Chain Reaction (32 page)

This year, though, in addition to the mournful thoughts about her mother, she was troubled by the outcome of the case at the high school. Like Jake, she was delighted to have identified and jailed the perpetrator, but she couldn’t shake the conviction that there was more to the story – some subterranean motivation that turned a troubled teen into a bomb-building killer. And she strongly suspected that if she turned over enough rocks, Brittany Schaffer would slither out.

Jake blew off her concerns in that regard. ‘Sometimes things are what they seem, Lucy. They’re simple. They’re direct. So simple and direct they seem too stupid to be true. But it is what it is. And nothing more.’

She was lost in thought when her cell rang. She looked at the screen and saw that the caller was Evan Spencer. ‘Good morning, Evan. Are the girls OK?’

‘Yeah, pretty much. You are still coming to take them to tea today, right?’

‘Yes, Evan. I’ll be there about three.’

‘Could you make it two thirty?’

‘Sure – what’s up?’

‘I’ll meet you in the garage. I think I know where Amber is. Gotta run.’

‘But, Evan? Evan?’
Oh good grief. If he knows where Amber is, why didn’t he just tell me? What was up with him? Is something else wrong? Are the girls obsessing about their mom?
It had only been four years since Kathleen Spencer was murdered by her brother-in-law. Lucinda had to be prepared for almost any kind of reaction or acting out from the two of them.

Lucinda pulled into the garage of the Spencers’ high-rise condominium building at two twenty-five and walked towards the elevator. Before she reached it, the doors opened and Evan stepped out. ‘Hey, Evan, what’s going on?’

‘I’m not sure but I think Charley has someone hiding in her room.’

‘You think it’s Amber?’

‘Might be. I thought I could check when the girls left with you. Then I worried that if it was Amber, I’d terrify her if I barged in on her.’

‘You want me to barge in on her?’

‘I thought that might be better,’ Evan said. ‘But maybe you could be subtle about it. Charley and Ruby are getting ready. You could just wander into Charley’s room. You think?’

‘Ask around, Evan. Subtle is not my strong point. But I’ll see what I can do. Let’s go do it.’

Evan and Lucinda entered the front door as quietly as they could. Lucinda went up the steps to Charley’s room and rapped on the door.

‘Not now, Daddy, I’m getting dressed.’

‘It’s just me, Charley.’

‘Oh, Lucy. Oh, just a minute. Hold on. Just a minute.’

Lucinda eased the door open just in time to see Charley closing the walk-in closet. Charley leaned her back against the entrance and smiled. ‘Hi, Lucy, you’re a little early.’

‘Yeah, a bit. Thought I could help you get ready.’

‘Ruby and Andy need more help than I do. Andy can come with us, right?’

‘Yes, I assumed Andy would come along with us.’

‘Even though he’s a boy and it’s a mother–daughter tea?’

‘He’s just a little boy. He won’t be a problem.’

‘Well, you’d better go to Ruby’s room and help them.’

Lucinda folded her arms across her chest. ‘Why do I get the feeling you’re hiding something, Charley?’

Charley shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Maybe you’ve just been a cop too long – makes you a little paranoid, don’t you think?’

‘Why don’t you just tell me what’s in the closet?’

‘My clothes, my shoes – you know, that kind of stuff.’

‘Could I have a look?’ Lucinda asked.

‘Oh, it’s such a mess right now. I’d be embarrassed.’

‘Don’t be silly. I’ll just straighten it up a bit while you finish getting dressed.’ Lucinda walked toward the door blocked by Charley.

‘No, no, no, Lucy. I can’t have you doing that. Daddy would not want me to pass my work on to you. He’d be very disappointed in me.’

‘Charley, you don’t want me to call your dad up here, do you?’

‘I’ll never get ready in time if you do—’

‘Step away, Charley.’

‘This is so not cool, Lucy.’

‘Charley, please …’

Charley’s face grew dark and her brow furrowed. ‘You’re not the boss of me. You are not my mother.’

Lucinda sighed. ‘Fine. We’ll play it your way, Charley. I’ll go get your dad.’

A pounding sound came from the other side of the door. A muffled voice said, ‘Let me out, Charley.’

Charley squinched up her face and gave Lucy a red-faced smile. She stepped away from the door and it opened behind her.

‘Amber,’ Lucinda said.

