Best Laid Plans

by Kristi Rose

  I shook my head. “Pass. How was practice today?”

  AJ shrugged, but there was nothing nonchalant about the stiffness of his shoulders and the downturn of his mouth.

  “That good, huh?” I poured cold water into Simon’s water bowl, refilling it as fast as he was slopping it up.

  “Being patient isn’t a strength of mine.” He stuck a straw in his green goo and began slurping it up.

  I grimaced and pretended to vomit in my hand. AJ chuckled.

  I said, “Don’t you think patience needs to be a strength?” I held up my hands to the side like I was framing a TV. “It’s a big game. The Pioneers need this win. But your competitors are known for kicking butt in the second half and you’re down by two touchdowns. You have the ball. You’re in the pocket, and the offensive line is doing their job. They’re giving you time to find the play that will help you score. Patience would come in handy then, wouldn’t it?”

  AJ, still sucking down his drink, rolled his eyes. He then set his empty cup on the counter. “First, I have to get onto the field and be the guy in the pocket during a real game instead of practice.”

  I pointed to his cup. “You could make that drink for the QB. I bet his GI system will keep him out of the game for at least a week. No one can drink that and lead a normal life afterward.”

  AJ put his cup and blender in the sink. “I do.”

  I leaned against the counter. “So you say, but I won’t be sticking around to find out if that’s true. I want to talk to you about the Recode and Reshape Program.”

  “You want Troy here, too?” AJ gestured to the living room.

  Slapping myself on the forehead in front of a client was probably not the smartest move to elicit confidence, but I did it anyway. Of course, I wanted to talk to Troy. Duh! Having not done so until now was a rookie move.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  I nodded.

  “Tee-Roy,” AJ bellowed across the house.

  His brother shuffled into the room wearing sweats and a baggy T-shirt. AirPods hung from his ears.

  “Dude, you could have just texted instead of yelling,” Troy said.

  AJ crossed his arms. “I’m not going to text you when you’re not even twenty feet away.” He pointed to the couch. “Plant it.”

  Troy mumbled, “You’re lucky I was between tunes.” He dropped dejectedly onto the couch. “What did I do now?”

  In an effort to build a bridge to Troy, I changed the narrative. “You didn’t do anything. It’s me. I need help. I’m hoping you’re the guy who can help.” I settled in the chair across from him and leaned forward, my chest down toward my legs. I wrapped my arms under my knees, presenting myself to him much like I do Cora, in a way I hoped wasn’t threatening.

  AJ took the seat next to Troy on the couch.

  I said, “There were some things going on in your program that weren’t on the up and up.”

  Troy crossed his arms and looked away. “I just did what I was told.”

  I held up my hand to stop him. “Let me start over. Someone killed your instructor at the Recode and Reshape Program, and I’m trying to determine if it had anything to do with what Josh was asking you all to do there.”

  Troy cut his eyes to me, his arms still snugly crossed.

  I continued, “I’m guessing you knew something shady was going on.”

  Silence.

  AJ’s eyes narrowed, and I cast him a glare in hopes he’d get the hint and keep his mouth shut.

  I pushed ahead. “Do you know that kid, Levi, in your class?”

  Troy shrugged. “We weren’t allowed to talk to people. Only Principal Josh.”

  I rolled my eyes. “He asked you guys to call him that?” I shook my head in disbelief. “I don’t mean to speak ill of the dead, but what a douche. He asked the adults to call him that, too.” I made my hands into little hearts. “He liked to make the heart with his hands and put it on women’s chest.” I made like I was barfing.

  Troy laughed. “Yeah, that is skeevy.”

  AJ asked, “So you knew this Josh guy?”

  I nodded. “He was the principal at my niece’s school, and I was tasked with taking pictures for the yearbook.” I paused, weighing if I should share the rest of the story. I went for broke. “And I was there when he died. Actually, I was the first person questioned about his death before the police moved on to Levi. I’ve since been hired to help prove Levi is innocent.”

