Chain Reaction (28 page)

‘But they didn’t do it,’ Charley said. ‘It was that woman. She was trying to make Amber come with her but the judge said she couldn’t.’

‘Amber? Where’s Amber?’ the principal said, looking around the cafeteria.

‘She went thataway,’ one of the boys said.

The principal turned to Charley. ‘You go to the nurse’s office and let her patch you up. Then come to my office. You guys, I told you to go to my office – now go.’

‘But—’ one of them said.

‘I don’t want to hear it. Just go to my office now.’ The principal helped Teresa to her feet and, pointing over to Charley, he asked, ‘Did you hit that child?’

‘Of course not, sir. I am a parent. Amber’s mother.’

‘She did too,’ Charley said. ‘She punched me in the face and then slammed me into the wall.’

‘You,’ the principal said, pointing at Charley, ‘go to the nurse’s office now. And you, ma’am – Ms Culvert – please come with me.’

‘I am sorry, sir. But I need to find my daughter. Do you need to see my ID again?’

‘If you do have any rights to that child, we’ll straighten this matter out and I’ll personally help you find your daughter.’

‘You can’t do that,’ Charley yelled from the doorway. ‘The judge said no.’

The principal turned toward her. ‘The nurse’s office – now.’

Teresa looked down at the watch on her wrist. ‘I’ll have to come see you in the morning. I’m going to be late for an appointment,’ she said and took off in a sprint.

The principal sighed as he watched her exit the building. He turned back to the doorway and realized Charley was still standing there. He pointed a finger at her but she took off before he could say another word. She heard sirens pulling up in front of the school and smiled even though it made her face hurt.

L
ucinda and Jake observed while technicians made a visual examination of the tires of Brittany Schaffer’s pick-up, searching for similarities and for any anomalies that might eliminate them as the ones that left the tracks on the grounds of the high school. Finding none, they next took measurements of the wheel-base length and width.

Everything pointed to a possible match – but it wasn’t proof. The techs laid out four wide strips of paper, each one a bit longer than the circumference of the tires. Removing the wheels one at a time, they rolled them across the sheets as they visually searched for any wear patterns, defects or scarring that would eliminate them. Finding none, they replaced the tires and laid down an inked board, followed by a similarly sized board covered with a clear film to receive the impression. Carefully, they manipulated the truck into place and rolled the vehicle one tire at a time over the ink and then across the film.

When finished, they had four sheets of plastic to prepare for transport and a police officer drove off to deliver the evidence to the forensic lab in Washington, DC. There, a tire and track expert would superimpose the impressions on the actual tracks collected at the scene.

A new batch of techs took over to search for fingerprints, explosive residue and any other trace evidence that might be lingering in the bed or the cab of the truck. The two investigators went back to their offices to file reports and update their supervisors.

Lucinda was diverted from her intentions when she walked into her office and saw an urgent note from the front desk. She returned Brubaker’s call.

‘Hey, Lieutenant. I thought you’d want to know that your little friend was in here filing an assault charge.’

‘Assault? Charley Spencer? Against whom?’

‘Teresa Culvert. Apparently, the woman barged into the school and tried to physically remove her daughter from the cafeteria. Your little buddy took exception to that and ended up with a bloodied nose, an aching back and a bruised backside.’

‘Oh dear. Did they arrest Culvert?’

‘At the scene. The woman denied everything, but when they checked on Charley’s story about the judge’s ruling, they hauled Culvert into the station. She’s in lock-up and I hear a bond revocation hearing is set for Monday. Her attorney’s been in here raising a ruckus about harassment and threatening legal action against the department.’

‘Of course he is. Where’s Charley now?’

‘On her way home – or already there, I suspect.’

‘What about Amber Culvert? Is she with Charley?’

‘Nobody knows where she is, Lieutenant.’

‘What?’

‘She ran off. But we’re looking for her. We’ve got someone posted at the Culvert home and the Spencer home and they’re searching every inch of the school. No telling where she went,’ Brubaker said.

‘What about nearby parks or shopping centers?’

‘Taken care of, Lieutenant. Along with libraries, hospitals and any other place anyone could think of. I imagine we’ll find her before long.’

