Ghostly Issues (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 2) (20 page)

“I’m going to be late tonight,” Jared said, holding his cell phone to his ear as he watched the energetic arguing from outside the conference room. “I think we’re finally going to get some answers, but I have no idea how long this is going to take.”

“That’s okay,” Harper said, rummaging through her purse to find her keys next to her car in the school’s parking lot. “I may have an idea on that front, too.”

“What’s your idea?”

“I think they were selling drugs.”

Harper’s pronouncement took Jared by surprise. “Why do you think that?”

“Well, there’s a few things that have cropped up since this all started,” Harper said. “First off, Lexie goes on and on about clothes and money … and you mentioned that Jim said her father greased the wheels for her to get in at Western State even though she didn’t have great grades.”

“Right.”

“Lexie’s father is Max Studebaker,” Harper explained. “He works in pharmaceutical sales, but they’re not rich. They’re certainly not rich enough for the sandals Lexie was wearing that day at the school. Those cost more than seven hundred dollars, and I only know that because Zander was drooling over them in a catalog two weeks ago.”

“Seven hundred dollars?” Jared was stunned. “Who would spend that much on shoes?”

“Zander would if he made that much.”

Jared chuckled. “Maybe she got them on sale or something,” he suggested. “She could’ve picked them up at a garage sale.”

Harper snorted. “You know nothing about shoe sales,” she said. “There’s no way anyone would let those go at a garage sale. Plus, they’re new. They were from this season’s collection.”

“And you’re saying her father couldn’t afford to buy her those shoes.”

“The Studebakers do okay for Whisper Cove, but they’re not rich,” Harper said. “I have no idea how Max Studebaker could afford to pay off Western.”

“Okay, that’s a good tip,” Jared said. “I still don’t see how that leads to drugs.”

“It’s not one little thing that led me to this,” Harper said. “It’s quite a few little things. All of the kids were in summer school together … except for Derek. That suggests they were all mucking up in school. The Thompsons make a decent living, too, and yet Derek was wearing really expensive Nikes. I don’t think his parents bought those for him.

“David wears a really expensive watch that I think costs more than a thousand bucks,” she continued. “His father sells real estate in a small community. How do they afford that?”

“Is it all about the expensive items?”

“We know they were hanging around the woods on a regular basis,” Harper said. “We know they were causing trouble whenever they could because they were popular and thought they could get away with it. We know Derek was drunk and fighting with the other kids. We also know Derek doesn’t want to tell us what he was doing with those kids. I think that’s because he doesn’t want to sully his own memory.”

“I understand what you’re saying,” Jared said. “I just don’t see how you’ve jumped to this conclusion.”

“I can’t explain it,” Harper admitted. “It’s something I … feel. I’m at the high school right now because I wanted to confirm a hunch. Jim Stone pulled all the drug tests for the kids and they were all done by Max Studebaker.”

Jared frowned. “You went to Jim Stone on this before telling me?”

“I didn’t want you to laugh at me.”

“I would never laugh at you,” Jared said. “Not about something like this. Is Jim still alive or did you set him on fire?”

“We had a talk.”

“And?”

“And I’m going to try not to hate him so much,” Harper said. “I can’t guarantee it, but he says he’s sorry and would take it back if he could.”

“I’m glad, but don’t force yourself to do something you’re not ready to do,” Jared said. “I’m sorry about being late tonight. I’d still like to see you … even if it means just climbing into bed with you and curling up next to you by the time I get out of here.”

“There’s a key in a hidden box under the railing on the front porch over by the rocking chairs. Let yourself in. I’ll get you a key of your own as soon as I can.”

“That’s pretty progressive,” Jared teased.

“Yeah, well … I guess that’s where we’re at,” Harper said, smiling at the happy tone of Jared’s voice.

“Good,” Jared said. “I don’t know what to do about this drug theory of yours. The money is a concern and there are some interesting dots being connected. I’m not sure you’re right, but I think I’ve learned that it’s unwise to bet against you. I’ll keep you informed if we get anything on this.”

“Okay,” Harper said. “I’ll be waiting for you when you climb into my bed.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can. You can trust me on that.”

Harper disconnected and returned to her key hunt, her grin mischievous as she thought about different ways to surprise Jared when he crawled into bed with her. She grew frustrated when she couldn’t find her keys, and when Jim approached from behind she practically jumped out of her skin.

“You scared me!”

“I’m sorry,” Jim said, holding up his hands. “Is something wrong?”

“I can’t find my keys,” Harper said. “I think I dropped them or something.”

“Do you want to go back and look in my office? I’ve locked the school up, but I’ll open it back up for you.”

“That’s okay,” Harper said, shaking her head. “I have a spare set at home. I can call Zander to bring them to me.”

“I have a better idea,” Jim said. “How about you let me give you a ride … and maybe buy you dinner … and then we can talk about everything and really put it in the past. I would like that.”

Harper wasn’t sure she was up for that. “I don’t know.”

“They’re having a fish fry out at Benny’s Pub,” Jim offered. “It’s close to town and it’s very low key. I promise I don’t have ulterior motives.”

Harper blew out a sigh. “You know what? That sounds great. It will save Zander a trip and if I’m really going to forgive you, I guess I should hear what you’ve been up to for the past ten years.”

“Great,” Jim said. “It’s a date.”

“WHERE
are we at?” Mel asked, opening the door to the conference room and fixing the inhabitants with an expectant look.

“We want to talk deals,” Tim said, his shoulders slouched.

Mel ran his tongue over his teeth and exchanged a look with Jared. “No deals.”

“But … .”

Jared held up his hand to quiet the room. “It’s time you people took responsibility for your actions,” he said. “That means everyone. If you cooperate, we’ll put a good word in for you with the judge. If not … you’re on your own.”

