The Blade Man

by Debra Purdy Kong

  “Felicity, I’m not answering your question until you answer mine, truthfully.”

  “I don’t know where he is!” Felicity’s high-pitched whine grated on Casey. “And there’s no way Hedley would have set those fires.”

  Arguing would be a waste of time. Besides, she needed the girl’s cooperation. “Then we need to help clear his name, which means talking with him. Do you know where Hedley likes to hang out or where he’d go if he was in trouble?”

  Felicity blinked at the sidewalk and tugged on the ends of her light red hair. “There’s a couple of coffee places with WiFi, but you should ask Travis. They’re good friends.”

  Casey had planned to do exactly that, but a better idea was forming. “How good?”

  “They grew up on the same street,” Felicity answered. “Hedley’s a year older than Travis.”

  “Can you do me a favor and call Del?”

  “Why?”

  Casey didn’t want to say that Del probably wouldn’t take her call. Under the circumstances, Travis probably wouldn’t either. “I’ll explain once he’s on the line.”

  Felicity made the call. “Hi, it’s me.”

  “Thanks.” Casey snatched the phone from her, ignoring the girl’s gasp.

  “This is Casey.” She put the phone on speaker. “Don’t hang up or I’ll have Felicity show me where you live.” Emboldened by his silence, she added, “Why did you go see Hedley when I asked you not to?”

  “You didn’t say not to.” Del cleared his throat. “You just said not to tell him about our conversation, which I didn’t.”

  “What conversation?” Felicity asked.

  Casey turned away. “Then why go there at all?”

  “I needed to know if he started the fires.”

  How could such a smart kid be so stupid? “Did you seriously think he’d confess?”

  “No, but I can always tell when he’s lying.”

  “Was he?”

  “Yeah.”

  “No!” Felicity blurted. “Hedley wouldn’t do that.”

  “It’s true,” Del mumbled, “and it’s all my fault.”

  Casey’s eyebrows rose. “How so?”

  “We had a fight earlier this year. I told Hedley that he’d changed and didn’t deserve to be in charge.” He cleared his throat. “He lost it and accused me of taking over his group.”

  “You shouldn’t have said that.” Felicity stepped closer to the phone. “You know how sensitive Hedley is, and I know what that’s like, trust me. Hedley’s a good person who’s had a really tough year. He needs us.”

  No doubt about it, the girl had a major crush on the guy. “Del, did you tell Hedley that the cops are looking for him?”

  “No, I swear.”

  “Then what did you say?”

  “I asked if he’d seen anyone suspicious near the explosions. He said he wasn’t around when any of them happened, except for Mr. Maddox’s car. Then he kicked me out.”

  “I heard that you argued with Hedley last night,” Casey said.

  “Yeah.” He paused. “He thought I was accusing him.”

  “Great,” Casey muttered. “That’s why he took off so fast.”

  “The cop pretty much said the same thing to my parents. Now I’m stuck doing extra chores all weekend. Look, I’m really sorry. If I’d known . . .” His voice trailed off.

  Casey heard his sincerity and remorse. It was the leverage she needed. “How about you and the others help me find him?”

  “We can do that,” Del replied. “Right, Felicity?”

  The girl shifted her feet. “I guess so.”

  Her lack of enthusiasm bothered Casey. She’d need to keep the girl close by so she couldn’t warn Hedley.

  “Would he go to his parents in the Okanagan?” Casey asked.

  “No, they don’t talk to one another,” Felicity answered.

  “What about other family or college friends?”

  “Just Travis,” she replied. “Poor guy’s kind of a loner.”

  Casey struggled to maintain an impassive expression. “Do you think Travis will help us clear Hedley’s name?”

  “I think so,” Felicity murmured, “but he and I haven’t talked since the cops came to my house.”

  Casey studied her. “If he’s protecting Hedley from the police, then they’ll both wind up in trouble.”

  Felicity’s face blanched once again. “Del?” She leaned closer to the phone Casey held out for her. “What do we do?”

