Toni Donovan Mysteries- Books 1-3

by Helen Gray

  “I assure you we’re legitimate,” Toni said. “We’re not media or anything like that.”

  After another long moment the woman slid the chain from its latch and opened the door. Her honey blonde hair was pulled back behind her ears and fell haphazardly to her shoulders, her gaze cool and questioning. Thin, with dark circles shadowing her eyes, she wore jeans, a faded green tee shirt, and tennis shoes. Her smoothly sculpted cheekbones, coupled with a small nose and rounded chin, made her attractive, although not a raving beauty.

  Toni scanned the room. The carpeting was a neutral shade of tan. The couch and chairs were upholstered in a green and blue stripe, with throw pillows of solid blue and green. The rest of the furnishings were nice enough, but not expensive designer stuff. Photographs of two young children, framed in gold, occupied a place of honor on top of the entertainment center.

  “My name is Sheila,” the woman finally said. “Have a seat.” She perched on the edge of the sofa and picked up the cigarette from an ashtray on the coffee table. She took a deep drag, inhaled, and then tapped the ash off with a long finger and put it back. “Now, what can I do for you?”

  “Jesse and I sat together in class,” John repeated. “We went to Bass Pro together Tuesday.”

  “Yes, I remember him mentioning taking someone,” she responded, interest finally beginning to enter her eyes. “So what’s the problem?”

  “Well, we went to the library together after class Thursday to work on an assignment. Today I discovered that I had his flash drive. Apparently we got our drives mixed up when we each copied a file we had worked on together.”

  Sheila blinked. “Are you saying you’re looking for your flash drive?”

  “That’s right. Do you have any idea where Jesse might have put it?”

  She stared past him in thought. “I guess I can look in his briefcase and check his desk and computer. I’ll be right back.” She stood and left the room.

  While they waited for her return, Toni tried to analyze the woman. Probably in her thirties, she seemed edgy, but that was to be expected from a woman whose husband had just been killed. She was being cooperative rather than displaying irritation or antagonism over their intrusion. It also seemed to Toni that the woman didn’t seem overcome with bereavement. But she might be the kind of person who could hide her emotions.

  Her eyes returned to the pictures on the entertainment center, a girl and boy who looked to be about six and ten. They were attractive children, sandy haired and smiling. But as she surveyed the room, she saw no evidence of children living there.

  Toni was staring at the pictures again when Sheila Campbell returned to the room. “Those are my son and daughter,” she said, noting Toni’s attention on the pictures. “They live with their father. He got custody when we divorced.”

  Toni’s senses sharpened, and she pasted on her ‘dumb’ face. “You must miss them.”

  Sheila nodded. “I do. Jesse and I have…had only been married a few weeks. My former husband has custody of Cassie and Craig.” She pushed back a strand of blonde hair and resumed her seat on the sofa. She bit down on her lower lip for a moment, and then regained her momentarily lost composure. “I couldn’t find your flash drive,” she told John. “I went through his briefcase and desk, and it’s not anywhere around the computer.”

  “Do you have any idea where he might have used it, or what he might have done with it?”

  Her brow furrowed, and then slowly smoothed out. “There is one small possibility. He kept some financial records on it, and he always took it with him when he went to see his accountant.”

  His accountant? A teacher needed to see an accountant on a regular basis? That seemed unusual to Toni. Teachers weren’t at the bottom of the local pay scale, but they weren’t exactly known for high finance, investments, and the like.

  “Can you give us the name of the accountant?” she asked.

  Sheila thought for a moment and then shook her head slowly. “No…I’m sure I’ve heard it, but I can’t remember.”

  It looked like they were at a dead end. Toni sighed. “May we leave our names and phone numbers with you, in case you remember it?”

  “That would be okay.” She scooted over and picked up a pen and pad from the small table at the end of the sofa. Then she wrote down the information as they repeated their names and cell numbers in turn.

  “Do you have a funeral scheduled yet?” John asked. “I’d like to attend if I can.”

