by K. M. Waller
The younger woman seemed a little upbeat considering they’d all been informed of a gruesome murder a few hours before.
The Chief shushed her and glanced around as if to make sure no one caught her lack of propriety. “I just gave her a ride into town, sweetie.”
I exited the car and sidled up beside Missy as she waved goodbye to her father. Perfect connection. The big gossiper would know how to get all the information from her dad. I doubted he’d be able to keep it from her. That solidified Missy as my new best friend.
She pointed to my bag. “You’re not leaving town, are you?”
“No, I need a few toiletries items. And to find out about the Jazzercise class you teach. I will need to burn off some stress after just an hour with those girls.”
Her eyes widened with what I guessed to be an adrenaline shot at the prospect of new chatter from the school. “Aren’t they the worst? You must tell me all about it tomorrow. Six p.m. at the community center. Wear whatever you have that’s comfortable.”
I hovered by the door to the grocery store and set up my next line of questioning. “Your father is the chief of police. That must come in handy when you need to get out of trouble.”
“Daddy keeps a close eye on me but I’m not the problem.” She pointed down the street to an empty lot on the opposite side of the road. “It’s those reform school girls.”
I followed her line of sight and zeroed in on the trio who’d locked me in the shed earlier. So, Jennifer and her friends had walked to town from the school. They laughed and pushed on each other until the brown Ford Pinto joined them.
A young man with black hair eased out of the driver’s seat. He picked up my mom and swung her around before giving her a long kiss. Was this my father? Hector, Grams had called her son.
My heart beat harder and faster and I struggled to form words. I never could have imagined how seeing my mom and dad—a mom and dad I didn’t know—together would affect me. I wanted to stand in the middle of them. Hug them and then scream at them. Then maybe hug them again.
“You wait until his momma finds out,” Missy said, breaking through my trance.
“She doesn’t want them… to be a couple?” I managed to string the words together.
“No momma in her right mind would want that for her son.” Her tone had sharpened with the judgment. “Those girls are always in town trying to lead men astray. Most of the teachers that work there are the same. But I’m sure you’ll be different. I can tell these things.”
I bit the side of my cheek to hold my tongue. As much as I thought my mom needed an attitude adjustment, she still deserved love as much as the next reform girl.
Frack pulled a Polaroid camera out of her backpack. Mom, er, Jennifer, leaned against the hood of the car and posed.
My photograph.
“Missy, you got clients coming in, ya know?” Penny called from the door of the salon. She stepped out to light a cigarette and noticed our attention drawn to Jennifer and her beau. My dad.
“I hope they close that school down for good. Those girls are a menace to our town.”
Missy added an “mm hm” and left me standing at the door to the grocer. Both women huddled in front of the salon. I unglued my feet from the sidewalk and entered the store. I needed to regroup. The split focus wouldn’t do me any good if I didn’t solve the murder or find out why my parents’ families had abandoned me. Work first, family second.
In a few hours, the sun would be down. Then I’d have a rest of six full days to find the answers to my questions. I fiddled with a few of the toothpaste containers until I found the brand I liked. Penny’s comment about shutting down the school swirled around like an unfinished thought. Had the chief or state detective ever considered that the goal might have been to shut down the school and get rid of the reform program?
I made a mental list of questions to grill Missy about at the Jazzercise class. But first, back to the school.
∞∞∞
I calculated a twenty-minute walk back to the school. In the dollar store I’d purchased cheap white canvas shoes to replace the uncomfortable flats. Also, I’d bought a folded state map to use for the scrying.
I’d hoped to catch the girls trying to sneak back in but it seemed they’d taken off in the Pinto. I stayed close to the tree line away from the road. Even though there hadn’t been any additional murders reported, I didn’t need to tempt fate to change that bit of the timeline.
