Thread of Hope (The Joe Tyler Series, #1) (15 page)

But now the words sounded hollow and fake.

“Can I see your case files?” I asked, choking down my anger.

Bazer studied me for a long moment, his eyes hard and still.  “Where are you staying?”

I told him.

“I’ll have both files sent over this afternoon.”

There was no reason he couldn’t just photocopy and give them to me right then, but he was letting me know he would control what came my way.  And he could deny that he was paying me back in some minimal way for hanging me out to dry, but I knew better.  There was absolutely zero chance he would’ve let me near those case files unless some part of him still felt guilty for what he’d done.    

“Fine,” I said and stood.

“Stay out of the way, Joe,” Bazer warned.  “I mean it.  You aren’t a cop here anymore.  Don’t try acting like one.”

A smile that nearly hurt curled my lips.  “So I shouldn’t tell bullshit lies to reporters?  Isn’t that what cops around here do?”

He stiffened but didn’t say anything.

“That was out of line,” I said, holding up a hand.  “That’s not what cops around here do.”  I stared at him, the smile falling away from my face.  “That’s just what you do.”

TWENTY-NINE

I was back at the hotel, picking at lunch in a café downstairs and waiting for the case files to show up when two familiar faces approached my table.

Meg, wearing a purple T-shirt and a denim skirt, slid into the seat across from me.  Matt, in a polo shirt and shorts long enough to be pants, loomed behind her, looking just as uncomfortable as he had when I’d caught him following me.

“Hi,” Meg said, smiling.

“Shouldn’t you be in school?” I asked, running a napkin across my mouth.  I glanced at Matt.  “Both of you?”

“We’re off this period,” Meg said.  “It’s an open campus.”

“Right,” I said.  “And you knew I was here how?”

She glanced at Matt.

He shrugged.  “Word gets around.”

Apparently so.  I just wondered who was spreading the word.

“What’s up?” I asked, leaning back in my chair.

“I think there’s something you should know,” Meg said.

I glanced at Matt, then back to her.  “Okay.”

She twisted the silver bracelet circling her wrist, being careful not to look at me.  “Things aren’t right with Meredith and her dad, okay?”

I looked at Matt again.  He was staring down at Meg’s back.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

She brought her gaze back to mine and sucked on her upper lip for a moment.  “I think he might’ve been the one that hit her.”

Finally.  Someone not afraid to call out Jon Jordan.

“Why do you think that?” I asked.

“Things she’s said to me.”  She moved her hands to her hair and pulled it back.  “He’s not a good guy.”

No kidding.  “What has she said to you?”

She dropped her hands and her hair fanned out on her shoulders.  “Just stuff.”

I shook my head.  “That isn’t gonna get it done for me, Meg.  You want me to believe you?  I need more than that.”

She glanced up at Matt, who finally moved his eyes to me.

“He’s hit her before,” he said, his voice low, almost like he was tired.  “I was there when it happened.”

“You were there?”

He gave a short nod.  “Yeah.  She goes out with my friend.”

“Derek?” I asked.

Surprise started to cross his face, but he put it together quickly. “Yeah.  We were at her house.  She and her dad were arguing out in the pool house.  He came storming out, totally pissed off.  Derek went in as soon as her dad left.  They came out and Meredith’s face was totally swollen.  He’d slapped the hell out of her.”

I looked down at my hand.  It was clenched into a fist.  I unclenched it and looked at Matt.  “What did she say about it?”

“Nothing, to me,” Matt said, resting his hands on the back of Meg’s chair.  “Derek told me later that night.  She told him that it wasn’t the first time her father hit her.”

“You ever seen anything else?” I asked.  “Either of you?”

Matt shook his head.

“A bruise on her back,” Meg said, wincing at the memory.  “Like the size of a football, right in the middle of her back.  We were changing after practice at the end of last season.  I didn’t say anything because I figured it was just from practice or something.  She’s always driving, getting knocked down and hitting the floor, getting pretty banged up.  But after they told me about the thing with her dad, I don’t know.  I’ve just assumed it wasn’t from practice.”

My fingers folded back into my palm.  “What about her mom?   You guys ever see anything weird with her?”

“She’s hardly ever around,” Meg said, shaking her head.  “Never comes to games or stuff like that.  She’s nice when I do see her at the house sometimes, but I’ve never seen anything.”

Matt nodded in agreement.

Maybe Jordan was hiding his wife to hide the bruises.  I was making a leap but it made sense to me.

“So why would she blame Chuck?” I asked them.  “Why him?”

