Dead Drop: A Girl's Guide to Homicide

by D. A. Brown

  "Your girlfriend Victoria wants to cooperate."

  "Jesus. Let me guess. She's suddenly a victim."

  "Behave. I kind of liked the old girl."

  Tommy chuckled.

  Sophia saved the message from Victoria and played the next one.

  "Soph, it's David. I need to talk to you again. It's urgent. Please call me.”

  Two minutes later there was another message from David.

  “You need to call me." The rest of the message cut off before he could finish. She checked the number against the first three calls and it was the same.

  "More calls from crazy town?"

  "No." She didn't want to tell him but if she didn't, he'd know anyway. “A bunch of calls from David. Five, to be exact.”

  "What the hell does he want? Is he drinking again?"

  "He wants to talk to me about this case.”

  Stinson tapped the brakes so he could look at Sophia without rear-ending the car ahead of him. “Again, I gotta ask, cause clearly you aren’t. How could he know anything about this case?”

  “I have no idea, Tommy. It's really not even a case for our unit. We should hand it off to the ICAC guys.”

  "Well, there’s a big problem here if your ex-husband is involved in some way. Or someone on the department is talking to him.”

  "I don't know that he's involved. He just claims to know something about Stewart Halifax. And trust me, I don’t think David has any friends left on this department. He didn’t have many to begin with.”

  “It hasn't made the papers yet. Don't you think it's a little odd that he not only knows about the case but he knew you were the case detective?”

  “Why are you jumping all up in my shit, Tommy? He called me. I didn’t call him.”

  “Because I think you’re acting like a helpless little girl, like you just don’t know what to do. I’ll tell you what to do. Tell him to fuck off.”

  “I don’t need you to give me advice on how to handle David. I need you to get your own head out of your ass and help me work this case.”

  “Save your breath. I was doing this shit when you were getting your first training bra.” Stinson pulled into the parking garage.

  “That’s helpful. Jesus, Tommy.”

  Stinson slammed the door and headed across the lot to the seventh floor building entrance.

  “Asshole.”

  The she-beast screensaver spread out across the computer monitor, half seductress, half demon. The computer hard drive swirled to life as it had been programmed to do every morning. Jared Poppins peered out from under the covers into his darkened room, not needing to look at the alarm clock. He knew he was late for school by over an hour.

  The light from the computer monitor bathed the room in a fluorescent flush, his favorite color. It was really no color at all, and that was just right. His sheets smelled like sweat and teenage boy, unwashed in over a month. The room was his own brand of organized chaos. Programming books, game consoles, black jeans and empty Cafe Vita coffee cups littered it. The curtains had long been closed, so natural light never penetrated. Only the glow from four computer screens atop a desk, a dresser and two TV trays pilfered from the family room, made anything visible.

  Jared climbed out of bed. His feet landed on the cover of Resident Evil 4. Kicking it away, he listened for sounds of life from the rest of the house. His stepfather Ed was probably gone. His mother was, for sure. She was worthless as mother, but second to none as a defense attorney. His real dad used to say that the city set their clocks to the sound of Jared's mother opening the door to her office. Sherry Poppins may have taken a ton of shit for her name, but she was ruthless in the courtroom and at the negotiating table, never failing her clients and garnering respect within the bar association. Her only transgression - and it was a biggie - was screwing Ed Sanderson, a three time convicted felon, two weeks before his trial for embezzling a half a million dollars from a local children's charity. Recusing herself from the case set it back two months but gave her time to throw out Jared's father and rearrange the house to accommodate Ed's humongous garden gnome collection. They arrived by the truck load, ceramic miniature animals and Disney replicas, that Ed promptly organized into custom made glass and wood collector’s boxes. More than once, Jared had imagined taking a baseball bat to the entire lot.

