[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Evan drained half the cocoa and pushed the mug away.“Come on, let’s go home.”Kiana took a long sip from the cup.This place served the best hot chocolate in town and she wouldn’t be able to finish it, unless she wanted to walk home.Which she didn’t.She drew the napkin from under the mug.It now had a brown circle that had seeped through and blurred the ink.She folded it in quarters so the dampness was on the outside and pushed the thing into her pocket.Evan stood there waiting, zipping and unzipping his jacket.Something was going on with him.His face had that glazed look he got when he’d grown disinterested with a subject.He was probably just tired; she herself felt she’d been crushed by a steamroller.Kiana followed him from the shop and got on the bike.In a few minutes they pulled up in front of her house.The porch light was on, and so was the one over the kitchen stove—she could see it glowing out on the lawn.That light being on meant her mother had gone to bed.Kiana’s father was on the road again—a salesman for a pharmaceutical company.“I’ll see you about five, right?” Kiana said as she slid off the seat.“Uh…Kee.” He didn’t meet her eyes.He didn’t have to say it.He was quitting the investigation.Ditching her.She slipped the helmet strap down over the seat rest, even though her emotions were screaming out of control.“I understand.See you at school then.”“I’ll pick you up here at the regular time.Okay?”“Sure.I guess.”Kiana let herself carefully into the house.She hung her jacket in the hall closet and turned to see her mother standing at the foot of the stairs.“Hi.”“Hi.Everything all right? Rehearsal seems to have gone late.”“Everything’s fine,” Kiana lied.Then she added a measure of truth, “After rehearsal Mrs.Deacon ordered pizza.Her boyfriend came and we sat around talking about the case.”“Come up with any answers?”Wearily, she shook her head.“I’m going to bed.” She bent and kissed her mother on the temple.“You going out early again?”“Yes.”“Leave me a note.”“I will.”Kiana plodded up the stairs, knowing that tomorrow morning she’d be in Mr.Reynolds’ office but had no idea how she’d manage without Evan.NINETEENJarvis left Angelina’s hotel at 5:30 a.m.feeling both rejuvenated and exhausted.He located his car in the parking garage and sat in it a moment, letting the engine warm up.While speeding to Carlson after the conversation with Kiana yesterday afternoon, he’d received a call from Detective Rodriguez—head investigator on the Gwen Forest case.“I got something from that photograph,” Rodriguez had said in his slight Mexican accent.“Don’t know how it fits into the case, though.”“Want to meet someplace?” Jarvis had offered.“Yeah.Trouble is, I’m at a family thing right now.The wife would squash me with her father’s tractor if I left a minute early.I’m working midnight to seven.What if we meet about six?”“Works for me.I’m on my way to the school anyway,” he said.“Surprised you’re not already there.”“What’s up?”“Somebody set the school’s green room on fire.”“What!”Jarvis had heard exclaiming voices in the background, then a woman telling Rodriguez that if anybody from work was on the phone, he should hang up.Jarvis grinned and said, “The fire’s out.All is well, but I figured you would’ve been called in.No way it was an accident.”Rodriguez muttered something to which Jarvis didn’t ask for clarification.“I’ll find out more and probably see you there,” Rodriguez said.“Otherwise, I’ll see you at six.”* * * *They settled into a corner booth with coffees and hearty breakfasts.Detective Rodriguez worked under cover for the Nashua PD so, like Jarvis, he dressed in street clothes—blue jeans and a black long sleeved shirt.He wore his dark, shoulder length hair tied in a ponytail with a leather strap at the base of his neck, which negated any resemblance he might have to a police officer.Rodriguez took a long drag on the coffee, grimaced and added two heaping spoonfuls of sugar.Jarvis did likewise.“I guess I missed you at the school,” he said with a smirk.“Wiseass.”“Did they find out anything?”Rodriguez shook his head.“Fingerprint crew took samples but you know where that’ll go.Didn’t look like the janitors spent any time at that end of the building, ever.”“They’re there now [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl centka.pev.pl
