Misty Lake: Book One in the Misty Lake Series (16 page)

“According to your file, you are still on probation. Leaving the camp is a violation. You can talk to us here or we can take you into the station. Maybe a night in jail would change your mind.”

“I’ve spent the night in jail before, doesn’t scare me. And your hick jail is probably a hell of a lot better than the others I’ve seen.”

“Where did you go when you left the camp, Tyler?” Marc asked when he noticed Jake’s frustration mounting. “We’ve had some serious stuff going down in town and, unless you can convince us otherwise, we’re looking at you as a prime suspect.”

“What kind of serious shit?” Tyler looked up and both Jake and Marc caught the fleeting look of fear in his eyes before it quickly disappeared. “I didn’t do nothing. Just drove around,” he said, looking away again.

“Where’d you go?”

“I don’t know, man, just drove.”

“Did you stay around the lake? Go into town? Drive out of town?” Marc pressed.

“I told you, w…I just drove.” Tyler’s voice rose in anger as he glared at Marc.

“You started to say we. Who was with you?” Jake demanded.

Tyler looked at them, seeming to debate with himself on whether to answer.

“This can be as easy or as hard as you want to make it, Tyler. I can call your probation officer, talk to some guys I know on the Minneapolis force, let you spend the night in jail, and then see what sort of sentence you have left to serve in Minneapolis for breaking your probation. According to your file you’re seventeen now, almost eighteen, you’re looking at time in an adult facility. Your cooperation could go a long way towards making things easier for you,” Jake said, looking him in the eye.

Tyler was quiet for several minutes. Jake and Marc waited him out. Finally, “I told you all
I
did was drive around, maybe smoke a joint that dumbass counselor gave me when I caught him smoking and scared the shit out of him. It was that other kid who really wanted the car, said he had some stuff he needed to do, needed a way to get there. He dropped me off at this cabin not far away where there are some dudes always partying, left me for about an hour, maybe two, then came back and picked me up and we came back here.”

“This other kid have a name?” Jake asked.

“Forget it, man, I ain’t telling you nothing else.” Tyler’s eyes narrowed and he glared at Jake.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Seems like I can’t remember nothing else, Sheriff,” Tyler smirked.

“Okay, if that’s the way you want it.” Turning to the camp director Jake said, “Tom, we’ll take Tyler with us. Since he has admitted to being away from camp and spending time at a cabin nearby, that puts him in the vicinity of the crime scene for at least one, possibly two, of the reported incidents. I will be in touch with his probation officer and have him contact you after he has worked things out with the Minneapolis police. Our investigation will continue, with or without Tyler’s cooperation. If we find more evidence linking him to the crime scene and issue an arrest warrant you will most likely be called to testify.”

When Marc began handcuffing Tyler the boy shouted, “Wait! Come on man, give me a minute. Maybe I can remember a name.”

All three men waited as Tyler looked from one to the other, cursing under his breath. “Maybe it was Zach,” he mumbled.

“Tom?” Jake looked to the director.

“Zach Fields?” Tom asked Tyler.

“Shit, I don’t know his last name. The kid who’s always wearing the baseball cap and following me around.”

“That’s Zach Fields, Sheriff,” Tom confirmed. One of Sam’s students, Jake knew from his earlier investigation.

“Do you know what Zach needed the car for?”

“I already told you, he dropped me off, disappeared for a while, then came back to get me. I don’t know what he was doing.”

“Nothing else you can tell us?”

“Nope.”

Jake ran his hand through his hair and walked around the room. “Okay. You stay here for the time being. You can plan on seeing us again. Why don’t you see if you can remember some more before then?”

Jake left the room followed by Marc and Tom and returned to Tom’s office. “I don’t believe much of what comes out of that kid’s mouth but I get the feeling he’s telling the truth about not knowing where Zach went,” Tom said.

“Yeah, maybe. I want you to have someone watching Tyler at all times. When do the rest of the kids get back?”

“They’re due back Sunday afternoon. One of the counselors checks in with me every evening. I’ll talk to him about Zach, make sure he’s keeping an eye on him and that he’s not left alone.”

Jake nodded. He knew Tom was doing his best to cooperate and was upset at the breach of security at the camp.

“What about Blaine Hemmingway?” Marc asked.

“Unless you want to talk to him again or file charges against him for possession of marijuana, I can have him out of here by this evening,” Tom answered.

