Murder Of A Snake In The Grass (27 page)

“Will do,” Skye answered. “And you let me know if anything changes.”

They had exhausted the subject of the murder, so over dessert, Loretta regaled them with stories about her brother’s party to celebrate his judgeship and the Chicago big shots who had attended. As they walked toward their cars, they were laughing about an alderman who had showed up with a woman other than his wife and was outraged that no one believed she was his niece.

Skye couldn’t resist one last question. “If we can’t find out who really killed Iazetto, do you think Wally will arrest Luc?”

Loretta nodded. “If he finds one piece of physical evidence or a single witness, Luc may have to stand trial.”

“Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad,” Skye speculated. “I’m sure he’d be found innocent.”

“Not necessarily,” Loretta said. “When you go to court, you’re putting yourself in the hands of twelve people who weren’t even smart enough to get out of jury duty.” With that last bit of wisdom, she kissed Skye on the cheek, Simon on the mouth, hopped into her car, and drove off.

The combination of a full stomach, two glasses of wine, and several late nights and early mornings finally caught up with Skye. She dozed most of the way home, not waking until Simon gently shook her shoulder once they were parked in her driveway. “We’re home.”

“Okay.” She didn’t open her eyes. She had been dreaming about Simon. He had been about to make love to her. Now the real man trying to wake her up and the dream man trying to seduce her blended into one.

“Your nice comfy bed is waiting.”

“Uh-huh.” She struggled to become fully awake. She wanted Simon to join her in that comfy bed, but she couldn’t quite fight her way out of the heavy haze of sleep to tell him that.

Skye was dimly aware of Simon taking her purse and digging out her keys, then being led toward her bedroom before the darkness descended.

S
kye woke up alone Wednesday morning with a vague sense of disappointment. Then she realized that she wanted the first time with Simon to be special, and being fully awake was an integral requirement.

The note she found as she was leaving for work confirmed that thought. Simon wrote:

As Skye did her morning laps in the high school pool, she thought about her love life. She had sorted out her feelings for Luc, but what about Wally? During the long, hot summer, she and Simon had become closer and closer. Now she had all but decided to spend the night with him. So, where did that leave her attraction to Wally?

Nowhere, she decided. A relationship with Wally would be a disaster. They were too different. His world was confined to Scumble River, and he had no desire to expand its boundaries. They didn’t have the same interests or the same goals in life. He was divorced, he was older, he just wasn’t the right man for her. They would always be friends, but they had no future together. At least she had figured out that much.

Wednesdays she was scheduled to spend seven-thirty to noon at the elementary school. She arrived on time feeling refreshed by both her swim and her decision about Wally. Things went well, and she was able to complete an evaluation, consult with a teacher about a behavior strategy, and still make it to the high school by twelve-thirty.

The first hint that her day was about to deteriorate was the two-inch stack of messages in her box. They were all from Luc and all said the same thing. He needed to talk to her urgently. She threw them into the trash. He would have to wait until after school.

The next sign of trouble was the two girls leaning against the wall next to her office door.

Frannie Ryan spotted Skye first. “Ms. D., Nan needs to talk to you right away.”

Nanette Carroll stood slumped next to Frannie.

Skye quickly unlocked her office door and ushered the girls inside. “Nanette, shall we let Frannie go to class, or would you feel better with her here?”

“She can leave,” the girl barely whispered.

“Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right back.” Skye followed Frannie back into the hall. “Are you and Nanette friends?”

“We know each other. We don’t hang out or anything. But I found her crying in the girls’ rest room after lunch. Her mom insisted she come to school today, and some of the creeps have been hassling her.”

“Physically?”

“No, just, you know, saying stuff, calling her names.”

“I suppose the bus story is all over the school?” Skye asked.

“Well, yeah.” Frannie shifted her books from one arm to the other. “There are some morons who hang with Grady once in a while, and they’ve been making sure everyone hears his side of it.”

“Which is?”

“Oh, it was all in fun, and she deserved it, and the girl just can’t take a joke.”

“Wonderful. Anyone sticking up for her?”

Frannie studied the wall next to Skye’s right shoulder. “A few of us, the ones who want to start the newspaper. We’re working on the real story.”

“Any luck getting Mr. Knapik to agree to the paper?”

“No. He won’t even look at the sample we’ve put together.”

Skye knew she shouldn’t do this, but she said, “Give it to me when you’re finished. I’ll make sure he reads it.”

“Wow! Thanks.” Frannie started to hug Skye but backed away. “Oh, one other thing. There’s a rumor going around that if he’s forced to go to that other school, Grady has some sort of grand finale planned.”

“Thanks for letting me know.” Skye scribbled on the small yellow pad she had grabbed from her desk. “Here’s a pass so you won’t be counted tardy. Thanks for bringing Nanette to me.”

“Who else?” Frannie trudged away.

When Skye returned, Nanette was still huddled in the chair, the curtain of her blond hair shielding her face.

Skye sat in the chair next to her and turned slightly. “It must have been hard to come back to school today.”

The girl nodded.

“Which part did you dread the most?”

“All of it.”

“Did you take the bus?”

A quick nod.

“How was that?” Skye was looking for an opening to explore the continued harassment the girl was receiving.

“Not too bad. The driver let me sit with the little kids up front.”

“That was nice of her. Are the older kids being nice to you?”

“Some of them.”

“But not all?”

“No, some of the boys are calling me names, and some of the girls say I deserve what happened to me for ever going out with Grady.”

