The Lunatic Detective

by Sharon Sala

  Pat stopped and turned around and came back. “I’m sorry. What did you say, honey?”

  “Get in the car. Get in the car. The store is being robbed and we’ve got to move,” she said, as she dialed 911.

  Horrified, Pat jumped into the car and backed up into the shadows, but left the car running.

  “911. What is your emergency?” the dispatcher asked.

  Tara’s voice was shaking as she rattled off the information. “The quick stop at Western Avenue and Highway 51 is being robbed. You’ve got to hurry. I think someone is going to get shot.”

  No sooner had the words come out of Tara’s mouth than she and her uncle heard what sounded like firecrackers going off.

  “Oh, Lord,” Pat said. He hit the accelerator and peeled out of the parking lot, leaving rubber behind.

  “Shots were just fired,” Tara said. “We’re driving away from the scene.”

  At that point, she and the dispatcher disconnected. She looked back just as two young men came running out of the store.

  “Keep going, Uncle Pat.”

  “I didn’t pay for the gas.”

  “We can pay later, but not if we’re dead,” she said.

  His jaw clenched grimly as he kept on driving.

  Two blocks down, she suddenly pointed. “Pull into that alley and kill the lights. Hurry!”

  Thankfully, Pat didn’t bother to ask why.

  Seconds later, a red Jeep came barreling down the street behind them at a high rate of speed. Tara was on her knees looking out the back window and got a good look at the license tag as they flew past. She wrote the tag number down on her hand and then resettled herself in the front seat.

  “Okay, Uncle Pat. They’re gone. We have to go back,” she said.

  “You sure it’s okay?”

  “Yes. It’s not like they’re going to return to the scene of the crime or anything. Besides, I got their tag number and need to give it to the police.”

  Pat shook his head as he backed out of the alley, then once more, drove to the quick stop.

  “I hope they had a working video surveillance system in place.”

  “I’m not sure it is, and the clerk is dead,” Tara said.

  Pat flinched. “Are you sure?”

  She didn’t answer. She didn’t have to. The sick feeling in the pit of her stomach was all the verification she needed.

  When they drove back to the station, police were already on the scene. One of the officers went to direct them away when Tara rolled down her window and held out her hand. She showed him the numbers she’d written on it.

  “We’re the ones who called in the robbery. I have the license number of the car they were driving,” she said.

  The officer had her out of the car within seconds and began taking her statement. One of the other officers on the scene happened to look up, saw her standing beside their car, and then headed toward her.

  “Hey, kid. Aren’t you the girl who found the body in your back yard?”

  Tara nodded. “Afraid so.”

  “Did you just witness this robbery, too?”

  “Afraid so.”

  He frowned. “I would not like to be your parent.”

  Pat came up behind Tara and put his arm around her shoulders. “Well, I would,” he said.

  Tara ignored the officer and continued giving her statement. “Uncle Pat was just about to go inside to pay for our gas when the shooting started. We drove away without paying, and Uncle Pat is all freaked out about that, too.”

  Pat nodded, then added to Tara’s statement. “Officer, when you find out who owns the station, would you please give him our number and ask him to call so we can work out where I can send the money for the gas?”

  “Sure,” the officer said, made a notation on the pad on which he was writing, then continued to question Tara. “Did you see their faces?”

  “Barely. All I know for sure is that they were driving a red Jeep and there were two of them. They were white. And they couldn’t have been any older than in their twenties, although I’d guess younger.”

  “Could you pick them out of a line-up?”

  “No, sir. All I got was their license when they drove past us.”

  He frowned. “They passed you on the street?”

  “No,” Pat said. “Tara told me to pull into an alley and cut the lights.”

  The officer frowned. “Do you always do what your kid tells you to do?”

  Pat glanced at Tara and grinned. “In things that matter. And if you knew Tara, you would, too.”

  Tara stifled a smile. It felt good to be appreciated now and then.

  As she turned around, she saw that a vehicle from the coroner’s office had arrived. That job must suck. All they did was deal with the aftermath of someone else’s mistakes.