  Troy’s attention was all mine. As was AJ’s.

  “Just know when I ask you these questions, it’s not to get you in trouble or anything, but to try to find out as much as I can to help Levi.

  Troy sunk into the couch. “He hated PJ. That’s what we called Josh. Everyone refused to call him Principal Josh. He wouldn’t let us talk to each other. We even took breaks separately. But after class, some of us would hang and chat.”

  AJ asked me, “This Josh guy was doing what?”

  I glanced at Troy, who instantly looked down at the floor. “Using the ruse of teaching kids coding, Josh was having kids buy fake products with their parent’s credit cards.”

  AJ nodded as understanding dawned. “And we all just thought they were expenses for the program.”

  I said, “Yeah, sure. Except some people like you were expecting something tangible. I had my attorney look over that contract you both signed to get in the program. My guess is that Josh couldn’t say the program had a monthly payment because of the upfront expense families pay. But it mentions possible additional expenses for technology or other digital media, whatever that is. Josh used that as his loophole to make extra charges on people’s account.” To get their kid into Recode and Reshape, each family paid three grand.

  AJ pinched the bridge of his nose. “Only I started asking what the charges were for.”

  I gestured to Troy. “And he didn’t have anything.”

  Troy ducked his head and mumbled. “That’s when I knew something shady was going on. I went to PJ and asked him about the charges, and he said I must have made a few errors in coding, that there weren’t supposed to be charges. He told me how to fix them. Your friend Levi confronted him, too. PJ used to make him sit in the corner and watch Bubble Guppies videos and write papers on the moral of the story. They didn’t like each other much. That was clear.”

  Troy would not be a good character witness for Levi.

  AJ said, “I remember those charges being refunded, but then a month later, they started showing up again.”

  “That’s because he had me do it again. And this time I knew I wasn’t making a mistake.”

  I said, “What did you do then?”

  “I didn’t know what to do. I knew what he was having us do was wrong, so I reported it to the IT lady in the office next to us and she told me she’d look into it. Nothing ever happened. Then I saw them making out in a car one day before class, and that’s when I knew it was all a scam.”

  “You could have told me what was going on,” AJ said, anger making his words sharp.

  Troy went ramrod straight. “I tried. You kept telling me to straighten up and fly right. You never wanted to listen to what I had to say. You just thought I was trying to get out of the program.”

  It was AJ’s turn to duck his head in shame. “You’re right. And I’ve been consumed with my own issues that I projected onto you.” He reached for his brother’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I’m sorry Tee-Roy.”

  “Nice,” I said. “If more people communicated like that, we’d have less angry people in the world.”

  AJ gave me a million-dollar smile. “You can thank your friend Erika for that.”

  “Precious for the win,” I said, and we both chuckled. I held up one finger. “Quick question, Troy, do you know what day you saw Josh and the IT lady making out?”

  Troy shrugged. “I didn’t mark it on my calendar with a smiley or anything.”

  “No, but Josh might have,” I said and pulled up the images on Josh’s calendar on my phone.
I showed the screen to AJ and Troy.

  Troy’s expression was one of disgust. “Well, considering we have class Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, it had to be one of those days.” He pointed to the computer icon. “Maybe Wednesday?” He snickered.

  I narrowed my gaze and stared at him. “What?”

  “It’s gross, really,” Troy said.

  “I love gross, tell me.”

  AJ chuckled.

  Troy surveyed me with mild revulsion. “You’re weird.”

  I smiled big and wide. “I’ve heard that before so it must be true.” I wanted to know what had made this kid snicker. A memory of some sort, I’m sure.

  Troy shook his head. “On the day I saw them making out, they were really into it. An elephant could have sat on the car, and they wouldn’t have noticed. They were parked on the far end of the parking lot behind the school.”

  “You like to park there, too, I noticed.”

  Troy looked stunned. “How did you know that?”

