In the Club (16 page)

She looked back at Theo. “And you’re sure that you and Julian and Coach Wender were the
only
ones in the locker room that night?”

Theo stared across the street, rapt in thought. When he finally glanced back at her, the expression on his face was tense. “Kind of,” he said.

“What does that mean?”

Theo sighed. “I know where you’re going with this, and it’s so
wrong.
But—okay—that night in the locker room? Damien Kittle was also there, but he was, like, fifteen lockers away from us, and Coach Wender didn’t even see him.”

“But
you
saw Damien standing at his own locker when the syringe came out of Julian’s bag, right? And while Julian was getting yelled at by Coach Wender?”

Theo nodded. “Yeah. I saw Damien out of the corner of my eye. But he walked into the bathroom really quietly while Coach Wender was yelling.”

Madison gasped. “So then Julian saw Damien too, right? And Damien overheard the whole thing?”

“Again…yes. Can we stop talking about this?”

Madison felt a rush of pure adrenaline course through her blood. Was that it? Had she solved the crime? She pictured herself busting into Julian’s house, tackling him to the ground, and slipping handcuffs over his wrists. She so totally wished she had a badge.

Exasperated, Theo threw his arms around her waist and clamped his lips over hers.

Madison was taken aback by the kiss, but she melted into it without hesitation.

“There,” Theo whispered, drawing his face away from hers. “Maybe
that
will get your mind focused on me now.”

Madison blushed. She loved these hot, tender little moments. And she loved Theo’s tendency to be spontaneous when it came to affection. “It worked,” she answered quietly. As she stared up into his eyes, she forgot about the loud traffic and the pushy pedestrians. She almost forgot about Julian Simmons too.

“You won’t tell me why you’re asking all these strange questions, so I had to improvise.” Theo winked. “Unless you want to tell me what’s going on in that mind of yours?”

“Nothing’s going on. Like I said, I’m just thinking about things.”

Theo glanced at his watch. “Are we going downtown to hang out with Park and Jeremy or what? You promised me we’d get to see the set of his new movie.”

“Yeah. Come on, let’s go.” Madison walked to the edge of the curb and shot an arm into the air. A cab skidded to a stop and she and Theo climbed inside. Madison took off the baseball cap, shook her hair out, and then fixed her makeup.

Ten minutes later, they were pushing through the crowds on West Houston Street, trying to make it to one of the blue barricades sealing off the set. Huge bright lights illuminated the hundreds of fans eager to catch a glimpse of the moviemaking magic. Several onlookers called Madison’s name as she walked past. She gave them a warm wave. Cameras flashed in the corners of her eyes. Then she spotted Park standing beside one of the long trailers.

“Excuse me,” Madison said, tapping a production assistant on the shoulder.

The young guy recognized her instantly and waved her forward, moving one of the barricades as he did so.

“Thanks.” Holding fast to Theo’s hand, Madison raced across the street, cutting a direct line through the set. The blinding overhead lights made it feel like early morning instead of early evening.

“Hey,” Park said, spotting them and waving. “I didn’t think you were coming.”

“We almost didn’t.” Theo pointed at Madison. “Your sister got into one of her police interrogation moods.”

“I did not,” Madison said. She looked at Park, locking eyes with her. “I was just gathering information.”

Park nodded, a smile tugging at her lips. “Gotcha.”

As Theo stared around the set, Madison mouthed the words
I have something to tell you
at Park.

“Hey,” Theo asked. “Where’s Jeremy?”

Park shook her head and pointed straight up at the sky.

Theo and Madison both gasped when they spotted Jeremy standing on the ledge of a tall building.

“It’s another one of those jumping scenes,” Park said, more than a little annoyed. “I just don’t get it.”

“Action!” a voice suddenly boomed over the street.

The cameras began rolling. The crowds of onlookers silently stared at the star above them. Jeremy moved along the ledge; he feigned a stumble and a few seconds later was plummeting toward the ground at breakneck speed.

