Undercover Justice

by Laura DeLanoy

  “What does Ms. Morley have against you Jed? She seems to always think the worst about you,” I asked Jed, touching his sleeve.

  Turning his hand over, he took my hand, “I think she found out about my juvie record, and decided I was a no good dropout, not worth her time,” I saw Kent smile behind his hand. What was with that? It wasn’t funny. That was awful and mean. “Kent!” I said giving him a kick under the desk. “That is not something to laugh about.”

  “Your right, Nora,” Kent struggled to say with a straight face, “That’s awful Jed.”

  Rolling his eyes at Kent, Jed said, “Thanks, I’m glad I have your support, Barton.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  The bell rang. I gathered up my stuff slowly, trying to put off walking up to Ms. Morley’s desk to get my notebook.

  “I’ll talk to you later Oll,” Jed told him, putting his hand casually on my waist as we walked up there. Just having it there gave me courage. What was it about Jed that made me feel so alive?

  “I am sorry for not working on my project, Ms. Morley?” I said, right away as soon as she looked up. “We already have our outline finished. It will be ready to turn in on Friday.”

  “I am glad to hear that Miss Barton,” she said a bit more calmly now. She didn’t look as upset. In fact she gave me a smile.

  “Is something wrong Ms. Morley? You don’t seem like yourself lately?” I asked trying to be polite. Besides, I was concerned about her. She always seemed so happy.

  “Thank you dear, but I am doing much better now. I just got a message back from a friend and everything I was worrying about is going to be taken care of.”

  “I am so glad to hear that,” I said sincerely.

  “Here is the notebook,” she said, handing it to me.

  “Mr. Greyson. I don’t know why Principle Culver seems taken with you. I for one don’t believe your reformed story. If you want to pass this class, I expect you to be here on time and to stay out of trouble.”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” Jed told her.

  “Now get to class, both of you.”

  “Thanks, have a good day Ms. Morley,” I said as we walked out the door.

  “That went better than I thought it would,” I told Jed, slowly walking down the hall to my locker.

  “And, you smell better than I ever thought you could,” Jed said, wrapping his arm around my waist to pull me close. He leaned down to bury his head in my neck.

  “Jed! People are watching!” I said, batting at his head.

  “So, let them,” Jed said grinning, giving my neck a quick kiss, before lifting his head.

  “You are going to get me in trouble again,” I said with exaggerated exasperation.

  “That’s me, trouble, especially for you. I want you to know that I am sorry if you get hurt because of me. I don’t want you to forget that. Promise me Nora,” Jed said seriously.

  “I promise, Jed. But it won’t be your fault. I know you will do everything you can to keep me safe,” I told him, looking into his worried eyes.

  “There are other ways of being hurt. I just don’t want you hurt,” he said leaning against the lockers as I pulled out the book I needed.

  “I know, but I trust you,” I said leaning up to give him a quick kiss on his check. “I have to get to class. See you later, ok.”

  “You can count on it,” he said, as he watched me walk away. Never had Jed felt so low as he did right then. He didn’t like lying ever but sometimes it came with the job. Lying to Nora was eating at his conscience. He didn’t know if he had the strength to keep doing it.

  “Hey! Leave her alone,” I heard him say.

  I glanced over my shoulder and saw Jed quickly approaching Marlene Baker. Sadly, she is the most unpopular girl in our senior class. She was overweight, homely and very shy and so didn’t stick up for herself when other kids made fun of her. I was ashamed to admit that I walked past her every day, without talking to her or sticking up for her.

  She was currently having trouble carrying a stack of books, a bag and what looked like a sweater as she struggled to get to her locker. She must have been struggling for a while, because she looked like she was going to cry.

  My heart broke, as I watched a few boys try to knock the stuff out of her hands and laugh.

  “I said, leave her alone!” Jed said grabbing the closest boy and shoving him out of the way. Jed quickly leaned down and picked up the things she had dropped and gave her a heart-stopping smile. Her face lit up as Jed charmed her into letting him help her get her locker open.