.Evan drained half the cocoa and pushed the mug away.“Come on, let’s go home.”Kiana took a long sip from the cup.This place served the best hot chocolate in town and she wouldn’t be able to finish it, unless she wanted to walk home.Which she didn’t.She drew the napkin from under the mug.It now had a brown circle that had seeped through and blurred the ink.She folded it in quarters so the dampness was on the outside and pushed the thing into her pocket.Evan stood there waiting, zipping and unzipping his jacket.Something was going on with him.His face had that glazed look he got when he’d grown disinterested with a subject.He was probably just tired; she herself felt she’d been crushed by a steamroller.Kiana followed him from the shop and got on the bike.In a few minutes they pulled up in front of her house.The porch light was on, and so was the one over the kitchen stove—she could see it glowing out on the lawn.That light being on meant her mother had gone to bed.Kiana’s father was on the road again—a salesman for a pharmaceutical company.“I’ll see you about five, right?” Kiana said as she slid off the seat.“Uh…Kee.” He didn’t meet her eyes.He didn’t have to say it.He was quitting the investigation.Ditching her.She slipped the helmet strap down over the seat rest, even though her emotions were screaming out of control.“I understand.See you at school then.”“I’ll pick you up here at the regular time.Okay?”“Sure.I guess.”Kiana let herself carefully into the house.She hung her jacket in the hall closet and turned to see her mother standing at the foot of the stairs.“Hi.”“Hi.Everything all right? Rehearsal seems to have gone late.”“Everything’s fine,” Kiana lied.Then she added a measure of truth, “After rehearsal Mrs.Deacon ordered pizza.Her boyfriend came and we sat around talking about the case.”“Come up with any answers?”Wearily, she shook her head.“I’m going to bed.” She bent and kissed her mother on the temple.“You going out early again?”“Yes.”“Leave me a note.”“I will.”Kiana plodded up the stairs, knowing that tomorrow morning she’d be in Mr.Reynolds’ office but had no idea how she’d manage without Evan.NINETEENJarvis left Angelina’s hotel at 5:30 a.m.feeling both rejuvenated and exhausted.He located his car in the parking garage and sat in it a moment, letting the engine warm up.While speeding to Carlson after the conversation with Kiana yesterday afternoon, he’d received a call from Detective Rodriguez—head investigator on the Gwen Forest case.“I got something from that photograph,” Rodriguez had said in his slight Mexican accent.“Don’t know how it fits into the case, though.”“Want to meet someplace?” Jarvis had offered.“Yeah.Trouble is, I’m at a family thing right now.The wife would squash me with her father’s tractor if I left a minute early.I’m working midnight to seven.What if we meet about six?”“Works for me.I’m on my way to the school anyway,” he said.“Surprised you’re not already there.”“What’s up?”“Somebody set the school’s green room on fire.”“What!”Jarvis had heard exclaiming voices in the background, then a woman telling Rodriguez that if anybody from work was on the phone, he should hang up.Jarvis grinned and said, “The fire’s out.All is well, but I figured you would’ve been called in.No way it was an accident.”Rodriguez muttered something to which Jarvis didn’t ask for clarification.“I’ll find out more and probably see you there,” Rodriguez said.“Otherwise, I’ll see you at six.”* * * *They settled into a corner booth with coffees and hearty breakfasts.Detective Rodriguez worked under cover for the Nashua PD so, like Jarvis, he dressed in street clothes—blue jeans and a black long sleeved shirt.He wore his dark, shoulder length hair tied in a ponytail with a leather strap at the base of his neck, which negated any resemblance he might have to a police officer.Rodriguez took a long drag on the coffee, grimaced and added two heaping spoonfuls of sugar.Jarvis did likewise.“I guess I missed you at the school,” he said with a smirk.“Wiseass.”“Did they find out anything?”Rodriguez shook his head.“Fingerprint crew took samples but you know where that’ll go.Didn’t look like the janitors spent any time at that end of the building, ever.”“They’re there now [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]