“This is all Derek’s fault,” Lexie hissed.

“Shut up, Lexie,” David snapped.

“You shut up!”

“Both of you shut up unless you’re going to provide us with answers,” Jared instructed, returning to his seat. “Before we do that, though, I want to ask about the drugs you’ve been selling.” He was playing a Harper’s hunch, and although he hadn’t gotten a chance to mention it to Mel, the older police officer kept his face blank instead of showing shock.

“How did you know about that?” Brandon asked, dumbfounded.

“I don’t think the fact that David is wearing a watch he couldn’t possibly afford otherwise, and Lexie walks around in expensive shoes her parents can’t afford while not holding down a job was a smart move on your part,” Jared replied, internally reminding himself to reward Harper with something special when he finally got a chance to reunite with her. “Talk.”

“This wasn’t our idea,” Dylan volunteered. “Derek was the one who started it and he brought us in after the fact.”

“I’m assuming you’ve been getting some of your product from Lexie’s father,” Jared said, acting as if he’d been sitting on the information instead of recently gleaning it from his girlfriend. “We know that Max Studebaker fudged all of your drug tests. I’m guessing Derek wanted to date Lexie to get access to her father’s stash, because he certainly didn’t seem to like her.”

“No one likes her,” Brandon said. “We didn’t have a choice, though.”

“How long has this been going on?” Mel asked.

“We started last summer,” David supplied, earning a murderous look from his father. Jared guessed Tim wasn’t aware of all of his son’s shenanigans. “Derek approached us when we were partying by the river and told us he found a great way to make extra money.”

“It was just pot at first,” Dylan said. “None of us were keen on doing it, but Derek was flashing huge wads of cash and … well … we wanted in.”

“This town sucks,” Lexie added. “We needed the money so we could get out of here. You really can’t blame us.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I was thinking,” Jared said dryly. “Where was Derek getting his product?”

“We didn’t know at first,” Brandon replied. “He wouldn’t tell us. He was all ‘it’s a secret and you guys haven’t earned the secret yet’ about it. He was so annoying.”

“You found out eventually, though,” Jared said. “Who was it?”

Brandon and Dylan exchanged one last look and then gave in, resigned to their fate.

“Mr. Stone.”

Jared froze, his stomach churning as he exchanged a look with Mel. “Jim Stone?”

Brandon nodded. “Derek told us that Mr. Stone blackmailed him to start moving product through the school after he caught him … um … .”

“What?” Mel prodded.

“Derek was gay,” Lexie interjected, rolling her eyes. “No one was supposed to know. He hid it well. He boasted all the time about nailing chicks – and he did sometimes because he didn’t want to be gay and he thought that would turn things around for him – but he was really into dudes.”

Jared’s heart sank. “Jim Stone found out Derek was gay and blackmailed him into selling dope?”

Lexie nodded. “I had to pretend to be in love with Derek to cover for him,” she said. “It worked well for me because Derek was so popular and he didn’t expect sex from me. Mr. Stone approached me to help because my father was always bringing samples home and he never kept track of them like he was supposed to. I had to steal samples and give them to Mr. Stone so he could cut them into stuff we could sell to the kids.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“Mostly uppers,” Brandon answered. “No one wants a downer other than pot.”

“What did you do in the woods?” Mel asked.

“That’s where we usually partied and made arrangements to trade off with other kids,” Dylan said. “We got to keep fifty percent of the profit and we turned the other fifty percent over to Mr. Stone.”

“What happened with Derek? Why did you kill him?”

“We didn’t kill him,” David balked. “Mr. Stone wanted a meeting with Derek because he was making noise about wanting to quit and enjoy the summer before going to college. Mr. Stone didn’t like that. He told me to call him and get him out to our regular party spot.”

“We thought he just wanted to talk to him,” Brandon said.

“We all went out there and had a few drinks … and we were having a good time … and then Lexie opened her big mouth,” Dylan said. “She told Derek that Mr. Stone was coming and he got scared. It started this big fight with everyone and she threatened to out him if he didn’t tow the line for the rest of the summer.”

“Derek told her to shut up and he was getting ready to leave when Mr. Stone showed up,” Brandon explained. “We’d been fighting for a few minutes and lost track of time … mostly because we were all pretty drunk.”

“What did Stone do?” Jared asked, already knowing the answer.

“He started berating Derek and calling him names,” David replied. “He called him a faggot and some other stuff and told him he was an abomination against nature. Derek tried to push him to get away … he was crying … and that’s when Mr. Stone just lost it.”

“He grabbed one of our beer bottles and slammed it into Derek’s head,” Lexie volunteered. “Derek just stood there for a moment … kind of like he was dazed … and then he fell over.”

“We all thought he was just knocked out,” David supplied. “Mr. Stone was ranting and raving and kicking beer bottles around. He kept going on and on about how Derek was going to ruin everything for him.”

“When did you realize Derek was dead?”

“It was late,” Brandon answered. “We were getting ready to leave and he still hadn’t woken up. Mr. Stone left us to take care of him. He told us to make sure Derek realized that leaving wasn’t an option when he woke up. The problem is … Derek never woke up.”

“When we realized he was dead we kind of panicked,” Dylan admitted. “We were going to leave him in the woods and run, but we knew other kids in the area knew where we partied and that would be traced back to us.”

“We carried him to the park and put him close to the merry-go-round,” David said. “We thought people would think he was drunk and fell into it and accidentally died. We didn’t think anyone would realize he was … .”

“Murdered?” Jared asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Pretty much,” David said. “We never meant for any of this to happen. You have to believe us.”

“I’m a good girl,” Lexie said, crossing her arms over her chest.