With outstretched arms, Amber ran out towards Lucinda as if she wanted to embrace her but, two steps away, she stopped, dropped her hands to her sides, looked down at the floor. Lucinda crossed the gap between them, wrapping her arms around the young girl. At first, Amber resisted and Lucinda responded by holding her tighter. In less than a minute, Amber relaxed and fell into the hug. Her hands touched Lucinda and then she reached further, pressing her face into Lucinda’s chest, clinging to her as if she’d fall to the floor without her support.

‘I am scared. I don’t want to go to my mother. Please don’t make me,’ Amber said, her voice muffled against Lucinda’s body. ‘She’ll make me say I lied. She’ll let him hurt me again.’

‘Sweetheart, your mom is locked up in jail. You don’t need to worry about her now.’

‘Yeah. That’s what you said before. And look what happened.’

‘This time is different, Amber. She was charged with another crime while she was out on bond; the judge denied her bail this time. He said that it was obvious that she could not be trusted. And, on top of that, your CASA attorney got a restraining order against her for both you and Andy. So even if she does eventually get out, she can’t come near you.’

Amber pulled back and said, ‘I’m still scared.’

‘Of course you are, Amber. I don’t blame you for that.’ Lucinda placed her hands on the arms of the girl and looked into her eyes. ‘But why don’t you get dressed and come to tea with us? You’ll be safe with me.’

‘Yeah,’ Charley said, ‘she’s armed and dangerous.’

Lucinda rolled her eyes. ‘Will you trust me, Amber?’

Amber’s eyes searched Lucinda’s face and finally she nodded her head.

‘OK, then. I’ll leave you two alone to get ready. I need to make a few phone calls to let everyone know that Amber is OK and then we’ll go – all right?’

‘You won’t call my mom?’ Amber said.

‘Of course not.’

‘We won’t be long, Lucy,’ Charley said.

‘Amber?’ Lucinda asked.

Amber nodded and tried to smile but couldn’t quite make it happen.

W
hen Lucinda walked through the door of the apartment after the excursion with Charley, Ruby, Amber and Andy, Jake asked, ‘Where do you want to go to dinner tonight?’

‘I know we usually go out on Sunday night, Jake, but I’m beat.’

‘I thought we could go someplace special to celebrate the resolution of the case.’

‘First of all, Jake, I’m not in the mood to celebrate until I have my questions about Jimmy’s motivation answered. Second, even if I were, I am too tired to go anywhere. Do you have any idea how exhausting a few hours with four kids can be?’

‘OK. But I’m really hungry. Scrounging up something here just won’t do it. Either delivery or carry-out, OK?’

Lucinda nodded. ‘No problem.’

‘So, how was the tea-house adventure?’

‘Not exactly what I was expecting,’ Lucinda said and burst into a laugh.

‘Oh dear. What happened?’

‘Ruby kept calling Andy her fiancé, much to the amusement of Charley and Amber – I did call you about Amber, didn’t I?’

‘Yes, you did. But her
fiancé
? Does she even know what that means?’

‘Oh yes. And she even referred to herself as the older woman but informed us all that, by the time they were old enough to marry, the difference in their ages wouldn’t seem like all that much.’

‘And how was Andy taking all of this?’

‘That boy fell right into line. He agreed with everything she said about their future. And he was very accepting of all of her corrections. When Charley took Ruby to the ladies’ room, Amber asked Andy, “You always get mad at me when I tell you what to do. Doesn’t Ruby make you mad?” And Andy said, “Oh no, I want to be the best man I can be for Ruby.”’

‘Where do they get this crap?’ Jake said with a laugh.

‘Got me. When I asked Ruby what would happen to the relationship if Andy had to move away to live with his family, she said, “When it’s true love, distance doesn’t matter.”’

‘How was Charley reacting to this romance?’

‘She said, “I’ve been telling Ruby that she needs to stand on her own two feet before she gets tripped up by any man.” And Ruby said, “You’re just jealous.” That about caused a sibling squabble right there in the quiet tea room. I settled that down but it is obvious that the sisters are definitely individuals. Charley the rebellious pragmatist, Ruby the hopeless romantic. It’s only going to get more interesting as they get older.’

‘I hope Evan knows what he’s facing down the road.’

‘Actually, it’s probably better if he doesn’t see it coming,’ Lucinda said.

‘Could be. It would be better for me if I saw dinner coming, though. I’m famished.’

‘How about a couple of rolls from the Sushi place down on the ground level of the building?’

