Devils Among Us (Devin Dushane Series Book 1) (22 page)

Adam swept the front door of the Sheriff’s Office open for
Devin, bowing low as she passed, causing Marlene to giggle from her desk. They
came to an abrupt stop on the steps outside, however, causing a collision that
nearly sent them both sailing to the sidewalk below. Devin flailed for the
railing, but finding none, grabbed onto Adam’s arm instead.

“Sorry, my bad!” she said. “Going from fluorescent to
sunlight is totally blinding, but I should have warned you before I stopped in
my tracks.” She had already pulled a pair of sunglasses from her bag and was
sliding them on as they continued their trek to her car. “That’s much better.”

“No worries, you can fall into me anytime.” He didn’t say
anything else, but was fixated on her glasses. When she unlocked her door she
gave him a curious glare across the top of the car.

“What?”

“How many pairs of those do you own?”

She snorted and slid across the seat to unlock his door,
burning the back of her leg on the hot leather in the process.

“About two dozen. I buy sunglasses like most women buy shoes
or jewelry, but I only have six or seven pairs with me. I left the rest in Richmond.” She shook her head, bewildered. “How did you figure out my habit?”

He grinned, laying one hand out the window into the warm
breeze. “I am a detective.”

“I’m around detectives all day, and none of them have ever
noticed.”

“I notice all the little details about you.”

“Oh really? Like what?”

“Like, I would not have taken you for a pink nail polish
kind of girl.” He waved towards her feet.

She sniffed delicately and lifted her chin. “There’s nothing
wrong with pink, just everything in moderation.”

Adam lifted his palms in an open gesture. “Hey, I don’t
judge; I just observe. When you’re really deep in thought, you doodle on the
side of the page and make some really beautiful drawings, and I’m pretty sure
that little round scar on your neck is from a cigarette burn.” He paused for a
moment to listen to the wind passing the windows. “Were you abused?”

“Don’t you need to buy me some frozen yogurt to ask that?”

“Technically I already did, but if we need to go get some
more, I can take care of that.”

She grinned as they pulled up in front of the Christianson
home. “No, we’ll consider that time served. It doesn’t look like she’s home,
but we should check anyway.”

They knocked to no avail, and Devin walked around back
following the glossy slate stone path through neatly trimmed flower beds and
shrubs onto the back porch. After ducking beneath a lush green hanging fern,
she peered through the kitchen window and found what she was looking for.
Returning along the rock path through the pristine rows of flowers she
delivered her news to Adam.

“She’s not here, but supper’s cooking in a crock pot in the
kitchen, so she’ll be home soon. Do you want to wait on the porch?”

“Hmm…sit on the porch in a rocking chair in the middle of
the afternoon while I’m on the job.” He selected a chair and quickly stretched
out his long legs and leaned back with his eyes closed. “Like you even needed
to ask.”

Devin took the rocker next to him. “She probably has
lemonade in the fridge. I could pick the lock and get us a couple glasses.”

He didn’t stop rocking or open his eyes. “I’m pretty sure
that’s the reason I’m here. To keep you from doing stuff like that.”

“Well, you’re no fun.”

“I’m loads of fun. In fact I think we were playing twenty
questions, and it’s your turn to answer.”

She scowled at his closed-eyed silhouette. “I don’t remember
having the opportunity to ask any questions.” When she was met by silence she
sighed. “No, I was never abused. Yes, it is from a cigarette.” More silence. “I
got it when I was a teenager. It was like a gang test.”

Adam’s eyes popped open. “You were in a gang?”

She punched him in the arm, hard. “No, I was not in a gang,
moron. I was trying to stay
out
of a gang. Back then girls weren’t so
much in gangs as they were owned by gangs, passed around like property. You
know what I mean?” She met Adam’s eye, and he nodded slowly once.

“There was this one, The Eastside Ochos, that had taken an
interest in Carter’s little sister Deeanne and a couple of her friends. They
were babies, barely fourteen. I think one was even still thirteen. After school
one day, about half dozen Ochos corner Dee and one of her friends and say
they’re going to initiate them in. A little crowd gathers, and somebody runs to
find me. Thank heavens Carter was in basketball practice, or it just would’ve
been a fight right then, and someone would have gotten shot.”