  Sheila’s head bobbed slowly. “They haven’t released his body yet, but if they release it by tomorrow, as they’ve said they should, the service will be Friday afternoon at the local mortuary. If they don’t, it may not be until next week.”

  Toni stood. “Thank you for your help. Please accept our condolences.”

  As they moved to the door, a phone began ringing in the next room.

  “Go ahead and get it. We’ll see ourselves out,” Toni told the woman.

  When they were in the car, Toni aimed a pointed look across the seat at John as he poked the key in the ignition. “They were newlyweds. She lost her kids in a divorce. Something tells me there’s a story behind it all. I’m curious.”

  “Maybe Kara can help you research it.” He started the engine and backed out of the drive.

  A couple minutes later he asked, “Do you mind if we swing by Best Buy so I can buy a new flash drive? I need it before tomorrow’s class.”

  “That lanyard does look lonely.” She nodded at the cord dangling around his neck with nothing attached to the end of it. She had left her own back at the house with her laptop.

  When Toni crawled into bed that night, she placed her cell phone on the table next to her. Kyle called almost every night just to touch base and chat, and she hadn’t heard from him yet. She snuggled down and was just dozing off when it rang, dragging her from semi-consciousness.

  She grabbed it and mumbled, “Hullo.”

  “Uh oh. Sounds like you were already asleep,” Kyle said.

  Toni ran a hand over her face in the dark, trying to clear her head. “I just dropped off.”

  “How was your day?”

  She pushed herself up against the head of the bed. “Interesting,” she said, coming awake.

  “Oh?”

  She gave him a brief recap of her talk with Nicole, John’s missing flash drive, and the visit to Jesse Campbell’s widow.

  “Toni, I hope you’re not getting involved in something that could prove dangerous.”

  “All I’m doing is teaching Kara’s class and helping John look for…”

  “Just so you look out for your safety,” he interrupted her explanation. “How are the boys? Do they seem to be affected by the weekend find, or have they put it behind them?”

  “They asked this evening if the police have caught the killer yet, but they don’t seem to be troubled other than disappointed that no one has been nabbed.”

  Kyle chuckled at the emphasis on the last word. “They think it should happen like they see on television.”

  “How about you? Have you run into any problems or developments of interest?”

  There was a slight pause. “Well, there was something, but…oh, it’s nothing. I’m in Jamaica right now,” he said, changing the subject. “I delivered a load of medical supplies to Kingston.”

  They talked a couple more minutes. When Toni snuggled back down in the bed, she felt uneasy. Something about the way Kyle had sounded troubled her. She sensed that something was bothering him. She would try to sound him out more the next time they talked.

  *

  Tuesday morning Toni dressed in a denim wrap-around skirt and a loose fitting white blouse, looped her lanyard over her head, and attached her flash drive to it. Breakfast was a quick bowl of cereal with the Donovans. The boys were still asleep when she left.

  As she was pulling out of the driveway, her cell phone rang. She stopped at the side of the street and answered it.

  “What time do you get out of class today?” John
asked.

  “I don’t have lab, so I’ll be done at eleven.”

  “I don’t finish class until twelve. How about meeting for lunch?”

  “After class I have to do some lab prep for tomorrow. That should take about forty-five minutes. It’s perfect timing. Where do you want to meet?”

  “I packed two sandwiches. I’ll share them if you’ll meet me at Jordan Valley Park at twelve-fifteen.”

  “I’ll bring sodas. What kind do you want?”

  “A Dr. Pepper sounds good.”

  “Okay, see you at the fountains.”

  Class was routine. The two and a half hour lecture covered chapter sixteen on the endocrine system and was accompanied by diagrams on the overhead. The students seemed fascinated by the problems that too much or too little of any hormone could cause to the body, especially the students who were in nursing.

  Nicole, who was sitting at the front table, raised her hand. “Does that mean we can blame our grumpy moods on this system?”