‘A lot of harm can come to a twelve-year-old girl before long, Brubaker.’

‘I know, I know. Trust me. We are doing all we can.’

‘Is there anything I can do?’ Lucinda asked.

‘I think we’ve got all the bases covered, but if you think of something we might have missed, give us a call and we’ll get somebody on it right away.’

Lucinda tried to go back to her report but she was too distracted to focus. Maybe a call to Charley would help.

‘Lucy! Did you hear about all the excitement at the school today?’ Charley said when she answered.

‘Yes, Charley. I heard you were hurt.’

‘I didn’t need any stitches. Gotta big bruise on my face and my nose is a little swollen but that’s it.’

‘What about your back?’

‘The doctor said it will hurt a lot tomorrow. But I don’t care. Everybody from school is calling me – teachers, the principal, even boys. I can’t wait to go to school tomorrow. I’m a hero.’

‘Charley, you take too many risks. You could have been seriously injured.’

‘But I wasn’t, Lucy. Really, I’m OK. I couldn’t just sit there and let that nasty woman take Amber away, now could I? You wouldn’t let that happen, would you?’

Lucinda rubbed a hand across her brow. A young girl with a powerful sense of justice was a dangerous combination. ‘Of course I wouldn’t, Charley, but I am a police officer. And I’m a lot taller and stronger than you.’

‘And you have a gun – don’t forget that. You could have just shot her dead on the spot. Do you think I could get a gun?’

Oh, good grief. ‘Did you ask your father that question?’ Lucinda asked.

‘Yes,’ Charley said with a strong dose of disgust in her voice.

‘What did he say?’

‘The same old thing – “When you’re an adult, you can do what you want, but while I am responsible for you, the answer is absolutely, positively no.” He says that about all the fun stuff.’

Lucinda almost argued that her attitude about guns was not appropriate but she knew she’d get nowhere with that point right now. ‘About Amber. Have you heard from her since she ran out of the cafeteria? Do you know where she is right now?’

‘No, Lucy. I’m sorry. I didn’t think she’d do that. I was defending her. It kind of hurts my feelings that she didn’t trust me enough. If I had a gun, I bet she would have.’

For now, Lucinda continued to ignore the gun comments. ‘Where might she go, Charley?’

Charley ran down a list of places that Lucinda had already discussed with Brubaker. Then she added, ‘Maybe she went to a movie.’

‘Which movie, Charley?’

‘I don’t remember the name of it. It was some dopey romance. I told her I’d fall asleep. I needed more action – and the kind of sappy action those love stories have just doesn’t keep me awake in a dark movie theater. So we were going to see something else tomorrow. But maybe she’d go to see that by herself since I didn’t want to go.’

‘Did she have any money?’

‘Some – Daddy gave her an allowance, just like me. He said a girl of her age should have some mad money in her pocket.’

‘You have one nice daddy.’

‘Yeah, most of the time. But he’s pretty mad at me right now. And I don’t get it, Lucy. Both of you are hypocrites. You tell me to do the right thing and when I do you get all on my case.’

‘We’ll talk about that later, OK? Right now, somebody needs to check out the movie theaters. I’ll call you if we find Amber or later tonight even if we don’t.’

‘OK, Lucy. But you really need to work on that hypocrite thing.’

‘Love you, Charley. Later,’ Lucinda said as she ended the call.

Lucinda knew she was going to have to have a long discussion with Evan about his daughter. She didn’t want to stifle Charley’s spirit but she certainly wanted to keep her safe. She picked up the phone to call Brubaker, thought better of it and hung up. She couldn’t stand sitting still a moment longer. She’d check out the movie theaters on her own.

L
ucinda grabbed a copy of the BOLO with a photograph of Amber before leaving the Justice Center for her theater run. She stopped at the Cineplex 12 and showed the girl’s picture to the ticket seller, the checker at the door and the two people behind the snack counter. No one thought they’d seen her that day. She walked the aisles in the room showing a romantic feature, looking down each one for Amber but with no luck.