  It was the worst time of Jared's life, exacerbated by an outbreak of acne and a growth spurt that left him looking like Gandalf . His father, Theodore had moved out of the city to Federal Way, into an apartment complex populated mostly by Somali and Eritrean refugees. Jared saw his father only sporadically after Ed convinced Sherry that Jared needed a stable influence like himself, and that Theodore Poppins was an unmotivated loser who'd only managed to stake a claim in a failed landscaping business. Jared's sister Angie was a freshman at Western Washington University and lived with her boyfriend off campus in Bellingham. She'd never gotten along with their mother, so she was ecstatic when she was accepted to WWU. When she first moved out, Angie emailed Jared frequently and then started Skyping him on the weekends. Soon a series of boyfriends took all of her time, and the calls to Jared dwindled until they came only on special occasions. His only ally soon ceased to be a part of his life.

  After Ed was acquitted, he moved into the house and tried to engage Jared by buying him a new X Box and taking him to Game Stop for one hundred dollar spending sprees. Jared ate it up, taking advantage of Ed’s generosity with Sherry’s hard earned paycheck. After all, she would have never have spent that kind of money on Jared but when Ed did it, he was being a good stepfather.

  But it was always clear to Jared, Ed was never interested in the boy’s heart. Securing Jared’s loyalty would go a long way to securing access to Sherry’s bank accounts. Jared may not have been motivated at school but he wasn't stupid, and he had Ed's number within hours of meeting him.

  “Jared, you have to give Ed a chance, for heaven’s sake,” his mother would say on her way out the door, coffee cup in one hand and discovery binders in the other. “He really wants to be a part of your life.”

  “He can suck my dick.”

  “Please, Jared. Enough with the language.” And then the door would close and his day would rewind just like the one before.

  He got out of bed, slipped on some jeans and shuffled to the kitchen. It smelled like coffee and Cheerios. Jared pulled the box of cereal down from the fridge and ate it dry. He'd grab an espresso on his way to school, knowing that no matter what the principal said about his tardiness, his mother would dismiss it as just another example of the failure of public transportation.

  He jumped the express bus and arrived at school just as a large gray sedan sped out of the parking lot. Jared ran up behind Barrett Halifax, who walked slowly toward a set of double doors. Barrett ran his hands over his hair as though he was petting a dog, tucking the sides behind his ears.

  Jared stepped in front of Barrett and held the door for him.

  "How's your sister doin'?"

  "Fuck you, Poppins. You fuckin' fag."

  Jared laughed and loped down to his class, leaving Barrett alone in the hallway.

  CHAPTER NINE

  By the time lunch period arrived, Barrett had recovered his swagger. He shoved his backpack into his locker and slammed the door. Deke Jenkins stood behind him waiting patiently to head to the cafeteria.

  “So what was up with that chick and the old man this morning?” he asked.

  Barrett scanned the hallway for Poppins or one of his crew of goth nerds. He looked at Deke and shrugged. “No big deal.”

  “She was pretty hot. Was that her dad or something?” Deke walked alongside Barrett, his massive girth creating a wide berth in the sea of students. He was a scholarship student, meaning no money but lots of talent on the football field. At six three and two hundred and five pounds, his black skin and bulk made him stand out at a school of mostly white kids.

  “I don’t think female cops work with their dads, Deke.” Barrett smiled but hi
s stomach was still in knots from the conversation with the detectives. “But yeah, she was pretty hot. I’d hit that.”

  He slapped Deke on the arm and smiled. It was going to take a lot of will power for him not to hunt down and beat the shit out of Jared Poppins today.

  The lunchroom smelled like tomato soup and Axe body spray. Students sat at tables, lunch trays or bags scattered on top. Laughter and fevered conversations bounced off of the hard walls

  Barrett scanned the cafeteria. The goths and nerds generally sat apart from the rest of the school. Pimply and greasy, they huddled together like ferrets.They were worthless oxygen thieves, taking up space at his prestigious school. He was tired of the diversity speeches and anti-bullying rallies. These idiots were his energy drink, his drug of choice. He had convinced himself that Jared was involved somehow with the pictures of his sister. Those detectives had caught him off guard, but he was ready to engage in a little troll smack down.

