removed my hand as if burned . “What?”
“ Everyone knows you solved that murder last summer.”
“ That was different,” I said quickly, panic racing through me as my mind listed all the reasons I shouldn’t get involved. Lepcheck was the victim’s brother. Martin College would hate it. Mains would hate it. And the list went on.
“ Please?” His voice broke.
I’ve heard people say it’s hard to lose a parent at any age. I don’t doubt that to be true, but I also believed the younger the child was the harder it must be. The child didn’t have a chance to prove himself before his parent was snatched away. The child didn’t have a chance to become whomever he was going to be.
I looked in to Derek’s bloodshot eyes. At eighteen, he was on the cusp of proving himself to Tess, and he had lost his chance. Someone stole his opportunity, someone selfish who didn’t consider or care about the ramifications of his or her actions. It would be a selfish person in the end who would commit murder, wouldn’t it? Wasn’t that what all killing amounted to? Putting one’s own goals, desires, and agendas above another’s?
I thought of myself at eighteen, attending art school in Chicago. When I was Derek’s age, my father made a foolhardy attempt to trim a sycamore tree solo on church grounds. He fell from the tree, and we almost lost him. Dad survived, even if his ability to walk did not, but the nearness of losing him almost broke my heart in two. There was no almost for Derek. Tess was gone, at least from this earth, and Derek would never have the chance to show Tess the man he would be. He had yet to even choose his major.
“ Okay,” I said.
His eyes widened. “Okay?”
“ Okay.” My jaw was set.
Chapter Eight
Office r Habash approached us. “India, the detective wants to talk to you.” She glanced at Derek. “He’s over by your booth.”
I stood up.
“What should I do?” Derek asked.
“Jerry is here somewhere. Detective Mains was talking to him. Do you want me to find him for you?”
Derek shook his head with a frown. “Jerry’s probably as freaked out as I am. It would only make me feel worse.”
I looked down at him. He looked so young. “You should go back to your dorm room. Is your roommate there?”
Derek shook his head. “He went home for the weekend, and I don’t want to go back to my mom’s house.”
I knew he was right. Bobby was going to kill me for what I said next, but that was just too bad. “Go to the library. It should open soon. Bobby will be there this morning.”
“ Bobby hates me.”
“ He doesn’t hate you.”
“ Yes, he does.” There was a pout in his voice. “He called me a pest.”
“ I’m sure he was joking.”
Derek looked skeptical.
“I’ll walk him over to the library. Come on, Derek,” Officer Habash said.
“ I’ll talk to you later, Derek,” I said.
H e nodded numbly. The hope that had flickered in his eyes when I agreed to take the case was already extinguished. No matter what I discovered, Tess was never coming back.
When I reached the booth, Mains and his team were surveying the ground for clues, hoping to find something in the light of day that they’d overlooked the night before. If someone handed Mains a magnifying glass and a pipe, he’d look just like Sherlock Holmes. Much to my relief, Tess’s body was long gone, as was the cat’s head basket mold. However, when I closed my eyes, it was night again, and I could see her there face down in the grass with her head bashed in. I opened my eyes wide.
Mutt, the director of campus security, and a couple of his college cops, st ood off to the side of the crime scene. I sidled over to Mutt and said hello. He was a big man who wheezed ever so slightly from walking from his office in the safety and security modular building. I rarely saw him out and about on campus.
He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “I heard you found the body.”
I nodded. “Know anything about
“ Everyone knows you solved that murder last summer.”
“ That was different,” I said quickly, panic racing through me as my mind listed all the reasons I shouldn’t get involved. Lepcheck was the victim’s brother. Martin College would hate it. Mains would hate it. And the list went on.
“ Please?” His voice broke.
I’ve heard people say it’s hard to lose a parent at any age. I don’t doubt that to be true, but I also believed the younger the child was the harder it must be. The child didn’t have a chance to prove himself before his parent was snatched away. The child didn’t have a chance to become whomever he was going to be.
I looked in to Derek’s bloodshot eyes. At eighteen, he was on the cusp of proving himself to Tess, and he had lost his chance. Someone stole his opportunity, someone selfish who didn’t consider or care about the ramifications of his or her actions. It would be a selfish person in the end who would commit murder, wouldn’t it? Wasn’t that what all killing amounted to? Putting one’s own goals, desires, and agendas above another’s?
I thought of myself at eighteen, attending art school in Chicago. When I was Derek’s age, my father made a foolhardy attempt to trim a sycamore tree solo on church grounds. He fell from the tree, and we almost lost him. Dad survived, even if his ability to walk did not, but the nearness of losing him almost broke my heart in two. There was no almost for Derek. Tess was gone, at least from this earth, and Derek would never have the chance to show Tess the man he would be. He had yet to even choose his major.
“ Okay,” I said.
His eyes widened. “Okay?”
“ Okay.” My jaw was set.
Chapter Eight
Office r Habash approached us. “India, the detective wants to talk to you.” She glanced at Derek. “He’s over by your booth.”
I stood up.
“What should I do?” Derek asked.
“Jerry is here somewhere. Detective Mains was talking to him. Do you want me to find him for you?”
Derek shook his head with a frown. “Jerry’s probably as freaked out as I am. It would only make me feel worse.”
I looked down at him. He looked so young. “You should go back to your dorm room. Is your roommate there?”
Derek shook his head. “He went home for the weekend, and I don’t want to go back to my mom’s house.”
I knew he was right. Bobby was going to kill me for what I said next, but that was just too bad. “Go to the library. It should open soon. Bobby will be there this morning.”
“ Bobby hates me.”
“ He doesn’t hate you.”
“ Yes, he does.” There was a pout in his voice. “He called me a pest.”
“ I’m sure he was joking.”
Derek looked skeptical.
“I’ll walk him over to the library. Come on, Derek,” Officer Habash said.
“ I’ll talk to you later, Derek,” I said.
H e nodded numbly. The hope that had flickered in his eyes when I agreed to take the case was already extinguished. No matter what I discovered, Tess was never coming back.
When I reached the booth, Mains and his team were surveying the ground for clues, hoping to find something in the light of day that they’d overlooked the night before. If someone handed Mains a magnifying glass and a pipe, he’d look just like Sherlock Holmes. Much to my relief, Tess’s body was long gone, as was the cat’s head basket mold. However, when I closed my eyes, it was night again, and I could see her there face down in the grass with her head bashed in. I opened my eyes wide.
Mutt, the director of campus security, and a couple of his college cops, st ood off to the side of the crime scene. I sidled over to Mutt and said hello. He was a big man who wheezed ever so slightly from walking from his office in the safety and security modular building. I rarely saw him out and about on campus.
He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “I heard you found the body.”
I nodded. “Know anything about
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