  I could tell that Jed had just made a friend. My heart warmed at the thought of how kind Jed was. He tried to hide it, but I suspected he was a big softy.

  The rest of the day went smoothly. Before I knew it, Kent was yelling at me to hurry up through the window of his Camaro. I kept looking for Jed, but his motorcycle was gone. He must have had somewhere to go after school. He didn’t mention it at lunch when I agreed to call him if he could come over and talk to dad about the list.

  Hurrying over to where Kent sat impatiently in his Camaro with the radio blaring, I climbed in.

  “Hold your horses. Why are you in such a big rush?” I asked him, settling my bag at my feet.

  “Charlotte said she would call me when she got home,” he said pulling out of the parking lot.

  “You just saw her after school,” I pointed out. “I think you have it bad for her.”

  “Yeah? So? At least mom and dad will like her.”Kent teased.

  True. I thought. Dad didn’t seem too thrilled with Jed. Again, being the only girl in the family was not always a good thing.

  Chapter 16

  “What have you got Greyson?” Sheriff Miller asked when Jed walked into the conference room at the Pine Hill Police station and sat down.

  “Hello sir, Lieutenant Davis, Detective Cooper,” Jed said nodding at each man. “From what we have found out so far, this could be a lot bigger than we thought. This society, somewhat secret, has been operating for over twenty-five years. It looks like kids who are in need of cash are selling their school papers to someone on the inside of at least one of the areas schools.”

  “Actually at every school in this county,” Mike Parker interrupted from the doorway. Quickly shutting the door behind him, he handed Jed a manila folder and sat down at the conference table near Jed. “Sorry I was late, I just finished typing up this report. I have been able to dig up three out of the five old high school records. At each of the three schools, I have found a list labeled C.C., but have not been able to see the actual list.”

  “Thanks, Parker,” Jed said, opening the folder. Scanning it quickly, he found that it was the same as the records they had found at Pine Hill High School.

  “From what I have determined, the guy we picked up at the park, Tony Whelvan works for Martin Vecelli. Most of you already know these two men. They both have records longer than my arm, although Vecelli’s is much more violent,” Jed spread out his notes and handed copies of the police report for the incident at the mill to each man seated at the table. “We know that Vecelli is not the main boss, because for one he is too young and doesn’t fit the twenty-five year time frame. The other reason we know he is not in charge is because, as stated in the testimony given by Ollie Henderson, there was another man at the mill with Vecelli who was giving him orders.”

  “Good work Greyson. How are you going to find out about this secret list?” Detective Cooper asked.

  “I have a lead on a 1981 graduate who may know something about the secret list from Pine Hill High,” Jed explained, choosing to keep the identity of Nora’s dad a secret. He didn’t know why, but he went with gut feeling.

  “Who is it?” Demanded Sheriff Miller.

  “I would rather not say sir. In the event that it pans out, I will included all the information in a detailed report that will be on your desk as soon as I get the information.”

  “I don’t appreciate being uninformed about what is going on Greyson,” Sher
iff Miller said angrily.

  “Greyson is right,” Lieutenant Davis interjected. “We want to keep this as quiet as possible, so the fewer people who know the better. I say we wait for Deputy Greyson to do his job Sheriff.”

  “You have until Monday,” Sheriff Miller told Jed, popping a piece of gum into his mouth. “I want a full report. I want to know who is behind this and why those kids are disappearing. That gives you a little under one week. If you can’t get it done, then I am pulling you off this unit and putting you on meter maid duty. Is that understood Greyson? This applies to you also Parker,” he said pointing his finger at Mike.

  “Yes, sir,” Jed and Mike echoed.

  “Good,” he said standing up, “I have an important dinner to get to. See you all on Monday.”

  He strode out of the office with an important air. The Sheriff had high political aspirations. Rumor had it, that the Sheriff thought he was too important to be just a local Sheriff. He had bigger plans. He routinely had an “important” lunch or dinner to attend, hoping to better his standing in the community.

