Undercover Justice

by Laura DeLanoy

  “Guys like that are only trouble to nice girls like you. I don’t want you seeing him again.”

  “He is not trouble!” I said, stomping my foot. “He is kind and smart and… and gentle. You would like him.” That was maybe a stretch, seeing as how Kent could barely trust him to stand next to me. But it sounded good.

  “What do you mean by gentle?” he said narrowing his eyes.

  Oh, he caught that. “I mean umm…he was really gentle with his horse.”

  “Is that so?” he asked skeptically. I think he knew exactly what I was referring too. And it wasn’t Jed’s horse. He must have decided to let it go because he said firmly with no hit of compromise, “Well, I still don’t think he is right for you, and I don’t want you seeing him again.”

  Wrapping his arm around my shoulders, he walked us into the family room where my mother sat curled up on the couch reading a book. It was hard to make small talk after knowing how my father felt about Jed. I excused myself and went up to get ready for bed. Kent wasn’t home yet, but I didn’t feel like waiting up.

  As I knelt by my window, thoughts of Jed and of our new relationship kept me up.

  Thank you Lord for the way you have blessed me and for keeping us all safe today. Please be with me and show me your will in all things. I really like Jed. Is that a good thing Lord? I don’t know if he knows you. If he doesn’t, please guide him. Please send the Holy Spirit to work in his heart. I want our relationship to glorify you. In Your name I pray. Amen.

  After pulling out of Nora’s driveway, Jed pulled out his cell phone and dialed Mike Parker.

  When Mike answered Jed said, “You on tonight?”

  “Nope, decided the overtime wasn’t worth it.”

  Good, Jed thought. “I have a proposition for you.”

  “Shoot. I’m sitting here twiddling my thumbs.”

  “You up to dusting off some of the skills from our youth?”

  “Depend on which skill that was,” Mike said interested.

  “I was thinking along the lines of acquiring some information, not using the traditional channels,” Jed had wanted to get into the Country Club, but it was too late tonight, so he had decided to try something else.

  “Is this regarding the case?”

  “Yeah. You in?”

  “Getting ready as we speak. Where should I meet you?”

  “Meet me at the high school.”

  “See you in ten,” Mike said, disconnecting.

  Hanging up his phone, Jed pulled the key out of his pocket and looked at it. He felt bad about taking it from Ollie. It had been a simple matter of taking it out of Ollie’s backpack when he wasn’t looking. Jed knew he was going to have to get it back to him, before he noticed it missing. He wouldn’t want Ollie to get in trouble with the teacher for losing it.

  Knowing he had a few minutes before Mike got there, he dialed Skip. He hadn’t had a chance to ask him about the car parked on the road. The car had been gone when he had taken Nora home.

  “Hey Skip, I didn’t have a chance to ask you about a car parked down on the road by the driveway. Do you know anything about it?”

  “Nobody approached the house asking for help,” Skip said concerned. “I don’t remember seeing a car when I ran out to the Feed and Seed after dinner. It must have been parked after that. Why? Was it still there when you left?”

  “No, it was gone. Must be nothing. Listen, thanks Skip, but I need to go, I’m meeting Mike to go over the case.”

  “Sure Jed, see you later.”

  Jed had been afraid of that. He found it suspicious that the car was parked there and then moved without any sign of someone around. That meant that someone had been nearby without Jed or Skip knowing.

  Jed dialed Nora while he waited. He had been anxious about just dropping her off without walking her in. She had thought it would be better for her to try to sneak in by herself. She didn’t answer, so Jed left a message telling her what a nice time he had tonight with her and that he would see her tomorrow.

  Mike pulled up three minutes early. “You must have been half way here when I called,” Jed teased, knowing his friend had a nasty habit of driving too fast.

  “Right. Half way,” he said, sheepishly zipping up his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. “So what’s the plan? I assume we are doing a little B and E?”

  “No breaking,” Jed said holding up the key. “Just a little entering. Let’s go.”

