Combustible (A Boone Childress Novel) (28 page)

He’
s doing a good enough job of that himself, Boone thought. “The other side—" Boone turned it over for him “—is in English”

Cedar
set Chigger on the ground, and they all headed for the exit before Mercer could think of another reason to delay them. Boone was the last one out, and he almost didn’t make it. His foot caught on Chigger’s leash, which had turned into a trip wire, because Chigger, who usually stuck to Cedar like pine sap, suddenly sat down on the patio and would not budge.

“Come on, pup.” Boone picked him up without a second thought, his mind filled with the
feeling of Cedar falling into his arms and the look of trust and relief when he caught her.

At the Olympiad ceremony, Dr. K stood on a temporary stage in the small courtyard adjacent to the public library. It was an outdoor reading room, but today, the chairs were replaced by long tables, and the tables were filled with dozens of research projects. Dr. K looked frazzled. There were dark circles under her eyes that makeup couldn't completely mask, and her fingernails were trimmed to the quick.

She's been chewing them, Boone thought.

Boone, Luigi, and Cedar stood anxiously at the edge of the last row of tables, as far away from the stage was they could get so that Cedar could keep an eye on Chigger, who wasn’t allowed in the fair. Instead, he was tied up to a maple sapling on the lawn with a chew toy and a full water bowl, which Boone had fashioned out of duct tape using Luigi’s head as a mold.

“That,”
Dr. K said into her wireless mic, “is the last of the high school division awards. Next, we move to the senior division of Science Olympiad, which includes undergraduate research project with a ten thousand dollar scholarship for the winner. Before we announce the awards, however, I would like to commend all of the students in this year’s competition. I must say that the quality of the work is nothing short of astonishing. Our unbiased judges were impressed, as well. It is a tad cliché, but truly, you are all winners today.”

“Just get on with it,”
Cedar said, tapping a foot as she crossed her arms.

Boone nudged her.
“Patience, young Skywalker.”

“It’s easy to
relax when you can fire a yellow ball one hundred mph at your opponent’s head. Judging, that kills me.”

“And you thought ice skaters had it easy.” Boone turned his attention to Luigi. “How’s the breathing exercises,
Zen master?”

Luigi exhaled.
“Americans talk too much. I do not understand why she must apologize for the competitive nature of the fair when this is a competition.”

“Good point,” Boone said.

Dr. K read the name of the third place winner, a girl from CCCC for an experiment in using light waves to kill salmonella on vegetables.

“Second place goes to
Gretchen Nunzi.”

The applause drowned out the topic of her experiment.
Gretchen Nunzi had a lot of fans.

"Gretchen?"
Boone said.

"You sound surprised,"
Luigi replied. "Ah, you are good at human remains, Boone-san. At human beings, not so much."

Good point. Boone had to admit he was right.

“Our first place winner,” Dr. K began before she had to pause for a sip of water.

“It’s going to be some guy
,” Cedar said. “A girl has never won first place.”

“Girls just won third and second place,”
Boone said. “There's first time for everything.”

Luigi took a deep breath.

“Ahem,” Dr. K said, “our first plan winner is Cedar Galloway for “By A N.O.S.E: Using Synthetic Devices for Detecting Compounds.”

Cedar was the first to clap. Boone and Luigi followed quickly, and it took Boone a secon
d to realize that Cedar was clapping merrily away but not moving.

“
Cedar?” Boone said. “They called your name.”

Slowly, she stopped clapping. A hand went to her mouth. “Really? Oh. Yeah. Really?”

“Really,” Luigi said and swatted her on the ass. He gave her two thumbs up. “Good job.”

She looked as if she were going to throttle Luigi. Boone spun her around and walked her a few feet toward the stage before letting her go.
To Boone, she seemed to be floating. And when she bent her head to accept the gold medal, her face beamed.

“Sorry you didn’t win,
Luigi,” Boone said as he finished applauding. “I don’t understand why. Your invention is amazing.”

“Thank you, but I could not win. I was only allowed to enter as an exhibitor.”

"What?"

“Because I am an exchange student.
Olympiad is only for North Carolina residents.”

“
So if you couldn’t win, why did you enter?”

Luigi
pointed to Gretchen across the patio. “To meet hot girls. See you later, homely.”

"That's homey."

"That, too," he said as he made a straight line for Gretchen.

After the announcements, parents and guests mingled around the entries to take pictures and
try out some of the projects, which had been hands off before the judging. Luigi’s wi-fi PA system was the hit of the fair, but Boone got to it first and quickly hijacked the signal to Dr. K’s mic.

“Attention shoppers,” Boone said into the Bluetooth set in his ear, “would the owner of a
pink Cadillac please move your vehicle?”

His voice filled the courtyard.
On the other side near the podium, Dr. K was speaking to a group of reports. She patted her chest to check the mic. Boone saw her pull the mic closer to her mouth and speak, but nothing came through the system.

“This
is so cool!” Boone’s voice reverberated loudly. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “Just testing.” He clicked off the Bluetooth and killed the connection to the signal.

“You are bad boy,”
Luigi said but laughed. “All this tension made me hungry. I’m buying.” Luigi never turned down hot dogs, and Boone never turned down free food.

Cedar untied Chigger from the tree. She walked away, expecting him to follow, but once again, he sat and refused to budge
.

“That’s weird,”
she said, bending down to stroke his back.

“He did that before,”
Boone said. “At the Red Fox Java. Right before we left the patio. Is he okay?”

“He’s fine.”
Cedar stood up slowly. “That’s his signal. He was trained to sit until the release command.”

