Текст книги "A Few Broken Rules"
Автор книги: Kate Kane
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Текущая страница: 3 (всего у книги 14 страниц)
Chapter 5
Jamie was sitting in the principal’s office waiting for Ben. Cops, in uniform and in suits, surrounded him but he wasn’t behaving in typical teenager fashion. He wasn’t intimidated as he sat there quietly. Ben told him not to talk to anyone and so the only thing he’d said since he hung up the phone was, “My Dad’s on his way.” He hadn’t had anything to eat or drink and had kept his hands to himself just as Ben had instructed.
Detective Duncan was looming over him. “Jamison, we just want you to answer some simple questions about how you happened to find Coach Ferguson.”
There was a knock at the door. The secretary opened the door. “Jamison’s father is here.”
Ben strode into the room followed by Sal Luciano. Detective Duncan turned and saw the two lawyers both of whom he recognized. “Great, we have the lawyers. Where’s the Dad?”
Ben smiled and extended his hand. “Detective, I’m Jamison’s father.”
The detective looked at the principal who nodded. “Yes, Mr. Bellini married Jamison’s mother recently and became his legal guardian.”
Ben didn’t take his eyes off Jamie as he spoke, “Detective, I’d like to talk with my son privately.”
Ben smiled at the principal. “Brian, do you have another office we could use for a few minutes?”
Detective Duncan grimaced. “We’ll let you have this one,” he said as he waved his partner and the two uniformed cops out of the office.
The principal stood. “I’ll be outside. Jamie wouldn’t let us call his Mother.”
Ben nodded and smiled again. “Thanks, Brian.”
He waited until the door closed and then he turned back to Jamie. “All right, tell us what happened.”
“I had just finished lunch and wanted to talk to Coach about Justin. I know the locker room is out of bounds for students during the day, but I got permission to go because I wanted to know if Coach knew about Justin. I wanted to know if Justin could at least suit up for the big game, if he’s out of the hospital.” Jamie paused and took a breath. “His office door was slightly ajar. When I knocked, it swung open and I could see him sitting in his chair with his head tilted back. It, sort of, looked like he’d fallen asleep. I said his name and walked over to him, his eyes were open, but he didn’t move. So I tapped his shoulder and he slumped forward.” Jamie shuddered and shook his head. “It was awful; the back of his head was bashed in.”
Uncle Sal looked at him. “This is really important, Jamie. Did you touch anything in the office? Anything besides the door and the Coach?”
Jamie shook his head. “No, nothing. I went back into the hall and dialed 9-1-1 from my cell phone. Then I called Dad and waited for the police to come.”
Sal nodded and looked at Ben. “Are you ready to talk to the detective?”
“Not quite. Bambino, your Mother, and I have a doctor’s appointment later this afternoon. If I have to leave, Uncle Sal will stay with you. If that happens, just do whatever he says. Understand?”
Jamie nodded, “Sure, taking care of Mom and the baby is more important. It’s okay.”
“No, Bambino. It isn’t more important than you are. That’s why Uncle Sal is here. I can’t be both places at the same time. Uncle Sal can be with you, but he can’t go with your Mom. I’ll be with you as long as I can and hopefully, we can get you out of here before I need to leave anyway.” He nodded at Uncle Sal who opened the door.
“Detective, we’re ready now.”
The detective and his partner came into the office followed by the principal.
Detective Duncan stood next to Jamie; too close as far as Ben was concerned, but as long as he didn’t touch Jamie, everything would remain calm. “Jamison, tell me how you happened to find the Coach.”
“After I finished lunch, I got permission to go to the locker room to talk with Coach about Justin Harper.”
“Who is Justin Harper and why did you need to talk to the coach about him?” Detective Duncan raised his voice, but kept his tone just this side of civil.
“We’re playing for the state championship Friday. Justin’s our starting quarterback. He’s in the hospital and I wanted to talk to coach about it.” Jamie explained.
Detective Duncan scanned the faces in the room, “What happened to the quarterback?”
Ben looked at the detective. “He has a peanut allergy and had a reaction. He was taken to the emergency room last night.”
“I wondered if Coach had heard about Justin and I wanted to see if he knew whether Justin would at least be able to suit up for the game.”
Detective Duncan checked his notes before going on, “What time did you go to see the coach?”
The principal looked at the detective. “Jamison came to my office and got permission to go to the locker room at 12:45 p.m.”
Ben looked at the detective. “And he called me at one o’clock. What time did the 9-1-1 call come in, Detective? And has the medical examiner given a T.O.D. yet?”
