Murder Walk

by Melissa Bowersock

  She leaned closer, forcing him to meet her eyes. “Don’t you believe them. Not for one single second. You are not a freak. You—and your dad—are amazingly talented. Gifted. Powerful.”

  Daniel absorbed that for a moment, then heaved a sigh. “But I don’t want this. How can it be a gift when I don’t want it?”

  Lacey glanced to Sam. Good question. She arched an eyebrow at him. Your turn.

  Sam took a sip of iced tea, then pulled in a breath. He set his elbows on the table and threaded the fingers of both hands together.

  “We’re all born with different characteristics,” he began. “Tall, short, black hair, blond hair, green eyes, freckles.” He tossed a quick smile to Lacey. “Most of the time, you can’t change those things, at least not permanently. You have to figure out how to use them to your best advantage. If you’re born tall, and you like to play basketball, you’re lucky. But if you’re born short, and you still love basketball, what do you do?”

  Daniel kept his eyes down, unwilling to answer.

  “You play anyway,” Sam said. “You may have to work harder at it, or you may have to play a different position, but you make it work and you play anyway. You don’t let your shortcomings determine who you are, what you can and can’t do.

  “Now, I know why you hate this. It makes you different from everyone else. And I know, right now, probably all you want is to fit in, be like the other kids.” He sighed. “I got teased in school, too. And I hated it. Hated when people didn’t believe I could do what I do. Hated it when they thought I was crazy. Believe me, I’ve heard it all. But now… now I’m grateful for it. I love being able to do what I do. I love helping lost souls. Not for me. Not just for them. But for the whole universe. That sounds hokey, but it’s true.”

  Sam sat back. “I know you hate it right now, but it’s who you are. And I promise you, as much as you hate it now, there will come a time when you appreciate it just like I do.”

  Daniel lifted his head and met his dad’s eyes. Lacey was struck by the anger there, the contempt. For that one moment, Daniel looked positively hateful. He sneered at Sam.

  “Yeah, right,” he said. He pushed back from the table. “Can I go home, now?”

  Sam’s face hardened in response. Lacey’s eyes darted from one taciturn Firecloud to the other.

  “Sure, we’ll take you home,” Sam said. His voice was brittle. “But you’ve got just over a week left of school. If you ditch again, you’ll be grounded for two weeks. And no cell phone.”

  The look on Daniel’s face turned from shock to murderous. He glared at his dad. Sam glared back.

  Lacey held her breath.

  Finally Daniel looked down and away. “Fine,” he said. His agreement sounded like anything but.

  Hoo, boy, Lacey thought. War of the Fireclouds.

  The silence in the cab of the truck was almost tangible as Sam drove back to Christine’s. Lacey, wedged between father and son, kept her hands in her lap, her elbows from either male’s side. Daniel stared out the side window.

  As they neared the parking lot of the apartment complex, Daniel said, “You can let me out here.”

  Sam wheeled into the lot. “We’re coming in.”

  Daniel kept his head down, glowering, as he walked to the front door. He pushed the door open, called, “I’m home,” and went immediately to his room where he closed that door firmly.

  “Daniel, wait. What—?” Christine came out of the kitchen, saw Sam and Lacey and gave out a sigh of relief. She glanced toward Daniel’s closed door, then back to Sam and Lacey. “Come on in the kitchen. I’ve still got coffee.”

  The three of them perched at the breakfast nook and talked quietly.

  “Where did you find him?” Christine asked Sam.

  “At that park about a block away. He was sitting on a bench, trying to figure out what to do next.”

  “Do you know what happened? Why he didn’t go to school?”

  Sam nodded, sipping his coffee. “He did go. But before he ever got to class…”

  He told the story. Lacey saw her own sympathy for Daniel on his mother’s face.

  “Oh, for…” Christine drew in a breath. “Kids can be such little assholes.”

  “That’s the truth,” Sam agreed. “But you know how they are at this age. They want to fit in. No one wants to be different. And Daniel is very definitely different now.” Sam looked from his ex to Lacey. “And he blames me. He got this from me.”