  Quickly entering the building, Jed shut and locked the door behind them. Switching on his thin penlight, so that it couldn’t be seen from outside, Jed said, “Ok, we need to use one of these computers to hack into the main office computer. Do you think you can do that?”

  “But of course,” Mike said with a fake accent, cracking his knuckles.

  “Great. Let’s use this one over by the corner,” The computer was tucked into a small alcove. It looked like the newest one in the room.

  Jed paced the room as Mike sat down to work. “We’re in luck. Most of the information we need I can pull off the school’s mainframe.”

  “I’m looking for a list of students who attended the school around 1981.”

  “Let me start with those who graduated in 1981,” Mike said running a search. “That’s odd.”

  “What?” Jed said, walking over to look over Mike’s shoulder.

  “There are two choices that come up. One is for the Pine Hill High School Graduates of 1981. The other is for Pine Hill C.C. graduates of 1981,” Mike said looking at the screen.

  “What is Pine Hill C.C? Country Club? Can you click on that and see what comes up?”

  “I tried. It just says ‘in archive’. That is what comes up for all the years with C.C. graduates. Not every year has an additional list.”

  “What about 2013?”

  “Interesting. It says, site being updated.”

  “Can you print out that information?”

  “Sure,” Mike said, hitting the print button. “Here’s the list of graduates, for the year 1981 first.”

  When the printer was finished spitting them out, Jed picked them up and thumbed through them quickly.

  “This is going to take some time. I have never heard of any of these people.”

  “The real questions are; Where is the archive for the other list? Who’s on it? And what does it mean?” Mike said, shutting down the computer. “I‘m also going to check the other high schools in the area and see if they have similar lists.”

  “That’s a good idea, let me know what you find out. I have a hunch about the other list, but I need to find it first.”

  “It looks like this is turning into a pretty interesting case,” Mike said, as they walked out of the building and locked the door behind them.

  “Jealous?” Jed teased. “Are you getting sick of doing the desk work?”

  “Let’s just say, I pictured myself doing something else, when I signed up for this unit.”

  “You’ll get your turn man,” Jed said slapping him on the back. “Then it will be me doing the desk work.”

  “Like you will be able to sit still long enough,” Mike joked. “There aren’t many women who come through the doors there.”

  Jed knew Mike was referring to Jed’s reputation of enjoying women. Deciding it was time to straighten Mike out, Jed admitted, “Most of what you have heard about me, has been exaggerations. I am a one-woman guy. ”

  “Oh yeah? Does that mean now?”

  “It means then and now, especially now.”

  Mike raised his eyebrow, “Does that mean things are working out with that girl, what was her name, from your class?”

  Jed grinned, “Her name is Nora, and yes, things are working out.”

  “That’s great buddy!” Mike said supportively, “Just remember she’s part of the case.”

  “Don’t worry, I couldn’t forget it if I tried,” Jed answered, thinking about the threats on Nora.

  “See you tomorrow at the meeting,” Mike said, climbing into his truck
and rolling his window down.

  “The meeting? Oh right. I forgot about that. Thanks for reminding me. See you later man.”

  “Later,” Mike waved as he pulled away.

  Jed had a lot of questions for the group that he needed answered before he met tomorrow with the task force of Lieutenant Davis, Sheriff Miller, Detective Cooper, Mike Parker and himself.

  “How was the movie?” I asked Charlotte, as we headed into class together the next morning. Jed’s motorcycle had been parked in the parking lot, but I had yet to see him. I found myself glancing over my shoulder hoping to see him. I think Kent was starting notice.

  “I had a great time. The movie was good,” she answered sending Kent a smile over her shoulder. He was following right behind us. “How was your night? Did Jed take you right home?” she asked, giving me a look that clearly asked if anything good had happened after they left. She was trying to be discreet, because we both knew Kent was listening closely for my answer.

  I returned her look with a small nod that told her I had something to share later and said, “We dropped off Ollie and then Jed took me to watch one of his horses have a beautiful black little colt. He was so small. You should have seen it. It was so wonderful. Then he took me home.”