  “Well,” Lieutenant Davis said, stuffing his copy of the report into his workbag. “I guess that means you boys had better get to work. Detective, please see me in my office, I have something else I would like to discuss with you.”

  “See you both later,” Detective Cooper said to Jed and Mike as he left.

  Mike got up and walked out the door.

  “Sir,” Jed said stopping the Lieutenant. “I have one other thing I wanted to mention. Two witnesses have reported that they smelled cinnamon at the crime scene.”

  Surprise showed on Lieutenant Davis’s face, quickly followed by recognition. “Thank you Greyson. Good Job. I will duly note it. You are right to keep this information just between us.”

  Jed headed out of the station, after a few minutes of talking baseball with Mike. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he noted that Nora had called while he was in the meeting. Dialing her number, he climbed onto his motorcycle and sat, while he waited for her to pick up.

  Hearing my phone ringing, I dug it out of my pocket. Recognizing it as Jed’s number I hurried into my room and shut the door.

  “Hello,” I said, pushing the connect button.

  “Hi,” his masculine voice drawled. “What’s going on? Did you talk to your father?”

  “Yes. Kent and I haven’t told him a lot, just that we needed to ask him some questions for our report, and you were hoping to sit in on it also. Was that ok?”

  “That’s great. Thanks. I am surprised; he agreed to talk to me. I got the impression that he doesn’t approve of me dating his little girl.”

  Dating? I blushed and my heart started beating faster. We hadn’t actually been on a date unless you counted going to Jed’s barn to watch the mare foal. Not knowing what to say, I was silent.

  Jed caught my silence, “What is it?”

  “Um… well,” I stammered.

  “Just spit it out, Nora,” Jed said amused. “I obviously said something wrong, but I won’t know what it is unless you tell me.”

  “Not wrong,” I said quickly, embarrassed. Now I was going to have to say something instead of just letting it go. “It’s just that you said something about dating. Are we dating?”

  Mortified, I waiting for his response. I couldn’t imagine facing Jed again if he laughed at me. He was much more worldly than me. Why would he want anything to do with me, when he could have someone like Vanessa?

  “So that’s it,” Jed laughed. “I wondered if you would catch that.”

  “Well I did,” I said, getting offended that he was laughing at me. He obviously hadn’t meant it the way I thought. I started to hang up the phone.

  “I’m glad,” I heard Jed say, as I was reaching for the end button.

  Putting the phone back to my ear, I asked, “You are?”

  “Jeeze Nora, I see we need to talk,” Jed laughed, and then changing the subject he asked. “What time did your dad say would be good for me to come over?”

  “Um.. Now is good,” I responded a little bit lost as to what Jed meant by having a talk.

  “Good. I’ll be there in ten minutes. Do you have any plans for dinner?”

  “No,” I said slowly.

  “I was hoping you would like to go out to dinner with me. I was thinking about trying that new steakhouse over in Clyde. Do you like to dance? I have heard that they have a live band every night this week, to promote their grand opening.”

  “Yes, I do like dancing and yes I’ll go out to dinner with you,” I said, getting excited about the prospect of a real date with Jed Greyson. It wouldn’t involve school, bad guys, or missing friends, just the two of us. Scrambling off my bed, I rushed into my closet to find something to wear.

  “Kent!” I yelled. Even though I was in my closet, I figured he would hear me being in the room next door.

  “What!” he yelled back.

  “Tell dad, Jed will be here in ten minutes to talk about our project!” I yelled back.

  “Will do!”

  “Do you two have to yell through the house?” my mom’s voice said from my bedroom startling me.

  Poking my head out, I said, “Sorry, I just don’t have much time to change my clothes before Jed gets here.”

  “Oh. Would that be the same Jed who stopped by last night looking for you and Kent?”

  “Yes,” I said distracted, flipping through my racks of clothing.

  “What are you doing honey? What you have on, looks very nice?” she said coming into my large walk in closet.

  Stopping, I turned to face her and said, “He asked me to dinner, mom.”