“The 9-1-1 call came in at 12:52 p.m. The M.E. gave preliminary time of death as between ten and noon.”
The principal looked at the detective. “Why are you even questioning this student? Between ten and noon, he was in class.”
Detective Duncan frowned, why hadn’t he made the principal wait outside? “Okay, you can go now, kid. Your dad knows the drill, don’t leave town, we may have more questions.”
Jamie leaned toward Ben. “But I have to leave town on Friday, you know, the game is in St. Louis.”
Before Ben could respond, the principal spoke up, “Detective Duncan, the championship game is in St. Louis. The whole team will be leaving town early Friday afternoon.”
The detective ran his hand across his face and looked at Jamie. “Fine, just check in with me before you leave.”
Duncan and his fellow officers turned and left the principal’s office. Ben and Sal stood.
Ben reached to shake hands with the principal. “Thanks for the use of the office, Brian. I appreciate it.”
He looked at Jamie. “You should probably come home with me. It’s 2:30 and school’s almost over for the day anyway.”
The principal nodded in agreement. “It’s fine, Jamie, I think your Dad’s right.”
Ben escorted Jamie out of the school. He handed his keys to Uncle Sal. “I’ll ride home with Jamie. I can pick up the SUV at the office later.”
They walked to the parking lot. Ben paused to talk to Uncle Sal before following Jamie to his truck. Jamie continued walking toward his truck instead of staying to listen. The truth was they’d be talking Italian anyway.
A few minutes later, Ben opened the passenger door and got into the truck. “I’m going to call your Mother. She’ll probably be leaving work soon anyway. We can tell her about this latest incident when she gets home.”
Jamie nodded as he started the truck and pulled out of the parking lot.
“Do you think they’ll cancel the game?” Jamie asked as he drove.
“No, I don’t think that will happen, the assistant Coach will probably step up. I’m guessing school’s going to be cancelled tomorrow though. Guess your holiday weekend starts now. How was the History test?”
Jamie shook his head. “I missed it. It would have been right after lunch. Guess I’ll be doing a make-up test after all.”
Chapter 6
Ben dialed Lane’s cell phone.
“Hey. I was just thinking about you. How do you do that?” Lane said. It had been an odd phenomenon since they’d met. It seemed that nearly every time she thought about him, he called. While it had been happening for years now, it still amazed her.
Ben laughed. “Are you on your way home yet?”
“Just packing up. You’re still going to make it aren’t you?”
“Yes. In fact, I’m on my way home. Ti Amo. I’ll see you soon.”
Jamie turned into the driveway and parked in the garage.
Ben looked at him. “Go change your clothes, maybe take a shower. Your Mom will be home soon and we’ll talk about it then.”
Ben followed Jamie into the house. He patted Jamie on the shoulder. “Bambino, I know today sucked, but everything really will be all right.”
Ben went into the master bedroom and closed the door. He was in the closet, changing out of his suit when his cell phone rang. “Bellini.”
Roy Tanner immediately began talking. “There really is something funky going on around the football team. First, someone managed to give the quarterback a dose of peanuts and then someone killed the head coach all just before the championship game. Clearly this is about the championship game.”
“Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I need you to come watch my house. Lane and I have an appointment this afternoon. I don’t like what’s happening, I don’t like that Jaimie’s been first on the scene both times, and I don’t want him alone.”
“I can be there in 10,” Tanner said as he disconnected.
Ben had finished changing just as Lane came into the bedroom. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. He knew he had to tell her what was going on. Jamie was her son, and she needed to know that he might be in danger. Yet every cell in his body wanted to protect her. He kissed her again. “I need to tell you something.”
She could tell from his tone that something was wrong. She backed away from him and sat on the bed. “Okay, talk.”
“There was a murder at the high school today. Jamie is fine, but he found the body. He did the right thing. He called 9-1-1 and then he called me.”
Lane was sitting motionless on the bed. Ben sat next to her and put his arm around her shoulders pulling her close to him, “He’s fine. Rattled, but fine.”
She stood. “I need to see him.” She walked into the hall and tapped on Jamie’s bedroom door. “Jamie? May I come in?” She said calmly.
Since they were babies, she was calm through any crisis that came up. There was always plenty of time afterward to break down. However, during the crisis, she was a rock. This was no different. She needed to see him, to hold him, to assure herself he was okay.
“Give me a minute, Mom. I just got out of the shower.”
Ben stood in the hall with Lane. “He really is all right. He’s a good kid, level headed. He gets that from you.” He said as he reached to hold her hand.
Jamie opened the door allowing Lane and Ben entrance into his room.