  Christine huffed. “Well, it’s not like you have any control over it.”

  Sam shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. He needs someone to blame, and I’m it.”

  Neither Christine nor Lacey could argue that. “Well,” Christine said, “maybe it’s a very good thing school is almost out. He’ll have the whole summer to avoid ninety-nine percent of the kids there. Maybe by September, they’ll have all forgotten about it.”

  Sam quirked an eyebrow at her.

  “Okay, maybe not. But at least he’ll have had time to get used to it.”

  “We can hope,” Sam said. Over the last sips of coffee, he told Christine about his promise to Daniel: school or grounding.

  “That’s good,” she said. “I’ll definitely back you up on that. I hope it won’t be necessary, but it’s nice to have an ace in the hole. I’ll let Ed know, too.”

  Sam nodded. “I just hope we can get through this last week without any more drama. Then maybe we can tackle the larger issues without any more problems at school.”

  Silently, Lacey seconded that.

  ~~~

  FIVE

  But it was not to be.

  Friday afternoon, Sam got another call from Christine. Lacey had just gotten an email about the inspection of the house and listened to Sam with half an ear as she read over the report summary. When he hung up, she pushed her laptop aside to give him her full attention.

  “What now?” she asked reluctantly.

  “Daniel got into a fight at school, apparently with that Bret Russell kid. They both got hauled into the principal’s office.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “Mostly. I guess he’ll have a hell of a shiner, and a cut lip, but otherwise he’s okay.” Sam let out a sigh. “The principal said she doesn’t want to suspend him this close to the end of term, but if it happens again, she will.”

  “She probably wouldn’t have much choice. I’m glad it didn’t get too serious. And glad it’s the weekend.”

  “Yeah. He’ll at least have a two-day cooling-off period. Which reminds me.” Sam canted his head at Lacey. “There’s a memorial service for Jason tomorrow morning. I’d like to go.”

  “Absolutely,” Lacey said. She’d never met Jason, just seen him from the car when they’d dropped Daniel at the video game arcade, but Daniel, Kenzie and their parents all liked him.

  “Are they going?” she asked about the LaRosas.

  “Yeah.”

  “And Daniel?”

  Sam frowned. “Christine said he’s agreed to go, but she didn’t sound convinced. I guess we’ll see.”

  “What time?”

  “Ten. We can go there, follow them back home so the kids can change, then bring them back here for the weekend.”

  Lacey nodded. “That works. By the way, I got the preliminary inspection report. No major issues.”

  “What’d they say?” Sam asked.

  Lacey pulled her laptop around so he could see the screen. “There’s a small leak under the bathroom sink, and it looks like some of the floor tiles might need to be replaced, but the foundation is fine. There are some shingles missing on the roof, so we can have the owner fix those two things. We still need to get a termite inspection. Otherwise, it looks good.”

  “Hell, I can fix those things,” Sam said.

  “I know, but I’d rather have him do it. Just in case any of it turns into a can of worms.”

  “Good point,” he said. “Okay, cool. I think I’ll call him, see if I can get a key and we can start our rental period. I’d
like to go over this weekend and start figuring out how to arrange everything.”

  While Sam went to call the owner, Lacey sat before her laptop, thinking. In all the furor over Daniel’s new talent and the reaction from his classmates, they’d kind of lost track of the original crime, the murder. The story had been buried in the back of the LA Times these last few days, offering little more than a recounting of the known facts—such as they were—and the ever-present sop, the investigation is ongoing. While the LAPD reported they’d gotten many tips, none had proved out, and they still had no suspects or persons of interest.

  Lacey pulled up the most recent article on her laptop. Nothing new there. She tapped her chin with one finger and considered calling Tommy Belvedere, her friend and ex-coworker, still part of the LAPD’s Homicide Division. But she knew Tommy couldn’t discuss anything with her that wasn’t already released to the public. If she and Sam got called in to help, that was a different story. But this case was still new. The captain wouldn’t even consider bringing them in unless and until the PD had exhausted every possible avenue.

  She turned her laptop off and closed the lid. They had enough on their hands for now, she supposed.

  And now she had to figure out what to wear to the memorial tomorrow.

