“Yeah, they’re here and should be back from lunch by now.” The man shuffled papers on his desk. “Have they done something wrong?”
Rowley too
k in the man’s agitated demeanor and smiled. No doubt, the custodian was up to something but he didn’t have time to find out what. “Nope, it’s just routine questions. Nothing for you to worry about.” He turned to the map of the school hanging on the wall. “Can you point out where we can find them?”
“Of course.” The custodian sat down at his desk and tapped the keys on his computer. “McLeod is waxing the floor of the basketball court and Lancaster is out with his men laying turf on the football field.” He pushed to his feet. “Do you want me to take you to them?”
“I know my way around.” Rowley waved at the map. “It’s much the same as when I was here. Thank you for your time.” He headed out the door with Walters close behind.
They found McLeod busy using a polishing machine in the basketball court. He worked alone with the earbuds jammed into his ears, swinging the noisy machine from side to side. Rowley walked in front of him and waved his hands to get his attention. All color drained from McLeod’s face and he gaped at him wide-eyed and pulled out the earbuds.
“Noah McLeod?”
“Yeah.” He stopped the machine and looked from one deputy to another. “Dang, she called the cops on me, didn’t she?”
Interesting. Rowley shot Walters a knowing glance. “Why don’t you explain what happened?”
“She’s been giving me the eye for weeks, you know, hanging around after school to speak to me.” McLeod’s cheeks flamed. “She invited me to a party last Saturday night, we kissed, is all, and she changed her mind. I backed right off. I wouldn’t hurt her, I love her.”
“Love her, huh?” Rowley took out his notebook and flipped through the pages. “How do you spell her last name? I didn’t get her to spell it out for me.”
“Jocelyn S-M-Y-T-H-E.” McLeod looked at his feet. “This will cost me my job.”
“Unfortunately you’re gaining a reputation for being a little too familiar with the students. It’s a crime for a man of forty to make out with a girl of fifteen, and don’t give me the excuse you didn’t know how old she is. You knew darn well she was underage.” Rowley straightened to his full six-two and looked down at the smaller man. “It was only a matter of time before someone made a formal complaint.” He took a beat, watching the man’s reaction. “So you went to the party on Saturday night and you lucked out, so what did you get up to on Sunday night?”
“I stayed home, had a few drinks and watched TV.” McLeod cleared his throat. “I guess you’ll want someone to verify that, right? No can do. My wife left me and took the kids over a year ago. I live alone.”
Walters stepped forward and his eyes flashed with anger. “I gather you’ve met Lindy Rosen?”
“Yeah, she’s one of the group that hangs around Mason.” McLeod snorted. “She’s not interested in me, she prefers the ex-football jock type and Mason was a star before he injured his knee.” He chuckled. “It must be good to be him.”
Unease prickled the back of Rowley’s neck. He was looking straight into the eyes of a typical pedophile and wondered how many young lives the man had destroyed. They all “loved” kids and used it as an excuse. He pushed down the anger percolating inside and gave McLeod his best “Don’t mess with me” expression. “I’ll speak to the sheriff but if you want her to go easy on you, I suggest you don’t leave town. If you do Sheriff Alton will have the FBI on your tail before you can blink.”
Resisting the urge to punch the disgusting SOB in the mouth, he turned on his heel and left the building. He could hear Walters puffing along behind him and slowed his step.
“Don’t go soft on him.” Walters jerked on his arm. “The sheriff will want to follow up on that asshole.”
Rowley stared at him in disbelief. “Go soft on him? Jesus, man, I’ve seen things monsters like him do to kids. It took all my strength not to tear him apart with my bare hands.” He sucked in a deep breath. “Seems to me, if what he said about Mason Lancaster is true, we could have two potential murder suspects working with kids at a high school.”
Sixteen
Julie Wolfe walked back to the sheriff’s department, her arms loaded with bags from Aunt Betty’s Café. She had a deal to think about during her first day as an intern working beside Magnolia Brewster. She liked her; Maggie and her southern charm and big brown eyes brought back a flood of memories of the housekeeper who lived with her family in Texas. It had been hard leaving the only home she’d ever known to start over in Black Rock Falls, but moving had eased the constant reminder of watching her mother waste away. The illness had taken her from an active mom who played basketball with them to a shadow of the person she once knew. Her father had left the marines and remained home, refusing to allow anyone else to nurse her. She remembered the worry in his eyes and the way he’d stayed positive and made her mom fight using every known medical treatment he could find but nothing had worked. She pushed down the tears threatening to spill and concentrated on what Maggie had discussed with her earlier.
A man had taken Lindy Rosen from her home and murdered her right here in Black Rock Falls. She recalled Lindy had suffered nightmares like so many of the girls at school. Not being in the clique of popular girls, Julie had only overheard a few stories but earlier, as she waited for her order in Aunt Betty’s Café, she’d listened with interest to a conversation at a nearby table. She walked into the sheriff’s department and stowed the bags in the refrigerator in the small kitchenette, then went back to the front counter carrying two bags of sandwiches and drinks for her and Maggie.
The office was quiet and apart from answering the phone, there was really nothing much for her to do. She handed Maggie the food and drink and sat down beside her. “I overheard some girls from school talking in Aunt Betty’s about what happened to Lindy. I figured it might be important.”
“Well don’t keep it to yourself, child.” Maggie blinked her large chocolate eyes at her. “Tell me.”
Julie’s face grew hot. She hated the thought of gossiping but it might stop another girl being hurt. She looked at Maggie’s encouraging smile and swallowed hard, then, thinking better of it, shook her head. “It doesn’t matter, it’s probably nothing.”
“Now listen here.” Maggie turned in her seat to stare at her. “This here is the sheriff’s office; it’s where we try to prevent crimes like what happened to young Lindy Rosen. If people didn’t call in with things they’d seen or heard, the entire office would grind to a standstill.” She patted Julie’s hand. “Look around, there’s no one here apart from us girls and sure as heck I won’t tell anyone outside those you love and trust with the information.”
What Maggie said made sense and Julie took a sip of her drink to ease her suddenly dry throat and looked at her. “It’s about the nightmares. I know, Lindy was having them almost every night but she’s not the only girl at school with the same problem.” She placed an elbow on the table and leaned her cheek against one hand. “It’s like everyone is having them.” She frowned. “Well… I guess not everyone but before the man kidnapped Lindy, a few of the girls were talking about seeing a man in their rooms at night.”
“Okay, and what did you hear them say at Aunt Betty’s Café?” Maggie leaned forward, her face filled with expectation.
“They all had different dreams but seeing someone in their room was the same.” Julie tried to unravel everything she’d heard. “Let me see. One of the girls said Lindy had nightmares about a man hiding in the shadows. She was sure he was there, then when she awoke and her father turned on the light he vanished.”