  “Educated guess.” No need to tell him his brother hired me to spy on him. I gestured that he should continue with his story. “Go on.”

  “I just pretended like I didn’t see anything, but once I got inside, checked in, and got to my ‘station,’ I realized I forgot my phone, and when I went back out, Josh was standing by his car in his skivvies, smoking a cigarette.”

  AJ said, “That’s creepy and a little ballsy.”

  “Ballsy doesn’t even begin to explain this guy.” I faced Troy. “How many weeks ago was this?”

  He shrugged. “Like the week before he died. Oh, and that Levi kid you were asking about? He was behind me and saw the whole thing, too.”

  30

  Tuesday

  Quitting time for DB was five o’clock sharp. And, apparently, having two suspect for the same murder wasn’t concerning enough to make DB stay late.

  At five-fifteen, Leo opened the station’s back door, for employees only, and let me in. Leo traded Gee for the night shift to provide me this opportunity. I’d done my part by sticking a tracker on DB’s cruiser as a precautionary measure should he decide to return to the cop shop.

  Tucked under my arm were printouts of Josh’s calendar. “Is Laura here?”

  He nodded. “Got here ten minutes ago. She’s already in the interview room with Levi.”

  No room at the Juvie Inn was sheer luck for Levi and worked to our benefit, too.

  “And Boomer?”

  “DB had to cut him loose. Still waiting on the toxicology.”

  I followed Leo through the back hallway, around the break room, and to the last room in a row of rooms. I looked around confused.

  “Exactly where is the jail?” I’d been here before. The police station itself was a large rectangle with the front portioned off for the receptionist and waiting room. Coming in from the rear, I faced a square of cubbies where Leo and others like him had their desk, a bullpen arrangement. To my right were a row of doors. The first being the ever-important restroom. Beyond that were two interview rooms and DB’s office. To my immediate right was the break room.

  Leo pointed to my left where a steel door with a window was the only decoration on the wall.

  “Through that door are two cells. The jail.”

  The setup was like a scene out of a movie with a Podunk police station. Only this was real life, and we were Podunk. Something I often forgot because our coffee shop was first class and environs pleasing.

  Leo led me to the interview room where I’d been held. He rapped his knuckles on the door then flung it open. He ushered me in.

  Both Levi and Laura looked up at me in surprise. I returned the surprise when I discovered Lockett was in there, too.

  “Dude,” I said and held out a fist. We bumped knuckles. “Why didn’t you tell me you were in town?”

  He pulled out his phone and tapped it. “When’s the last time you checked this handy dandy gadget?”

  From my backpack. I pulled out my phone and glanced at the screen. The do-not-disturb-I’m-driving notification had automatically engaged, and I hadn’t checked since I’d arrived, being too busy putting the tracker on DB and all.

  A message from Lockett said he was in town and wanted to get together.

  “Yes,” I said and showed him the screen. “I’d love to get together after this.”

  Levi rolled his eyes. “Glad you all get to have a life while I’m stuck in this hellhole.”

  Laura slapped him upside the head.

  Leo cuffed him on the shoulder.

  I sat in the chair across from Levi and let the packet of the papers I’d brought flop on the table.

  “Thanks for letting me crash this, Levi. I have some questions for you that I hope you’ll be able to answer.” I smiled, hoping it would break the tension in the room. Because he was right, when we were done here, I got to leave and do whatever the hell it was I wanted.

  Levi glared. “I already told your lawyer friend everything I know.”

  I pressed my foot to Laura’s toe, knowing she would likely come across the table at her kid for his bad manners. But his attitude didn’t bother me. I probably would be just as belligerent.

  “Yeah, but these are questions we just learned to ask. And they’re a bit sensitive.” I inclined my head to his mom, hoping he’d read the clue.

  His eyes darted between us.

  I said, “I can ask people to step out.”

  Levi glanced at the one-way mirror in the wall that separated him from freedom.

  “As if people won’t be standing out there listening anyway,” he snarled.