  A short while later, they were okayed to leave, and they drove home, a much quieter pair than they’d been when they left The Hideaway.

  “I’m sorry the evening ended so badly,” Pat said, as they pulled into the driveway.

  Tara shook her head. “I’m not.”

  “Why on earth would you say such a thing?” Pat asked.

  “Well, if we hadn’t gone out to eat, and if you hadn’t stopped to get gas, that robbery would have still happened, only no one would have witnessed it. The robbers would have gotten away with murder.”

  “I never thought of it like that,” Pat said. “I guess you’re right, although they would have had the security tapes, remember?”

  “The cameras aren’t real.”

  “You aren’t serious?” Pat gasped. “You know, that’s something I’ve never understood. Why the fake cameras? They aren’t going to scare real robbers from doing what they’re going to do, and they aren’t needed for any other reason. Stupid. Just stupid.”

  Tara got out of the car, grabbed the box of leftover pizza and carried it into the house. She was putting it in the fridge as her uncle turned on the TV.

  “Hey, kiddo, come look. We got home just in time for the evening news. I’m betting the story of Emmit’s arrest is all over it.”

  And it was.

  Tara watched with an odd detachment, knowing that tomorrow she was going to be treated differently than she had been today, yet accepting that in the long run, it didn’t really matter. Even though her hottie boyfriend had done a freak, her BFFs had stepped up to the plate.

  Could her lunatic world get any crazier?

  Tara slept the night through without dreaming, but she knew as she got ready for school that the day was going to be much different than the one before. Last night’s news had been non-stop about the discovery of a fifty year old crime scene at a house on Duck Street in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In fact, a news van from an Oklahoma City TV station was outside right now, but Uncle Pat was handling that. She’d done another freak when they’d knocked on the door this morning, but Pat had stepped outside with the reporter, leaving Tara to calm down on her own.

  As she brushed her teeth, Pat gave the reporters the same line that she’d given everyone at school yesterday. As far as the general public knew, it was all a mystery to Tara and Pat, that they were just renters, but if the reporters wanted history or details into the story, they needed to talk to their landlord, Gene Whiteside, or to the police.

  By the time she was dressed and ready to head out to school, the news van was gone. She expected Uncle Pat to be gone as well, but to her surprise, he was still in the living room.

  “Yikes! You scared me,” Tara gasped. “I didn’t expect anyone to still be here.”

  He picked up her backpack from the floor and held out his hand. “I’m giving you a ride to school. I can at least spare you the burden of having to deal with all the curious folks who might want to talk to you on the way.”
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br />   Tara was filled with relief. “You are the best, Uncle Pat.”

  He grinned. “I have my moments. Come on, kiddo. I don’t want you to be late.”

  “What about you?” she asked.

  “I called the boss. Told him we were being hassled a little by the media, and I wanted to drop you off at school before I came in. He was great about it. So don’t worry about me.”

  Tara nodded. It did feel good to let someone else carry the burdens now and then.

  They got into the car and drove away. It wasn’t far, so the drive was short. As they reached the corner on Husband Street where Tara usually met Flynn, it was noticeably empty. She wouldn’t think about the pain of knowing how he’d bailed on her when the going got too tough. Flynn was a good guy. He just didn’t know how to handle a girl who could see ghosts.

  “Okay, here we are,” Uncle Pat said, as he pulled up to the curb, leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Have a great day.”

  “Thanks for the ride, Uncle Pat, and I will.”

  “See you later alligator,” he said.

  She felt his love all the way to her heart. “After while, crocodile.”

  She was still smiling as he drove away. Then she took a deep breath, turned to face the school building, and started up the walk. She felt the stares of the other students. Some waved. One even said ‘hey.’ But mostly the jeers and whispers from yesterday were gone.

  Fair weather enemies make fair weather friends.

  I know, Millicent. Thanks for the reminder. Tara’s spirits lifted another notch. Millicent was a hoot. But she was right that people who switched from one side to the other on a moment’s whim weren’t the kind of people she needed in her life.