On the way, I worked over my mind tree making sure I hadn’t missed anyone that required further evaluation. If I were a betting lady, I’d say the three mean girls were too self-absorbed to murder Sarah (and this totally wasn’t biased because of my mom). And while they might not have liked her, I doubted they’d stay as cool as they were under the presence of grown-ups and the police. Pranks maybe, but not murder. At least one of them would have shown signs of cracking. I doubted they’d done it separately either. The motive wasn’t strong enough.
I’d bought another small bag and transferred the doll and map to it. Scrying had its limitations but together with solid detective work, I would be able to narrow down who the hair belonged to or who made the doll. The color matched Sarah’s, but I wasn’t ready to make too many assumptions yet.
A scuffle of leaves to my right made me pause. I spread my hands wide and felt for the presence of another person. Not that a move like that had ever worked for me before. I’d hoped with the presence of my witch family nearby maybe I’d have some enhanced powers of empath. A lot of witches were more powerful in numbers and drew from each other’s strengths.
I sucked in a deep clarifying breath for one more try. No such luck.
My only super power right now would be my ability to jump kick someone in the face. Lefty had been a great teacher. Hit first and hit hard.
“Is anyone there?” I called out into the dense trees. “You don’t know what you’re getting into sneaking up on me. I’ve had enough mean girl malarkey today.”
A few more crunches and I took up a fighter’s stance. Then a lovely calico cat leapt out from behind a tree and landed with a soft mew.
The cat wove its way through my legs making a figure eight. I scratched the top of its head. When it passed me again to come around for another leg rub, I noticed my little friend was a female.
“Hello, there, little miss.” Even if it were a familiar and talked back, I couldn’t break cover about being a witch from the future. The Agency had some strict rules, and telling anyone in the past about time travel meant immediate expulsion from the group.
“What are you doing way out here all alone?” I scratched under her chin and waited. When I didn’t get a response, I tried the direct approach. “Familiar looking for a witch?”
Familiars needed witches as much as witches needed familiars. They always found each other. Just like Lily Rose had found me.
The cat let out another soft mew and followed with a rumbly purr. Even if she wasn’t a familiar, I couldn’t leave her out here in the woods so far from town. I clicked my tongue. “Come on, little miss.”
I’d figure out a way to sneak her into the school.
Now that I had a better idea of the school’s layout, I circled around the edge of the large yard and came up by the shed and through the back door. I checked the back hall and when it was clear, I snatched up Little Miss from outside and trotted with her to my shared room. Maybe a fur pal would cheer Laura up and she wouldn’t tell on me right away.
Thankfully, the room was empty. I set Little Miss down and searched out the kitchen to get her some food and water. I’d have to find her a home by the end of my seven days, but for now, I appreciated the comfort a solid purr could give. As I walked by the common room, I could hear the group of girls chatting. There appeared to be grown up voices mixed in too. I hesitated by the door. Had some parents already arrived? My mom’s?
Rebecca stood with her back to the door and faced a man and woman. The girl I’d caught smoking in the IGA stood a little to
the left. When her mom made it clear they were taking her home, her face crumpled, and she ran out the door toward the bathroom.
The one I still needed to plunge. The one I doubted Michelle had plunged.
You’re not a counselor. But every girl had the potential to be a witness. Little Miss still needed her water bowl, so I stopped by the kitchen first. If the girl was still in the bathroom when I got there, I’d attempt to soothe and question her at the same time. Win-win.
I cringed at my train of thought. One more reason I didn’t do assignments with kids. I always felt like crud trying to slyly extract information from them. Manipulating adults came with less guilt.
I cracked open the door to the four-stall bathroom and found the girl sitting on the floor near the sinks. She had her headphones on and her knuckles were white from her grip on the cassette player. I walked in and picked up the plunger sitting in front of the stall. Michelle had been nice enough to leave it there for me.
With my shoe, I pushed open the stall door and almost gagged. “Girls can be so gross, am I right?”
The girl didn’t acknowledge me but I wouldn’t let her lack of encouragement stop me. It’s not that I hadn’t plunged a toilet or two in my lifetime, but honestly I could think of a million and twenty other things I’d rather be doing. I completed the task and sighed when I hit the lever to flush and everything worked properly.