“It’s going to be hard to prove any drug-related offenses after the fact. With this much notice I would assume he’s gotten rid of any marijuana he still had and unless we’d find a substantial amount, the most we could charge him with is a misdemeanor. He’d get off with a nominal fine. Unless he has previous drug convictions?”

“No, no, definitely not. He couldn’t have been hired here if that were the case. Maybe his parents knew of some drug use but he doesn’t have a record.”

“Okay. I would like to take a look at his car, though. If Zach or Tyler did, in fact, go to Sam’s place we may find something in the car linking them to the crime.”

“I’ll go talk to him again, see if I can get an okay to search the car,” Marc said.

“Sounds good. I’ll wrap things up here with Tom then join you.”

Later that afternoon, Marc and Jake sat in Jake’s office going over the interview notes and the files on Tyler and Zach. The search of Blaine’s car hadn’t yielded much of value. There was a tool box in the trunk, nothing different than what might be found in thousands of other car trunks, but interesting in that the hammer was lying outside the box. Blaine claimed he didn’t recall using the tools lately but said that before he came to camp, his brother sometimes used the car and it’s possible the hammer had been out of the toolbox and he hadn’t noticed it. Marc had bagged the hammer and kept it as possible evidence.

“Any ideas on where this party cabin Tyler referred to might be?” Jake asked Marc.

“There are a couple places on the lake that come to mind. Remember we had that noise complaint a few weeks ago out on Bay Street.”

“Yeah, I was thinking that too. There wasn’t anything illegal going on at the time, though, as I recall. Lots of drinking and loud music but everyone was of age.”

“That time, yes. It might be worth checking out again. There’s another place over on the other side of the lake I’ve heard some talk about. There haven’t been any complaints, I’ve just heard some kids mention a place where there’s been some partying. I’ve driven by a couple times, haven’t seen anything but it’s probably worth checking out.”

“Good. Keep your ears open, if you hear talk about any place else, let me know. And take a drive by the other spots when you’re on duty at night.”

“Will do,” Marc replied. Then, “What’s your feeling on Zach? Do you think he’s responsible?”

“There’s a lot of reason to suspect him. The dates match up. If he really dropped off Tyler somewhere on the lake, he would have had plenty time to get to Sam’s place and back. Sam has said his behavior in class is odd. She has never suggested she thinks he’s responsible but I know she thinks he’s up to something.”

“What’s the motive? Do you think it’s personal against Sam?”

“I can’t come up with a logical motive other than he’s angry at having to be at Project Strong Start and he’s taking it out on whomever he can. To me, it doesn’t seem like he knows Sam well enough to have anything against her personally.”

Marc nodded his agreement. “So we check out some possible party locations on the lake, keep tabs on Tyler through Tom Lindahl, and wait for Zach to get back from the Boundary Waters so we can talk to him. Anything else right now?”

“No, Marc, I guess that’s it for now,” Jake answered, clearly wishing he could do more.

14

“So, how was the Mall of America?” Jake smiled over his glass at Sam. It was Saturday evening and Sam had agreed to dinner at Jake’s apartment. He had been nervous, he realized, to see how she’d react to his apartment, to the dinner, to him. So far, so good.

Sam gave a small shudder. “Oh, God, Jake, that place. Have you seen it? Oh, of course you have, I think I’m the only person who hadn’t. It’s overwhelming. Did you know there are over five hundred stores? I think Karen went into most of them.”

“Joe said she was really happy you went with her. You did a good thing, Sam.”

“Oh, it wasn’t really that bad once I got over the initial shock. Karen did have a good time, I think. I’m glad I went with her. She bought a pile of maternity clothes and even some baby clothes.”

“I heard she wasn’t the only one who bought baby clothes,” Jake winked.

“You heard that, did you? Well, I just couldn’t resist, I had to buy something for the baby. Those tiny little outfits were just so adorable and I found these sweet little shoes, and a hat, it will be winter when the baby’s born, after all.” Sam grew quiet and Jake caught the wistful look in her eyes before she gave her head a little shake and smiled at him.

“Are you already planning your next trip to the Mall? There must be some stores and restaurants you missed.”

“No. No! I need time to recover. A long time,” Sam laughed. “It is an interesting place, though. Rollercoasters, an aquarium, a bowling alley, more restaurants than I’ve ever seen…it’s really quite something. I guess I can see why my friends kept making the drive here from Chicago.” She raised a brow and asked Jake, “What about you? Do you make frequent trips?”