  “How special! It must have been so exciting. I have never seen a horse give birth.”

  “There’s Ollie,” Kent interrupted. “Hurry, let’s get seats by him and save a seat for Jed. He should be here soon.”

  “How do you know?” I asked, as we headed over to where Ollie sat.

  “Jed sent me a message this morning saying he had something to tell us.”

  “Oh,” I said, a little disappointed that Jed had sent Kent a message, but not me. I tried not to let it show as I smiled at Gabby across the room, who was sitting near her boyfriend Chris.

  We took our seats by Ollie. “Hey, Ollie,” Charlotte said greeting him.

  Kent set his bag in an empty seat next to his, which was behind mine, saving it for Jed.

  Luckily, today was a group day to work on our projects. We would be able to talk without drawing attention to ourselves.

  “Ok, class. Can I have your attention for a few minutes before you break into your groups?” Ms. Morley said from the front of the room. “I would like an outline turned in by this Friday. I will be around to each group to watch you talk out your project and note how you are interacting as a group. Part of your grade will be on your participation.”

  Collective groaning sounded around the room.

  “The Mayor sent his appreciation over how well you all behaved last week on the field trip. I am very proud to report that he welcomes you all anytime,” Ms. Morley continued. “However, the group doing their report on the Mayor’s…Mr. Greyson, how kind of you to join us, late again,” she interrupted, as Jed walked through the door.

  “I apologize for being late, Ms. Morley,” Jed said politely as he handed her his late slip.

  Taking the slip, she said, “As I was saying, the group reporting on the Mayor’s office, please have a representative report to my desk as soon as we break into our groups.”

  Jed walked over to the empty seat and whispered “Thanks,” to Kent as Kent moved his bags for Jed to sit down.

  “Hi,” Jed whispered in my ear, leaning forward to run his hand down my arm.

  I sent him a smile, as I tried to control the shiver that ran down my arm at his touch.

  “Please move your desks into a group, you have the rest of the hour to work on your outlines,” Ms. Morley said.

  We moved our desks into a group, and then I volunteered to go see what Ms. Morley needed with our group. “I’ll go, I don’t think Ms. Morley likes you very much, Jed,” I teased, getting up.

  “I can live with that. “ He said quietly catching my eye. “As long as you do.”

  I do, I thought, I really do. At first I wasn’t so sure about Jed, but the more I get to know him, the more I like.

  I smiled at him as I headed up to the front.

  “Yes, Ms. Morley? You wanted to see someone from our group?” I asked politely.

  “Yes, Miss. Barton. The Mayor would like to speak with your group again regarding the interview you conducted. He did not seem pleased. I am very disappointed in how your group handled things. Mayor Greenly is a very important part of our community. I would appreciate it if you, or someone from your group could contact his office today and set up an appointment. That is all,” she said, dismissing me.

  I stood there for a second with my mouth hanging open in shock. Quickly turning, I headed back to my desk.

  “What did she say?” Kent asked, taking in my expression.

  I told them what she had said, my face red from embarrassment.

  “It’s not your fault, Nora,” Charlotte said kindly.

  “No it’s not,” Jed said forcefully. “I was there also. In fact, I did most of the talking. If anyone is to blame, it is me. Don’t feel bad.”

  “Jed’s right. Don’t worry about it,” Kent said, “At this point, who cares about the project anyway.”

  “Hey! I do,” Ollie said indignantly.

  “Let me rephrase that. I meant it is hard to worry about the project when we have bigger problems right now,” Kent explained.

  “I’ll give the Mayor’s office a call today after school,” Charlotte offered. “I don’t mind going back to talk to Mayor Greenly.”

  “Thanks, Charlotte,” Jed said warmly, giving her a smile. “There are a few things that I would like to ask the Mayor. So I plan on going to hear what he has to say. Actually, that’s what I want to talk to you all about.”