  “Hey Deke, let’s go look for some retards to play with.”

  Deke laughed and headed up to the lunch line. “I gotta eat, little man. That shit takes a lot out of me.” His hands engulfed the lunch tray as he pushed it along the metal tray rail.

  The smell of food caused Barrett’s stomach to lurch. He’d grab something after school before heading to soccer practice.

  “I need to hunt me some gothtard. Especially that faggot, Mary Poppins.” He glanced to the back of the room. A small group, clad mostly in black, sat huddled together at one end of a long table.

  “That fucker actually had the balls to ask me about Gracie this morning. I should have pounded his shitty ass right then.” Barrett walked alongside as Deke took one of everything from the cafeteria workers.

  Deke paid for his food and shuffled to a nearby table. Barrett sat so he could keep an eye on Jared and company.

  “’Sup?” Chad Weaver and Mason Tolsen dropped into the plastic chairs next to Barrett and Deke. Their lunch trays were piled with food.

  “Where the fuck were you this morning?” Chad checked out four girls at the table next to him.

  “I had an appointment.” He glanced at Deke, who was too busy shoving forkfuls of food into his mouth to notice his white lie.

  Mason followed Chad’s eyes to the girls. “Shit, that Mallory Turner has got a bangin’ body. Damn.”

  “Yep, that is some fine ass right there.”

  “Look at those fucktards,” Barrett said nodding in the direction of Jared’s table. “That Poppins fag can’t even dress himself. Look at that shit he has on.”

  Jared wore a variation of the same thing every day - black jeans, black t-shirt adorned with some anime character and laced, steel-toed boots. Despite the warmth of the lunch room, Jared wore a flannel shirt.

  The other kids at the table, Darren Johns, Perry Finnagen and Petra Slovof were also draped in black. Their thin frames were accented against almost translucent skin.

  “Hey Jared, your boyfriend Barrett is eye fucking you.” Petra scratched at the scabs on the inside of her arms.

  “Whatever.” Jared looked in Barrett’s direction and gave him a large and very uncharacteristic smile.

  “Jesus, you’re gonna get us all killed if you keep that shit up.” Perry picked at the last of the food on his plate, avoiding eye contact with the jock table. Chipped, black fingernail polish covered the ends of his long fingers. “It’s not like they need any more reasons to fuck with us.”

  “Grow some balls, Perry.”

  “I don’t care one way or the other. I just don’t want to take another beating. I’m done with it.” Perry glanced over at Petra. “And you should be, too. I just want to graduate and get the fuck out of this place.”

  “He’s still looking at us. He’s gonna come over here with his bottom feeder friends. Fuck it, I’m outta here.”

  She pushed out her chair, the legs scraping along the linoleum with a loud screech that settled the room.

  Petra froze. “Shit.”

  Barrett and Deke were on them so fast, Petra didn’t even have time to steady herself before Deke’s hand pressed against her breasts and shoved her into the wall.

  Perry’s lunch tray flew skyward. His food splattered across two tables. Barrett grabbed him by the back of his head and slammed him to the floor. He scrambled under the table and ran toward the exit. Deke grabbed the back of Jared’s coat, twirling him around until he launched him into a jumble of chairs. Barrett leaned over and grabbed Jared by the collar, close enough for only the two of them to hear.

  “Listen you little shit bag. If you ever mention my sister’s name again, I will fuck you and then I’ll have my friend Deke fuck you. And after that, we’ll fuck all of your little retard, faggot friends.”

  “Aren’t you tough when you’re with your fuckin’ mutants,” Jared spit.

  Activity in the lunch room had come to a standstill. Vice-principal Truscott quickly walked across the room just as Barrett aimed his fist at Jared’s face.

  “That’s enough.” Truscott was a big man with a tiny voice. He grabbed the back of Deke and Barrett’s jackets with his giant rubbery hands and pulled them together with a hard thud. “You two are done here.” Both boys shook off Truscott’s grip and stepped back.