  Leo jerked his thumb toward the glass. “No one is in there now.”

  Levi snorted. “How do you know? DB is probably out there, ready-to-use anything I say against me.”

  I turned my phone toward him and opened the app that was tracking DB. I leaned over the phone to get a look. I pointed to the map. “According to this, DB is down in Hazel Dell getting…” I leaned closer. “It’s hard to tell. Donuts maybe? Nope, he’s at the gym. Sorry, my bad.”

  Leo took the phone and inspected the information on the screen. He glanced at me. “You’re tracking DB?”

  “I defer to my lawyer.” I pointed to Lockett.

  Lockett chuckled. “Let’s get on with this.”

  I winked at him while unfolding the printouts. “Okay, so here’s what I know, and I need you, Levi, to correct me if I’m wrong.”

  He crossed his arms over the desk and leaned forward. “Ain’t got nothing else going on,” he mumbled.

  Laura snapped, “You should be grateful all these people are here trying to help you.”

  “I don’t deserve help. I hated Josh, and I threatened him,” Levi mumbled.

  “Was that when you caught him fooling around with Carlie Jacobson?”

  Levi’s attention was all mine. “Yeah.”

  “Did you threaten him when you saw him with the IT lady?”

  Levi shook his head. “I wanted to, but this other kid was there, and I didn’t want any witnesses.”

  Lockett shook his head in silent resignation.

  “What day was it you saw him with the IT lady?

  “He called her the computer dragon, and it was—” Levi looked up at the ceiling as if trying to backtrack time.

  I placed a blank calendar in front of him. “This is today.” I pointed to the square. “You were arrested this day.” I subtracted seven days.

  Levi hovered his finger over the page then pointed to Wednesday. “It was this day.” He slid his finger to Thursday and said, “And this is when I saw him with that mom. They were doing it on his desk.”

  I placed a picture of Jenna Miller over the calendar. “Is this the computer lady?”

  Levi nodded. I cut a glance to Leo.

  Back to Levi. “Did you know what Josh was having the other students at the program do?”

  Levi glanced at his mom then at me. “No, but it was something with coding. All I know is he wasn’t making them watch
stupid kid cartoons and asking them to write papers on the moral of the story. Like the guy even knew what morals were. He was shady, and I’m not sorry I threatened him. I’m not sorry he’s dead.”

  Laura gasped.

  Lockett said, “Maybe not say those sorts of things to anyone outside of this room. Or just never say them again.”

  I spread out two pages of Josh’s calendar that spanned four weeks. “Does any of this mean anything to you?”

  Levi scanned the pages up and down several times.

  Laura said, “What teen did this? It’s all emojis. This isn’t Levi’s. He hates emojis.”

  I put my attention on Laura. “You told me Josh was persistent in asking you out, but how did you two get together in the first place?”

  Laura pushed away from the table and briefly chewed on her lower lip before saying, “We met when he asked us for a bid for the pesticide management for the school. But we got to know each other when Mindy Cunningham invited him to our book club. He asked me out every night after book club. I think I gave in around week three.”

  Pieces began to click together.

  Carlie Jacobson was swim.

  Jenna Miller was a computer.

  Laura Danner was a book.

  I said, “And book club was always Fridays?”

  She nodded. “We always spent Friday and Saturdays together.”

  I flipped through my stack of paper and pulled out a Danner Pesticide invoice dated before school started this year. I passed it to Laura. “Does this look familiar?”

  “This is the invoice for our service to the school. We maintain the facility monthly and bill them monthly.” She scanned the page then gasped. She jabbed her finger at the bill amount. “That’s not how much we charge, though. There’s an additional one.”

  “Initially, you billed the school for eight hundred dollars.” I needed clarification because I didn’t want to make any assumptions and mistakes.

  “Yes, and I was paid for eight hundred. But this one turned the amount into eighteen hundred.”

  I showed her the sheet Gillian had scanned and emailed me. “Yet the school paid eighteen hundred.”