I meant
Paulette
. I didn’t say that, though.

“I can’t believe she would do this to me.” Paulette
buried her face in her hands. “How could she?”

“
I can’t help but wonder if this all ties in with everything that’s happened here with the musical, Paulette. I’m still trying to sort out the details, but there could be something there. I just need more time.”

Paulette grabbed my arm, her gaze pleading.
“We’ve got to get to practice, but promise me you won’t say anything yet. Give me a day, at least, to figure out what to do.”

I stared at my friend a
moment before nodding. “Okay. One day. Then no promises after that.”

Even as I said the words, I regretted them.

CHAPTER
29

As soon as the lights came up on Act Two, the auditorium went black.

Again.

Everyone screamed around me,
a familiar sense of panic filling the air, but I didn’t feel fear. No, I felt annoyed.

Why did this keep happening?

“Everyone, calm down!” I yelled from center stage. Though no one could see me, I put my hands on my hips and firmly planted my feet. It was a power stance, one I’d learned from Wonder Woman, for that matter.

Suddenly, it got quiet. I couldn’t believe my order had worked
.

“Everyone stay where you are. I’m going to get to the bottom of this, once and for all.” I
sounded
brave, at least. I made my way off the stage, careful not to step off the edge. The last thing we needed was another casualty. The last thing I wanted was to be that casualty.

“Watch out for Rose,” someone said.

I couldn’t make out the voice, but I ignored it. It wasn’t worth the energy.

“Where’s the electrical panel?” I asked.

Just then, the lights flickered and finally turned on. A cool breeze swept over the stage at the same time.

Bennie screamed and grabbed Jerome’s arm. “What was that?”

“The heat came on,” I explained. “There’s always a burst of cold air before it gets warm. Typical for old buildings like this.”

Silence fell and I could feel everyone’s gaze on me.

“The panel is in the office,” Paulette said.

I nodded and made my way there.
The longer this case went on, the more irritated I felt. Why did someone keep pushing this? What was his or her purpose?

I found the panel in the office and studied the breakers. After a few minutes, I shook my head. I had no idea what to make of all this.

I decided to swallow my pride. I called Braxton, who had a background as an electrician’s apprentice. He wasn’t an expert, but he knew enough.

“What’s going on, Gabby?”
He sounded matter-of-fact without a hint of warmth in his voice.

That pretty much summed up our relationship.

“I have a question for you. The lights keep going out at the school where I’m working. Any idea why?”

“Bad wiring?”

“Why does it only happen every so often?”

“What are the common
elements?

I ran through it in my mind. “I suppose it could be because of the spotlights.”

“They suck up a ton of power. In an old building, that could very well be a factor. There you have it. There’s your answer.” He sounded like he just wanted to get off the phone.

“So, the power goes out because too much power is being used on one circuit,” I clarified.

“Right, like when you vacuum and run the dishwasher at the same time.”

“But to fix that, wouldn’t you have to flip the breaker?”

“Makes sense to me, Brainiac.” His voice dripped with derision.

“You really—” I stopped myself before my aggravation got the best of me.

“I really what?” He prodded.

“Nothing,” I muttered. “Thanks for your help.”

“I like the sound of that. Don’t hear it enough.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I spend half of my time correcting the things that you’ve done wrong, because you haven’
t bothered to ask how the job should be done in the first place! And I’m supposed to thank you constantly? You’re out of your mind.”

“You just have to accept that there are other ways of doing this.”

“You were my employee!” I felt like steam was coming from my ears. “You know what? I need to go.”

I hung up before he could say anything else. I took a few minutes to compose myself, sucking in deep breaths. I truly despised working with Braxton. I’d worked with worse before, but I’d also worked with much, much better.

I turned my thoughts back to the electricity.

So who had turned the power back on? Did that mean there was someone else in the building? If so, where were they now?

With baited breath, I stepped into the hallway. I paused and listened. Nothing.

Instinctively, I was drawn toward the hallway with the unlatched padlock. I’d only taken one step there when movement caught my eye.
There was someone there!

I
stepped into the shadows and braced myself.

T
he figure continued to walk toward me. I ran through mental scenarios of what I could do to defend myself and finally decided to remain hidden.

As the man came nearer, I got a better look at him and stepped out.
“Roberto?”

He scowled at me. “You. What are you doing here?”

“I’m in the play,” I reminded me.

He raised his chin. “That’s right. How could I forget?”

I placed a hand on my hip, already riled up from talking to Braxton. “Is there a soccer game nearby tonight? I can’t imagine why else you would be here.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Gabby?” a softer voice said behind me.

I turned and spotted Bennie
walking down the hallway toward me.

“We’re waiting for you and wanted to make sure you’re okay,” she said.
“Paulette sent me to find you.”

I nodded. “I was just on my way.”

With once last glance at Roberto, I followed Bennie to practice. This case just got more interesting all the time.