The Complete Bleaker Trilogy Box-set

by Jeremy Peterson

  The curtain ruffled next to the door, and Trent could hear more rustling. He knocked a third time; this time more forcefully. Finally, the door opened, but only a crack.

  “Hello,” the man said. “Oh, Officer, what can I do for you?” He ran a hand through his messy hair and stared his wide, unblinking eyes through the crack in the door.

  “Are you Troy Baker? History teacher at the high school?”

  “Uh, yes I am. What can I do for you?”

  “You can invite me in, for starters. There’s a storm going on.”

  “I’m sorry, but I have company. It’s not a good time.”

  “A date?” Trent asked.

  “Yes. No! It’s not a … that’s my business, and I don’t see how it’s any concern of yours.”

  “Right. Well, I was told Jill Teargarden might be with you.”

  “Wait, What? No, she isn’t … What? Are you kidding me?”

  “Are you done?” Trent asked.

  “That’s a mistake. A lie. A bald-faced lie!”

  “Right. Can I come in and check so we can all move on. Like I said, it’s cold out here, and I’m freezing my ass off.”

  “Um, sure. But you brought a warrant, right … to search my premises?”

  Trent sighed. “Really? We’re gonna’ do it like this? All right, I’ll be back in fifteen minutes with that warrant, then we can do it the hard way.”

  “I’m just exercising my constitutional—” The teacher didn’t bother to finish, as Trent had already hurried back to the cruiser.

  Of course, the Deputy couldn’t get a warrant in fifteen minutes in the best of circumstances, (and these were far from the best circumstances) but he was willing to bet Troy Baker didn’t know that.

  Trent drove the cruiser to the end of the block and turned east into the first intersection. Once he was certain he was out of the teacher’s sight, Trent flipped an illegal U-turn and slowly rolled up to the corner, squinting through the storm; towards Mr. Baker’s apartment.

  Trent wagered with himself that the teacher wouldn’t wait more than ten minutes before sending the girl out into the storm. As it turned out, Mr. Baker waited less than five. The Deputy saw her scamper across the street. It was still snowing and the high winds made visibility a real problem. Trent couldn’t be sure if it was Jill. In fact, through this weather, he couldn’t be sure it was human. But the Deputy didn’t need to see. He knew it was her.

  She’s heading for the gas station.

  Trent started the engine, pulled the cruiser into the intersection, and followed the teenager. She would beat him there, but Trent would catch up with her.

  He just kicked her out in the middle of what will almost certainly be one of the most dangerous storms in recent memory. I’m not done with Mr. Baker.

  He pulled up to the Texaco station, and careful not to slip on the sidewalk, hustled into the store. Big Jim Hanscomb sat behind the counter, thumbing through his phone. He glanced up as Trent walked in. “Officer,” he said, nodding.

  “Not pretty out there, Jim.”

  “It sure ain't. We should all be home, curled up next to the fire with a hot drink in our hands.”

  “Or a cold one,” Trent offered with a wink.

  “Even better … even better.”

  Trent took a left at the counter, towards the cooler and the racks of candy and chips. He saw a flash of wet, brown hair just before the women’s bathroom door slammed shut.

  Shit.

  He wandered the aisles for a few moments and then, picturing the girl climbing out of the bathroom window, asked Big Jim at the front counter if the ladies bathroom had a window large enough to crawl through.

  “It does not, as a matter of fact,” Jim said. With the raise of an eyebrow, he added, “Strange question, Officer.”

  “Is it?” Trent asked. Then, in a much louder voice, he said, “I’ll see ya later, Jim.”

  Jim stared at the Deputy with a more bewildered look than usual, but he understood his job was to be polite and not ask questions, so he simply said, “Be safe out there, Officer.”

  Trent opened the door, causing the bell overhead to chime, but instead of exiting, he simply let the door shut. Jim stared at him quizzically. Trent put his fingers to his lips and smiled. A few moments later, the women’s restroom door opened and Jill Teargarden stepped out. She saw Trent and slumped her shoulders.

