“You don’t have to,” Harper called after her. The girl was already halfway down the sidewalk, though. “We can talk about something less gross if it freaks you out.”
“No. I have things I should be doing.” Rain offered Jared and Zander waves before pointing herself toward the pharmacy. Harper didn’t miss the way the teenager’s eyes darted back to the boy in the park.
“She may not want friends, but I don’t know that her hormones are going to stick to that deal,” Harper offered.
“I don’t know that jumping into a relationship is a good idea,” Jared countered. “She’s new in town. She should get settled first.”
Harper pinned him with a pointed look. “Are you worried her crush on you is going to go away?”
“No.” He poked her side, amused. “I’m just worried that she seems a little emotionally unstable. Before you guys came over here, she was telling us about moving to the area ... and she didn’t exactly sound happy about it.”
“Yeah, well, we had lunch with her and Ezra and he let us in on a few background tidbits. Their parents died not too long ago and she was living with an aunt until she got in trouble — drinking and a little pot, so nothing big but enough to worry him — and the aunt decided she was too much trouble so he had to move back from New York City to take care of her.”
“That’s quite the burden on him,” Mel noted. “He should be commended for taking in a troubled kid.”
“I didn’t say she was troubled,” Harper argued.
“You said she was in trouble for booze and drugs.”
“What teenager hasn’t gotten in trouble with those things?” Harper’s annoyance came out to play. “She was a good kid before her parents died. Her world was turned upside down. She’s trying to make sense of it, and that means pushing boundaries. I’m willing to bet once she feels safe with Ezra that she turns back around. Give her a break.”
“I’m not the one she was rude to,” Mel pointed out. “That was you. She clearly has issues with you telling her what to do.”
“That’s because of Jared.”
“And she doesn’t have all that many issues,” Zander interjected, leaning his head toward the park. “She just wants to put a brave face on her pain. Look at her now. She’s over there with Andy and they’re making odd faces at one another.”
Four sets of eyes settled on the teenagers.
“They’re kind of cute, huh?” Harper asked after a few minutes of watching them, her lips curving. “I think they might be flirting.”
“She’s kind of fickle,” Jared complained. “Not five minutes ago she was over here batting her eyelashes at me and now it’s as if I don’t even exist. I think I should be wounded.”
Harper slid her arm around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. “I know you exist. Isn’t that the most important thing?”
“Actually, it is.” Jared graced her with a smoldering kiss and then pulled back. “Unfortunately, as much as I enjoy wasting time with you, Mel and I have to get back to work. We need to interview some of the business owners to see if they saw anything. That liquor store across the way has cameras and we’re hoping they caught something.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea.” Harper rolled up to the balls of her feet and pressed a kiss to the corner of Jared’s mouth. “I don’t suppose you can bring home dinner, can you? I think I’m going to be busy for the bulk of the afternoon.”
“I can pick up dinner. What do you have in mind?”
“Chinese is good, although I’m fine with whatever you want.”
“Chinese sounds good to me, too. I’ll get several entrees so we have plenty to choose from ... and leftovers. I know what you like.”
“You do.”
“Oh, geez.” Zander stomped his foot. “Stop being gross. I’m officially at my limit.”
“You and me both,” Mel lamented. “They’ve been extra gooey since they got engaged. It’s really annoying.”
“Then don’t look.” Jared planted a firm kiss on Harper’s mouth and then pulled back. “Are you going to be home all afternoon or at work? I’m not checking up on you or anything, but I can’t help but worry because you’re going to be my wife.”
“Oh, I hate both of you right now,” Zander growled.
Harper ignored the comment. “A little of both. I think I found a new ghost, but I can’t be sure. I need to draw him in. I saw him close to our house, so that’s where I’ll be.”
“Then that’s where I’ll find you. Be good and take care of my almost-wife.”
“I think I can do that.”
“I know you can.”
BARRY TOMPKINS OWNED THE LOCAL liquor store. He didn’t seem surprised when Mel and Jared entered his domain, although it was a chore for him to look away from the baseball game he was watching on the small television behind the counter.
“It’s a bit early for you guys, isn’t it?”
“We’re actually here on official business,” Mel replied. “Did you hear about Lionel Peterson?”
Barry’s face fell. “Actually, I did. That’s too bad. He was a grumpy old coot, but he made me laugh. One time, last summer, he got annoyed with some of the teenagers kissing on the sidewalk in front of his place and he sprayed them with the hose. You should’ve heard the girl scream. I laughed so hard.”
“He was a colorful guy,” Mel readily agreed. “The thing is, even though he died of a heart attack, it was during the course of a break-in. You have a camera in front of your store. We were kind of hoping we could look at the footage from last night.”
Barry blinked several times in rapid succession and then nodded. “I didn’t even think about that. You can absolutely look at the footage. I don’t know how great it’s going to be. It’s okay when trying to identify people coming into my store. That far away, though ... .”
“We’ll take anything we can get right now,” Jared volunteered. “Our assumption is we’re dealing with kids, but you know how that goes. Until we have proof ... .”