“Jesus!” Theo shouted.

“And there goes the inflatable device,” Park said a moment before the huge cushiony thing broke Jeremy’s fall.

Madison rubbed a hand over her stomach. “That’s twisted.”

“Tell me about it. There’s no way I’d ever be able to do that.” Park sighed. “I’d totally need a stunt double.”

Jeremy came strolling toward them, pulling away from the makeup artist who was dabbing more blood onto his face. He pushed past a little knot of production assistants and sound technicians. “Dude!” he said, offering his hand to Theo. “Thanks for coming!” He bent down and kissed Madison’s cheek. “So did you guys like my fall?”

“Freaking awesome,” Theo raved.

Madison crinkled her nose. “It was a little much for me.”

Jeremy laughed. If he felt odd standing there with a torn and bloodied shirt and a fake purple gash etched onto the side of his face, it didn’t show. “Hey, where’s Lex?”

“She’s home, designing,” Madison answered.

“Too bad,” Jeremy said. “I wish she could’ve seen that stunt. It was actually my last skydive for a couple of weeks.”

“Thank God,” Park mumbled.

Jeremy threw an arm around her shoulder. “So did you guys hear? Park got her first official acting lesson this afternoon.”

“Oh!” Madison’s jaw dropped. She slugged Park in the arm. “You didn’t tell me that!”

“It’s not true,” Park said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “All I did was read parts of the script aloud. And I haven’t signed on any dotted line.”

“So not true.” Jeremy shook his head. “I saw you reading that script. You were
totally
into it.”

“Oh, man, I would give anything to star in a movie,” Theo said.

“Dude! You should try it!” Jeremy reached into the pocket of his jeans and lit a cigarette.

“Ugh,”
Park said, pinching her nostrils as a plume of smoke drifted past her face. “Do I
have
to get used to kissing an ashtray?”

Theo and Jeremy launched into their own conversation, and Madison pulled Park off to one side. “You’re not going to believe this,” she whispered.

“Tell me.”

Madison excitedly told Park about Julian Simmons, the steroids, his suspension, and the apparent cover-up. “So Julian probably wanted to get rid of any documents that detailed his steroid use,” she said firmly.

Park nodded. “And when you put it together with what Lex saw today, the glitter that was found in Mother Margaret’s office you just might get a killer!”

“What did Lex find?” Madison asked quickly.

“Lex called me a while ago,” Park said. And then she rehashed Lex’s trip to the Bronx, where she trailed Julian to the construction site that had explosives on hand.

“Oh my God!” Madison shouted. Then she cupped her hand over her mouth and took a long, deep breath.

“It makes sense,” Park said calmly. “But the thing is, I’ve been thinking a lot about what Concetta told us today.
Her
version of what happened. And something’s bothering me.”

“What is it?”

Park threw a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure Jeremy and Theo weren’t listening. She said, “If Damien collapsed in that cage like Concetta told us he did, then someone clocked him in the head
after
he fell down.”

Madison winced. “You mean he was killed
twice
? Why would somebody do that?”

“For only one reason,” Park replied. “To throw off the police. To throw off an investigation. And to hide Damien’s
real
cause of death.”

15

Double Dead

“A
postmortem wound,” Lex said.

She was standing in her bedroom, a ruler in one hand and a pencil in the other. A pair of black rectangular reading glasses sat on top of her head. She had been sitting at her desk for the past two hours, sketching new designs for the Triple Threat label, enjoying the solitude of her own company, when Madison and Park burst into the apartment like two tourists at a sample sale. Now Lex knew she would never get her work done.

Walking slowly back to her desk, she sat down and let the weight of her own words settle into her brain.
A postmortem wound.
Was it possible, or had Madison and Park flown off the deep end?

“You have to think about it in a broad context,” Park said, sitting on the edge of Lex’s bed. “It’s not so far-fetched.”