  “Hi, Jill.” She didn’t respond. Instead, she turned to the cooler and reached for a Diet Mt. Dew. “Grab me one too, would ya? On me.” Jill looked at the deputy skeptically, and then grabbed the second soda. With the drinks in hand, she reached for a king-sized Snickers, her eyes still on Trent, daring him to stop her.

  “That stuff will kill you, ya know?” Trent said.

  “That’s why I grabbed the Diet Dew.”

  “Right.”

  After setting the chocolate and soda on the counter, she tilted her head towards the rack of cigarettes.

  “Yeah, not happening. Nice try, though,” Trent said.

  Jill made a pouty face and shrugged her shoulders.

  Behind the counter, Jim looked from Trent, to the girl, then back to Trent. Finally, Trent gave him the okay and Jim rang up the purchases. The officer paid with his debit card and signed the receipt. Jill held out his soda and he took it. After thanking her for the drink (that he had paid for), he looked to Jim behind the counter. “Do you mind?”

  After a moment’s hesitation, Jim shook his head, “No, not at all. I need to log yesterdays …” His words trailed off as he dipped into the tiny office behind the counter.

  “I have to get home,” Jill said.

  “You do have to get home,” Trent said. “Your parents are worried about you.

  “Are they? I mean, are they really torn up about it?”

  Trent frowned. “They are as a matter of fact. Been on the phone with ‘em myself.”

  “You’ve been on the phone with my parents, huh?”

  “That’s right. You’re mother has been worried sick.”

  The girl let out a chuckle that didn’t have even a hint of humor in it. “Impressive. I stopped trying to call her years ago. Always got the same message, ‘Sara don’t live here no more’, or ‘this number has been disconnected or is no longer in use’. Did you tell her to give me a call sometime?”

  Trent only looked at her confused.

  “I live with my Grandma. My Mom dipped out when I was a baby. I’m surprised you didn’t know that, what with all the talking you’ve done with her.”

  “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean—I shouldn’t have misrepresented myself that way. My boss talked with … your guardian, and he expressed to me how worried everyone was about you.”

  “Hmm,” she said as sarcastically as humanly possible, “Is that so?”

  “You’re not in trouble, you know?”

  Jill looked at him skeptically. “Well, good. I shouldn’t be. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Glad to hear that,” Trent said. “Would you sit with me at the table for a bit.” He motioned to one of two sets of small tables next to the window.

  “I guess.”

  “Thanks.”

  Jill set her drink down on the table and collapsed into the chair. She leaned back and tore the wrapper from her chocolate bar.

  Trent sat across from her. “I’ve got to call your Grandmother and let her know you’re safe.” She didn’t respond. “So, does he treat you right?”

  “Who?”

  Trent sighed. “Does he make you do things that you don’t want to do?”

  A short burst of laughter escaped before Jill could tamp it down. “Really? You know I’ll be eighteen in five months.”

  “Really?” Trent said, using her word. “So you’re seventeen and a half?”

  Her smile wilted, and she went back to her candy bar.

  “Listen, I don’t want to fight with you. And like I said, you’re not in any trouble. In fact, at this point, I don’t even care about your tea
cher. I’m just glad you’re okay. It’s a nightmare out there.” He pointed to the window. The ice had finally stopped, but the snow was coming down even harder than before. It was already up to mid-calf and there appeared to be no end in sight.

  “It’s like something outta one of those disaster movies,” she said.

  Trent smiled at her. “It sure is. Should we call your Grandmother and let her know that you’re okay?”

  Jill shrugged and cast her eyes to the floor.

  “Okay, good. What’s the number?”

  Jill gave him the number and he dialed. After four rings, Trent said, “Hello, Mrs. Teargarden?” As he spoke her name, he saw Jill flinch.

  On the other end of the line, Jill’s Grandma said, “It’s Miss Finch, and who’s asking?”

  “I’m sorry, Miss Finch. This is Deputy York. I just wanted to let you know that I have found Jill, and she’s okay.”

