Since no one noticed me leave, I turned left, the opposite direction of the bathroom and put my back against the concrete hallway. I told Pearl the truth. Nothing would change because I now considered myself Pierce Kensington’s girlfriend.
Damn, it would take a while to get used to saying that. I needed to practice saying it more.
I didn’t change as a person just because Pierce and I were an item. The town still had a killer on the loose. Katy Kadish didn’t leave a plot point unresolved. There were rules. We finally moved past our crap, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t solve the case.
I hadn’t forgotten about the dead guy.
Jason, the high school janitor—and still my prime suspect—was on the job that evening. I spotted him earlier as we’d been taking tickets and letting everyone into the gymnasium. It wasn’t until the first quarter almost finished that the plan, possibly my best plan ever, came to mind. The annual basketball game would be a perfect time to question Jason because the school was full of people.
I found the hallway I wanted and turned right, making my way to the hallways that held classrooms. A squeak drew my attention, the sound a wheel made it when it hadn’t been oiled. The wheel of a large cart, just like the one I’d spotted the janitor shuffling behind when I saw him earlier.
Perfect.
Another hallway jutted out to my side. I made the corner while keeping my back against the concrete blocks and listened before I entered the space fully. The squeaky wheel stirred a few feet and then stopped. It was now or never.
Fastening a smile on my face, I stepped into the part of the building used as a junior high hallway, which held lockers and classrooms for the seventh and eighth graders and made my way to his supply cart. “Hey, Jason. How’s it going?”
It’s always best to start an interrogation session with friendly banter. Catch them off guard and lower their defenses. Crime fighting 101: if they don’t perceive you as a threat, they’ll be more talkative.
Jason hadn’t received the memo, or he wasn’t watching enough crime TV. Clearly from his expression he was not impressed with my friendly demeanor. “The bathrooms are back the way you came.”
Oh, a simple misunderstanding then. This could be sorted out quickly. “No, I’m looking for you.”
Those words perked him up, and he straightened his posture, standing taller. He dropped the spray bottle of cleaning solution on the top of his cart. His uniform comprised a pair of jean overalls and a dirty shirt with bleach stains on the sleeves. He covered his hair with a ratty New England ball cap, but patches of his dark strands stuck out at the edges.
“Yeah?” he said, but with a scowl that tipped up slightly into a leer. “Unless you’re going to let me stick my dick in your mouth, I’m busy.”
Well… then… a bit vulgar. And gross.
I had a mission, a crime to solve, and I refused to let a few crass words stop me. I’d been hanging around Pearl for years. The things that came out of that woman’s mouth would scare a prisoner.
It did, however, seem as if the friendly banter part of our conversation had ended, so I got right to the nitty-gritty. “Were you this busy the night of the reunion?”
He snorted and I swear snot flew from his nose. I took a small step away, trying not to make it obvious but not wanting boogers on my shirt. Hell, I didn’t want a booger anywhere.
“Yeah, I’m always this busy. Haven’t you heard? Being a janitor is the same as running a billion-dollar company.”
Look, folks, we have ourselves a comedian.
I forced out a small laugh and waited until he finished bawling up his piece of paper towel and threw it in the trashcan attached to his cart. “I talked to your sister. She said the dead guy they found in the janitor’s closet was her baby daddy. You know anything about that?”
Jason’s face morphed into one of a creature I could not describe. Anger filled his eyes and his muscles tensed as he leaned across his cart and then moved it out of the way in one slick movement. If I didn’t take the moment to worry for my life, I would have been thoroughly impressed. “You talked to my sister?” His words were gritty like a dragon about to breathe fire.
I obviously angered the man and until right then I didn’t realize he stood at least a foot taller than me. I said my plan to talk to him tonight was a good plan. I didn’t say it was a smart plan.
“Actually, now that I remember, I’m pretty sure I talked to someone else’s sister. Not yours.” I took a step back and flattened myself against a set of lockers. The combination lock on the door cut into my spine, but I didn’t dare move. Not when Goliath looked ready to attack.
“What did you ask her?”
“Nothing,” I said shrugging one shoulder as if I hunted the killer for a totally different dead guy. I had nowhere else to go, so I inched to my right, trying to make my way back down the hallway in the direction I’d come. “Okay, well, it was good talking to you.”
I turned away ready to make a beeline to the main hallway, but before I could get far, he yanked my body back by grabbing onto my ponytail and pulling.
Jason held on to me tightly, my hair wrapped around his fist as he brought my face right next to his. “No, stick around a while. We’re not done yet.” His breath reeked of onion as if he’d eaten one like a sane person chewed on a cookie.
I screamed as loudly as I ever had, but I’d roamed too far from the gym. At the same time I released my bellow, a flare of cheers came up from the auditorium. At this distance even their noise sounded barely above a muffle.
No way did I plan to give up. That morning I saw the cutest pair of boots from L.L. Bean and I couldn’t die before I stole Pierce’s credit card and he bought me a pair. I threw my hands out searching for anything to hold on to, but there were only lockers to my side and air to my other.