“No, it isn’t,” Madison agreed. “And if we’ve decided that we’re going to believe Concetta’s story, then we
have
to believe that the wound was inflicted after Damien fell to the floor of the cage.”

“Wait.” Lex held up a hand. “We have to piece this together chronologically. Otherwise it won’t make sense.”

“Fine.” Madison plopped onto the bed, sliding a pillow under her chin. “Where do we start?”

“I know
exactly
where to start,” Park said. She nodded. “Last night, when we first got to Cleopatra, we ran up to the fourth level to get rid of those ugly floral arrangements, remember? That was when we saw Damien—he came right up to us and started acting like his old self, right? But he didn’t
look
well. Remember? I asked him if he was feeling okay?”

“Yes, I do,” Lex replied. She dropped the pencil and ruler and flipped her sketchpad closed. “He was pale and sweating a lot—”

“And he had hives,” Madison cut in.

“Right.” Park snapped her fingers. “So we know Damien wasn’t feeling well. Then Concetta and Emmett showed up, and Emmett did his catwalk modeling thing to show off the Triple Threat suit he was wearing. And Julian came by too.”

“And Concetta started flirting with Damien immediately,” Lex said. “Damien wanted to dance, and the two of them ran off together.”

“Obviously to the cages,” Madison added.

“Yes. And then we went down to the main level to make our appearance on the stage.” Park closed her eyes, trying to remember every last detail. “And I remember looking out on the crowd—I didn’t see Damien and Concetta.”

“Me neither.” Madison scowled. “I started speaking and then Lex nearly knocked me down to get her own air-time.”

“I
apologized
for that,” Lex said. “And right after my scream, the music started up. Madison, you joined Theo on the dance floor, and Park and I hung out for like a minute on the stage.”

“Okay, stop.” Park stood up. She started pacing the floor. “This is where it’ll get tricky. We were all on that dance floor on the main level for at least an hour and a half, right?”

Lex nodded. “Definitely.”

“And in that span of time, which of our classmates did we see dancing beside us, or at least on the main floor?” Park asked.

“Better yet, which ones
didn’t
we see?” Madison rolled into a sitting position on the very edge of the mattress. “Did any of us see Julian?”

Lex shook her head.

So did Park.

“I saw Emmett dancing beside us at some point,” Madison said. “That much I know.”

“And Jessica?” Park asked.

“Negative on that one.” Lex sat back in her swivel chair.

Madison and Park both agreed.

“Okay,” Park said. “So in keeping with the hypothetical thing, none of us saw Julian or Jessica on the main floor. That doesn’t mean they weren’t there, but let’s stay with that for a minute. Let’s say either one of them was up on the fourth level, which is where you gain entrance to the cages from the catwalk. Either one of them could’ve been watching Damien and Concetta dance.”

“And witnessed what Concetta said happened—Damien collapsing, her running out of the cage and down the staircase,” Madison offered.

“Which would’ve given either one of them a chance to dash up the stairs and into the cage,” Lex said. “Let’s say it was Julian. He jumps into the cage, sees the stiletto, and bashes Damien in the head. Then he runs back down the stairs. Bam, and it’s done.”

“Shit,” Park whispered through gritted teeth. “I just wish I’d been glancing at my watch more last night. I hate that we can’t piece this together into a real time frame.”

“Oh!” The little shout of joy was Madison’s. She popped up, her mouth wide open. “We
can
! The music was all timed. It was all played in sets, one song after another. Dad didn’t want the DJs to have free reign with the music. Weeks ago, he made them put together a list of songs.”

“Madison,” Park said slowly, trying to contain her excitement. “You’re the most professionally organized person I know—except for that floral fiasco.
Please
tell me you have that list.”

“Of
course
I do.” Madison looked genuinely offended. “I keep my files immaculate.” She dashed out of the bedroom.

“I really hope this works,” Lex said. “At least with that list we’d be able to know what was going on
when.
”

“Exactly.” Park nervously ran her hands through her hair.