Devin closed her eyes and continued rocking in the sun, but
Adam was staring wide eyed, his jaw slack. “So what did you do?”

“Hmm?” You would have thought he had asked her about the
ending of a particularly dull basketball game. “Oh, I pushed into the crowd and
knocked the leader on his butt. Told him he couldn’t have these girls and to
stay away from them.”

“I’m sure that was well-received.”

“Yeah, it went over like a ton of bricks. One of the little
minions came at me, but I was already fighting professionally at that point, so
I swatted him like a fly. The leader got up and said the only way we could walk
away was by burning out.” Adam raised his eyebrows in question. “It’s a kind of
dare. They hold a lit cigarette to your body for eight seconds. Eight was a big
deal with them since they were the ‘Ochos.’ If you can make it for eight
seconds without punking out or screaming like a little girl, you can walk away.
If I couldn’t do it, they would own Dee, her friend and me. They liked their
odds—only two people had ever succeeded, and one was a homeless man playing for
a steak dinner, so he was highly motivated.”

“Nice bunch of kids. I take it you made it?”

Beth’s car turned the corner on the far end of the street.

“Yep.  As soon as he said it, I flipped my jacket off my
shoulder and presented my neck so he could get a nice tender spot. I looked him
straight in the eye the whole time and never flinched, never blinked or made a
sound. His hand was shaking when he pulled that cigarette off, and he told his
whole crew that no one was to ever touch any of us or our family members.” She
stood and waved to Beth as she pulled into the driveway.

“Did any other gangs try to recruit you?”

“Not after that. They all thought I was crazy or possessed
by demons.”

“How did you take care of the wound?”

“When we got about a block from the school we hailed a taxi
to go to the nearest hospital.” They stepped off the porch and hurried to meet
Beth at her car. “Let me tell you, when the door on that taxi shut I was
cussing like a sailor and screaming like a banshee. The driver thought I was in
labor.”

Adam was trying to get his laughter under control while
Devin and Beth hugged.

“Devin, you should have called! I would have come home
sooner if I had known you were here waiting.” She stood back to look Devin over
from head to toe. “Don’t you look as pretty as a peach today.” She slid an arm
around Devin’s waist and murmured in her ear, “Is that why a puppy dog followed
you home for dinner?”

Devin lightly swatted the older woman’s arm, her tone as dry
as her throat now was without that lemonade. “Hardly. And I’d say he’s more of
a hyena. We’re actually here on official business.”

Beth’s eyes lit up. She squeezed Devin tighter to her side
as she pressed her free hand over her heart. “You’ve found something? New
evidence?”

“Something like that. More of a new lead. Why don’t we help
you carry in these groceries so nothing melts? Then we can talk.”

They settled in the living room with fresh glasses of
lemonade. Beth told Devin the spare key was hidden under the doormat if she
ever wanted a glass when they weren’t home. Devin tossed a smug look at Adam.

“You know, Beth, that’s not a very safe place to keep a
spare key. It’s the first place an intruder is going to look.”

Tinkling bells rang out as Beth laughed. “Oh, Devin, this is
Fenton. Nothing like that happens here.”

Devin sat up straighter on the pillow covered crème and
mauve sofa. “I’m in Fenton investigating a murder—actually, a string of
murders. That’s why we came to see you today.”

Adam looked sharply at Devin, clearly un-sure where she was
heading with this, but not voicing any concerns yet.

“Some evidence was left on my porch a few days ago that
suggests Laney’s murder was tied to several others.”

Beth set her drink on the coffee table, still careful to use
a coaster. “I don’t understand. I thought your house was vandalized. How is
that evidence?”

Adam’s tall frame looked surprisingly at home in the blue
wing-back chair he’d chosen, although the throw pillow seemed to be crowding
him a bit. He leaned forward on the chair arms to field Beth’s question.