  ~~~

  SIX

  Lacey just couldn’t bring herself to wear a dress. Luckily most churches were pretty casual anymore, and the memorial was being held at a Unitarian Church, even less bound up in convention than some others. She settled on black slacks and an emerald green blouse. Sam went much the same way with his black jeans, black cowboy boots and a deep russet shirt.

  The church was almost completely full. Lacey knew that often a whole neighborhood would turn out for a tragedy like this—a child or young person—even without knowing the family directly. She and Sam found seats about midway back and close to the wall. They caught sight of the LaRosas, Daniel, and Kenzie closer to the front.

  She noticed Daniel’s left eye had a suspicious shadow across and underneath it, but it didn’t look as bad as it might.

  The memorial was very nice. Apparently the Perez family had decided to conduct a celebration of Jason’s short life, and several people took the mic at the front to speak about Jason’s memorable characteristics. His father spoke of his easy-going temperament and his ready smile, his willingness to help others. His mother, through barely contained tears, spoke of his loving heart and gentle soul. His younger sister—just a year or two older than Kenzie—recalled how he would sit up with her after they’d watched a scary movie and she was too afraid to go sleep in her own room. A couple of brave classmates talked about his video game prowess and his rad grinding on a skateboard.

  Lacey wondered if Daniel would get up and speak, but she doubted it. After what had happened in school, she knew he wanted to stay out of the limelight as much as possible, and even more so now with the results of the fight on his face. She glanced over at the family periodically, and she could see him either staring down at the floor or looking around the church distractedly. He seemed to look anywhere except at the parade of speakers or at the large picture of Jason flanked by flowers.

  A third classmate—a girl—got up to talk about how Jason helped her with her algebra, when no one else could explain it in a way she understood. She struggled to hold back tears—mostly unsuccessfully.

  A small commotion caught Lacey’s attention. Daniel suddenly stood up and, ignoring whispered pleas from Christine, made his way across the pew to the outside aisle. He walked as rapidly as he could without breaking into a run, and dashed out the door.

  Lacey looked over at Sam. He’d seen it, too. He just shook his head sadly, and squeezed Lacey’s hand.

  When no one else was forthcoming, Jason’s mother took the mic again.

  “For my entire family, I want to thank you all for coming and for sharing in this small celebration of our son’s life. We are truly touched by your compassion and support. I also want to thank the Unitarian Church, the most inclusive and welcoming church we have ever found. They provided a safe sanctuary for our son, although it couldn’t protect him forever.” She paused and swallowed painfully. “Thank you all, so very much.”

  She left the lectern and returned to her family, her husband, daughter and two smaller sons enveloping her in a group hug. Soft organ music began to issue from speakers, and people in the rows of seats got to their feet in preparation for leaving.

  Sam and Lacey stood as well, and stepped to the outside aisle. The mass of people moved slowly, quietly, only murmuring softly or sharing sad smiles. It took several minutes before Sam and Lacey shuffled through the door amid the crush of attendees and gained the sunlight outside. They angled a ways to the side of the main walkway and waited for the LaRosas.

  “Do you see Daniel?” she asked him softly.

  “No. I’ve been looking, but I don’t see him.”

  “Do you think he might walk home?”

  “It’s possible,” Sam said. “We’ll wait and see what Christine and Ed think.”

  It was another fifteen minutes before Kenzie escaped the river of people streaming through the door. Sam called to her and she ran to him, hugging him around the waist. Lacey laid a hand on her dark head.

  “That was sad,” Kenzie said.

  “Yeah,” Sam agreed.

  Lacey squeezed her shoulder.

  “Sam!”

