Fahey's Flaw (7 page)

“I get that. I’m just pouting like a little kid who doesn’t get to play with his new favorite toy.”

Wynn chuckled. “Believe me, the feeling is mutual.”

The doctor appeared and spoke with Sam Robinson’s parents.

Mel stepped up behind them to listen, and as the doctor led the folks in to the back, she found Wynn. “Sam is coming around. They think he’s going to be fine.”

“Any news on Ben or Jesse?”

“Not yet.” She glanced at Reilly.

Wynn spoke up. “Oh, Mel, this is Reilly O’Keefe. He teaches at St. Sebastian’s. Reilly, meet Melanie Riggs, my partner.”

They shook hands and Mel smiled pleasantly. “Nice to meet you. It’s sweet of you to come out.”

Don’t waste the effort, Mel.
Wynn recognized the interest he spotted in her eyes. Hell, he had the same interest. But hers would be unrequited.

“These kids mean a lot to me,” Reilly said. “I’d just spoken with Detective Fahey about this on Thursday. I feel awful that we didn’t get the flyers out before the weekend.”

She nodded. “Who knows if it would have helped? Tonight will bring a lot of attention to the subject, I can tell you that for sure.”

The doctor reappeared to speak to the Baxters.

“Excuse me.” Mel went closer to hear his prognosis.

Reilly glanced at Wynn. “She’s nice.”

Wynn chuckled. “She’s very nice. She thinks
you’re
nice, too.”

His friend blinked. “How can you tell?”

“I’ve been partners with her for a long time. She’s definitely interested. Should I tell her you’re not available?”

“Please do. You can tell her I’m gay if you want.”

“Might not want to do that. She’ll put two and two together and…” He didn’t think he needed to finish the sentence.

Reilly gazed at him. “And what? Figure out that we’re together?”

“Together?” The word sounded like so much more than the one night they’d shared, with merely the promise of more to come. “I don’t know, man. That might be a little premature.”

“Seriously?” Reilly suddenly looked pissed. “I thought we both felt the same way.”

Wynn’s emotions were already on edge. He snapped back, “And
I
thought we’d agreed on no psycho fatal attraction bullshit. It was one night, Reilly. One great night, to be sure. But we need a hell of a lot more time to figure out if we’re ‘together’.”

Reilly opened his mouth to speak when a cry from across the room silenced everyone else.

Wynn glanced over and saw Mrs. Baxter sobbing. Her husband held her up. They both looked like they might topple over with the slightest breeze.

His heart filled with dread.

Mel reappeared, her face white as a sheet. “Ben Baxter just died.”

Chapter Four

Wynn’s first thought was of his son. He looked to where Connor sat and saw the boy’s face crumple. Pushing his way through the throngs of people, he reached him and Con flew into his arms.

“No, Dad! He can’t be dead!” Connor sobbed into his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, son. Damn, I’m sorry.” He held and rocked him as people all around them cried and absorbed the shock.

“I should have been there. Maybe I could have talked him out of taking whatever he did.”

Wynn closed his eyes.
Thank God you weren’t.
It could have been him and Syd speaking with the doctor right now if his son had been at the party. He knew full well the power of peer pressure. “You can’t blame yourself, buddy. We never know how these things might have played out. Second guessing our actions just makes us feel worse.”

“I really…cared about him…” Con mumbled. “We… Oh, God!” He broke down again.

Wynn sighed. He’d have to talk with his son later about what he’d been going to say. Had the boys gone further with their experimentation than either of their mothers suspected? Syd would go nuts. But now wasn’t the time to worry about it.

I’ve got to call her.
He gripped Con’s shoulders and pushed him back gently. “We need to call your mom.”

“No! I don’t want to see her right now. She wouldn’t let me go to the party.”

He wanted to shake his kid but instead held him firmly. “No, Con, that was both of us. We agreed it was for the best you didn’t go. Don’t blame Mom for any of this. If you need to blame someone, blame me.”

Connor sniffed. “I don’t blame you for anything, Dad. Mom does enough of that for both of us.”

He smiled and ruffled the boy’s hair. “Smartass. I’m going to call her now, and see if she can come and get you. I need to stay and work the case, but you should get the hell out of here.”

His son nodded. “You’re going to work Ben’s case?”

Wynn had dialed and the phone was to his ear. “You betcha. We’re going to find out who sold the drugs to these boys and prosecute them for homicide.”

“Wynn?” Syd answered groggily. “What’s wrong?”