  “What? Oh! You found Jill? Well that’s good … that’s good.”

  “Yes, she’s with me now and is doing just fine.”

  “Good. You send her home with a couple of packs of smokes, would you? She knows the brand. Oh, and you should probably drive her, or she’ll likely just run into another boy, and I might not see her for a week.”

  Trent looked to Jill, and he could tell she was trying to look like she wasn’t listening. He suddenly felt a desperate need to keep her from hearing her Grandmother’s side of the conversation. “Yes, ma’am, I’ll see what we can do towards that. It may be awhile yet. But once again, she’s safe and will be home soon.”

  “Fine, but remember what I said about letting her wander home by herself. No telling what type of foolishness she would attract.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Please call us if you have any questions. Goodbye, Miss Finch.” He hung up the phone before gramma could say anything else that would make it worse.

  “Is she pissed?” Jill asked.

  Trent shrugged and shook his head at the same time … which Jill would have said is a normal reaction to her Good ole’ gramma.

  “So I guess you gotta’ take me home, huh?”

  “You ready?”

  She shrugged, “Not really.”

  They removed the trash from their table and headed for the door.

  “Thanks, Jim,” Trent said as they exited the Texaco station.

  Jim tipped the peak of his baseball cap and watched as the two disappeared into the swirling snow. The cold breeze they let in slithered up the clerk’s spine. He shivered and then went back to scrolling on his phone.

  As Trent pulled away from the gas station, he glanced at his passenger. Jill caught his gaze.

  “What?” she asked.

  “You went to school with Leo Barrows, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah, I did. It sucks what happened to him. Of all the tools I got to go to school with, it sucks that he was the one who offed himself.”

  “You guys were friends?”

  “Sure. I mean we weren’t super-close or anything, be we hung quite a bit. He wasn’t like most guys his age, you know, trying so hard to be cool that you turn into this giant douche. He was completely obsessed with movies.”

  Trent thought of Leo’s final movie in his coat pocket.

  “Is that so?”

  “Oh yeah. Did you ever see that horror movie he made? It was kinda cheesy, but that final scene! Scary as shit!” Jill shot a glance towards the officer, “Oops, sorry about the language.”

  “I’ve never seen it,” the Deputy said. He added, “But I’d like to. Do you know where can I find a copy?”

  “I’m not sure, YouTube maybe. Leo gave me a DVD copy of it a while back. It does suck what happened to him. He was kind of sweet.”

  “Could I borrow your copy of it?”

  “I don’t see why not, I guess. What’s this about?”

  “I’d just like to see it … if I could.”

  “Okay, sure. Are you investigating Leo’s suicide or something? Was it a suicide?”

  Trent shot her a stern look from behind the wheel. “Take it easy. I’d just like to see the movie, that’s all.”

  “All right, all right … I was just asking. Mainly ‘cause I think the suicide story is bullshit. But you’re the cop. What do I know?”

  “What do you know?” Trent asked.

  Jill smiled coyly at the Officer. “Probably nothing.”

  “Could you tell me what you probably don’t know about him sometime?”

  “Yeah,” Jill said, “I think I could do that. Why don’t I grab my copy of his movie, and then … we could talk today?”

  “I think we just need to get you home. But thanks for the offer.”

  “Oh, come on, you know you’d be saving me from a colossal ass chewing. You do wanna’ save me, don’t you?”

  “I can’t save you,” the Deputy said.

  “Not with that attitude you can’t.”

  Trent shook his head and looked back to the road. “It would be a big help—”

  “Yes! Thank you, Officer, uh, Trent, really.”

  “It’s Officer York. And don’t thank me yet. You’ll have to ask your Grandmother if it’s okay.”

  Jill smiled. “I think Grams will be fine. But I’ll tell her what’s up when I stop to grab the movie. Good?”

  “Sure. This is a big help. Thank you.”

  “No problem. This could be fun.” She frowned before continuing, “I don’t … I mean … I’m sorry about Leo, he really was my friend.”