  Toni grinned. “I’d say you need to be sure it’s not just the kids or spouse getting to you before making that charge.” She glanced up at the clock, glad for the occasional levity and high interest level this class continued to show. The interaction pleased her.

  “Okay, that’s it. Tomorrow we’ll cover chapter seventeen and do an endocrine and blood lab. You’re dismissed.”

  As soon as the students were gone, Toni set up for the next day and left the room. On the way out of the building she stopped by a soda machine, bought two cold sodas, and tucked them down into the side pockets of her book satchel.

  Once outside, she debated whether to bother with her car or just walk. It was a pretty day, and she needed some exercise. Decision made, she walked to the intersection, crossed Chestnut Expressway, and then hiked three blocks south to the park.

  Although public, Jordan Valley was not a playground park. Several small children in bathing suits were running and splashing in the small fountains where geysers of water shot up through holes in the concrete apron. It would shoot high in the air, then lower, and gradually quit. The children would then stomp on the silent holes with their bare feet, and squeal in delight when the water started shooting up again. The sight stirred memories of trips to parks when Toni and her brothers were children.

  Smiling, she sat on one of the stone slab benches on the hillside overlooking the fountains, not far from where mothers occupied square stone seats while keeping an eye on their children. Water spilled down wide concrete steps to the flat fountain area from a lagoon of still water at the top of the hill. A glance at her watch told her it was ten after twelve.

  She settled her bags next to her and glanced around to see if John was in sight yet. There was no sign of him. The Hammon Center towered overhead, and Hammon Field was across the highway. The sun was high in the sky and beginning to sizzle. She tugged at her blouse that was clinging to her skin.

  Fifteen minutes later she was definitely uncomfortable. It wasn’t like John to be late. She pulled her Coke from her satchel and popped the tab. It was already warm, but she drank from it anyhow.

  When another ten minutes had passed and her Coke was gone, Toni stood and stretched her muscles. Needing to move around, she wandered across the lawn to where K-man, a huge silver tin man with moving parts, stood next to a huge rock. Resembling a giant robot standing sentinel over the park, he was mounted on a glass and metal box that had a wheel on the bottom of it that turned to make his feet move. A plaque stated that K-man was dedicated to Ozark children by the Rotary Club of Springfield southeast district.

  It was now twelve-forty, and Toni was growing uneasy about John. She wandered past a monster sized rock in the middle of a big circle rimmed by flat rocks and filled with a blue and black shaded layer of ground-up material she knew to be recycled tires.

  Definitely worried by now, Toni checked her watch again. It was almost twelve-forty-five. Something wasn’t right. Her gut tightened. She knew John’s class wouldn’t have gone overtime, and his classroom at Drury was only two blocks from hers at OTC. He was the one who had suggested they meet, so she was sure he had not forgotten. So why hadn’t he called? She couldn’t wait around any longer. She had to go check on him.

  She walked to the top of the hill and picked up her pace. When she got back across Chestnut Expressway, she cut west to Drury Lane and headed to the building where John’s class met.

  As she hiked up the block, puffing from hurrying in the heat and lugging her bags, Toni spotted a cluster of people at the edge of a parking lot. Two police cars and an ambulance were there. A sense of dread rose in her throat, making her tremble so badly that her satchel slid off her shoulder. She shoved it back up and forced her feet to propel her forward.

  When she reached the perimeter of the gathering of spectators, she saw a team of paramedics kneeling on the paved surface, working on someone. Certain somehow that it was John, she edged closer.

  A uniformed police officer was dealing with the growing crowd. “Get back, people. Give them room to work.”

  The policeman near the ambulance was making notes in a small notebook. When he looked up, Toni recognized him as the younger officer who had been at Sequiota Park Saturday. It took a couple of moments to recall his name. Chilton.

  “Officer,” she called across the cordoned area. “May I speak with you?”

  He looked up, frowning. Then he recognized her and started toward her.

  “I’m looking for my friend, John Zachary,” she said anxiously as he reached her. “The guy who was with my family Saturday when...”

  “I know who you mean,” the officer cut off her explanation.