The bathroom had a closet with a large sink, so I stuck the plunger in there and assumed someone else would come along to finish with the cleanup.
As I washed my hands, I bailed on the plan to be friendly and went for straight talk. “Why are you so upset about leaving?”
She shrugged. “You wouldn’t understand.”
I leaned against the wall beside her in a half-crouch. “I might. I spent several years in foster care and the best day of my life was when someone took me home for good. What’s your name?”
“Tonya.” She sniffled. “That’s my aunt and uncle. They don’t really want me but they have to pretend.”
“How did you end up here to begin with?” Genuinely curious how most of the girls ended up at a reform school, I slid down to the floor beside her. “Court ordered or social worker got involved?”
Tonya pulled the headphones down to sit around her neck. “After my mom died, I skipped school a lot.”
“I’m sorry about your mom. Mine died when I was born so I never got to know her.”
The corners of Tonya’s mouth lifted. “My mom was the best. We did everything together, just me and her.”
“And now you feel like you don’t fit in anywhere, huh?”
She nodded.
“You know, that might never change.” I patted her arm and with the touch all her grief hit me like one of Lefty’s punches when we sparred. Hard. My eyes watered and I looked up at the ceiling to get it under control. This isn’t about me.
Tonya continued, “But I like it here. And now with Ms. Sarah gone, Ms. Rebecca will be awesome. She understands us better.”
A nice segue. “Ms. Laura said no one liked Sarah. Why is that? Did she hurt any of the girls?”
She glanced over to the door as if to gauge the safety of our conversation. “Not physically, but she’d say mean things if she got you alone. Some girls wouldn’t make it a week here with her bullying them about their weight, acne, or just other dumb things.”
“But it didn’t bother you?”
“I just roll my eyes and play my tunes.”
“Are you scared now? With what happened, I mean?”
“Nah. What happened to Ms. Sarah can’t happen to me. I don’t go in those woods alone at night like an idiot. Nothing good ever happens in the woods. I’ve seen Friday the 13th.”
Smart girl. We sat for a minute in silence, and I wondered if Sarah bullied the teachers too. Sometimes intense bullying could result in murder. That still kept the paranormal element out of the murderer’s motive. Maybe I wanted a connection too much. It wouldn’t be the first time an Agency witch had come back to solve a regular mortal on mortal murder. It’d just be a first for me.
“Come on.” I pushed up against the wall to standing. “Let’s go see what the verdict is on you going or staying.”
She rolled her eyes, and it made me smile. I’d bonded with Tonya but I didn’t want to push it too far if I needed to ask her additional questions.
Laura sneezed her way into the room before we exited. “There’s a cat sleeping on my bed and I’m highly allergic.”
Oops. “I’m sorry about that. She followed me home, and I planned to take her to town tomorrow to find her owners.”
Laura sneezed again, her eyes watery and lined in red. “Oh no, that’s okay. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“Let me walk Tonya back to the common room and I’ll find another hideout for Little Miss.”
Michelle waited outside the common room. For the first time since I’d met her, she had an actual expression on her face. I’d call it devious. And I didn’t like it one bit. I deposited Tonya in the common room where it seemed Rebecca had made progress with her aunt and uncle.
Michelle grabbed me by the sleeve. “I know your secret.”
“It’s a cat and I will find her a home.”
She tilted her head to the side. “What cat?”
I mimicked her head tilt. “What are you talking about?”
A few of the girls came out of the common room.
Michelle leaned in close. “I know why you’re really here. And if you don’t want me to tell Rebecca, then you’d better pay up.”
I narrowed my eyes. I wasn’t sure exactly what secret Michelle thought she knew but her blackmail threat told me she wasn’t afraid to push someone’s buttons. Enough to murder them though? And if she’d blackmailed Sarah, what did she have on her? Something worth killing a person over?