  “I understand. If you don’t mind me asking, were you two …”

  “No. Not really. We flirted around a bit, I guess. And he was nice enough … and cute. But it was never like that.” She looked away from the Deputy and out into the storm. “I don’t know, maybe it should have been. Oh, well, too late now.”

  “Well, it won’t do you any good to dwell on it now.”

  “Yeah,” Jill said, although Trent didn’t think she was going to take his advice. She shook her head as if to reboot, then said, “He gave me a copy of his movie because I was in it. It was the only payment he offered.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I only worked a day. But I had two lines! You want to hear ‘em?”

  Trent, still piloting the cruiser through the snowy streets, nodded.

  She cleared her throat. “Okay, here goes. ‘Hey, Derek, good game last night. You really know how to score.’ Yup, you guessed it. They cast me as the school slut. It was a real reach for me, too. My luck I’ll probably get type-casted now.”

  It had the sound of a joke she had told before. Trent didn’t laugh. Instead, he told his own. “I hope the cinematography is better than the dialog.”

  “Hope in one hand and … I think you know the rest of that saying.”

  This time, Trent did chuckle.

  He pulled onto her street. “Which one is yours?”

  Jill pointed to a small boxy house in the middle. It was nearly buried in snow, and they both thought if the snow didn’t stop soon, the little house might disappear altogether.

  “Just wait here. I’ll be right back,” she said.

  “I should explain to your guardian what this is about.”

  “I’d rather you didn’t. My ‘guardian’ will be just fine with any explanation.”

  “Fair enough. If this isn’t a good time, we can do it later.”

  Jill gave him a crooked smile and shook her head. “I’ll be right back.”

  Ten minutes later, Jill stepped out of her house. A snowdrift of nearly two feet greeted her at the bottom of her porch. She jogged down the sidewalk, raising her knees high like an athlete high stepping through a tire drill. Trent opened the passenger door as she arrived. She hopped in, bringing a swirl of wind and snow with her. Jill exhaled loudly and brushed the snow from her hair.

  “Got it,” she said, holding up a compact disk in a cardboard case.

  “How’s your Grandma?”

  “A little pissed I didn’t bring her any smokes.”

  “Oh, I didn’t think she
was serious.”

  “Serious as a heart attack. Pun intended. So, where are we going to watch this?”

  “I have someone in custody at the office, so I’m thinking the library might be our best bet.”

  “Sounds good,” Jill said. “You think they’ll be open in this?” She pointed her thumb towards the storm outside her window.

  “Hmm. Good question. Let’s find out.”

  Trent drove down Main Street and turned north on 3rd.

  “It looks abandoned,” Jill said. The sign that read Chaplin Hill’s Public Library was lost in a snowdrift.

  “Everything looks abandoned right now.”

  “True. Are we gonna’ stop?”

  “What choice do we have?” Trent said.

  “Isn’t there, like a police station … or something?”

  Trent chuckled. “We have a holding cell.” He thought of old Jerry just sitting there, waiting for his return. “It doesn’t have the necessary tools, so to speak, for what we need.”

  “How about your house? Does that have the necessary tools? Which is what, a DVD player and coffee maker?”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Watching the video and asking his questions would be easiest at home, but it didn’t feel right. And it wouldn’t look good. “Let me check the library. Wait here.”

  He parked the cruiser on the street and hopped out. Behind him, the town’s only snowplow rumbled a block over. Trent jumped up the steps and tugged on the door. Locked, as he figured it would be.

  “I guess it’s your place, huh?” Jill asked, as the Officer climbed back into the cab.

  He sighed. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  As they stepped into his house, Trent asked, “Do you mind taking off your shoes, Jan—” He stopped himself, unsure of what he was about to say.

  “What?” Jill asked.

  “Um, it’s just …”

  “Sure, no problem. We don’t want to track this stuff through your house. It’s nice by the way. Very… clean.”

  Trent shrugged and turned towards the kitchen. Jill followed.

  “Can I make some coffee?” she asked.

  “You’re too young for coffee.”