“Ben just told me you found a body at school today. Do you want to talk about it?” She asked as she sat on Jamie’s bed.
Jamie knew that although his mother had asked if he wanted to talk about it, what she meant was, tell her what happened, and, do it now.
“I went to talk to Coach Ferguson about Justin, and I found him in his office. The back of his head had been bashed in.”
Jamie had said the words calmly enough, and that was what worried Lane. She reached out and touched Jamie’s face. “We’ll change the doctor appointment. I don’t want you alone.”
Jamie looked at his mother, then at Ben and back to his mother. He sat next to her and took her hand in his. “Ah, come on Mom, I’m not a baby. You’ve found how many bodies?”
It was true that in the last few months Lane had turned into that woman you read about, the one who can’t even go to the bathroom without stumbling over a body. Yet, it was something entirely different when one of her children was the one doing the stumbling.
Ben looked from Lane to Jamie and back again. “I just spoke to Tanner. There’s something going on and whatever it is, it’s all about the championship game. The police are investigating, and so is Tanner. We will get to the bottom of this, and my family will be safe.” Ben was standing near the door. “Tanner’s on his way over here now. Jamie, you’re right, you’re not a kid any more, but it appears that someone is targeting the football team. We have to assume that someone attempted to kill Justin yesterday. He was lucky that you found him when you did. Then today someone got into the school and killed coach Ferguson. Again, you were the first one on the scene. I don’t like what’s happened and I don’t like that you’ve been pulled into the middle of it.”
Lane smiled at her son. “Jamie, I know you’re not a baby. But, ask Ben, when I found the bodies he protected me. When Jess had a stalker last month, someone was always with her. We’re family, it’s what we do.”
Jamie looked from his mother to Ben and sighed heavily. “Fine, Tanner can baby sit me while you two go to your doctor appointment.” Then, he grinned. “It’s either that or I’m going with you, but you aren’t cancelling it.”
Ben looked at Jamie and shrugged. “Think of it as having protection detail instead of being baby sat.”
Lane hugged her son. “Then we’re agreed, Tanner’s on protection detail.” She stood to leave, then gave her head a little shake, and laughed. “Because you really don’t want to come to the doctor with us, believe me.”
Jamie gave a half smile, “Dad? Do you really think someone is out to get the football team?”
Ben stopped in the doorway and turned to face Jamie. “Yeah, I do and so does Tanner. You know Tanner is a retired homicide detective and the one thing all cops agree on is that there are no coincidences. It’s suspicious that something happened to the quarterback in the school parking lot Monday and on Tuesday the football coach was killed at the school.”
The doorbell rang and Ben went to answer it.
“How’s Jamie?” Tanner asked as he entered the house.
“Safe, but shaken. It’s a scary thought that someone out there might be trying to kill him and his friends. There aren’t a lot of ways to explain what’s going on and none of them are pretty.” Ben led Tanner to the hearth room.
Tanner nodded. “Agreed. It’s a rival of some kind or it’s someone trying to upset the odds. I’ve reached out to some people to see who’s got big money on the other team.”
Jamie came into the room. “Hello, Mr. Tanner.”
Roy Tanner was in his 50’s and stood just over six feet tall. Jamie didn’t exactly tower over him, but he did wonder how this old guy was supposed to protect him.
“Dad says you think someone is out to get the football team.” Jamie said as he sat in a chair adjacent to Tanner.
Lane came into the room. “Roy, it’s good to see you.” She smiled. “Thanks for coming by to do protection detail.”
Tanner stood as Lane entered the room. He smiled and reached out to take the hand she’d offered. “Lane, you know it’s what I do.”
She smiled again, and nodded. Yes, she knew it was what he did. Ben had sent Tanner to keep watch over her a couple of months ago.
Ben nodded toward the garage, “We need to go.” He looked at Lane. “Do you think we’ll be home by 5:00?”
She nodded. “We should be.”
Ben looked around the room. “Let’s have an early dinner at Papa’s afterward. Jamie, why don’t you give Jake a call and see if he wants to join us.”
As Ben and Lane went to the garage, Ben grabbed they keys to Lane’s Escalade. He opened the passenger door and helped her get in before going around to the driver’s door. He leaned across the console and kissed her before he started the engine. “I love you.” He said as he put the SUV in reverse.
Lane smiled. “The last couple of days have been kind of hectic. I may have forgotten to mention how much I love you.”
Lane leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes. Things had been hectic for more than the last few days; life had been hectic for months, and now there was a baby to consider. She worried about being able to keep up with a toddler at 50. She rubbed her abdomen. Lord, she’d be almost 70 when this one graduated from high school.