“Yeah. It could be a whacked-out adult as much as a kid, too.” Barry made a face as he motioned for the detectives to follow him toward his back room. “I don’t know what this world is coming to.”
“Now you sound like Lionel,” Mel supplied. “That’s all he ever talked about, how the kids today were rotten and nothing like the kids of his day.”
“I think that’s one of those subjective things,” Barry responded. “I mean ... I remember a lot of the kids I graduated with getting in a little trouble here or there. I would never say otherwise. The thing is, I had more tolerance for that sort of crap when I was young. The older I get, the more annoyed I get.”
“I’m right there with you.” Mel looked morose. “I honestly almost yelled at two kids the other day because they were riding their bikes on my lawn. I think I’m turning into my father.”
Jared chuckled as he watched Barry pull up the video feed. “Start looking around ten o’clock last night and fast forward until about two or so. That’s the timetable we’re dealing with.”
“Sure.” Barry was adept at controlling the footage. He found the right timestamp and did as he was asked.
“It looks like Lionel returned to his shop around midnight,” Mel noted as they watched the action. “He must’ve forgotten something.”
“That would be my guess,” Jared agreed, his eyes peeled on the screen. “Wait. Slow it down.”
Barry slowed the movement. “What do you see?”
“Right there.” Jared pointed. “That looks like at least one body crossing in front of the window, right?”
“No, it’s at least two,” Mel countered, squinting. “Yeah. It’s definitely two. I saw two heads pass. It could’ve been more people. It’s impossible to see who we’re dealing with, though, because they stuck to the shadows.”
“That’s where they broke the window,” Jared said, his finger landing on the screen as the glass gave way. “I can see shadows going inside. I ... it definitely looks like two people, maybe three.�
��
“It’s impossible to tell,” Mel said. “Lionel never turned on the light in the store. We have no idea what’s even happening. It’s just darkness.”
They watched the feed in normal time for another three minutes and then Barry stirred.
“Someone is leaving,” he said, lifting his chin. “Right there, someone escaped from the barbershop and left through the same window.”
“They weren’t there very long,” Jared said. “They must’ve panicked when they realized Lionel was inside.”
“And perhaps ran when he started having chest pains,” Mel added. “Either way, they were definitely inside with him. We need to find who we’re dealing with here. They keep getting bolder and bolder.”
“And now that they’ve killed someone, they have nothing left to lose,” Jared said. “Let’s watch it again. Maybe we can get the state police technicians to look at the feed and see if they can clean it up.”
Mel shrugged. “It can’t hurt. Let’s take a second look.”
7
Seven
Jared was happy when the end of the day rolled around. He felt as if he was moving in circles. Nothing was coming together on this case and an assumption that they were dealing with teenagers wasn’t going to get them anywhere. He’d looked up the stats on the local high school. They had five hundred kids. That wasn’t a lot by some standards, but it was enough that something would have to happen to whittle that number down before they could begin serious interrogations.
“Are you out of here?” Mel asked when he saw Jared shutting down his computer.
Jared nodded. “Yeah. I’m picking up dinner at the Chinese place and then heading home. We’ll hit it fresh tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” Mel made a groaning sound as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. “I don’t know where to look.” He sounded morose. “I don’t want to start questioning kids who have a certain reputation because it only reinforces negative stereotypes, but we might have to.”
Jared pursed his lips, considering. “Do you have a regular cadre of delinquents in this town?” He felt stupid for asking. He’d been here a year. He should already know the answer to the question. Apparently he didn’t, though.
“There are a few who have seen their fair share of trouble.”
“Like?”
“Like Tommy Doyle. He got caught stealing a car about eighteen months ago. He did some time in juvenile detention and was returned to his parents about three months ago.”
“The timing is interesting,” Jared hedged. “Like you, though, I would rather not focus on a kid unless we have a reason to.”
“I agree. There are other kids, though. Like the Cornell boy, for example. His reputation isn’t exactly stellar.”
Jared frowned. “What do you mean? Are you talking about the kid Rain was hanging out with in the park?”
“Yeah. Andy. He’s had a few issues. He was caught throwing rocks at the middle school windows when he was thirteen. He broke about thirty of them out before we nabbed him. It was right after his mother died, though, so we let it go with a warning. His father promised to pay for the damage, and he did. That was the end of it until last year. Then Andy started acting up again.”
“Acting up how?”
“Well, for starters, he was caught peeping through the window of Blair Ramsey’s house.”
Jared furrowed his brow. “She’s a teacher at the school, right? That name sounds familiar.”
“The name sounds familiar because right after you arrived in town she dropped off a plate of cookies for you at the office.”
“Oh, right.” Jared’s cheeks colored with embarrassment. Now that his partner brought it up, he did remember that. “I don’t know how I could’ve forgotten.”
“I don’t either. They were good cookies.” Mel was amused despite himself. “Of course, that was about the time something blond caught your attention and it didn’t matter that Blair wore her best dress to visit you. All the women in town were atwitter when you hit, and they were all disappointed when you instantly started sniffing around Harper.”
