A Silent Fury (6 page)

The teen buried his face in his hands for a brief moment before looking back up. “No way!” Then he looked at the two men and muttered, “I don't know. But no, I don't think so, although she never said anything to me about it. And I really don't think she would be involved in that anymore than I would. She wasn't like that even though she was friends with Tracy. Kelly did say something about talking to Tracy about the gang, but I think she was going to try and convince her to quit the gang, not ask to join.” He shot a look at his coach, refuting the man's earlier comment. To give the man credit, he just shrugged.

Billy went on, “Tracy and Kelly have been friends since they both started preschool at the deaf school, so if Tracy was involved with The Skulls in any way, and I'm pretty sure she was, she probably did ask Kelly to join, but Kelly would never…” He shrugged and looked away again.

Catelyn glanced at Joseph trying to see what he thought. An impassive rock stared back her, but she knew he wasn't missing a thing.

She turned back to Billy. Was this kid telling everything he knew? She couldn't tell. He still looked scared. And that made her suspicious that he knew something else.

She leaned forward. “Look Billy, if Kelly's in trouble, withholding information isn't going to help matters. We're going to get to the bottom of this one way or another.”

He threw his hands up. “I don't know anything else. I'm sorry, but…I mean I can make something up if you want, but I don't know what else to tell you.”

Alan placed a hand on the teen's shoulder. “Calm down, Billy. They're just trying to do their jobs.”

“No, of course I don't want you to make something up,”
Catelyn assured him. “We just don't have much to go on and are doing everything we can to find out what happened to your sister and Tracy. One last question.”

“What?”

“Do you think Dylan would hurt Tracy? Did he have any reason to kill her?”

Billy winced then mumbled, “I don't know. I didn't really hang around with Dylan that much even though he was dating Kelly. As for him hurting Tracy, I wouldn't think so, but they had a fight the other day. Kelly told me about it. Zachary, Tracy's brother, wanted Kelly to be his girl.”

“And Kelly didn't want that.”

“No way. She was all into Dylan.”

“All right.” Catelyn pressed her palms to the table and stood. “If you think of anything else, you'll call, right?”

“Sure.” He licked his lips. “I will. Can I go now?”

“Yeah, go on.”

Joseph looked at him. “You have a game tonight, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good luck, then. I look forward to watching you play.”

Confusion flickered briefly, then he shrugged and said, “Oh, right. You're Alonso's brother. He's told me a lot about you and I've seen your picture. Thanks.”

The boy and his coach left. The principal stood and shoved his hands in his pockets. “We want to do everything we can to help Billy. I don't think he would have anything to do with Tracy's death or Kelly's disappearance. He's our star baseball player. Our pitcher. He spends his time on the field. He doesn't hang out with the wrong kind of kids.”

“Star pitcher, huh? Scholarship material?”

Pride puffed out Carlton's chest. “National Baseball League material for high school kids, then on to the majors. He's going to put this school on the map. You just wait and see. A couple
of years ago, the district was going to cut the team, the whole program, due to a lack of funds. Thanks to an anonymous donor, we got the money. We already had the best coach in the country. Put those two together…” He rubbed his hands together in what Joseph would call glee. “Now, Billy and Coach Dillard are the ones taking the team all the way this year. It's going to be big. So, whatever I can do to help you with this case to make sure Billy stays in the clear, you just let me know.”

Joseph frowned. “We're not investigating this to keep Billy in the clear. If Billy's guilty of something, Billy'll take the fall for it.”

“I know, I just meant…”

Catelyn jumped in, saying, “Coach Dillard seems very involved with his students.”

“Definitely.” The man looked relieved at Catelyn's intervention. “All of our coaches are. He even takes a couple of them to church every week. Just the ones who want to go and don't have a ride. We certainly don't force anything on anyone. Alan's also an avid hunter and takes a group up into North Carolina every year. He says it teaches his students patience.”

“Sounds like the school is lucky to have him,” Joseph said.

“Definitely.” They shook hands again.

The secretary popped her head in. “You're needed in the cafeteria, sir.”

