Gracie's Game: Sudden Anger, Accidentally on Purpose (50 page)

Everyone looked distressed at that. It had only been a few hours ago that they'd heard about her death from that wreck. Somehow it seemed macabre to bring it up in this context.

"But Amy admits it was her fault," Shawna protested. "She feels terrible about it. Oh geez, I hadn't thought – she must
really
be upset now."

"The cop at the hospital said the airbag didn't go off," Gracie reminded them. "Kelly, do you know if you could do something to disable one?"

Kelly shook his head. "Not that I know about. But I'm not a mechanic; I can change oil and spark plugs and jump a car, simple things like that. I couldn't even tell you how an airbag
works
."

"Jake was messing with Meaghan's car Friday at lunch, remember?" Shawna said.

"Yeah, he did have the hood up," Kelly admitted. "But apparently that was only because he didn't know the battery's in the trunk. And besides, there was a bunch of people standing around – how could he possibly have done something with them all watching?"

"Gracie, I think we all know what happened there," Cheryl said, kind but firm. "It was dark and raining and Amy misjudged the distance and bumped Meaghan's car, though she might have had some pharmaceutical help. End of story."

"Maybe," Gracie reluctantly admitted. She thought about the ugly rumor she'd heard that Meaghan was pregnant; she decided not to repeat it. That kind of thing only grew and she refused to help spread it.

"What's next?" Kelly asked. "Oh, I bet I know! Your slip-n-slide in the park yesterday." His tone was teasing.

Gracie looked him in the eyes. "Maybe.
I
don't fit the pattern either, but I saw Brittney limping as I left school today and she said the same thing had happened to her. Same place, too. The funny thing was, she doesn't usually go that way so someone would have to know she was going to see her grandmother yesterday. Could that someone be Jake?"

"Or any of a couple dozen of her friends," Cheryl said. "That's another case of it being hard to set up in advance with any degree of certainty about the victim. Anyway, you said it was dry, so what could still be slick after it dried?"

"Antifreeze," Kelly said. "Remember the other day when your Aunt Jeanine called, Gracie?"

Gracie rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue. "How could I forget? Two hours out of my life because she didn't pay attention. But yes, she did say she'd slipped where some antifreeze had been spilled and not cleaned up good."

"But remember, Jake said he didn't really know anything about cars," Shawna said. "When could he have done it? If he'd slipped out of class early it would've still been wet. And I'm
sure
he had a hot lunch date, so he didn't do it then."

"Still, it
does
seem odd that antifreeze would just
happen
to get spilled right on that curve," Cheryl mused. "If it even
was
antifreeze. We don't know that, and there's probably no way to find out now anyway."

"So I guess the final accident is mine," Shawna said. "
I
certainly never dated Jake; how does that fit your pattern?"

"A whole lot of cars got gathered up in that," Kelly said. "It was right by the school, a route that a lot of people take to get outta there every day. Did either of you see any of Jake's so-called girlfriends milling around?"

"Don't think so," Cheryl replied. "But then, there's so
many
."

"Allison asked me to stay and help her put together a memorial to Amy," Gracie said.

"Any you think someone ruined dozens of tires, including Shawna's, on the chance that Allison would be in that group?" Cheryl asked.

"I'm just saying it's a possibility," Gracie defended herself. "Maybe it wasn't Allison, but one of the other girls. Jake
could
have run out right after school and thrown that jar in the street."

"You'd think someone would've
seen
him do it, and will tell the police when they hear about the mess," Shawna said.

"Or it could be just what the policeman said," Cheryl insisted. "The jar fell off a truck."

"So, what's the final score, Kelly?" asked Gracie.

"Eleven accidents total, two of which were fatal," Kelly announced. "Five of them can be classified as falls or one kind or another; poison ivy and just plain poison, two pieces of school equipment malfunctioned, spilled nails, and a car wreck. If you count Maggie as one of Jake's girlfriends, six of them were directly involved. Travis, Shaun, and little Tony Fletcher are of course guys; the other two girls were Gracie and Shawna here. Six out of eleven is barely over half."

"What about locations?" Cheryl asked.

Kelly moved his index finger down the list as he mentally sorted out the information. "Only four actually happened in the school building; five if you count the intersection. Maggie's house, boutique, country road, and the park. The two poisons could've happened anywhere."

"I don't see any connection there," Shawna said.

"If Travis' fall was meant for Brittney, Tony's meant for Meaghan or Tanya, mine meant for Brittney, and the nails meant for Allison – or some other girlfriend – then that makes ten out of eleven," Gracie said.

"Those are pretty iffy," Cheryl said. "How many of them can we even
semi
reasonably attribute to Jake?"

"I count eight," Kelly announced. "Travis, Tony, and Gracie's accidents would be pretty hard for him to set up."

