“Go to work and leave your car, but call in sick and take the spare we keep at the library,” the voice commanded. “If you can get them alone, then take them out one at a time until you feel the threat is contained.”
“I can try, but if the whole group goes missing, their families will raise a stink.”
“You let me worry about that. I have just the thing to keep at least one of them from doing anything rash.”
“Very well. I’ll do as you say and call you back when I need a pick up.”
“See that you do.” The click was audible this time and he shifted the vehicle into drive.
He followed Sunni to the library and parked in the rear.
Maybe he would be able to keep them chasing their tails while he took care of the nosiest snoopers.
Chapter 13
“What do you think we’ll find in the library?” Perri asked as she opened the door, leading into the back of the school.
She keyed in her private number to turn off the alarm and turned the hallway light on.
“We can only hope that there’s something we can turn into the police so that they get these horrible people out of our schools.” Kristi’s voice echoed down the empty hallway, making it eerily silent without the students.
“Will we be able to get into the library? Doesn’t each classroom have different locks?” Kristi whispered as she followed Perri.
“We have a master key that fits most of the common use rooms, and individual classrooms we don’t normally lock. I think the office has a key for those. As the counselor, I have my own locked office.” Perri moved confidently through the maze of look-alike hallways.
“Here we go.” The door leading into the library wasn’t even locked when Perri turned the knob.
“Whoa, hold on a minute. Do you smell a trap?”
“Huh? Why would it be a trap? You’ve been watching too many scary movies.” Perri played into Kristi’s fears by adding, “Text Olive and let her know we’re here, just in case.”
The light made it seem really dark out in the hallway.
“I hope no one drives by and sees the lights on and wonders what’s going on in here.” Kristi shivered as they closed the door behind them.
“This room only looks out on the courtyard, which is enclosed so that kids don’t sneak off the grounds during lunch,” Perri answered as she walked quickly to the checkout counter. “There should be something back here or in the office because they wouldn’t want the kids to have access unless they handed it to them.” She started opening cabinets and drawers loudly.
“This isn’t the feeling I was envisioning last night about doing detention in the library. I feel really self-conscious, like someone’s going to jump out at us any moment.” Kristi continued to watch the door to make sure no one entered after them.
“Here, help me by holding the books I shake out. I don’t want us to really harm the books or trash the library. The last thing we need is to get in trouble with the police.”
Perri startled Kristi by thrusting books into her arms as she sorted through them.
All the books on the return cart were normal, and it wasn’t until Perri turned to survey the room that Kristi spotted a stack of books sitting on the bottom shelf, next to her feet.
Bending closer to examine them, Kristi noticed they were all classics with the covers missing or taped together. She almost dismissed them when she noticed a marker slash on the bindings.
“Hey, Perri, wouldn’t they use the same color on all these books if they were going to discard them or they needed fixing? These all have different markings on them.” Kristi pulled the stack into her arms and carefully lifted them onto the counter, just in case they really were old books in need of help.
“Hmm, you may be onto something, Kristi. They’re books you wouldn’t normally notice because of their age, but they’re just classics, like Romeo and Juliet.” The light dawned as Perri read the first title.
“Don’t they use poison in that book to kill someone?” Kristi asked cautiously. She had finished high school, but she had been more worried about boys and really hadn’t paid much attention to the literature books the teacher had assigned.
“Yes, they did. In fact, all these books are about suicides and deaths, Shakespeare’s Tragedies.” Perri started to flip through the books when she discovered the hollowed-out insides.
“Kristi, take pictures of this. Oh, my God! All these books have baggies of drugs in them.” Perri couldn’t believe this was happening on school property.
Kristi snapped pictures from all angles as Perri held up each book.
“Uh, Perri? They also have our fingerprints on them now.”
“Son of an old man,” Perri exclaimed. “Your knowledge of crime shows might come in handy. How do we clean them off?”
“If we tamper with them, it’ll take the bad guys’ prints off as well.” Kristi frowned in frustration.
“I’ll put them back where they were. We can explain it if they ask us about it. We’ll tell them the truth, we were looking for evidence,” Perri stated firmly.
“Or we were planting it. Hey, it’s not my fault that’s the conclusion they’ll come to and throw out the case. We have to find more evidence then just this.”
“Let’s take a look in the office, because there are only one or two pills in each one of these books. I know they have to have more stashed somewhere.”
Kristi handed her a pair of gloves from her purse to keep them from leaving more prints for the police.
“Why on earth do you have latex gloves in your purse?” Perri took the offered gloves and started to put them on.
“Well, Carolina—” Kristi started, but Perri cut her off.
“Enough said.”
The ringing of Kristi’s phone interrupted their search.
“Go ahead. I’ll take this and join you.” Kristi motioned Perri to continue without her.
“What’s going on, sweetie?” Kristi asked her daughter, Faith.
“I’m not sure exactly. Carolina heard something and walked outside to check it out and well, she hasn’t come back. Mommy, she’s been gone over thirty minutes because the next cartoons started.”