“Thanks, Alice.” He turned back. “Can you two see yourselves out?”

“Absolutely. Thanks again for your cooperation.”

“Anytime.”

He left and Joseph looked at Catelyn. “Billy knows something, and he'd scared stiff to tell us what it is.”

“I got that feeling, too.”

“What do you think about the coach?”

Shrugging, she moved toward the door. “He seems nice enough, I guess. Supports his students, a concerned teacher.”

“He's also in the running for the Amateur Baseball Association's coach of the year. His team is going to the High School Baseball World Series in July and he's got colleges and the National Baseball League looking at him. Like Mr. Bowles said, Billy's his star pitcher. Colleges all over are looking to snatch him up as soon as he graduates. And the man doesn't want anything to happen to shake that up. I think he'd protect Billy with his life if it came down to it.” Joseph shook his head. “And although he comes across concerned and solicitous, I bet he wouldn't feel the same way if it was just his average student in trouble.”

“Possibly. Then again, you never know. And how do you know all that about him anyway?”

He grinned. “I read the newspaper.”

“Huh. Sounds like Coach has a lot going on.”

Catelyn's phone rang, cutting her off. “Hello?”

“Hey, it's Sandy, in the crime lab.”

“Sandy.” Anticipation jumpstarted her heart rate. “What did you find?”

“The DNA came back with a match for the blood on the ring. You'll
never
guess who.”

Catelyn took the information and looked at Joseph smugly as she hung up.

“T
he DNA matched up with Dylan's. I'm shocked.”

“Do I detect a tad of sarcasm in that statement?”

They rushed to the car, Catelyn heading for the passenger seat. “Maybe a tad.”

“So it was Dylan's?”

“Yup.”

Joseph heaved a sigh and climbed in. “I suppose you want to arrest him?”

Looking him in the eye, she said, “No, I don't
want
to, I have to. I'm sorry for Alonso, but I'm not surprised at this development. Dylan claimed he was never there. And now his DNA shows up on her ring?”

“Could have happened before that night.”

“The blood was fresh. She hadn't been there long before the security guard found her.”

Joseph fell silent for a couple of minutes. “The cut on his chin,” he said, almost to himself.

“What?”

“The day he came to the crime scene at the school. I was thinking how Alonso and his buddies were growing up, then realized they were past growing, they were pretty much grown. Dylan had a cut on his chin and I thought he'd
probably gotten it shaving. If that's Dylan's DNA on the ring, then Tracy must have slapped him, hit him or something…maybe backhanded him, depending on which way her ring was turned.”

“Let's go pick him up. He's at the deaf school. He's a part of the mainstream program even though he does most of his classes here at the high school. Alonso loves the program because he has the opportunity to be around his hearing friends and be at the deaf school, too.”

She got on the phone with the deaf school and confirmed Dylan was on campus and informed them they were on the way with a warrant for his arrest. An officer would meet them there with the warrant. The school would call Dylan's mother and let her know what was going on. Joseph drove through town going slower than she would have liked. “You still don't think he's guilty, do you?”

“No, I don't. I think evidence can be misleading. I like to have all the facts before making a decision.”

Was he implying that she didn't? Catelyn thought they had more than enough facts. “What about his jacket being at the scene? The ring with his DNA? The fact that he obviously lied about being there?”

“I agree. No doubt, evidence is there, but is it the right evidence or simply circumstantial? Sorry, I just…it's a gut thing.”

She couldn't discount that. Not when her gut had saved her life more than once. Instead, she turned her thoughts toward arresting the kid, telling herself she was doing the right thing. Doing what she had to do.

Like her job.

No matter what anyone else said or argued. She was a good cop. She'd do a good job. Period.

If the kid was innocent, his lawyer would prove it.

Joseph got into contact with the school resource officer and put the man on notice that they were on the way to arrest one of his students.

 

They arrived at the school and Joseph noticed the activity on the campus. Hands gestured, fingers flew in conversation. Students walking to and from class. A lot of laughter going on. Unfortunately, one student wasn't going to be laughing when he was arrested.