“How does that make you feel?”

“Like they’re right.” Nanette twirled her hair. “I did do something bad. Now I’m being punished.”

“What those boys did to you is not your fault.”

“Yes, it is.” Nanette buried her head in her hands and sobbed. “I should have never dated Grady. Everyone told me not to.”

“Sometimes the only way we learn what’s bad for us is by trying it out.”

Nanette frowned. “I thought I was so cool to be going out with Grady. People treated me different. I liked it. But then something happened, and now I hate myself.”

“Your conscience is what hurts when everything else feels good.” Skye leaned toward the girl. “What happened to stir up your conscience?”

“I can’t tell you. Please don’t try and make me.”

Skye rubbed the spot between her eyebrows that was beginning to ache. “It’s really better if you do tell me.”

“No, he’d kill me and my mother.”

“Who, Grady?”

“I can’t say. Don’t you understand? I did something bad, too, so I can’t press charges against Grady.” Nanette blew her nose.

“You made some poor judgments, but that doesn’t give Grady—or anyone else—the right to treat you like they did.”

“Really?” At first the girl looked hopeful, but then the light died in her eyes. “Even so, there’s nothing I can do about it. He always wins.”

“Not always. Sometimes it just takes a while for the power to even out.”

Nanette shook her head and didn’t answer. Finally, Skye asked, “Is there anything else I or anyone at school can do to help you feel more comfortable?”

“The worst times are in the halls and the cafeteria and the gym.”

“Would it be okay with you if Frannie walked with you between classes? And maybe instead of having PE, for a while you could help Mrs. Frayne in the library?”

Nanette chewed the ends of her hair. “That would be good. How about the cafeteria?”

“Do you bring your lunch?”

Nanette nodded.

“Then you can eat in the library until you’re ready to return to the cafeteria.” Skye examined the girl closely. “Feeling a little better?”

She shrugged.

The bell rang while Skye was trying to think of something to say that would persuade the girl to tell her what was really wrong. She settled for walking Nanette to her seventh period class and talking to Frannie, who agreed to be Nanette’s hall buddy.

Skye hurried to the front office and knocked on Homer’s door. The principal yelled for her to come in. She entered and took a chair.

Homer hung up the phone and said, “Anything on the Nelson boy?”

“Just who I came to talk to you about. I haven’t heard anything from his parents, but according to the teen rumor
machine, Grady is threatening to go out with a bang if he has to leave Scumble River High.”

Homer waved his hand. “Oh, stories like that always get told when one of the tough guys gets caught. Nothing ever really happens.”

“I think we have to take all threats seriously. Look at how many students have brought guns to school and shot up their classmates in the last few years.”

Homer moaned. “What are we supposed to do? Search everyone at the door?”

“If you really want to do something, give me a budget.”

“Tell me what you need, and I’ll tell you how to get along without it.”

“We can’t close our eyes and hope bad things won’t happen.” She frowned. “The least we can do is notify his parents. Then we should get together a list of all Grady’s known associates and check them when they arrive in the morning. Also, ask Wally to watch the school more closely. Although we should hire our own security guards.”

Homer snorted. “Like we have the money for that.”

“I’m warning you. The school board better think about getting a budget for it. Things are only going to get worse. The world has changed.”

“You’re probably right.” Homer scowled. “It’s time for me to retire. I remember when having a weapon at school meant getting caught with a slingshot.”

Skye felt sorry for the older man. She could barely keep up, and she was trained for this sort of thing, so what could she really expect from someone like Homer? “You call Wally and the Nelsons. I’ll get that list together.”

“Fine.”

The final bell rang while Skye was in the hall. She hated that. It seemed as if all four hundred kids were racing in one direction, while she was the lone salmon trying to go the opposite way.

With a sigh of relief she spotted the Instructional
Material Center, known affectionately as the IMC, and escaped through its doors. She needed to talk to Trixie. The librarian usually had a pretty good idea of which kids hung together. She also wanted to tell her about her new assistant, Nanette.

Trixie was busy repairing books but shot Skye a concerned look. “Are you all right? You seem a little frazzled.”

Skye glanced at her clothing. Her daffodil silk blouse had become untucked on one side, and her blue and yellow crepe skirt looked as if she had never ironed it. She straightened herself out and tucked back a stray chestnut curl before answering, “It’s trying to deal with Homer. He doesn’t suffer from stress. He’s a carrier.”

Trixie grinned. “Sounds like you’d better fill me in.”

Skye told her friend everything that had happened since she had seen her at the dance, concluding with Frannie and Nanette’s visit that afternoon and her talk with Homer.

“Of course Nanette is welcome to help around the library anytime she wants,” Trixie said. “And she can eat lunch in my workroom, even bring a friend if she cares to.”

Skye gave Trixie a quick hug. “Thanks.”

“Not a problem.”

“I need to make a list of the boys I’ve seen with Grady, either at school or when I caught him tormenting kids on Founder’s Day. Tell me if I missed someone.”

Trixie examined the names as Skye wrote them down. “No, I think you got them all.”

“Then I’ll give a copy to Wally and Homer and hope they do something about it. I certainly can’t pat down these boys every morning.”

“And yet you know what Homer’s philosophy will be if something bad does occur.”

Skye shook her head. “What?”

“Errors have been made. Others will be blamed.”

“True. That, along with his famous speech to the faculty about contract negotiations—this is guaranteed to work, unless it doesn’t.”