  Today your friends will kiss donkeys.

  Tara laughed out loud, which was a little weird since there was no one around her. She didn’t bother to correct Millicent this time about getting the words wrong. She might have to adopt ‘kissing donkeys’ herself, at least when she wanted to keep her language clean.

  She ran into Coach Jones just inside the door and knew he must be on hall duty. Otherwise, she rarely saw him. When he saw her walk in, he grinned at her and winked.

  She smiled back, savoring his acceptance. Coach Jones was one of the good ones. He was also one of the few teachers at Stillwater High who hadn’t freaked out when confronted with her abilities.

  The fact that Tara was walking in without Flynn brought more attention than the dead body in her backyard. She caught startled looks, then heard whispering behind her back. But this wasn’t the bad kind of gossip. This was just news. Someone had a fight. Someone wasn’t dating someone else. Normal teenage stuff. Not the malicious stuff she’d had to cope with yesterday.

  She was almost to her locker when a couple of guys came out of a classroom on her right. “Hey, Tara. How’s it going?”

  It was Corey Palmer, Nikki’s hottie. Tara eyed the blue tips on his hair, then grinned. “Good. And you?”

  He gave her a high-five. “Good to go. Hang in there. Oh, hey . . . have you seen Nik?”

  “Not yet. I just got here.”

  “Dang. That girl won’t answer her phone and she has my homework in her car.”

  Tara grinned. “Sorry.”

  “Yeah, me too,” he said, and then headed down the hall.

  By the time she got to first hour, she was feeling good about the day. No one had dissed her. She hadn’t seen any lost or lingering wraiths, and Millicent hadn’t sent out any ghostly warnings. Even Henry was absent.

  She slid into her seat, then looked up, straight into Mrs. Farmer’s face. Yesterday she’d judged Tara without knowing all the facts. Tara wasn’t feeling all that kindly toward her.

  Let it go.

  Tara sighed. Millicent was right. Holding grudges never hurt anyone but the person doing the hating.

  She opened her book, pulled out the paper she’d written on Sinclair Lewis and took it up to the basket on Mrs. Farmer’s desk and dropped it in.

  “Thank you, Tara,” Mrs. Farmer said. “What did you think about Sinclair Lewis?”

  “To be honest, Mrs. Farmer, after the last few days, nothing I’ve read could compare with what’s been happening in my life.”

  Mrs. Farmer’s face turned pink.

  Tara turned around, returned to her seat and waited for class to start.

  The boy who’d called her a crack head yesterday managed to mutter ‘I’m sorry’ as he passed by her desk. The two girls who’d laughed rudely were silent. Tara felt vindicated, but still somewhat sad. Once again, she was the odd girl out, the new girl at school who had yet to fit in.

  Finally it was Friday. Homecoming. There would be a bonfire at the pep rally after school, then the football game would start at seven p.m. Tara didn’t know if she was going to go, but she was pretty sure she didn’t want to come face to face with Flynn and have him hurt her all over again. All week, they’d played at ignoring each other in every class and all over the campus, but she’d caught him looking at her a dozen times when he thought she wasn’t looking. She’d done the same. Each time he’d caught her staring, she’d quickly turned away.

  She couldn’t get past how awful this was.

  The last few days at school had been an eye-opener. Tara had learned something about herself. She wanted Flynn back in her life. She just didn’t think it was going to happen. Then Nikki, Mac and Penny had caught her on her way out of school Friday evening, offering to give her a ride to the bonfire.

  “I don’t know if I want to go,” Tara said. “I don’t want to run into Flynn and deal with a lot of drama.”

  Nikki made a face. “Forget Flynn. Just call your uncle and ask. It never hurts to ask.”

  “I guess,” Tara said, and quickly made the call. When her uncle answered, she didn’t wait for chit-chat. “Hey, Uncle Pat. Tonight is Homecoming and Nikki, Mac and Penny just offered me a ride to the pep rally and the game afterward.”