  On the steps just outside the door, Christine waved to them, then motioned for them to join her. She and Ed stood beside Jason’s family.

  Sam, Lacey and Kenzie made their slow way back to the church. Christine introduced them.

  “This is Sam, Daniel’s father, and his wife, Lacey Fitzpatrick. You know Kenzie.” To Sam and Lacey, “This is Aldo Perez, his wife Cathy and Cassidy, Hunter and John.”

  “We’re so very sorry,” Lacey said, taking Cathy’s hand in both of hers. “It sounds like Jason was a great kid.”

  “Thank you,” Cathy said. “He was.” She sniffed back tears and smiled wanly.

  “It was a wonderful service,” Lacey said.

  Cathy nodded. “I saw Daniel leave. Is he okay?”

  There was a short, awkward silence. Lacey declined to answer, feeling it was more Sam’s or Christine’s call.

  “This has been hard on him, too,” Christine finally said.

  Cathy sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s hard on all of us in different ways. This sort of thing just shouldn’t happen.” She held her daughter close to her side and patted both of her younger sons on their shoulders. Lacey could see the girl, Cassidy, had been crying. The boys both looked dazed.

  “Well.” Christine looked to her husband. “We should go. I know others will want to say a word.”

  It was true. Other people were standing just out of earshot, waiting for their turn to express their condolences.

  Cathy smiled sadly. “Thank you for coming today. We appreciate you being here.”

  Christine gave her a hug. “If you need anything, if there’s anything we can do…”

  Cathy laughed grimly. “How about finding the murderer?” For a moment her eyes turned hard. “No, we’re fine. But thank you.”

  Sam and Lacey murmured goodbyes, underlined by warm handshakes. As the five of them started for the parking lot, other people drifted over to the Perez family to offer their sympathies.

  “Meet us at the apartment?” Christine called.

  “We’ll be there,” Sam said. “I might drive around a little first, see if I see Daniel.”

  “Do you have any ideas where he might have gone?” Lacey asked as they climbed in the car.

  “Maybe,” Sam said.

  They circled the block first, then Sam headed slowly toward a nearby strip mall. He cruised the parking lot of a video arcade, but neither of them saw any sign of the younger Firecloud. Finally Sam drove on to Christine’s.

  Kenzie was changing out of her dressier clothes, so Sam and Lacey sat in the living room to wait. Ed joined them.
>
  “No sign of him, huh?” Ed asked.

  “Nope. I’m sure he’s around somewhere.”

  Ed silently agreed with Sam. “He’s sure got his head screwed on sideways right now. I guess it was too much to hope we could get through the teen years without some kind of a meltdown.”

  A phone rang in another room; they heard Christine’s muted voice, then her quick steps across the kitchen linoleum. She stopped in the kitchen doorway, the phone to her ear.

  “Uh huh,” she said. She glanced meaningfully to Sam. “Oh? I don’t know. He’s right here. Hold on.” She held the phone out to Sam, the heel of her hand over the mouthpiece. “It’s Daniel. He’s at Tori’s.”

  Sam rose and took the phone, walking to a corner of the dining room. “Hello?”

  Lacey didn’t listen. She’d find out soon enough. “That was a nice service,” she said to Ed.

  “It was,” he agreed. “They did a great job with the celebration of life. I was impressed with those other kids. Getting up in front of so many people and speaking; that’s tough for kids.”

  Lacey nodded. “Especially without breaking down. I doubt I could have done something like that at fourteen.”

  Ed switched subjects. “So you found a studio for Sam, I hear.”

  “Yeah. It’s a dinky little house, old and kind of funky, but he said it’ll be perfect for what he wants. We’re going over tomorrow to do a little cleaning and planning.”

  “If you need any help, let me know.” Ed had his own landscaping business, and had helped Sam and Lacey on a case months before.

  “We will,” she said. “So far it doesn’t look like it needs too much work, but we’ll see—”

  Sam hung up the phone and handed it back to Christine, and Lacey instantly perked up.