  “Is he here? He was supposed to meet me for lunch at twelve-fifteen, and he never showed up. Has something happened? I’m worried about him.” She ran out of breath.

  “He’s here. The ambulance just arrived. He’s alive,” the officer assured her, reading the fear in her face. “But he’s hurt. They’re getting ready to transport him to the hospital.”

  Chapter 6

  “What happened?” Toni asked in bewilderment. “May I see him?”

  The officer hesitated a moment before speaking. “He was jumped and beaten.”

  Toni’s fear escalated to outrage. “You mean he was robbed?”

  Officer Chilton shrugged. “We’re not exactly sure what happened. He was knocked unconscious. A young couple driving by saw what was happening and called nine-one-one. They stopped and backed up, but by the time they got back to the scene, the perpetrator had fled. They stayed with your friend until help arrived.”

  Toni was speechless.

  He eyed her closely. “Your name is Donovan, right?”

  “That’s right. I need to see John.”

  “Come with me.”

  They crossed the parking lot to where her colleague was being strapped to a gurney. John looked terrible, but he was conscious—barely. One side of his face was badly scraped and swollen and already turning dark. The medics were immobilizing his left arm, strapping it to his chest as if it were broken.

  Toni took a deep steadying breath. “Hello, buddy. I came looking for my sandwich.”

  The slits of John’s eyes opened a bit wider as he recognized her voice. “Was coming,” he croaked.

  “Can you tell us what happened?” she asked, knowing that Officer Chilton was listening at her shoulder.

  John moved his mouth carefully. “Someone jumped me from behind.” His speech slurred.

  “They robbed you?” the officer asked, notebook in hand.

  John started to shake his head, but winced and stopped. “Grabbed my arm and started jerking at my lanyard.”

  Chilton glanced at Toni in puzzlement.

  “We carry our flash drives on them,” Toni explained, holding hers up to demonstrate.

  The officer nodded in understanding.

  “I fought,” John continued weakly. “We fell. He kept . . .hitting me in the ribs . . .and jerking on my lanyard.” He paus
ed before continuing. “Then he . . .slammed my head on the pavement. That’s all I remember.”

  “Do you know if your wallet was taken?” Chilton asked.

  John concentrated and shifted his body a little. “I can feel it in my hip pocket.”

  His unbound right hand moved back and forth across his chest, and then he gasped. “My flash drive’s gone!”

  “Is that the only thing missing?” Chilton asked.

  John reached up and rubbed his forehead. “That’s all I had with me, except for the sandwiches. They were in a little brown bag.”

  “We were meeting for lunch at Jordan Valley Park,” Toni explained. “I was bringing the sodas.”

  Chilton nodded. “Did you see the guy?” he asked John. “Can you give me any kind of description?”

  John grimaced. “He was smaller than me, about my height, but thin and strong. I didn’t see his face.”

  “He took you off guard,” Toni said, knowing John felt he should have defended himself better.

  “Okay, we’re ready to go,” one of the paramedics announced. He and his partner rolled the gurney to the back of the ambulance.

  Toni followed, pulling her cell phone from her purse.

  “You calling your brother?” officer Chilton asked.

  Toni turned to meet his gaze and found a tiny smile lurking at the corners of his mouth.

  “It’s nothing against you,” she said. “I just feel like talking things over with Quint. He trusts me. I also intend to call John’s wife.”

  “No offense taken,” the young officer responded. He paused a moment. “I like Quint. We chatted over the weekend, and he told me about your involvement in a couple of cases in your hometown. Durbin’s off today. He had to get some dental work done. As soon as I’m back at the station, I’ll talk to the chief about having Quint help with the case—cases. This makes two incidents where you’re involved.”

  “Thanks,” she said, thinking that might make it possible for her to get information, maybe even have some input.

  They watched the paramedics close the door of the ambulance and roll away. Most of the spectators had dispersed by now. “Do you think this is in any way connected to Saturday’s body discovery?” Chilton asked.