She decided to come back to check the other eleven after she’d cleared the remaining three theaters within walking distance of the school. At the next movie house, she had better luck. Everyone thought they might have seen her that morning and one of the girls working the snack bar was certain that Amber had been there. ‘She bought a soda and a box of Jujubes. I think I saw her running out about fifteen minutes ago but I only saw her from behind so I’m not sure.’

Lucinda didn’t hold much hope of finding Amber but she walked the aisles just the same. No luck.

The third theater was a bust, too. By now, though, Lucinda thought it was possible she could have walked a little further. She called Brubaker and told him what she knew. She hung up when he started to give her a hard time about searching on her own initiative.

Brubaker called her right back. ‘C’mon. I am not in the mood to argue,’ Lucinda said when she answered.

‘Not calling to give you a hard time. A pair of visitors just walked in the door to see you.’

‘Amber?’

‘No. A woman named Brittany Schaffer and her feminist war-horse attorney, Rita Younger.’

‘Younger? Oh, geez. That woman hates me for being tall.’

Brubaker chuckled. ‘I figured she must know you. The spike heels on her shoes are longer than her legs.’

‘Get someone from my department to take them up to the floor and put them in an interrogation room. I’ll be there in ten minutes or less.’

Lucinda had never worked a case where Rita Younger was the opposing counsel but the lawyer had been involved in complaints against her in the past. Rita produced any number of juicy sound bites about Lucinda. Rita liked to use her as an example of a woman who did not know how to succeed without acting more macho than all the men on the force combined. This interview was not going to be fun.

‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ pounded in her head as she walked down the hall, wondering what she’d done to deserve this particular albatross. She opened the door with a smile that felt like waxed Halloween lips on her face. ‘Good afternoon, Ms Schaffer. Ms Younger. What can I do for you today?’

‘Would you please sit down?’ Rita asked. ‘Your abnormal altitude is putting a painful kink in my neck.’

Lucinda bit her tongue and slid into a chair on the opposite side of the table. ‘OK. What does your client have to say today?’

‘First of all, Lieutenant,’ Rita began, ‘I must tell you that if you hadn’t been so absurdly confrontational with my client, you probably would have obtained her cooperation without any interference from me. You are your own worst enemy, as I imagine you’ve heard me say before—’

‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, fine. What’s the point? Why are we here right now?’

Rita closed her eyes and shook her head before continuing. ‘Oh, Lieutenant, you make everything so difficult. It took my considerable skills to convince my client to come see you and tell you all she knows after you bullied her so badly.’

‘Your client, Ms Younger, has seriously misrepresented our interactions; however, there is no need to argue this point. I will accept your argument, specious as it may be.’

Rita compressed her lips in a straight line. ‘I told her you wouldn’t make this easy.’

Lucinda threw back her head and looked up at the ceiling. ‘Can we get on with this, please?’

Rita turned to Brittany. ‘Ignore her hysterics, dear; just tell her what you know.’

Lucinda dropped her head to look straight at Brittany, noting for the first time the way the teacher was dressed. Instead of a plunging neckline, Brittany sported a business suit as if mimicking the attire of her attorney.

‘As I told you before, officer—’

Rita interrupted, ‘Don’t stoop to the detective’s level of being petty, Brittany. Address her by her proper title.’

Brittany appeared peeved but followed her lawyer’s direction. ‘As I told you before, Lieutenant, I did loan my truck. I did not loan it to a student. I did loan it to a former student. He told me he needed it to move his things out of his mother’s place and into his new apartment.’

‘And what is the name of this former student?’ Lucinda asked.

‘He is a very troubled young man. He lost his father in a horrible automobile accident when he was quite young. He has suffered through adolescence without a man to guide him. His mother has done her best but she is very limited in her ability to help him in any constructive way. She’s not the kind of person he could take in public.’

‘You mean, because she’s black?’ Lucinda said.

‘He is not a racist. He just has other problems,’ Brittany objected.

‘Fine. So what is his name?’

‘He needs help, Lieutenant. Not persecution. Quite frankly, I think it is impossible that he had anything to do with the explosion at the high school. If he was there, if my truck was there at the school, it was just a coincidence. And it frightened him.’

‘His name, Ms Schaffer?’ Lucinda insisted.

Brittany glanced at Rita who nodded and said, ‘You need to tell her.’