Kristi heard Chloe in the background. “Mommy, come home. I’m scared.”
“Game over!” Kristi threw her hands up. “I’ll be right there, sweetie. Stay inside until I get there, and don’t open the door unless it’s Miss Carolina, okay?”
“Yes, Mommy. Please, hurry,” Faith whispered.
“Just go watch the new cartoon and I’ll be there before it’s over. I’m sure nothing is wrong and Miss Carolina got stuck chasing squirrels or something. You know how she is about losing track of time.” Kristi tried to reassure them.
“We’ll be okay, but we’re getting hungry.” Faith, the older of the two, agreed to keep her sister calm.
“Bye.” Kristi took off running through the shelves of books to the office in the back.
“Perri, I have to go now!” Kristi shouted.
“What happened?” Perri asked, worried as Kristi tried to catch her breath.
“Carolina is missing and my kids are alone. I don’t want to leave you here, but I’ve got to go home.” She drew in a gulp of air.
“Don’t panic. We know how she is, but you do have to go home.” Perri walked back to the office and locked it up.
“I can always come back tomorrow if we need to look around some more.”
They both began to hurry through the halls until they saw the hall where they had left the light on as they came in.
“Son of a serpent. I need to get my laptop from my office. You go ahead and I’ll go check in with Olive and see where we stand.”
“Are you sure?” Kristi asked doubtfully.
“Yeah, I have this. I do work here.” Perri grinned. “It won’t take me long and I’ll be right behind you.”
“All right. If it wasn’t my kids, well…” Kristi blew Perri a kiss as she flew out the door.
Kristi’s taillights hadn’t even hit the exit when a hand clasped over Perri’s mouth.
She smelled something like bleach, but couldn’t place it. As consciousness left her, the person behind her grunted as her body’s full weight landed on them.
Perri was lowered into a trash cart on wheels. The figure picked up her phone and tucked it into their pocket as they made their way toward the exit.
The cart was pushed out into the cold, but Perri was oblivious to everything as the figure punched in a code to arm the alarm.
The cart was taken out by the dumpster, but instead of dumping it into the dumpster, the vehicle parked next to it had the trunk open already to hide the limp body quickly.
A cover was placed over Perri since the temperatures were dropping, as the cold front continued to make its way across the state. They didn’t want her dead, just incapacitated.
The cart was pushed behind the dumpster and the figure got into the vehicle, then drove calmly out of the parking lot.
No one was looking for Perri, and by the time anyone figured out where she was, any evidence she had found would be long gone, and so would she.
------------------
Sunni watched as Alexander walked into the main branch of the library. She sat in her car for about thirty minutes before checking in with Olive.
Sunni: How is everyone doing? Has Miles made it to Zach’s house yet?
Olive: Yes, he is headed your way.
Sunni: Did Perri and Kristi find anything?
Olive: They are looking in the library now. I’ll let you know if they find something.
Sunni: I can’t sit here much longer. I’m going to check out some books and see if he is working.
Olive: Be careful! Don’t blow your cover.
Sunni: Of course.
Sunni opened the car door, letting in the bitter cold wind. She pulled her coat tighter and slung her purse over her shoulder. The short walk to the front doors made the warmth inside a welcome relief.
Sunni went to the desk, craning her head to look at everything, hoping to spot Alexander.
“May I help you?” the attractive young lady behind the counter asked.
“Well, I was hoping to find some books on grief and how to deal with it.” Sunni thought it would be a good idea to get something plausible.
“Oh, sure. Just follow me.”
She looked for a name tag. “Heidi, you seem very young to be working here.” Sunni couldn’t help but question her youthful knowledge.
“I get that all of the time. I’m close to thirty now, but most people don’t even think I’m old enough to drink.” She smiled, not taking insult to Sunni’s question.
“My goodness. I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m not thinking clearly. My son’s friend died recently and I wanted a way to talk to him about her death.”
“The girl who died of an overdose? That was so sad. I’m very sorry.” Heidi walked toward the back set of shelves in an area that had seen better days.
“Most people just use the internet these days, and most of our patrons are here to read fiction books, use the computers, or bring children to get books so the non-fiction books don’t see much use these days,” Heidi informed her as she looked for the correct section of self-help that would have books on grief.
“We have some here and in the religious section, further down this row. If there’s anything else I can help you with, please let me know.” Heidi began to walk away when Sunni stopped her.
“Actually, do you know if they have books on this in the high school library? I’m hoping my son can look a few up somewhere he would feel more comfortable.” She couldn’t think of a natural way to include Alexander in the conversation.
“All libraries are shelved according to the Dewey Decimal system. So, the numbers on the spines for any books you check out would be in the same section he would look in to find similar books.” Heidi frowned. “One of our librarians works at the high school library, and he might be able to help your son find what he’s looking for.”
“Is he here today? If so, I could ask him to recommend some to my son when he goes in to study,” Sunni asked, trying to sound casual.
“No. He called in to say he wasn’t going to be able to make it.” Heidi shrugged. “He’s never done that before, now that I think about it.”