  “I’ll call him,” Del offered, “and say something urgent’s come up about Hedley. He’ll want to know what it is. Lawrence is on his way to my place now.”

  “Thank you.” Casey turned to Felicity. “You mentioned a couple of coffee shops that Hedley goes to. Maybe we should start looking there.”

  Felicity shrugged. “He could have left the city.”

  “Don’t think so.” Del’s tone became more somber. “When Hedley’s on a mission, he won’t quit until he’s finished what he started.”

  Casey stared at the phone. “Meaning he’s not done with MPT until it’s burned to the ground?”

  More silence, and then a quiet, “Maybe.”

  Just great. “Del, when you call Travis, don’t mention me.”

  “What if Travis tells Hedley?” Del asked. “They’re probably staying in touch.”

  “Not much we can do about that,” Casey replied. Maybe it would be enough to make Hedley think twice about setting more fires. “Call my cell as soon as the meeting’s arranged.” She handed Felicity’s phone back. “You should probably tell your parents that you’ll be out for a while.”

  “They won’t be home till seven anyway,” she mumbled.

  “Okay.” But finding Hedley could take a lot longer than that.

  . . .

  The moment Casey spotted Del heading down the sidewalk with Lawrence and Travis in tow, she felt like an overburdened school teacher about to embark on a tedious field trip. As the boys drew nearer, Travis looked up, spotted Casey, and faltered. His slowing pace told her that Del had indeed not mentioned her presence. Would the kid turn and bolt when he learned why he’d been summoned?

  “Hi, guys.” She opened the back door.

  Given that Travis was six inches taller than Del, the glare he directed at Del had to be intimidating. “What’s going on?”

  “We need your help finding Hedley,” Casey answered.

  Travis stepped back and shoved his hands in his pockets. “You should have told me, Del.”

  Del looked down, his black bangs falling over his eyes. Casey noticed that Travis didn’t ask why they needed to find Hedley.

  “Sorry, but Casey told me not to.”

  “You do every damn thing she tells you to?”

  “That’s not fair,” Lawrence said. “All we want to do is help Hedley.”

  Travis shook his head.

  “You might have heard that the police want to question him about the MPT arsons,” Casey said, noting the way Travis pinched his lips and avoided eye contact.

  “We don’t think he did it,” Felicity blurted. “We just want to help clear his name.”

  Lawrence adjusted his glasses. Casey had no idea if he believed in Hedley’s innocence or not, but he’d been even quieter than normal and certainly seemed uncomfortable.

  “Hedley didn’t set the fires,” Travis said, his gaze now fixed on Casey. “He wouldn’t do that.”

  “Then help us prove his innocence,” Casey replied. “Do you know where he is?”

  “No.”

  “Can you text him and ask him to meet with us? Make sure he understands that we just want to help.”

  “I’ve been trying to get hold of him for two hours, but he’s not answering,” Travis said.

  “We really need to find him before the cops do,” Casey said.

  Travis’s gaze darted from one friend to the other. “Fine. Whatever.”

  Not the most reassuring commitment, Casey thought, but it was better than nothing.
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  THIRTY-TWO

  After their visit to the third internet café, Casey felt a headache coming on. Felicity’s constant chatter only made things worse. Who knew whether the girl was excited or nervous, but this trip had become a test of patience that Casey was about to fail. A few coffee shop employees had recognized Hedley from Felicity’s phone photos, but no one had seen him this week.

  “How’s the motion sickness, Travis?” Casey asked as she drove to the next place on their list. The kid sat behind the passenger’s seat, his head almost hanging out the open window. Good thing his hair was in a ponytail. If he barfed in her car, though, she’d be ticked.

  “I’m okay.”

  Maybe, but Casey had a bigger worry. Each time they checked out a café, Travis texted someone. He’d tried to hide it from her, but she’d spotted him twice. The kid was probably texting Hedley, but a confrontation wouldn’t get her anywhere. She needed him to lower his guard.

  “Travis, I meant to ask you something about the night Gwyn’s car was torched. You said you were helping with surveillance, correct?”