Two minutes later, Madison returned holding several manila files. She laid them out on the bed neatly, scanning each one. “Here’s the first guest list,” she said, turning over a page. “Here’s the second one. Here’s the
final
one.” Her fingers worked swiftly. “Here’s the bill for the catering staff, the florals…I’ll have to call
them
on Monday….”

“Hurry,” Park said impatiently.

“I’m trying…Aha!” Madison held up two sheets of paper that were stapled together. “
Here
it is! A complete rundown of every song that was played, along with its approximate time.”

“Thank
God
for modern technology.” Lex ran out of the chair and stood beside Park.

“Excellent,” Park said, scanning the pages. “Madison, how long was your speech supposed to be?”

“About two minutes.”

“Okay, so the end of your speech was the DJs’ cue to begin playing the music.” Park pointed at Lex. “Then
you
jump-started the party. So let’s just assume that each of these play times is about two minutes off. Okay. Here. The music officially started at ten-thirty-five p.m. According to the list, it began with a thirty-minute set of electronica.”

“So let’s say we got onto the dance floor at ten-forty,” Lex said. “At five after eleven the set would’ve changed to what?”

“Thirty minutes of pop.” Park turned the sheet over. “Here—oh, I remember this. It started with Beyoncé and the Killers, then look—they played Beck and the Postal Service and the Guns. Then it ended with Justin—”

“That’s it!” Madison cried. “I remember seeing Emmett when Justin was playing. I looked across the floor and saw Emmett dancing and mouthing the words to the song. I remember.”

Lex ran back to her desk and grabbed a pen and her sketchpad. “So let’s see, that would’ve put a sighting of Emmett at about eleven-thirty-five p.m.” She jotted it down on a clean sheet.

“Yes,” Park said. “Because then a round of trance started at about eleven-thirty-eight, and that lasted for twenty minutes. Then at midnight the music went back to pop.”

“And the last song that was playing before the cage came down with Damien’s body in it was Gwen,” Madison said. “I remember it now.”

“So do I!” Lex cried.

“Okay then—that would’ve been…” Park scanned the page. “Here. Gwen Stefani, and they played it at twelve-twenty-six a.m. Concetta said she heard the commotion and the Requiem playing from the bathroom after about three minutes of being locked in. So take off two minutes because Madison didn’t make her speech and that leaves us at twelve-twenty-four.”

“So let’s say the cage came down at about twelve-twenty-five.” Lex nodded. “Concetta would have already been in the bathroom for like three minutes.”

“So she got into the bathroom at about twelve-twenty-two,” Madison said.

“It would’ve taken her about a minute to limp down the stairs,” Park said. “So let’s say twelve-twenty-one. And let’s say Damien collapses at around twelve-twenty. Concetta leaves the cage right then, which basically gives the killer almost five minutes to whack Damien with the shoe and disappear back into the crowd. Because the cage descended at around twelve-twenty-five.”

“And that’s when the Requiem started playing.” Lex shuddered. “And just a few seconds before that, the killer popped into the DJ booth and knocked them out.”

Park started pacing again. She shook her head. “No, wait. It’s all too random. It’s starting to not make sense.”

“That’s because we haven’t discussed
why
the killer would have wanted to hit Damien in the head
after
he collapsed,” Madison said.

“I thought you guys said the killer did that to throw off the police.” Lex sounded confused. “Right?”

“Yeah, but the killer couldn’t have known Concetta was going to lose her shoe in that cage,” Park explained. “The fact that she ran out of there limping was just something that
happened.
”

“So the killer was watching Concetta and Damien,” Lex said, “already
knowing
that Damien was going to collapse. And when he—or she—sees Concetta running out of the cage limping, the killer grabs the opportunity to cover up the
real
cause of death by whacking Damien in the head.” She smiled brightly. Then the smiled faded. “Does that make any sense?”

“Actually, it does. Sort of.” Park resumed her pacing. “But that still leaves us without a cause of death. Did someone shoot Damien from the rafters, for God’s sake? Was that a bullet wound? What is it? I just don’t get it.”