"Well,
if
something's going on, it does sound like Jake's involved," Shawna admitted. "But then it could just as well be someone who, for some reason, has it out for his girlfriends."

"That's
if
anything's really going on," Cheryl said. "Though I
do
think now that you should tell Lt. Freeman about the pills in Amy's backpack.

Chapter 44

Ken was on the way to speak to someone that might possibly know something about a death that might or might not be murder. There'd been no suicide note but the evidence so far couldn't rule it out. The one thing he
did
know was that it wasn't an accident; no one accidentally puts a gun to their head and pulls the trigger. The victim wasn't into drugs, either using or selling; and, at least on the surface, he'd appeared to be an upstanding and reasonably successful citizen.

It was Ken's job to dig below the surface to determine the reality of that appearance. Had the man, for instance, been desperate for money? Desperate enough that suicide could have seemed the only way out? Or he made a plan to get the money; a plan that had somehow gone horribly wrong? He sighed and turned the car's heater up a notch. Then in an attempt to put it out of his mind for a few minutes he turned on the radio. A classical station seemed appropriately soothing and he hummed along with the music.

Naturally someone chose that moment to call him, the silly trill of the ring-tone clashing with the radio.

"Lieutenant Freeman," he answered brusquely.

"Hi, Ken! It's Gracie."

"Oh, hi, Kiddo," he said. "Before you ask, I don't have anything new on either the teacher or your friend that ate the cyanide."

"I'm sorry, did I call at a bad time?" she asked contritely.

Ken sighed again. "No, I'm sorry, Gracie. It's just that I've got a doozie of a case and I was hoping that it would stew in the back of my mind and I'd get an idea."

"Anything I can help with?" she asked.

"Thanks, but not yet. I'm still checking things out. What's on your mind?"

"Don't know if you've heard, but there was a car wreck Friday night, out on the state highway," she said.

"Oh, yeah, the girl died, didn't she? Did you know her?" he asked.

"Yes, I did. I know the girl that caused the wreck, too."

"Geez, I'm sorry, Gracie. I hate to say this, but that one's on my list, too. She – what's her name?"

"Meaghan Pruitt was the girl who died, Amy Jones was the one who hit the car," Gracie supplied.

"Yeah, Amy Jones. Anyway she admitted she bumped her friend's car from behind, and we're considering charging her with manslaughter."

"Because Meaghan died in the wreck," Gracie stated.

"'Fraid so," Ken said. "But I won't know until I look into it a little more. Do you know something about it that I should know?"

"Maybe," Gracie hedged. "Cheryl saw a big bottle of pain pills in Amy's backpack that afternoon. The prescription was for her mother."

"And you're thinking maybe she'd taken some that night and that contributed to her hitting the other girl's car," Ken spelled it out.

"Yeah, I am," Gracie said. "I guess that'll make things worse for Amy."

"It would if I could
prove
it," Ken told her. "But it's been too long. Even if she tested positive right this very second it doesn't mean she would have on Friday night."

"So you're not interested?"

"Sorry, but no," Ken said. "I do appreciate your telling me, I know it's not easy to rat out a friend. I'll let you know what I decide about the charges. Oh, and there's one more thing you should know. But if my Captain finds out I told you I'll be in deep doo-doo."

"Ken, you
know
I won't tell. Well, maybe Kelly, but he can keep his mouth shut," Gracie promised.

"Gracie, I'm not kidding. You'll tell your two girlfriends, I know you. I
mean
it, this isn't the kind of thing that needs to get out." Ken's voice was unaccustomedly gruff.

"Okay, I understand."

"The young girl who died was pregnant," he said.

"Meaghan?
Pregnant
?" Gracie could hardly believe her ears. "I'd heard a rumor, but I thought it was just someone saying nasty things after she'd died." Even as she spoke her mind began recalling little hints that told her it was indeed true. Meaghan hadn't been feeling well and had thrown up, apparently several times. She had a sudden mental picture of Meaghan standing by the bathroom sink, turning that little silver purity ring around and around on her finger. Gracie just hadn't wanted to believe it of Meaghan.

"It's true," Ken assured her. "Her parents didn't want to believe it, either. In fact they didn't even want to bother with a paternity test. They convinced themselves that she must've been raped and was afraid to tell them."

"If that was the case then wouldn't they want to know who'd done it?" Gracie asked. "So he could be punished," she added.

"I think they just don't want their daughter's reputation sullied, especially since she's gone now," Ken said.

"I'm pretty sure I know who the father is," Gracie said. "Jake Salazar."

"Salazar?" Ken asked in surprise. "The jock who'd been sleeping with the teacher the day she died?"

"One and the same," Gracie said. "And that brings up another thing I wanted to tell you about."

"I already know he'd been fiddling with her car that day," he said. "It's one of the things I was going to look into, but now I'll bump it up to the top of my list."

"It's not just that," Gracie began. "Jake dates a
lot
of girls, and several of them have been having accidents lately."