“Con’s okay, but there was trouble at his friend Ben’s party tonight.”

“I thought we agreed he wouldn’t go to that party,” she snapped.

“He didn’t. Con was home snoozing on the sofa when we got the call. Three boys at the party OD’d on a new, cheap designer drug. One of them was Ben. He just died, Syd.”

“Ben died?” her annoying shriek returned.

He really couldn’t blame her this time. “Yeah. One other boy is still in critical condition, a Jesse Morgan. The doctor said Sam Robinson is going to be okay.”

“I know Sam,” she said breathily. “I’ve never heard him mention Jesse. Oh God, Wynn. Is Con okay?”

“He’s pretty upset. We’re at St. Luke’s Hospital in the emergency waiting room. I hate to ask, but do you think you could come get him? I’ve got to get statements from the kids and this isn’t the best place for him to be right now.”

“Of course. St. Luke’s, that’s the older hospital, isn’t it?” She clucked her tongue. “We’ll be there, but it’ll take twenty or thirty minutes.”

Wynn sighed, in no mood to put up with her snobby attitude.
It’s probably best just to hang up.
“Thanks, Syd.” He punched buttons on his phone and placed another call to his chief.

“Kern,” his boss answered.

“Chief, it’s Fahey. One of the ODs just died. A thirteen-year-old kid, name of Ben Baxter.”

“Son of a bitch,” the chief muttered. “How are the other two?”

“Sam Robinson is stable. We’ve had no news on the third, a boy by the name of Jesse Morgan. Everyone is understandably pretty upset here. Mel and I will try to get statements, but I’m not sure how much luck we’ll have tonight.”

“Try, but don’t push it. If you have to wait until morning, then so be it. I’m not going to call Dix until morning, either. We’ll bring Homicide on board and prosecute these scumbags to the fullest extent of the law.”

“Agreed.”

“I want a list of everybody at that party. We’ll let Taylor and Mathes talk to those kids and their parents. Someone knows who sells drugs at that school. Everyone might not know, but some of them sure as hell do.”

“I think you’re right. They’re scared tonight. Hopefully by tomorrow some of them will be ready to talk to us.”

“Put the fear of God into them, Fahey. The kids
and
the parents. Make them think you’re doing them a favor by not dragging them down to the station to take their statements.”

“Yes, sir. We could really use a break, here.”

“That third boy needs to pull through. The ones who OD’d on the drugs should be the most willing to talk to us.”

“You’d think. But my kid says Jesse Morgan smokes weed, so right now I’d say he’s our most likely suspect to have had contact with the dealers. I’m really hoping he makes it. For the obvious reasons, of course, but something in my gut tells me he might know more than anybody.”

“These kids are thirteen?” Kern asked, disbelief in his voice. “Damn it, Fahey. When I was thirteen I was putting together models of cars.”

“And huffing the model glue?”

“Hell no!”

Fahey chuckled. “Times have changed, boss. It’s a whole new world out there.”

“Makes me sad, Fahey.”

“I know, right?” Wynn was already feeling melancholy. His chief wasn’t making things any better.

“How’s your boy holding up?”

“He’s okay. His mother’s on the way to pick him up. I figured I’d be working the rest of the night.”

“I’d rather see you and Riggs go home and catch a few hours of shut-eye. We’ll need you fresh in the morning if we’re going to nail these bastards. I’ll alert Taylor and Mathes to be expecting your call in the morning.”

“You’ve got it, Chief. Talk to you tomorrow.” Wynn disconnected and pocketed his phone. He turned back to Connor, who was wiping his face. “You hanging in there?”

“Yeah. Do I really have to go with Mom? She’s gonna be all over my ass about this.”

Wynn sighed. “Give her a break, Con. She’ll be upset, sure. We all are. Getting mouthy with her won’t help or accomplish anything.”

“I know.” Connor put his head on Wynn’s shoulder and gripped his arm.

Wynn turned his face to nuzzle the boy’s tousled hair. “We’ll get through this, kid. I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but somehow, we’ll get through. Just do your best to mind your mom, and call me if you need to talk. I’m never too busy to take your call. Remember that.”

“I will.” He tightened his grasp on Wynn’s arm.

Wynn longed for the time he could chase the monster out from under his son’s bed and make everything okay. He’d been Con’s superhero back then. He missed those days.

Reilly approached with a sad smile for Con. “You doing okay, Connor?”