“But…” Madison clamped her mouth shut and looked away.

“But what?” Park asked.

Madison sighed. “I mean, the autopsy would’ve been completed by now, right?”

“Right.”

“So an official cause of death has been issued—we just don’t know it. And if the cause of death
is
blunt impact trauma from the shoe, then Damien’s body would be released to the family, right?”

Park nodded. “I assume so. Why?”

“Theo told me that his mom spoke to Damien’s mom this afternoon,” Madison said. “And Mrs. Kittle told Theo’s mom that Damien’s body isn’t being released. The medical examiner is, like, holding it.”

“That doesn’t sound right.” Lex scratched her head. “Especially because Damien is English royalty. They would want that body flown back to England as soon as possible.”

“If that’s the case—that Damien’s body isn’t being released—then I’d bet anything it’s because we’re on the right track,” Park said. “The autopsy probably revealed that the stiletto couldn’t have killed him—or something else.”

“Like what?” Lex sat back down again.

“Like another cause of death,” Park explained. She walked to the windows at the far end of the room and stared outside. “And here’s the
really
big question. With what we know so far, Julian Simmons is a total suspect—but did he kill Damien because Damien knew about the steroids? Is that really enough of a reason? Is that Julian’s motive?”

“Look, we know Damien wanted out of the club,” Madison said. “That’s probably reason enough for someone to kill him.”

“Yeah, but
why
did Damien want out of the club?” Park asked, frustrated. “And what the hell does this club do behind closed doors that’s worth killing for?”

“We’ll know soon enough,” Madison whispered.

“Maybe not,” Lex said. “I mean, if I witnessed Julian buying
explosives
today, should we really be going to the Chamber tomorrow?”

“Of course!” Park nodded. “How else will we know what’s really going on?”

“But what if he tries to blow us all up?” Madison asked. “What if that’s his plan?”

“It’s not,” Park said calmly, firmly. “We have to find out what this is really all about, and that means taking risks. We’ve come this far, and we’re
not
turning back.”

Lex flipped open her cell phone and punched in a number. “Hello, Donnie? I know you’re supposed to be off duty in about ten minutes, but I might have to ask you to do a little overtime. Can you come upstairs? Thanks.”

“What’s going on?” Madison asked.

Lex got up and slipped into a comfortable pair of shoes. She went to the mirror and checked her makeup, adding more blush to her cheeks. “There’s only one way to settle this,” she said.

“And what’s that?” Park cut her a suspicious stare.

Three minutes later, they all heard Lupe open the front door. There was a bit of mumbled conversation, and then Donnie appeared at Lex’s bedroom door.

He stood on the threshold with his head bent and his eyes cast downward. “Uh, hello?” he said in his typically shy voice.

“Come on in, Donnie,” Lex replied cheerfully.

He stepped into the bedroom, smiling vaguely at Madison and Park. But he wouldn’t move five feet beyond the door. He stood there looking like a guilty schoolboy.

“Lex, are you going to tell us what this is all about?” Park demanded.

Lex walked over to Donnie and threw her arms around him. “You’ve been
so
good to us!” she said. “And I want you to know how much we all appreciate your hard work. You’re always there when we need you.” She stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Donnie turned redder than a tomato. He gulped and cracked a grin. “Thanks.”

“But now I need to ask you for a
really
big favor,” Lex said. She reached for the magic purse and flung it over her shoulder. “You’re probably the best former medical student in the whole city, and I know you still have some nice connections.”

Donnie smirked. “A few.”

“Good.” Lex motioned her head at Park, then stared up at Donnie. “I need you to break us into the morgue.”

“What?”
Madison screeched.
“Eeeewwww.”

“Lex…” Park said.

“Uh…I don’t know if I can do that.” It was one of the longest sentences Donnie had ever spoken. He said the words quietly, apologetically…but not altogether firmly.