“We didn’t want to panic the public about the incident, so
we thought it best to keep the details vague. It was actually a piece of evidence
from another murder. It was staked—” he made a stabbing motion with his fist
and Devin whipped her head around to glare at him and he dropped his hand. “Um…
attached
to her door with a picture of her out at the Summit.” Adam shut his lips
tightly. It was in his best interest to stop talking before Devin staked
him.

Beth started to ask a question, but Devin saw the moment
when all the pieces of what Adam had said clicked into place and the color and
vitality drained from her face. Her voice was a rough whisper when she spoke. “When
did you go to the Summit?”

“After I had dinner here.”

The color did not return to Beth’s face, but she certainly
became animated, hugging one of the ruffled burgundy pillows from the couch to
her chest. “By yourself? At night? Devin, how could you? Talk about being
unsafe. And how did someone get a picture of you? Why don’t you just go lie
down on Laney’s grave and join her?” She smacked Devin’s leg with the pillow.
“Your father would go crazy if he knew you’d done that.”

“First, thank you for your concern, but I can take care of
myself.” She patted her cousin on the knee. “Second, you way overestimate my father’s
concern for my well being. Lastly, this event was good news. It gave us a break
in the case and new leads. So be happy!”

“Be happy a psychopath was at your door?” She raised her
eyes to the ceiling. “I’m so glad neither of my children are police officers.”

Adam rolled his eyes at Devin. “
Happy
is not exactly
the term I’d use.”

Ignoring his side comment, Devin pressed on. “We really need
to tighten up the timeline from the night Laney was killed so we can track her
exact movements.” She pulled a notepad and pen from her bag. “I know it’s been
a lot of years, but I need you to try to remember it as detailed as you can.”

Beth began the story from the moment they got out of the car
right up to when she saw Laney with Peter after her fight with Dean. Describing
who they had danced with and talked to throughout the evening, even remembering
some of the outfits.

“How long was Laney with Peter?”

“Oh, just a moment, I looked away, and by the time I looked
back she was gone.”

Devin tried to be gentle. “
She
was gone, or
they
were gone?”

“Well…
they
were gone, but he was just asking her
where I was, so that just took a second.”

“Okay, and what did you do after that?”

Beth shifted in her seat ever so slightly. “I had a soda and
walked out to the parking lot and down to the dock to get some air it could get
really stuffy when the pavilion was packed. Then I went back to the dance to
take some more pictures, but that’s when Peter found me, so we found a corner
to talk in. We were there for quite a long time before I went to find Laney.”
Beth looked down at her hands, her voice shaking. “I’ve always wondered if I’d
looked for her sooner if she could have lived. Maybe we would have found her
just injured.”

Devin took one of her hands. “It wouldn’t have made any
difference. One of the first blows killed her. She died almost instantly.” She
gave Beth a moment to compose herself, knowing that the hardest part was yet to
come. “Beth, did you see anyone in the parking lot?”

The answer was too straight, too quick. “No.”

Devin gulped down her remaining lemonade and thrust the
glass at her partner for the day. “Adam, I’m all finished with my lemonade, but
I could really use some water. Would you mind getting it for me?”

A startled Adam finally snapped out of his shock and lunged
to his feet with glass in hand and retreated from the room.

Devin lightly squeezed Beth’s hand and spoke softly but
surely. “You didn’t go with Henry Maddox to his car? And get a splash of
homebrew in your soda and then maybe linger there…?”

Beth closed her eyes and shook her head, a silent tear
sliding down her cheek. “I’ve never spoken to anyone about what happened. Even
Henry and I never acknowledged it happened. I didn’t even confess it to Laney’s
tombstone. I talk to her there, you know. How could you know about that night?”

“I’m very good at what I do. I’m not trying to dig up
skeletons, but this could help us time-wise. How long do you think it was from
when you last saw Laney until you got into Henry’s car?”

Beth couldn’t have looked worse if she had been sentenced to
hang on the gallows. “About ten minutes. We didn’t mean to—we were talking, and
then all of sudden we were kissing. A car pulled in, and Henry didn’t want
anyone to see me with him, so he slid us into the backseat, thinking we’d break
off the kiss in a minute. We didn’t, and things . . . escalated.”

Devin felt like she was in an after-school-special—don’t get
in the backseat with a boy. They never want to just talk!