“Hey, Mr. O’Keefe. I’ve been better. But we’ll get through this.” He glanced at Wynn. “Dad, you know Mr. O’Keefe, my English teacher?”

Wynn gazed at Reilly. “We’ve met. Hey, Mr. O’Keefe.”

“Detective Fahey.” Reilly didn’t look pissed anymore, just sad and tired.

Wynn felt the same way. He hadn’t meant to insult Reilly, his nerves were just on edge. And with everything that was going on, he couldn’t begin to think about where their relationship stood. But right then, he knew that wasn’t ready for it to be over before it had truly gotten started. “It was nice of you to be here for the kids. Con’s mother is coming to pick him up. I’m going to encourage everyone who doesn’t have a vested interest in being here to go on home. We’ll know more about the other boys tomorrow.”

Reilly nodded. “I hope you’ll be able to get some sleep. Tomorrow could be a long day.”

Wynn smiled. “I don’t think much sleep is in the cards. I might do some exercise to help me unwind.”

“Sometimes I exercise in the middle of the night, too. It can do wonders.”

Connor rubbed his face on Wynn’s sleeve. “You two are crazy. I just want to sleep. Exercise is the last thing on my mind.”

Wynn nuzzled his head again. “That’s good, buddy. I hope you
can
sleep. It’d be the best thing for you.” He gazed at Reilly and winked.

The teacher gave a small smile, but wiped it off his face quickly.

Sydney arrived a short while later, her husband Derrick in tow. “Connor!” She tried to hug the boy but he shrank into Wynn’s arm.

Wynn reached for him and squeezed his shoulders. “Remember what we talked about, buddy. Everyone needs to go home and get some sleep, now. I’m going to work the case, and I’ll call you tomorrow when I can. But if you need me, call any time. Okay?”

“Okay.” Connor hugged his neck.

Relishing the tightest hug he’d gotten from his kid in ages, Wynn squeezed back then pressed a noisy kiss to Con’s forehead. When he pulled back, Con was smiling. He passed him over to Sydney. “Thanks for coming, Syd. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Get these slimeballs,” Derrick said to him before they led Connor away.

“Yeah, you got it,” Wynn muttered, not wanting to take even the most obvious piece of advice from Syd’s husband.

Before he had a chance to talk with Reilly alone, Mel returned. “The doctor just came out and spoke to the Morgans. Jesse should make it, but his condition is still iffy. Time will tell. We won’t be able to speak with either boy until morning.”

“Okay, so the chief wants us to catch some Zs and start fresh tomorrow. He’s spoken with Jeff and Beck. They’ll interview the other party-goers and their parents. He wants us to beat every bush and shake every tree. Something’s liable to fall out. The boss even mentioned getting Dix and the Homicide crew involved.”

Mel nodded. “This has developed into serious business I’m glad he’s giving us some help.” She glanced around. “For tonight, do you think we should send some of these people home? The Baxters left. The Morgans and the Robinsons are with their sons. No one else needs to hang out. I believe it’s time for some privacy.”

Reilly smiled. “It’s easy to tell you two are partners. Wynn just said the same thing a few minutes ago. I’ll help, if you like. I’ll speak with Principal Andrews and we’ll suggest everyone go on home.”

“Thank you.” Wynn touched his arm briefly, then pulled his hand away. He wanted to say so much more, but once again, this wasn’t the time or place.

In the next few minutes the teacher and the principal convinced everyone to take off, while Mel and Wynn spoke with the nursing staff and advised them they’d be back in the morning for statements. It took longer than Wynn had expected, and when they returned to the waiting room, everyone was gone.

He looked for Reilly but didn’t see him. It was two a.m. He was tired, but he wasn’t
that
tired. “I’ll walk you to your car,” he told Mel.

She stretched and yawned. “Remember what I said about us taking the high schools versus Jeff and Beck taking the colleges, and how we got the better end of the deal?”

He smiled sadly. “Yeah.”

“I was wrong. Dead wrong.” Mel sighed. “Morning is going to come awfully early.”

“I say we give ourselves an extra hour. Why don’t we meet back here at nine?”

Mel reached her car and nodded. “I won’t have trouble falling asleep. If I’m lucky, I’ll dream about that hunky teacher, Reilly O’Keefe.” She smiled and batted her eyelashes before climbing into her car.

“Night,” he called, feeling a little guilty. He needed to tell her Reilly wasn’t available, but he just couldn’t handle one more thing tonight.