Ben gave her hand a little squeeze. “You awake?”
“Yes. I was just thinking. Do you realize I’ll be almost 70 when this baby is Jamie’s age?”
He looked over at her and winked. “Come on, Red. You’ll be what, 66? And you’ll probably still look younger than I will.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.
The drive to doctor’s office took about 15 minutes. Dr. Sennette never kept her patients waiting very long, so they got in quickly. The appointment began routinely as Lane followed the nurse, first to the scale and then into an exam. The nurse took Lane’s vital signs and asked all of the normal questions.
“How is the nausea?”
“The crackers have helped. Now that I’m crossing the threshold into my second trimester, I’m hoping it’s a thing of the past.”
The nurse handed Lane a gown that snapped down the front to about the waist. She told Lane that she could keep her underwear on, and left the room saying the doctor would be in soon. When the nurse left, Lane quickly stripped down to her underwear and pulled the gown on over her head. The next knock was Dr. Sennette.
“Hello. You’re still experiencing the nausea?” The doctor said as she entered the room.
Lane smiled, “It’s really much better.”
“Your weight is good.” She took out a tape measure and placed it just above Lane’s pelvic bone. “That’s good too. Let’s get the ultrasound started.” Dr. Sennette looked at the expectant parents. “It’s a little early, but if we can see the baby’s gender, do you want to know?”
Ben was holding Lane’s hand and gave it a little squeeze.
He looked at Dr. Sennette, “We talked about that this morning. We’d prefer to find out when the baby’s born.”
Dr. Sennette smiled. “Ah, an old fashioned couple.”
She squirted the warm gel onto Lane’s abdomen, ran the transducer through it to spread the gel, and began the ultrasound process, stopping and clicking as she went.
The room filled with the fluid sounding thump-thump-thump that was the baby’s heartbeat.
“Is that what I think it is?” Lane asked.
“Yes, that’s your baby’s heart beating. It’s a nice strong heartbeat.”
Lane’s earlier pregnancies had all gone smoothly, and she hadn’t heard the heartbeat this way. It brought tears to her eyes. The doctor stood on one side, Ben on the other. Dr. Sennette turned the monitor so they could look at the images of their baby. Some facilities did 3D images, but there was really no need to have a 3D image ultra sound done, at least not now.
“Get dressed,” Dr. Sennette said as she handed Lane a towel. “I’ll be back in and we can talk.” She smiled and nodded before leaving the room.
Five minutes later, there was a knock on the exam room door. Dr. Sennette walked in and sat down.
“Everything looks good. Your weight is good; the baby’s heart beat is strong.” She handed Lane an x-ray like photo. “Here’s your baby’s first picture. Your baby is about three and a half inches long now from head to bum, and weighs about one and a half ounces. I know it’s grainy, but you can make out the head and torso. Do you have any questions?”
Lane shook her head as she handed the photo to Ben who was standing next to her looking over her shoulder.
Dr. Sennette looked at Ben, “Dad, any questions from you?”
Ben felt a little overwhelmed. “How often will you be doing ultrasounds now?”
“Well, I’ll continue to see you every two weeks, but we probably won’t do an ultrasound at each visit. Don’t worry. Everything looks and sounds fine. You know the reason we’re seeing Lane every two weeks is because the pregnancy is high risk, but as I said everything looks good.”
Lane and Ben made their next appointment and left the clinic. Ben held her hand as they walked to the SUV. He opened her door, helped her in, walked around, and got in himself.
Lane held the photo and looked at it, “It makes it seem so much more real, doesn’t it? The photo I mean.”
Ben nodded. “Sure does. It’s not just a concept; we can sort of put a face to him or her now.” He wanted to jump up and down, waving the photo while shouting to the world that he was going to be a Dad. Instead, he leaned across the console and kissed his wife. “I love you, Red.”
Chapter 7
Jamie watched as his parents walked out of the house and then he turned to Roy Tanner.
“Mr. Tanner, what do you really think is going on? Why would anyone care what was happening with a high school football state championship?”