"Like what
kind
of accidents?" Ken asked.

"Andrea and the cyanide," she replied. "And Mrs. Lane, of course. The others haven't been serious: a lot of falls, a school desk that magically fell apart, and a lot of flat tires from some nails on the road by the school."

"In other words, normal things," Ken said. "Even if they all happened to the girls this guy dates, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. Though I
will
say he seems to get around."

Gracie gave a short laugh. "That's what my Mom says, too. About the accidents, not Jake. It just seems weird to me that so many of his girlfriends have been having accidents."

"And you think he's doing it to them on purpose," Ken said, teasing. "Listen to your mother, Kiddo. You're making mountains out of mole hills."

It was Gracie's turn to sigh loudly. "All right, maybe I am. Well, good luck with your doozie, talk to you later. Bye."

When Kelly, Shawna, and Cheryl made it back to Gracie's room after their various bathroom breaks and trips to the kitchen for snacks and drinks they found her flopped disconsolately on one of the bean bags.

"I was right before; Ken's not the least bit interested in Amy's pills." Gracie said.

"Well, it was worth a try," Cheryl insisted. "I guess I understand. It's like the drunk who takes a nip in front of the cop; there's no way to prove he hadn't been stone cold sober before he was stopped."

Gracie nodded. "Ken did say he's considering charging Amy with manslaughter. Even
she
admits it was her fault."

"Wow, that's
serious,
" Shawna said. "You said 'considering', what does that mean?"

"It means he thinks it's an accident and he'll look at the two cars and the police and weather reports, and probably check out the scene before he decides if there's enough evidence to show she was negligent," Kelly told them. "I'd bet he'll ask her about the pills, even though he told you he didn't care."

Gracie nodded her head, but kept her gaze glued to the purple carpet in front of her.

Shawna patted Gracie's shoulder and said, "Don't worry about it. You tried, that's all that counts."

Gracie looked up at her, meeting her eyes. "There's something else – and this time I gotta swear you guys to secrecy or Ken will kill me."

"You know we won't tell a
soul
," Cheryl said in a serious voice.

"I swear," Kelly said simply.

"Me, too," Shawna said. "Uh, I swear. There, is that official enough?"

"This isn't like hearing that Jake was sleeping with Maggie. This is really serious. I'd hate for this to get out and ruin someone's reputation," Gracie told them.

The three of them just looked at her; waiting for her to speak, though Cheryl did make beckoning motions with her hands as if to hurry her.

"Meaghan was pregnant," she said.

"
Meaghan
?" Shawna squeaked in astonishment.

"She was always the 'good girl', with that purity ring and all," Cheryl said, just as shocked.

"Wow!" was all Kelly had to say.

"So you see, even though it's true, we wouldn't want it to get around," Gracie was practically begging. "I'd heard rumors, I overheard Jennifer and Allison talking about it on my way out of the building this afternoon. But come to think of it, Allison didn't seem to believe it."

"Gracie, it's one thing not to blab it around; but I don't want to have to
lie
," Shawna said.

"So if anyone says anything to you just tell 'em it's a crappy thing to be saying about someone who's dead," Cheryl advised. "That way you don't have to admit to knowing anything."

Shawna considered the idea. "Right. It
is
true as far as it goes but why would anyone think I might know anything about it?"

"Are you kidding?" Kelly asked. "Everyone knows we're Gracie's best friends
and
that Gracie's pals with the lieutenant. They'd naturally assume that he's told her everything, and she's told us."

"Oh, yeah," Shawna said.

"I don't suppose your good pal told you who the father was?" Cheryl asked.

"I don't think he cares and her parents didn't even want to know," Gracie said. She made a wry face. "He says they think she must've been raped but they're so emotional over her death that they don't want to deal with that."

"That's because they can't admit to themselves that their darling little girl would actually go out and have
sex
," Cheryl commented.

Shawna looked thoughtful. "I can see that, in a weird kind of way. They can pretend she was blameless and refuse to deal with the whole thing on the grounds that it doesn't matter anymore. Still, you'd think the lieutenant would want to know as part of his investigation."

"I doubt he thinks it has any bearing on the wreck. But I told him that Jake was probably the father, and it would certainly give him motive to get rid of Meaghan."

"He might start caring if he finds anything wrong with Meaghan's car," Kelly said.

"In the meantime
we're
the only ones who seem to think there's anything the least bit suspicious about it," Gracie said rather glumly.

"Did you tell him about all the accidents?" Cheryl asked.

Gracie offered a sheepish grin. "Yes, but other than the two deaths and Andrea's cyanide he blew those right off." She sighed, and shrugged. "Guess I can't really blame him. On the surface it sounds silly to say Jake's going around trying to get rid of girlfriends."

"On that note, is everyone ready to go to Meaghan's wake?" Kelly asked.