The deaf school principal knew they were coming and stood outside the building to greet them. In his early thirties, he stood around six feet tall, had a dash of gray at his temples and a commanding presence. He welcomed them with a pained smile and a handshake. “I'm Cole Pierson. Are you sure you've got the right person?”

Catelyn sighed. “The evidence says we do.”

Shaking his head, he led the way back inside, saying, “I'm having a hard time with this one. I know I've only been here a short time, a couple of months since the last principal retired, but I've gotten to know these kids pretty well. Dylan comes from a tough background, but I can't see him doing this. Especially not to poor Tracy. He worshipped that girl.”

Catelyn cocked a brow. “In certain circumstances, worship can turn to hatred real quick.”

“That's true, I suppose. I just…” Cole shook his head again. “Well, let's get to it. We didn't put the school on lockdown, but our school resource officer has gone to get him. He'll bring him to the conference room.”

As they headed in that direction, a young woman came hurrying down the hall, speaking and signing at the same time, “Dylan's gone. Kevin came by to get him, but he wasn't in my classroom. I think he figured something out and has run.”

Catelyn demanded, “Which way did he go?”

“He came in my classroom for a brief minute, then left. When he went out, he turned left, so he either went to the restroom…or out the end door.”

Joseph ran for the exit, Catelyn bolted for the one on the opposite end of the hall, thinking they could close in on him and catch in the middle.

Twenty minutes later, they gave up the search on the campus.

“If he's still on school grounds, we'll never find him,” Joseph declared with disgust. “We'd have to get the K-9 unit out here to track him down.”

“Yeah, I bet he knows this place like the back of his hand, including all nooks and crannies to hide in.” Catelyn stood for a moment, thinking. “And if he's not on campus…where would you go if you were a scared deaf kid?”

Joseph watched her, seeing the wheels clicking in her mind. He answered, “Someplace I'd feel safe, to someone I could count on to help me out and not turn me in.”

They looked at each other and said, simultaneously, “Alonso.”

Realizing it was probably a waste of time, but having to check in spite of his gut feeling, Joseph raced back into the school building asked the secretary to call Alonso to the office. In the meantime, Joseph tried to text message his brother, however, he got no response even after several attempts. But then, Joseph reasoned, if Alonso was in class, he wouldn't have his phone on.

And if he was trying to help Dylan, he wouldn't bother answering Joseph's text messages. Joseph had a feeling it was the latter.

The secretary looked up from the black notebook. “He didn't sign out, but I called the security guard who said he drove off campus about ten minutes ago.”

Joseph hit the glass door at a run and slammed himself into the car. Catelyn gave him a questioning look and Joseph answered it, “He left campus.”

“This isn't good.”

Grimly, he told, “I'm aware of that. Let's catch up to them before anyone else spots them.” Thinking fast, he told her, “Seems to me, every deaf kid I know has a phone simply for text messaging purposes, a Sidekick, a BlackBerry, whatever. Can we track his phone?”

“Do you have his number?”

“No.” Joseph shook his head, then smiled and said, “No, but I've got Alonso's. If we're right and they're together, we can find them that way.”

Pulling out her cell, she said, “Give me the number.”

He did and she put the request in to the person on the other end. “Call me when you've got it. Thanks.” Hanging up she looked at him. “I also put out a Be on the Lookout, a BOLO, for Dylan's car and Alonso's. Both cars are missing from the student lot. If they're in either one, they won't get far. The security guard said both boys left at approximately the same time. I have a feeling Dylan's going to ditch his car and hook up with Alonso.”

Joseph said, “I would say that's pretty good reasoning. I can head back to my parents' house, but I'm thinking they probably wouldn't go there.”

“Does Alonso have a favorite hangout? Is there a place the deaf kids just go to hang out?”

“The local pizza place over on Union Street or the arcade down on Church. Let's check the pizza place first.”

“We also need to get in touch with Dylan's parents and let them know they need to contact us if he shows up at home.”