They were sitting in the hearth room. “You’d be surprised, Jamie. Most people think that bookies only take bets on pro and college games, but when state championship time rolls around, some dabble in high school games. Especially when a hometown team is involved. I’m not saying that’s what’s going on, I’m just saying it’s a possibility. Then there’s the possibility a parent out there thinks their kid should be on the team. They may even think he should be the starting quarterback. In Texas a few years back, a woman hired someone to kill the mother of one of the cheerleaders at her daughter’s school because she wanted to get her own daughter on the squad.” He tried to give Jamie a look of encouragement. “People do some pretty unbelievable things for reasons that make sense only to themselves. Hopefully, the police will make the connection between the incidents with your friend and the coach, and figure out who’s responsible for them. But, in the meantime, it’s my job to keep you all safe. And, Ben and I will be thinking about the possibilities. We’ll make the connection or the police will and either way the police will arrest the person or persons responsible”
Jamie nodded and stood. “I’m going to get a soda. Can I get something for you?” He stopped at the door. “You and Dad do this kind of thing every day?”
Tanner chuckled. “Not every day, thank God. I was a detective for over 20 years before I met Ben. I didn’t have a perfect record like Ben’s, but I was good. We’ll figure this out.”
Tanner followed Jamie into the kitchen. Yeah, he’d been a cop for more than 20 years before he was arrested and accused of being a dirty cop. Ben had defended him, exposed the real criminal, and gotten Roy acquitted; but the smear was on his record. How could there not be? Ben discovered that Tanner’s partner, Cole Rayburn, had been skimming drugs and money on every bust that they worked. The drugs went up Cole’s nose or he sold them back to the dealers and then he used the cash to keep a mistress in a love shack he didn’t think his wife knew about. That’s the thing with wives though; they always know when their husband is having an affair. Some women just prefer to let the affair fizzle out on its own, but Cole’s wife spilled her guts to Roy and Ben. The rest was easy. They found the other woman and then just followed the money trail. After Tanner’s acquittal, he took early retirement and left the force. He’d been working for Luciano & Bellini ever since. To his way of thinking, he owed Ben Bellini and not just for keeping him out of jail. It isn’t unusual for disgraced cops to eat their guns.
Jamie brought his can of soda and a cup of coffee for his protection detail to the kitchen table. “The game is Friday. How much longer am I going to need protection detail?”
Jamie remembered Joey Bellini sticking by Jess 24x7 last month when she had the stalker. He shook his head. Sure, Mom thought Joey was protecting Jess but Jamie had overheard Joey saying that Jess could hold her own. Jess was a little bit of a thing, five feet four inches tall, and about 105 pounds. She had an advantage in that people, especially men, always under estimated her. It made him smile. Anyone who thought Jess was helpless because of her size soon found out just how wrong that was. Jamie on the other hand, stood six feet four inches tall and weighed in at 220 pounds. No one ever under estimated him based on size, but anyone who thought he was defenseless was every bit as delusional.
Ben had started taking Jamie and his siblings to the gun range three years ago, just after they moved to Kansas, and then Ben had gotten Lane to enroll Jess and Jamie in self-defense classes about the same time. Ben also took Jamie and his siblings to play paint ball or laser tag at least once a month. Even though Jess was in L.A. now, Ben, Jake and Jamie still went. He was anything but helpless, yet here sat Roy Tanner at the table with him, doing “protection detail.” It was annoying. But, if it made his mother feel safe, it was an annoyance he could live with. For now.
Tanner thanked Jamie for the coffee. “In a homicide investigation, the first 24 to 48 hours are considered crucial. Cops generally believe if they don’t have it figured out within that timeframe, that they won’t get it figured out. That doesn’t mean they always make an arrest in the first two days, but they usually have a suspect. It’s only been a few hours, but believe me; Detective Duncan is working the case.” Tanner took a drink of coffee before continuing. “Today, there are cameras everywhere. The police will be checking traffic cameras to see who came to the school today during the time that the medical examiner gave them as the window for the time of death. Most schools have a policy that visitors have to sign in, and they’ll be checking those logs too. They’ll check Coach Ferguson’s phone records. By the time it hits the news…” Tanner checked his watch, “…in a few minutes now, the whole city will be doing everything they can to help. No one is going to tolerate someone going into a school and committing a murder. I expect an arrest before the game on Friday.”
Jamie’s cell phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket to read the text message. “Dad was right; I just got a text that school is cancelled tomorrow.”
The door from the garage opened and Ben and Lane walked in. A look passed between Ben and Tanner saying that nothing had happened while they’d been gone.
“Roy, would you like to join us at Papa’s?” Lane asked. As she said it, she realized she didn’t really know anything about Roy. Whether he was married or even if he had family in the city. Maybe he needed a place to have Thanksgiving.
“Thanks for the invitation. I’d like that.”
Ben nodded to Jamie, “Bambino, did you check with Jake?”
“I sent him a text and he texted back. He said to let him know when we were leaving.”