He held up his hands and said, “Definitely not. A few years ago I ended up there just a couple days before Christmas trying to find a certain kind of candle my mom wanted. I still have nightmares. Screaming kids, crabby parents, sales people with smiles plastered on their faces but with eyes shooting daggers at everyone who asked a question. That reminds me, I have to get Shauna to do a favor for me again. It was her idea to go that day. Our deal is she’s in my debt for life.”

Sam laughed, picturing Jake following the whirling dervish Shauna through the jam-packed mall.  But she guessed he would do just about anything for his mom, his sister, or any other member of his family. She looked around his apartment at the framed family photos displayed prominently on the tabletops and walls and thought again how fortunate he was to be surrounded by a big family so full of love. His entire apartment held traces of family. She had already spotted a crocheted afghan thrown over the back of the couch, an embroidered kitchen towel hanging on the oven door, and a homemade apple pie on the counter. Sam was willing to bet a lot on someone other than Jake being responsible for all of them.

His apartment surprised her. Instead of the mismatched furniture, sports magazines, and giant TV she had expected, she found his home to be cozy and warm with beautiful leather furniture, a few tasteful art prints, and a large shelf full of a wide variety of books. Well, and a giant TV. The lasagna he had in the oven smelled heavenly and it looked as though he had done everything he could to make her feel welcome from the flowers on the table to the music he had playing. She was touched.

He also had avoided the subject that she knew they’d have to discuss sooner or later. When he had called to tell her he had some new information on her case she hadn’t wanted to hear it over the phone. He had assured her it was nothing that couldn’t wait so she had opted to wait until tonight to hear it in person. She didn’t want it to spoil the evening but knew she couldn’t keep avoiding the topic.

“I suppose you should probably tell me what you learned about my case.”

Jake studied her and hated the mixture of fear and apprehension he saw in her eyes. She had looked so happy just a moment ago. “I had a call from Tom Lindahl, the director of Project Strong Start,” he began.

Sam’s expression went from wary to frightened to angry as Jake relayed what he had learned from Tom as well as from Blaine and Tyler. When Jake paused she was quiet for a moment, looking at him and unconsciously tapping her fingers on the table. When she spoke she had to fight for control.

“You’re blaming the kids again even though you don’t really have much to go on,” she accused. “I get it that taking a car and leaving the camp is a big deal, obviously it’s against the rules and these kids knowingly did something wrong, but it doesn’t sound like you have any evidence that they were anywhere near my house.”

“No physical evidence, no. But, like I said, Tyler admitted to driving around the lake. He also claims another boy dropped him off at a party and then left by himself with the car. Based on the time frame, the other boy couldn’t have gone too far so you have to agree the possibility exists that one or both of them could have been at your place.”

“Fine, it’s possible. But why? I don’t know Tyler. What reason would he have for damaging my property?”

Jake hesitated. He hadn’t told her that the other kid involved was Zach but knew he had to. “You’re right. I don’t have a good reason for Tyler damaging your property. But he gave us the name of the boy who went with him. It was Zach.”

Sam was on her feet in a flash. “Zach? My Zach? From my class? Don’t do this, Jake, don’t blame him just because I mentioned I thought he was acting a little strange the other day! I told you then I couldn’t believe he’d do something like that and I still can’t. I don’t believe any of them could.” She was shouting and blinking back tears.

“I’m not blaming him, Sam, I just wanted you to know what we learned. I’ll need to talk to Zach when he gets back, see what he has to say about where he went with the car. At this point we don’t have any other leads. You can’t expect me to ignore this.”

Sam took a few deep breaths and stared out the window at the sun just beginning to set. “I’m sorry, Jake. It just seems kids like Zach, like all of them, are always so easily blamed whenever anything bad happens. Make a couple mistakes and you’re branded for life, you know?”

“I do know. It’s easy to do and I’ve been guilty of it myself. But in my job we learn to play the odds, so to speak. Someone who has been in trouble in the past is, unfortunately, going to be a more likely suspect than someone who hasn’t. But, that doesn’t mean I’m ready to arrest Zach. I just want to talk to him, see what he has to say.”

She nodded and went to Jake. “Just promise me you’ll give him a chance. Please, give them all a chance,” she said sadly and put her head on his shoulder as his arms went around her.