  “He assaulted me, Mr. Truscott,” Jared said. “I want to file charges. I know my rights.” Jared had practiced a series of phrases his mother had taught him should he be stopped by the police.

  Truscott placed his hands on his hips and surveyed the mess. His eyes darted between the two groups.

  “Jared, you can take it up with the principal. We’re not calling the police and no one is pressing charges.” Truscott grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. “Show’s over everyone.” He turned to the three boys and waved his hand. “Let’s go.”

  The room erupted in conversation. There was still ten minutes left of the lunch period.

  From the car, Sophia watched Tommy walk across the parking garage to the building entrance. He was moving slower these days, limping slightly. She was watching his last days as a cop.

  She grabbed her file and stepped out onto the concrete deck. Tommy wasn’t going to let her dodge the subject of David. But he needed to let her handle the problem - not jump in and fix it for her. And knowing Tommy, he was one bad day away from ‘accidentally’ putting a round into David’s skull.

  Tommy and Jess were alone in the squad room. Twenty-eight, tall and slender, with a boyish figure that confused her male co-workers and produced nothing but envy in Sophia, Jess was listeningto Tommy when Sophia walked in.

  “So, Tommy was just saying that you guys talked to the kid brother. How’d that go?” Jess tucked her hair behind her ear and wedged a pen on top.

  “Ask him.” She pulled her chair up to her desk and shook her computer mouse to rouse her desktop.

  “Jesus, Soph. Don’t take it out on Jess. She didn’t piss in your cornflakes, I did.”

  Sophia typed her password in on the keyboard. “Hey, I’m sorry. It’s just that captain asshat there can’t seem to keep his mouth shut when he gets a chance.”

  “Oh, not Tommy. He’s always got something interesting to say.” Jess walked over to Sophia and leaned over. “Remember, he’s a guy. He can’t help himself.”

  Sophia chuckled despite her deepening bad mood.

  Stinson swung his chair around and picked up the newspaper. “Oh, I see how it’s gonna be.”

  The main line rang and Jess picked up the phone. She looked at her watch and covered the receiver with her palm, snapping her fingers to get Sophia’s attention.

  “Hey Benedetti, it’s for you. I think he said he name was Halifax. Sounds like an angry man.” She only mouthed the last two words.

  “Put him on hold, will you?”

  “Hold on for one minute, Doctor.”

  Sophia glanced over at Tommy, who had suddenly become engrossed in his email inbox. She picked up.

  Sickly sweet hold music droned on the line. “I don’t think so,
” Sophia said to herself and hung up.

  “Did I drop the call?” Jess peered over Sophia’s cubicle.

  “He put me on hold. That’s not going to cut it for me today. Asshole can call me back.” She looked up at Jess and smiled. Jess was the only person who wasn’t getting on her last nerve.

  The phone rang again and Sophia quickly picked up the line.

  The man’s voice was hurried and distracted.“This is Dr. Stewart Halifax. I got disconnected. I’m calling for Detective Benedetti.”

  “Speaking. What can I do for you.”

  “Look, I’m a busy man, Detective so I’ll make this quick. Don’t speak to any of my children without clearing it through me or my wife. Barrett is extremely upset. He called my wife practically hysterical and told her that you and your partner yanked him out of class and put him in the back of a patrol car.”

  “We thought it would be more comfortable to let him sit down in an unmarked car while we talked to him. And we figured he didn’t want to do it in full view of his classmates. And frankly, sir, he’s not a suspect. He’s a witness, and he’s old enough to talk to us without parental permission.”

  “I don’t care what your policies are Sophia, I don’t want you talking to him again without me in the room.”

  “How about you and your wife meet with me and my partner later tonight so we can get a few things ironed out?”

  “Tonight won’t work. Call my wife and have her call my office. I have a patient waiting for me. Please don’t talk to my children again, Detective or I’ll call Marcus Burton myself.” The line went dead.

  “Well, that was productive.” Sophia turned in her chair.