Joseph wheeled the car toward the pizza place. Within
minutes, they were driving through the parking lot. “I don't see Alonso's or Dylan's car.”

Catelyn sighed in disgust and shook her phone. “How long does it take to track a cell number?”

“If they're having to go through the cell carrier, it'll take a little bit. They're not at the arcade. I'm going to head toward the house.”

“That seems like the last place they'd go.”

“Do you have any better ideas?”

She heaved a sigh. “He's your brother.”

“Right.”

 

Catelyn leaned back and shut her eyes against the headache that was starting. Her phone buzzed, intruding on her brief moment of peace.

“Hello?”

“Catelyn, your target is somewhere on Sugarleaf Street. Um…704, to be specific.”

“Thank, Bri.”

She hung up. “They're at your parents' house. Or at least that's where Alonso's phone tracked to.”

Joseph let a smug look briefly cross his face. She resisted the urge to punch him, decided to let him revel in his cleverness and sat back to finish the short ride while her adrenaline pumped at the thought of arresting Dylan.

Five minutes later, Joseph pulled into the driveway of his childhood home. They hopped out and made their way up the front porch and into the house. His mother greeted them, signing her welcome. “Joseph, what brings you here in the middle of the day? And Catelyn…” Surprise lifted her brows. “Hello, darling.”

“Hi, Mrs. Santino.”

Concerned flickered across her smooth, chubby face as she looked at Joseph. “What is it, son?”

“Is Alonso here, Mama?”

She twisted her ever present apron between her hands, then dropped it to sign, “No, he didn't come in the house. At least I didn't feel his usual thumping vibrations. He could have snuck in, I suppose. Is something wrong?”

Joseph told Catelyn, “I'll check his room. You explain to Mom what's going on.”

“Okay.”

He bounded up the stairs two at a time. Following the well-worn carpet to Alonso's room, he found the door open—and the room empty.

Just as he'd suspected.

Treading back down the steps, he found Catelyn and his mother deep in conversation. Ever since practically being adopted into his family, Catelyn had learned to sign on an expert level. As a CODA, Child of a Deaf Adult, Joseph had learned American Sign Language before he could speak.

He broke into the conversation. “He's not up there.”

Confusion stamped plainly on her face, Catelyn turned to go back to the car. Joseph followed. She got in and got on the radio. Within seconds, she had Bri on the line. “Check the signal again, will you?”

A short wait. The radio squawked and Bri said, “Still the same location, Catelyn.”

She turned to Joseph and said, “The phone's still here somewhere. The boys at least stopped by here. Do you think they could have left again with Alonso forgetting his phone—or leaving it behind on purpose?”

“Alonso wouldn't leave his phone. It's like an extension of his body.”

“Unless he thought we might track him with it.”

“I don't think he'd think about that, to be honest. He'd just be doing his best to get away to a place where he and Dylan could talk—or hide out.”

“Then they're here. Somewhere.” She rubbed her forehead. “I'd call the phone and see if it would ring, but no doubt it's on vibrate. I'm trying to think of some good hiding places from when we played hide-and-seek all those years ago.”

“He's not in the house, I…” Joseph broke off and looked her in the eye. “Granny's suite.”

“Excuse me?”

“The basement. I almost forgot all about it. Come on.”

She scrambled from the car as he led the way to the side of the house. “It has a separate entrance and everything. We never use it, haven't used it in forever. It's been closed off since our grandmother died. With Alonso being the only kid left at home, Mom didn't need the space and didn't want to have to worry about cleaning it, so she just closed it down.”

They reached the door. Catelyn looked down. “Footprints.”

“Recent ones. Just the right size for a couple of teenage boys, too. See those prints there? They're different from the ones on this side.”

“No use knocking, they're both deaf.”

He twisted the knob and the door swung inward. “They didn't bother to lock the door.” He stepped inside taking in the large area jam packed with antiques, family mementos and other unused, probably forgotten items.

A light snuffed out and darkness shrouded them. Joseph stated, “Yep, they're here.”

“But they don't want us to know that they are.”

“Back up.”

“What?”