“I’m sure with this weather, it could cause all sorts of problems,” Sunni suggested helpfully.
Heidi smiled. “I’ll be up front if you need me.”
Sunni glanced quickly at the books on grief and picked out a few that looked like they might be helpful.
She pulled out her phone and quietly texted Olive.
Sunni: Alexander is not here. I followed him and his car turned in here, but he never showed inside.
She quickly turned the sound off so that she wouldn’t get caught using a cell phone in the library.
Olive: Termites! Where do you think he went?
Sunni: I don’t know, but I’m going to check out here and head over to the school. Let Miles know.
Olive: Will do. Be careful.
It took Sunni twenty minutes to get a library card and get checked out. By the time she drove up to the school, it was deserted. As she circled the school building, she didn’t see Kristi or Perri’s cars.
She pulled over and called Olive.
“They’re not here, either one of them. In fact, the school is completely empty,” Sunni yelled, panicking.
“Kristi got a phone call and had to race home. Caroline went to check on something and left the girls alone.”
“Oh, no. What about Perri? She should still be here, right?” Sunni tried to calm down and not assume the worst.
“I haven’t heard from Perri, but Kristi texted to say she made it home and was checking on Carolina to see what was wrong,” Olive responded.
“Hold on, someone’s pulling into the school driveway.” Sunni waited until the car pulled even with her, and she found Miles rolling down the window.
“It’s okay, it’s Miles. We’ll call back in a minute when we know something.”
“All right. I’ll be finishing up my work here and heading home. If you need me in the next thirty minutes, then call.” Olive hung up with a click.
Sunni got out of her car and got into the passenger seat of Mile’s smaller SUV.
“Hey, I made it to Zach’s house just before he left and was able to get the tracker on his vehicle. I came straight over here. What’s going on?”
“We’re not sure. Alexander went to the library, but never made it inside. I saw him enter the building, but they said he called off today. Perri and Kristi left, but I haven’t heard what they found.” Sunni gave him the short version.
“Did Olive say if they found anything?” Miles questioned eagerly.
“She didn’t. Kristi had to leave so quickly, she hasn’t told us what, if anything, they found. I’m going to call Perri.”
She immediately began dialing Perri’s number. “It went straight to voicemail. Why would she turn her phone off?”
Miles saw the panic filling Sunni’s face. “Now, let’s not assume anything. I have her husband, Gerald’s, number, and I’ll just give him a call and see if she made it home. There are all sorts of reasons she might not be answering her phone.”
He hit the send button. “I don’t mean to bother you, but have you heard from Perri in the last little bit?” Miles put the phone on speaker so that Sunni could hear what Gerald had to say as well.
“Sorry, I haven’t. She went to meet your Scooby gang this morning for breakfast, and then she was going to do the grocery shopping before she headed home. She didn’t want to go out again after she got home,” Gerald informed him, unconcerned.
“Her cell phone is going straight to voicemail.”
“That happens more often than you would think, with several teenagers in the house. They’re always unplugging our phones to charge their devices. So, we think ours is charged because it should be, but we lea
ve the house with less than full batteries.” Gerald sounded slightly distracted.
“I can have her call you when she comes home,” Gerald offered.
“Ah, no, I don’t think that’s necessary,” Miles replied.
“Mr. Gerald? I’m really paranoid these days, so I would appreciate it if she could call one of us and let us know what was going on,” Sunni requested.
“Who’s this?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s Sunni from the MOMs group.”
“Yes, she’s mentioned you. I’ll have her get a hold of one you as soon as she gets home,” Gerald promised.
“That’s all we can ask for. Thank you so much,” Sunni gushed gratefully.
Miles looked at Sunni. “Are you still worried about Aunt Marie?”
“Yes, and every little thing just makes me think they took another one of us out.”
“Who?” Miles questioned. “Who is trying to take us out?”
“This group of drug smugglers. We must be getting too close to the truth, so they’re trying to keep us confused and trying to find each other. First Aunt Marie, Carolina, and now Perri. How will making us disappear keep them from getting caught?” Sunni asked as tears ran down her face.
“For starters, only Aunt Marie is missing. Carolina is just pulling one of her stunts and forgot what she was doing with Kristi’s kids. Perri’s just not answering her phone, which according to Gerald is not unusual. Let’s not borrow trouble unless we have to, okay?” Miles pulled his dad bag from the back seat and handed Sunni a tissue.
“I know all this in my head, but I just have this gut feeling it’s all connected. They must know we’ve been trying to find something to take to the police, and so they’re lashing back, like one of those big cartels.” Sunni’s hand flew to her mouth. “What if we’re dealing with a cartel?”
“Sunni, I know you’re really worried, but I think you need to go home and spend some time with your family. They need you too, and can feel the tension coming from you.” She started to protest, but Miles cut her off. “No, go home. Talk to Daniel about this, give him a hug. We can’t do anything right now, so take this opportunity to hold the family you do have close.
The Mommy Detectives and the Bingo Hall Mystery Page 13