“Try it,” Boone said.

“Fish sticks,” she said, and the dog popped to his feet, ready to go.

“
Holy shit!” Boone said, remembering who Chigger had been near when they left. “Deputy Mercer? No way.”

Finding the deputy was the easy part. Boone remembered that Hoyt had instructed Mercer to meet back at the bandstand after he finished at the Red Fox Java. They could hear Hoyt's gravely voice twanging over the PA system as they walked across the street to the courthouse green.

"He has to be in the crowd somewhere," Boone told Luigi and Cedar, who had left Chigger with her parents, telling them that they wanted to see Queen Brag
g get crowned. "Let's split up. Luigi, get close to the bandstand. Cedar, take the south side of the courthouse. I'll go north. If you see him, send me a text, but don't do anything to alert him."

They spread out the way Boone had suggested.
Cedar headed toward the rear of the courthouse, which was also the rear of the stage. She would be close to the girls in the pageant, as well as the sound system. It was a logical place for Hoyt to post a deputy so he could provide security for the girls, as well as the equipment.

Luigi's job was more difficult. The area around the bandstand was packed tight with folding chair and people sitting on the grass up front. It was almost impossible for a Japanese teen dressed in tight sliver pants, a sleeveless black shirt, and a hairdo that looked like it had be sculpted by a blender to look inconspicuous. In fact, Boone was counting on him drawing attention.

The north end of the green was the least populated area. It was on a slight rise, with magnolia trees whose thick leaves gave good cover. From there, Boone could see the whole area. It was a great plan. All he had to do now was wait.

Up on the bandstand, Sheriff Hoyt took a cordless microphone from the emcee, who had seconds earlier finished introducing the candidates for Little Miss Bragg.
One of them with a red head girl in a ribbon covered yellow dress, whose name Hoyt called a minute later. She squealed and almost hopped off the edge of the bandstand.

The sight tickled Boone, and he laughed out loud.

The phone is Boone's pocket buzzed. A text message.

Abner Zickafoose:
Y R U HIDING IN TREES?

Boone:
ON STAKEOUT

Abe: FOR WHO?

Boone: TOP SECRET

"Top Secret?"
Abner said behind him.

Boone jerked like a fire ant had stung him.
Abner was standing six feet away, hidden by the same leaves that hid Boone. "Doc. Geez. How did you sneak up on me?"

"Been here the whole time, getting out of the sun and hiding from your mama. The woman's meaner than a prison bull. What're you up to?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me. Not after you slunk up here like a dog looking for a place to hide a bone. You're watching for somebody. Who is it?"

"Deputy Mercer."

"That's the
one that writes all the tickets?"

Boone explained about Chigger's sniffing ability. "We turned him loose on
Eugene Loach, and nothing happened. But later, he signaled on Mercer."

"You sure about this?"

Boone shrugged. "It's the only lead we’ve got, Doc."

"Guess we best follow it, then."

"We?" Boone said and then tried to protest. "You're out on bail. Technically, you're still charged with interfering with an investigation."

"You want to find the
man who killed that woman, don't you?"

More than he wanted to breathe
. "Yes, sir."

"Then turn your head to the left, young man, because your suspect is about to slip right by you."

A hundred yards away, Deputy Mercer walked briskly down the sidewalk toward the front of the courthouse building. Boone tapped out a lightning quick text message to Luigi and Cedar: FRONT COURTHOUSE. NOW!

"Eye
s on me," Boone told Abner, and they jogged around behind the tree until they were in the open again and then walked the rest of the way on the sidewalk. They turned the corner of the building in time to see Mercer leave the last of the front steps and pull one of the heavy oak doors open.

"Hold on,"
Boone said, blocking his way until the door squeaked, signaling that it was closing. "Let's go."

Keeping close to the building, they eased up the same steps and ducked out of sight into an alcove.

"We wait here for Cedar and Luigi." Boone said. "What do you think he's up to?"

"Looking for a place to take a leak?"

"Seriously."

"At my age, taking a leak is serious business."

Cedar was the first to reach the front of the courthouse. When the text came, she ran around the opposite side of the building. She was halfway up the front steps before she saw Boone waving her over. Luigi came around the building a few seconds later.

"He's in the courthouse," Boone told them as they gathered by the entrance. "Once we're in
side, stick close to the walls and walk as quietly as you can. The acoustics are terrible, so sound really travels."

"Boone," Cedar said,
a hand on her hip. "It’s not like we've never been in the courthouse before."

"Oh. Yeah. Sure. Sorry."
He pulled on the long brass handle. The door opened slowly. "The hinges squeak."

And then they were in.

The first thing Boone noticed the darkness. It was bright outside, but the overhead lights had been turned low. The next thing he noticed was Mercer's voice. He was talking to someone.

Mercer's voice drifted down from the stairway that led to the second floor. "Another one? You said the last one was it."

Boone's first step on the polished floors made a slight squeak. He signaled for everyone to stop. He removed his
shoes and moved on down the wall, sock footed. When he had a clear view of the second floor, he motioned for the group to move up to the stairwell.

They stayed in the shadows. Waiting. Listening.

"The main goal here is to create an utopian society populated by whites," said a second person, a man. The voice was older but more confident. There was something familiar to it. “His problem is that he needs the money to do it, so he buys up the property along a freeway route and sets his son lose on the historical towns that his father tried to create. He wants to finish his father's work. So if he has to burn out a few buildings and run off some Mexican squatters, even better. This group of blue haired biddies has thrown the proverbial monkey wrench into our plans.”