  “That’s great, honey, just remember to be home by midnight.”

  “Thanks a bunch, Uncle Pat. You rock.”

  “See you later alligator,” he said.

  Tara eyed her friends and sighed. “After while crocodile,” she mumbled, then disconnected.

  Mac and Penny giggled.

  Tara just shook her head. “You have no idea,”

  Nikki just shook her head. “No biggy. My Dad still plays air guitar in the kitchen when he’s helping Mama cook dinner.”

  Tara grinned. “Good to know I’m not the only one with a parent still locked in his past.”

  “So, can you go?” Nikki asked.

  “Yes. I can go.”

  “Ace,” Nikki said, and before Tara knew it, her night had been planned.

  She was going to the bonfire—with her BFFs. And she was going to the football game afterward. And she was going to have a good time.

  Tara felt like she was walking on air as Nikki dropped her off at her house. She needed to make sure her favorite jeans were clean, wash her hair, and . . . who knew? Maybe she would have fun after all.

  Chapter Nine

  Tara made a face at herself as she smeared on some lip gloss, then gave her dark hair a last sweep with the brush. She squinted at the mirror until she almost looked like Angelina Jolie, which made her feel as close to pretty as she ever did. She was wearing her favorite jeans and a gold t-shirt, which would be a great match to Stillwater’s blue and gold colors. Nikki had warned her to bring a sweatshirt because it was supposed to get cooler tonight, so she had her dark blue zip-up hoodie by the front door, ready to go. She had ten dollars and the house key in her pocket, and was anxiously waiting for Nikki to swing by and pick her up.

  When she saw her coming, her heart skipped a beat. Calm down, Tara. It’s just a pep rally.

&nbs
p; But it wasn’t just a pep rally. It was a step into belonging somewhere, with friends. Two things that had been sadly lacking from her past were friends and a boyfriend. She no longer had a boyfriend, but she had a midnight curfew and money in her pocket. Things weren’t all bad.

  Nikkie swung into the driveway and honked. Tara grabbed her hoodie and locked the door on her way out.

  “Where’s Corey?” Tara asked, as she got into the car.

  “He’s on the team, remember? They’re already there,” Nikki said.

  “Oh, right. Sorry. I’m not very good with sports.”

  Nikki grinned. “It’s okay. You have other skills.”

  Tara laughed. “Don’t remind me. I’m just hoping for an ordinary night.”

  “And hoping for a win, too.”

  “Right.”

  “So, first to the pep rally, then the game. Did you eat supper?”

  “No. I was too excited,” Tara confessed.

  “Cool. We can get dogs at the concession stand. They have good ones.”

  Tara nodded. “Are we picking up Mac and Penny, too?”

  “No. Mac usually picks up Penny because most of the time I’m with Corey.” Then she glanced at Tara. “Are you and Flynn still on the outs?”

  Tara nodded.

  “Don’t worry. Stuff usually works itself out.”

  “Or not,” Tara said. “Whatever happens, happens. I can’t worry about something I have no control over, you know?”

  “Totally,” Nikki said, and down the street they went.

  The pep rally was being held at the parking lot at Hamilton Field and when they arrived, it was already filling up fast. The pile of wood for the bonfire was huge, which explained the city fire truck parked nearby—obviously a ‘just in case of emergency’ backup plan.

  Tara got out of the car and walked with Nikki toward the gathering of students around the woodpile. Nikki stopped every few feet to talk to someone different. Some of the kids Tara knew. Some she’d seen around campus, and some were total strangers, but all of them included her in the fun. By the time they got to the actual bonfire, Tara couldn’t stop smiling. She saw Bethany and Mel and some of the other cheerleaders bouncing around the crowd with their pom poms, laughing and shouting back and forth to the kids who were gathering, keeping the mood high and the fun in gear. Prissy was standing within the perimeter of the crowd with a sad, wistful look on her face. Tara would have felt sorry for her, but the girl had brought every bit of her trouble onto herself. How wack was it to cheat? Beyond stupid, that’s what.