Jake agreed and called in their order: a dragon roll and a spiced salmon roll for Lucinda and then two bowls of soup, a pair of spring rolls, three more rolls and a half a dozen pieces of sashimi.

‘And this is just for the two of us, Jake?’

‘As I said, Lucy, I am really, really hungry. Do we have any saki?’

‘We’ve got a bottle or two of Nigori.’

‘Perfect. Now, while we’re waiting, I’m curious about what you’re going to do tomorrow since you’ve scratched basking in your success off your list of possibilities.’

‘I’m going to run down Jimmy Van Dyke’s associates. Somebody has to know something about what’s going on here. Somebody can give me the information that positions Jimmy’s actions into a logical framework.’

‘Good luck with that,’ Jake said. ‘I know you like to think that logic is the answer but the majority of criminals don’t operate that way.’

‘Not knowingly, Jake, but underlying it all there is always logic – maybe in a perverted or distorted form – but it’s always there.’

‘Yeah, but it’s not always easy to make your mind do the necessary contortions to match their reasoning. You may already know everything and just not be able to twist your logic into the necessary improbable shapes.’

‘You could be right, Jake. But I have to try. I can’t accept Jimmy’s story at face value yet.’

‘Let me know if I can be of any help. You can tap into the resources of my office any time. You want me to go with you to interviews?’

‘Nah, you go to your office and bask in the glory. Not the kind of moment you usually get under the Wicked Witch’s thumb. I’ll let you know if I find anything interesting or if I run out of leads. Maybe by the time this day’s over, you’ll be saying “I told you so”,’ Lucinda said and sighed.

L
ucinda went to the office, gathered names, home and workplace addresses and any criminal records for everyone she could locate with a connection to Jimmy Van Dyke. She mapped out a logical progression of stops and drove off to the spot the farthest distance from the Justice Center with plans to work her way back. Mike Petronis managed an auto parts store on the south side of town.

Mike was a waste of time. He said he and Jimmy had a falling-out six months earlier, when Mike wouldn’t allow Jimmy to move into his apartment, and they hadn’t spoken since. When Lucinda asked him about other people Jimmy knew, Mike didn’t come up with any names that she didn’t already have on her list.

She caught Jason Mourning at the seedy dump he called home. The smell of sour beer, unwashed nineteen-year-old and stale pizza nearly made her leave before she got a potentially important piece of information. She stuck it out, though, and got the name of a girl Jimmy had been seeing, Julie Troutman.

Jason added, ‘I don’t think it’s serious – just a piece of ass.’

Lucinda bit her tongue to keep a lecture about respect for women from spewing out all over the guy. She moved on to a delivery store where she found Matt Halgorn behind the counter. He looked camera-ready in a company polo shirt, a pair of khakis and a winsome smile.

However, when Lucinda said she was there to talk about Jimmy Van Dyke, Matt’s welcoming expression disappeared, his face flushed and he whispered his response. ‘I can’t talk to you here.’

‘Can you take a break?’ Lucinda asked.

‘Five minutes. Give me five minutes. I’ll meet you at the coffee place across the street.’

Lucinda entered the shop, got two lattes and slid into a seat in the most remote corner she could find. When Matt walked inside, she waved to him and slid one of the drinks across the table. ‘What’s up, Matt?’ she asked.

‘I’ve been trying to put the past behind me. But since I heard Jimmy was arrested, it’s all been rushing back.’ Matt sipped his coffee and stared down at the table.

‘What’s come back? Did Jimmy do something to you in the past?’

‘Oh no, not really. I blamed him at first but it didn’t take me long to realize he was not the problem.’

‘What did he do?’

‘It’s not what he did; it’s what we had in common.’

‘And what was that?’

Matt blurted out a bitter-sounding laugh. ‘A woman. Isn’t that pathetic? That’s why, after a while, I realized I couldn’t blame him. He was just a dumb, horny kid, like I was. He was just another notch in her belt – another puppet to manipulate.’

‘Another puppet for what woman to manipulate, Matt?’

‘Brittany Schaffer. Our teacher. Like some stupid teen movie. We both fell for teacher. Pretty sad, when you think about it, isn’t it?’

‘A lot of people have crushes on their teachers. There’s nothing new about that,’ Lucinda said.

‘Sure. That’s not new. And I guess having sex with students is nothing new, either. We both did her. Not at the same time. I was first, then Jimmy came along later when she got bored with me. Hell, I don’t know that I was first – kind of doubt that I was. Damn, she was a good teacher – in the classroom and in the bedroom.’