  Smiling, she nodded. “I figured as much. You like him don’t you.”

  Nodding, I said, “I do Mom. He is different from the other boys at school. There’s something about him. I can’t place it, but I just feel, so right when I am with him. Is that silly?”

  “No honey, it’s not. But I do want you to be careful. He is not like the other boys, and that is what worries me. I know that you are a smart and careful girl and have a heart for the Lord. If you like him, then I encourage you to pray about it and let the Lord lead you. ”

  “Thanks, mom,” I said kissing her on the cheek. “I have been praying about him. That’s partly why it feels right with him. He respects my faith.”

  “I’m glad to hear that Honey.”

  “Can you help me decide what to wear?” I asked walking over to my closet.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To that new place that just opened over in Clyde, there is supposed to be a band and dancing too.”

  “Then I know just the right outfit,” she said, heading to my more dressy clothes on the other side of the closet.

  “Jed’s probably in jeans mom,” I protested.

  “I’m not saying too dressy, but you need a good skirt that twirls don’t you now? Ah, here it is,” she said pulling out a cream colored skirt that fell just below my knee. It hugged my hips before flowing down in soft gathers. It was casual enough for dinner and dancing. In fact I thought it would go nicely with my new brown calf length boots and a soft turquoise blouse. “Thanks, mom,” I said, brushing out my hair.

  “You look nice. Now let’s get downstairs, before your Jed gets here.”

  My Jed. I liked the sound of that. The trouble was, I wasn’t sure if he did. I still needed to figure that out. If only I was better at this relationship stuff.

  Jed was going to be here any minute. I was nervous. My palms were sweaty and my heart was beating funny. I hurried down the stairs to wait for him.

  The sound of Jed’s motorcycle roaring up the driveway brought my dad out of his office. He looked over at me. “Why did you change your clothes?”

  I had forgotten about my dad telling me I couldn’t see Jed again. At a loss, I looked over at my mom who was giving me the silent sign. I guess she was on my side.

  Thinking fast I said, “Um...I have a date with someone at school from the scie
nce club.”

  “The science club? That’s great Nora. You look very nice by the way,” he said relieved.

  “Thanks,” I said, as Jed knocked on the door. Pulling it open, I smiled, “Hi Jed, come on in.”

  Stepping through the door, his gaze traveled from my head all the way down to my toes. From the heated look in his eyes, I knew he approved. I think my dad must have caught that look because he quickly said, “She has a date. A guy from the science club.” It was almost comical the way my dad looked at Jed, waiting for his reaction.

  I tried to catch his eye to make sure he knew what I was doing. He didn’t look right at me, so I couldn’t be sure he got it. I held my breath as Jed said casually, “The science club huh? Maybe I know him.”

  I sighed in relief. “Nope. Don’t think so,” I said, quickly steering Jed into my dad’s office, before he could say anything else. I pinched his arm on the way, just in case he didn’t get my other hints. He sent an amused glance my way. I pretended not to see it.

  My mom, ever the gracious host asked Jed, “Can I get you anything to drink? Pop? Lemonade?”

  “No thank you, ma’am,” Jed replied in a deep gracious voice. He gave every impression of being a polite gentlemen. It was only when you got a good look at him that he oozed danger and appeal. The very last way I would describe Jed would be as polite and well mannered. In fact, I would almost describe him as a modern day pirate, with his dark good looks, and his dominant personality.

  Beaming at Jed, she said, “Then I will leave you to your talk.” Shutting the door, she left us to explain to my father what was going on. What are we going to tell him? I didn’t want to think that he was involved in this.

  I sat down in the big overstuffed loveseat that sat in the corner of his office. My dad sat in his chair behind the desk. I think it made him feel like he had more control. Maybe he was giving Jed a subtle message that he was in charge. Kent perched on the edge of dad’s desk while Jed leaned against the wall close to the door.

  Jed spoke before I could think of what to say. “Thank you for meeting with us Mr. Barton. Our project is on the Mayor’s office and we thought you might be able to help us with something we came across.”