“Well ... some things are meant to be.” Jared refused to apologize for being happy. “Harper and I are one of those things.”
“I’m honestly starting to believe that. Anyway, Blair was stripping down to get ready for bed one night and she caught him staring through her window. He denied it, but several of the residents said they’d seen him lurking around the neighborhood. We really couldn’t prove it was him, but we gave him a stern talking to.”
“Was that the end of it?”
“I wish. He’s been caught at least three times in the parking lot behind the grocery store. He pays those who are down on their luck to buy alcohol for him. Then he shares it with a few other kids. They get rowdy and obnoxious, attack some mailboxes, and occasionally spray paint the sides of a few businesses.”
“If you know it’s him, why haven’t you arrested him?”
“Because there’s a difference between knowing and proving. As a detective, you should realize that. We know it’s him. We just can’t prove it.”
“Ah.” Jared rolled his neck, thoughtful. “Well, he’s definitely someone to look at. I would like to have more to go on than that before we drag him in for questioning, though.”
“That makes two of us. We’ll look at it from a different angle tomorrow. Maybe that will shake something loose.”
“That would be nice.”
JARED ORDERED EIGHT ENTREES. Charles Yang, the owner of the only Chinese restaurant in town, was used to him placing large orders, though, and barely gave him a glance as he counted down the items in the bag.
“You have chicken and vegetables, sesame chicken, shrimp lo mein, scallops in lobster sauce, beef with broccoli, bourbon chicken, vegetable lo mein, and garlic beef. You also have six spring rolls and a side of crab rangoon.”
“That’s my order.” Jared grinned at the man. “How much do I owe you?”
“A lot. This is food for a glutton. Unless ... are you feeding Zander and Shawn, too?”
“Nope. This is just for Harper and me. We like options and leftovers. We’ll eat off this for days.”
“Yup. You’re a glutton.”
“Actually, I simply prefer keeping my girl happy. She likes what she likes.”
“And she’s a glutton, too.” Charles said the words in a saucy manner, but his smile was wide. “She’s also a good girl and I’m glad you’re getting married. I heard the happy news. You make a pretty couple.”
“We do.” Jared took the huge bag and turned to leave. “You don’t tell anyone how much food we eat when we order from you, right?” He had no idea why he asked the question out of the blue. It was simply something he’d been wondering about.
“Of course not. That would only spurn ridicule. Do I look like I gossip?”
Truthfully, Jared had known Charles to gossip a time or two. “Actually, you do. It hardly matters, though. Thanks for the food.”
“Before you go, I have a question,” Charles called out to him, his expression grave. “I heard about Lionel.”
Jared nodded, solemn. “It’s a sad thing.”
“Do you know who is responsible?”
“Not yet, but we’re working on it. The assumption is that kids were doing the break-ins, but this is something else entirely. We’re on it, believe me, but it might take some time to track down the guilty parties.”
“Yes, well, I expect you’ll do it because you’re diligent that way, even if you are a glutton. You might want to check the alley, though. The kids have been hanging out there at night for the past two weeks or so, over by that picnic table.”
Jared frowned, confused. “What kids?”
“A bunch of the teenagers from the school.”
“They’ve been hanging around the alley behind your restaurant?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know the kids?”
“I’ve seen a few of them around. Two of them were out ther
e when I dumped the trash in the dumpster a few minutes ago. They might still be out there, and the group usually grows over the course of the night. I’m not saying it’s them, but they’re loud and rude and ... it might be them.”
“Yeah,” Jared gnawed on his bottom lip. “I’m going to drop the food in my truck and swing around back. I’ll just check on them.”
“Just thought I would mention it.”
JARED DIDN’T PULL HIS WEAPON when entering the alley. It seemed like a bad idea. If the kids really were up to something, they were likely to scatter if they saw him coming, especially if he had a gun in hand. Besides, he had no reason to fear for his life. They were just kids, after all. They were annoying, not deadly.
The alley was darker than the street because the lights were intermittent. The days were growing longer, but they were still a few weeks away from when it would be light out well past the dinner hour. He kept to the shadows as he walked, his eyes and ears open. From what he could tell, it sounded like there were only two individuals hanging out now.
That was probably for the best.
“I think someone is coming,” a female voice said.
“You’re imagining things,” a male responded. “No one comes back here but that old crank from the Chinese restaurant and he can’t do anything to us.”
Jared waited a moment, allowing his eyes to adjust to the odd lighting, and he frowned when he recognized who he was dealing with. Andy and Rain. Apparently they’d bonded earlier in the day because they looked relatively cozy with one another. Given the information Mel had shared, however, Jared was no longer amused with the potential pairing.
“What are you guys doing back here?” He made his presence known by stepping away from the wall and into the light.
The teenagers jolted at his appearance. They were initially sitting close on top of the picnic table, but they scattered away from one another at the sound of his voice.
“Jared?” Rain sounded nervous ... and surprised. She did her best to cover. “I ... you ... um ... what are you doing here?”
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