Meg shook her head again, a perplexed look on her face.  “I don’t know.  I thought she really liked him.  Because we all did.”

“She’s probably afraid of him,” Matt said.  “Her dad.  Everybody else is.”

“Then why would they even file a report?” I asked, thinking more out loud than expecting an answer.  “Why even acknowledge it?”

“Her face was pretty messed up,” Meg said, wincing again.  “I don’t know how they could’ve hidden it.”

That seemed reasonable and possible, but it still felt odd to me. 

Meg turned and glanced up at Matt.  I couldn’t see her face, but I could see his.  He was frowning at her, shaking his head.

“What?” I asked.

They held each other’s gaze for a moment longer, then Matt shrugged and looked away.

Meg turned back to me.  “There’s something else...but it’s kind of weird.”

I didn’t say anything.

“There’s always been this...rumor,” Meg said.

“What kind of rumor?”

“About Meredith,” she continued, choosing her words carefully.  “I’ve never believed it and I’ve never seen anything to make me believe it.  And I never asked her about it because I just figured it was jealous bullshit from other kids who didn’t like her.”

“What’s the rumor?” I asked, trying to keep a handle on my patience.

“It’s stupid,” Matt muttered, turning around, like he couldn’t bear to watch.

Meg took a deep breath, then let it out, her words tumbling out in a rush.  “That Meredith was a hooker.”

THIRTY

“Excuse me?” I said, wondering if she was using some sort of teenager lingo I wasn’t familiar with.

Matt turned back around.  “Told you it was stupid.”

Meg was the one to frown now.  “I know it’s stupid, Matt.  But I just thought I should tell him.”

“People say she’s a hooker?” I asked.  “A prostitute?”

“Not people,” Matt said, a disgusted smirk on his face.  “Dumbass chicks at school.  Fucking useless.”

“I’m not saying I believe it,” Meg said, defensive now.  “I’m just saying people have been saying it about her for a long time now.”

“She ever say anything to you about it?” I asked.

“No.  Not once.  I’ve never believed it,” she said, her cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassment.  “I just...I’m worried about her.  She’s my best friend.  I thought you should know.”

The thought of an eighteen-year-old hooker wasn’t that far out of the realm.  But one that was a star athlete and came from a wealthy family pushed pretty close to the limits of believability.  I remembered high school.  If rumors weren’t flying, it meant the day hadn’t started yet.

“It’s okay,” I said, not wanting Meg to feel stupid for having told me.  “You were right to say something.”

She sat up a little straighter and tried to smile.  Her concern for Meredith seemed genuine.

“Come on,” Matt said, tapping Meg on the shoulder. “We need to get back.”

Meg stood and slid her hand into Matt’s before looking at me.  “You coming to practice today?”

I nodded.  “Yeah.  Is Meredith?”

“I saw her this morning,” she said.  “Told me she’d be there, that she was ready to go.”

I nodded.  I’d be ready to go, as well.

THIRTY-ONE

My first inclination was to find Jon Jordan, throw him out in the street and drive over him a couple of times.

But aside from making me feel better, I wasn’t sure what that would accomplish.  It would ultimately take Meredith to straighten everything out.  I was better off going to her.  My main goal was to get Chuck off the hook and I didn’t want to lose sight of that.

I found the hotel’s business center and went to work on the Internet, checking out Jordan.

What I found left me frustrated.

Jordan, by all accounts, was a model citizen.  Not only was he richer than rich, but the man gave a lot of money away to multiple charitable organizations.  He also gave his time, serving as a board member for several of those groups.  The irony that both he and his wife served as board chairs for a local battered women’s shelter did not escape me.  But there wasn’t anything that made me think less of Jordan.  If anything, it muddled even further who he was.

After two hours of finding nothing incriminating, I gave up and, after changing into gym shorts, headed to Coronado for basketball practice.

The team was already in the gym when I got there.  I spotted Meredith shooting with Megan at the far end of the gym as I walked in.  Meredith glanced in my direction, said something to Megan, then went back to dribbling the ball.

“You made it,” Kelly Rundles said, coming up the sideline to meet me.

“We had a deal.”

She nodded.  “Yes, we did.”

“To be fair, though, you should know you may take some heat for having me here.”

She didn’t appear surprised by that.  “I’ll be fine, but thanks for the warning.  I've got some paperwork I'll need you to fill out after practice.  Just background check stuff.  You ready?”

I eyed Meredith at the opposite end as she spun to the basket.  “Sure.”