  “Yeah. Why?”

  She understood the caution in his voice. “I’ve been reluctant to mention this, but my prime suspect is a guy who drives a silver Dodge Ram. I was wondering if you saw it that night.”

  Travis’s expression brightened. “Might have. Who owns it?”

  Casey pulled into a coffee shop parking lot and turned off the engine. “He’s related to an employee, but as this is only a suspicion of mine, I don’t want to say more.”

  The optimistic glances between the Friends made Casey feel a tinge of guilt. To raise hope that Hedley might not be the arsonist bordered on unethical, but she needed these kids’ cooperation. She’d repair her moral compass after Hedley was caught.

  “Travis, are you sure you don’t know where Hedley is?”

  Travis’s body seemed to close in on itself as his shoulders hunched and his neck shortened. He reminded her of a retreating turtle.

  “I wouldn’t be here if I knew where Hedley was, and since there’s another suspect, why waste time driving around?”

  “I think he’s still in Vancouver somewhere, not that far from MPT,” Del said.

  “Me too.” Lawrence remarked.

  Travis slumped further down and looked out the window.

  “Do you know where Hedley’s been at some point during the last twenty-four hours?” Casey asked.

  Travis bit his lower lip as his complexion paled.

  “Dude,” Del said, “you gotta tell us what you know.”

  “I need some air.”

  As Travis opened the car door, Del grabbed his phone from his hand. Short and slight as he was, the kid was incredibly fast.

  “Hey!” Travis tried to grab it back, but Del tossed it to Casey.

  Casey read his play-by-play account of their café stops. She noted that Hedley had responded once with a thumbs-up emoji. She looked at Travis. “I see that you did ask him to meet with us.”

  “It’s not going to happen. Hedley believes you think he’s guilty and won’t give him a fair chance.”

  The spiteful glance he tossed Casey irritated the crap out of her. “Is he at your house now?”

  “No.”

  “Where, then?” He lowered his head and said nothing. “Do you want to be charged as an accessory to the arsons? How would your parents feel about that?”

  Travis took a deep breath.

  “Look, if any of you are withholding information, the cops could get ticked off enough to charge all of you as accessories. I’m not fooling around here. Your long friendship and history is well documented on social media.”

  Lawrence said, “Do what’s right, Travis.” His jaw tightened. “The arsons are getting more dangerous. Someone could die.”

  “If the cops think we’re helping him, we’re in deep shit,” Del added. “My dad’s already pissed that they came to our house.”

  Travis slowly looked up and swallowed hard. “Hedley stayed at my place last night, but I swear I don’t know where he is now.”

  “When did he show up?” Casey asked.

  “About one-thirty in the morning. Slept in the basement and left early. My parents didn’t know.”

  “Did he say where he was going?”

  “No. Wouldn’t tell me if he’s coming back either.”

  Casey studied his pensive face. She couldn’t tell if he was telling the truth or not, but judging from his cohorts’ skeptical expressions, they had their doubts.

  “I think he’s planning a final major blow-up before he disappears,” Del said, fixing his deep brown eyes on Travis. “Has he hinted at something?”

  Travis shook his head.

  “Are you sure?” Casey asked.

  “Yes!” Panic swept across Travis’s face. “Hedley knows I can’t handle pressure.” Travis crossed his arms over his stomach and leaned forward. “I feel sick.”

  Casey turned to the Friends. “Do you guys think Hedley would physically harm Mr. Maddox?”

  “No way,” Felicity replied.

  Lawrence shrugged and looked at Del. “What do you think?”

  Del tucked his hair behind his ears and sighed. “Hedley took a swing at me when I went to his place. So yeah, violence is possible, and I think he’ll target Mr. Maddox.”

  Felicity’s face reddened. “He must be really stressed.”

  “Totally losing it.” Lawrence nodded.

  “If I don’t text him soon, he’ll know something’s up.” Travis could barely look at Casey. “We have an arrangement.”

  Casey handed him his phone, shoving back a desire to smack the idiot. “Let Hedley know we’ve checked out this coffee shop and are deciding on the next location.”