Chapter Eight
“How much?” I asked, leading her on. A girl passed us in the hall and I waited to continue. “I might need time to get the money together.”
Her eyes widened as if my answer surprised her. Possible this was the first time her little blackmail trick had worked on anyone. “Three hundred.”
“Done.”
“For now,” she answered back.
Greedy. I added that to her mind tree limb. I’d offer to get her the money by next week knowing full well I’d be back in my own time by then. It’d give me time to root out her deviousness and determine if she was a threat to the girls too. Even if I determined Michelle had nothing to do with Sarah’s death, I wouldn’t leave adolescents in the hands of someone with zero morals and values.
Rebecca passed by us with Tonya’s aunt and uncle. She stopped and waved a hand toward me. “This is our new physical education teacher. With the extra staff, we’ll have more eyes on the girls at all times. The chief of police has granted us an officer to watch over the grounds at night. Tonya will be safe here.”
Michelle scurried down the hall out of sight to avoid the interaction. I stuck out a hand and after a quick shake and my read on their emotions—nervous yet relieved, Rebecca guided them to the main lobby area.
In the common room, Tonya sat on the couch. Her small smile greeted me as I approached. “They said I can stay if Ms. Rebecca can prove she can keep us safe.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” I tapped my foot, feeling awkward that I knew Tonya’s aunt and uncle were relieved to leave her behind. “Who’s your roommate?”
“She ran off a few weeks ago. Nobody’s heard from her since.”
“Do you like cats?”
“Doesn’t everyone?”
I liked her quick answer. Lily Rose would approve. “Good. Because I have a little feline friend who needs a place to stay until I can get into town tomorrow. I’ll place her under your care until then. She’ll need food, a makeshift litter box, and clean water. Can you handle that?”
Tonya’s face brightened with the prospect of the responsibility. “That’d be totally cool.”
“Fo
llow me.” I led her to my room and pulled Little Miss off Laura’s pillow. After I handed her to Tonya and repeated all the instructions for care, I pulled Laura’s sheets from the bed. I didn’t want to send her to the emergency room with an allergic reaction.
On my way to the laundry room, I noticed the door to Sarah’s office open and unattended. As quickly as I could, I grabbed a piece of paper and wadded it up, sticking it inside the door latch. It would make it ten times easier to jimmy open the door later. Of course, I could always use some magical blasts, but magic in the open meant the possibility of getting caught. As a rule, I always saved it as a last resort.
The hallways were quiet, and I wondered how many girls had already left. The ones that stayed didn’t appear to want too much socialization. Most of the doors to the rooms remained closed. The open ones showed girls reading Seventeen magazine or listening to their cassette tapes. I couldn’t blame them for wanting to escape reality. And for most, the murder fell into the grown-up worry category. As if something so heinous could never happen to them.
I glanced at the watch I’d bought in town. They’d only had children’s watches, and this one had a blue Smurf smiling back at me. Dinner would be ready soon. That meant there’d be a cook. Another person who stood in the background and saw more than they were seen.
I let my nose direct me toward the kitchen. Inside I found Michelle and two of the teens putting together items for spaghetti and a salad.
“The girls cook?” I directed my question to Michelle.
“Everyone pitches in around here,” a girl holding a pot of water answered. “We have chore charts for cooking, cleaning, mowing. Stuff like that.”
Ah. Now I understood why there weren’t any additional staff roaming the halls. And the lack of witness statements from more adults on the scene. I had to admit, making the girls responsible for their living space and for their food was a great idea. Especially when it came to reform.
“Need any help?” I asked.
“No,” Michelle barked. “You’ll get your turn soon enough.”
I backed out of the kitchen with my hands held out in a gesture of compliance. I needed to check out the chore chart and see who had what duties at the time Sarah was killed. But first, I wanted to know if Jennifer and her crew had made it back to the school. I hunted down Rebecca and found her once again seated at the desk behind in the smaller office. She’d taken the phone off the receiver to stop the ringing.