  As Jed lowered his voice, we all leaned forward to hear what he had to say. “Last night, a friend and I discovered a list of students who graduated from Pine Hill. There was also another list mentioned. It was a list of all the Pine Hill C.C. graduates. Not every year had one. I think it stands for Country Club. Have either of you heard of it, Nora or Kent?”

  I shook my head. I had never heard of such a thing. I looked over at Kent to see his reaction. To my surprise, I saw him nodding.

  “You have?” I asked. “Where?”

  “I remember a few years ago when Mayor Greenly was sworn in as Mayor. Dad made a sarcastic remark to Mother about it. He said it was because the mayor was a Pine Hill C.C. graduate. He said it using quotation marks with his fingers. I wasn’t paying much attention at the time, so I can’t tell you much more than that. All I know is that Mom asked him what he meant by that, and Dad said, “It’s nothing, just a little joke that went around school.”

  “Is it possible for us to talk to your dad tonight, after dinner sometime?” Jed asked us.

  “I’ll have to check with him when we get home. Sometimes he works late at the office,” I told Jed.

  “Ok,” Jed said nodding. “Ollie? Have you heard anyone else talk about going to a secret meeting or anyone selling any papers to make money?”

  “No. Only Mark, but I will ask around. If anyone would know anything, it would probably be the guys in the science club.”

  “He’s right,” Charlotte said. “If you wanted to buy term papers who better to buy from than some of the smartest kids in the school.”

  “Good idea Ollie,” Jed told him, “Someone has to know something, there has to be someone here on the inside. Who posted that flyer? We need to find some answers and quick. Time is running out for those other missing boys.”

  “Maybe dad will know something about the list,” Kent said, looking around the room. “We better do something on our project. Here comes Ms. Morley.”

  We all hurriedly scrambled to get out our notes and look like we were working. In the process, Charlotte accidently knocked my notebook that contained all my notes and copies of evidence we had gathered for the case, onto the floor. Dismayed we looked at each other and froze. It contained, the symbol, my threatening letter and the scrap of paper I pulled out of the filing cabinet, as well as a picture of the lanyard from the Country Club presi
dent’s office.

  The notebook fell between me and Jed, the picture falling out. Looking down, we both lunged for the copies that had fallen out before anyone saw them.

  Unfortunately, Ms. Morley approached our group at that moment. Jed was quick to scoop up the notebook, but she had to have seen something. I looked up quickly at her face to see if she was looking that way. Of course she was. A look of surprise crossed her face for a split second before disappearing. “That doesn’t look like it pertains to your project. I am going to have to ask that you hand it over. Class time is not the time to be discussing other matters. I gave your group project time, not free time, Miss Barton. Mr. Greyson, I assume you have something to do with this also. Both of you see me after class. Now get to work.”

  “Yes, Ms. Morley,” I mumbled politely.

  “I am so sorry!” Charlotte whispered, when Ms. Morley was out of earshot.

  “Don’t worry about it, it’ll be fine.” Jed told her.

  “I don’t understand. Ms. Morley has always been so nice to me. She is one of my favorite teachers. I wonder why she doesn’t seem to like me anymore,” I said to the group.

  “It’s probably just end of the year stress,” Charlotte offered. “I am sure it is getting hard to contain everyone, now that the weather is getting nicer, and the end of the year is right around the corner.”

  “I am sure that’s it,” Kent agreed patting my shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, sis.”

  “Ok. Here’s our outline,” Ollie said leaning forward. He had been quietly bent over his desk working, furiously writing something. He looked up with an eager expression on his face. He struck me as being so young just then. I know he was fifteen, only a few years younger than the rest of us, but his eager to please face, made me smile inside.

  Looking it over, I had to admit that it was excellent. Ollie really was a smart kid. “This is great Ollie,” I said. “Why don’t I type this up since you did all the work again?”

  “Thanks, Nora,” he said gratefully. Lately he had been following me around with a look of admiration on his face, ever since Charlotte and I had rescued him from the mill. I don’t think it was because he had a crush on me or anything, it was more like a little brother thing.