  As Travis began texting, Casey forced herself to stay calm. She hoped that Gwyn had truly made himself scarce. If Hedley couldn’t find him, would he take it out on more MPT property and personnel? Were any of them safe? She started her own text.

  “You’re aren’t contacting the cops, are you?” Travis asked.

  “No.”

  She didn’t need freaked out teens who’d take off if they thought the police were coming for them. And she sure didn’t need more grief from the cops about involving herself in the search for Hedley. Stan would know what to do. While Casey texted him, Travis opened the door and puked onto the asphalt.

  THIRTY-THREE

  Casey pulled into MPT’s nearly empty parking lot.

  “This is so awesome!” Felicity said, her enthusiasm revived by Stan’s invitation. “I can’t wait to meet your supervisor.”

  Awesome wasn’t the word Casey would choose. She understood Stan’s desire to question the Friends. If anyone could pull more information from these kids it was him. After spending two hours with this bunch, Casey had had enough. Medication had dulled her headache, but if this evening went on much longer it could come back with a vengeance.

  Travis’s stomach seemed to have settled, although he wasn’t as enthusiastic about meeting Stan as the others were. Casey wasn’t sure why he’d even agreed to it, given that Stan said no one was under any obligation to attend. Maybe Travis’s curiosity about MPT’s inner sanctum trumped his reservations about the meeting, not to mention their promise to not involve the police in this discussion.

  Stan had spoken with each of the Friends’ parents, explaining who he was and why he wanted to speak with their kids. None had accepted his invitation to attend the meeting and only Felicity’s parents wanted to be put on speaker phone. Stan assured the parents that their kids weren’t in trouble and that he was only asking for assistance in locating their friend who might have information about a crime. Stan could be exceedingly diplomatic when he wanted to be.

  Casey held the door open for Felicity, who bounded inside, her eyes wide as she looked up and down the corridor. She was like a kid on her first trip to Disneyland. The guys were trying to act cooler, but their animated faces gave them away.

  “This place is
amazing,” Felicity said, turning full circle.

  Tempted as she was to roll her eyes, Casey refrained. “It’s a hallway.”

  An empty one, for now. It was just after six and administrative staff had gone home. The building was pretty much empty.

  “This way,” Casey said, gesturing toward the lunchroom.

  Del’s smile faded. “We’re not going to Mr. Cordaseto’s office?”

  “The upper floor’s restricted to most staff, let alone visitors. And how would you know where it is anyway?” At least he had the decency to blush and look away.

  Casey sighed. The kid probably knew the building’s layout as well as she did. What hadn’t Del hacked into?

  “I guess Mr. Maddox isn’t around,” Travis remarked.

  “Correct.”

  And thank god for that. Even if Gwyn agreed to this meeting, he wouldn’t hesitate to take charge. Casey was leading the group toward the lunchroom when she noticed Travis staring at the taped-off door at the end of the hall.

  “Travis?”

  “The explosion that hurt your coworker happened down there, right?” He nodded toward a closed door at the end of the corridor. “In that room?”

  “Yes.”

  Insurance investigators had come and gone, but who knew when renovations would start? Room by room, MPT had become a damaged, frightening place to work.

  Casey spotted Del raising his phone. “No pictures, please.” She crossed her arms. “Everyone, keep your phones in your pockets.”

  Reluctantly, they did as they were told.

  Casey led them into the lunchroom, where Stan was sitting at one of the larger tables. Even sitting down, the former football player was an imposing figure. The Friends gaped at him. Lawrence cleaned his glasses with a tiny cloth while Travis’s paling face revealed his misgivings about this meeting.

  After introductions were made, Felicity surveyed the microwave, coffee machine, scuffed linoleum floor, and plastic chairs.

  “This is really nice,” she said.

  Casey tried not to smile at Stan’s mystified expression.

  “Have a seat, everybody,” he said.

  The boys noticed two drivers eating at a table across the room. The drivers returned their stares until the boys turned away and sat down.