Rebel Princess - Book 2 (The Hope Saga) (15 page)

“We’ll just see about that,” Brett said, and he grabbed my hand and stormed out of the room.

***

Things were rough for weeks, but Brett’s dad didn’t bother reporting us; I was sure that had a lot to do with the fact that in spite of his tough-guy act, he didn’t want to lose the love and respect of his one and only son. Brett’s sister, Gina, stuck up for us and I was glad she took our side. She was in her twenties and had children herself. It shocked me when his parents finally gave us their blessing. I, in return, promised not to be a bad example and that I would give up my rebel ways. I even gave his parents a fresh batch of strawberries and other vegetables in a handmade basket, and they seemed to enjoy the peace offering.

After a few more weeks, they became even more civil to me. They really had no choice, because Brett made it very clear how much he loved me, and they knew that he would leave with me forever if they tried to rip us apart.

Before I knew it, three months had flown by. Being able to date Brett publically was the most wonderful thing, and I never took it for granted. I held his hand and gave him kisses every chance I got. 

Chapter 23

I decided to leave the apartment. My aunt was sad because Mr. Tams had gotten back together with his ex-wife. I thought my aunt could do better. She was hurting now, but I knew she could find better. I gave her lots of hugs and tried to console her, but she just wanted to be alone.

I was sitting on the couch in the lobby, reading an adventure novel, when a bunch of commotion erupted around me. When I realized it was because another girl had been murdered, my heart began to race in my chest.

I ran to the east lobby, where Lizzy Sandara’s lifeless body was lying. I gasped at the sight of the black and blue marks on her neck.
What a brutal end to such a beautiful girl, another precious life destroyed,
I thought. Lizzy had been such a vibrant young woman, and she certainly didn’t deserve such a fate, to have her life snuffed out when she unknowingly crossed paths with pure evil.  My stomach clenched, and a bubble of nausea sent bitter bile up my throat.
Who would do such a horrible thing?
I walked over and gently closed her eyes, then said a prayer.

When I glanced down at her again, a flash of blue caught my eye, a flower petal tangled in her hair. I’d never seen anything like it, and no one else seemed to notice it. I reached down and pulled it out of her hair, just as workers and security personnel shouted for us to get away. For safekeeping, I stuffed the petal carefully inside the book I was reading.

Rachel walked over to me, weeping. “It’s so awful!” she said. “When are they gonna catch this guy?”

After a few minutes, we went back to my room, and I showed Rachel the petal.

“Are you sure you shoulda taken that?” she asked. “I mean, it
is
evidence, right?”

“Yes, and that’s exactly why I took it. You know Mr. Tams and those other useless officials are never going to solve this mystery. We have a better chance of finding the strangler ourselves. I found my stalker, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, I guess. What kind of petal do you think it is?” she asked, her voice wavering, as she was still traumatized by Lizzy’s death.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I’ve never seen a flower like it before.”

“Don’t you have some reference books?”

“Yeah! That’s a great idea,” I said. I pulled out my books and started flipping through the pages.

Rachel joined in and thumbed through the colorful volumes, stopping to blow her nose every now and then. “He just dumps the girls in the corridors or lobby, like trash,” she said sadly.

“Yeah, I know, but I wonder where he kills them. It’d have to be an isolated place, where no one could hear them screaming.” I tapped my chin. “Unless he incapacitates them immediately.”

“So you think he murders them in the same place, then dumps them for us to find?”

“Yeah. We just have to find the devil’s den, and we’ll find our devil.”

“He’s like a spider catching a fly. He stalks his prey, pounces, then takes the victim to a place where he feels safe and comfortable. He kills them there, then disposes of the body.”

“We’ve also gotta find out what his motive is,” I said. “What do all the girls have in common, besides being teenagers?”

She flipped through her pages of notes. “I’m not sure. Maybe he’s a sexual predator. A guy could get pretty…well, you know, all cooped up down here.”

“We don’t know if these girls have been raped, and they were all fully clothed when they were found. He could just be killing for fun, or because he’s just sick. It doesn’t necessarily have to be sexual.” I glanced down at the page of the flower guide and gasped. “Here it is, the blue moon!” I said. “Those don’t grow down here.”

“How did it get in her hair then?” she asked.

“I guess the killer must have access to the surface. Maybe it wasn’t placed there on purpose. Maybe it was stuck to his clothes or something and fell off in the struggle and landed in her hair.”

“Lots of guys have access to the surface. It could be any of the city workers,” she said.

“Yeah, but who goes back and forth the most?”

“Well, that would be Walter, Melvin, and Chad.” Her eyes widened. “Gosh, Sky. Do you really think it could be one of them?”

“I can’t be positive, but the clues don’t lie. That petal came from the surface. I know that for sure, because I grow almost all of the plants down here.”

“We need to go tell Mr. Tams,” Rachel said.

“What for? Like I said, he’s useless,” I said.

“If we get him on our side, maybe they’ll start investigating their own. It has to be someone from the surface.”

“Fine. We’ll tell him, but I’m sure it will be a huge waste of time.” I looked down at my notebook full of clues. When I matched the murder dates up with my calendar, my jaw dropped.

“What is it, Sky?” Rachel asked.

“All the crimes happened on Tuesdays.”

“So? Maybe he has post-Monday depression.”

“One month apart on Tuesdays. That’s when the three brothers come down to run all those maintenance checks.”

“Oh my gosh! It’s all starting to make sense now, and it must be one of them. But which one?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe we could talk to them casually and find out if they know anything about blue moons. Walter mentioned to me the other day that he planted flowers in front of his ranch house.”

She tapped her chin. “And Chad mentioned something about helping with landscaping projects.”

“Truthfully, I think Chad would be the prime suspect out of the three. He’s just sort of…the creepiest. Besides, he has the keys to all kinds of secret areas where he could take a girl to kill her.”

“That would make sense. They haven’t found any hair or jewelry in anyone’s room, so maybe Chad takes his sick souvenirs back to his house on the surface.” She shuddered. “Ew! What if he has a, like, trophy room with little locks of hair all over the place? That’s so gross!”

“I agree,” I said. “Let’s go talk to Mr. Tams.”

***

We walked to his office, which was located down a long hallway, through a maze of corridors. I knocked on the door, and he invited us both in. We explained our concerns and the new evidence that led us to believe that somebody from the surface could be the perpetrator.

He crossed his hands and pondered our suspicions for a moment. “We can’t stir up trouble with Dante by blaming his loyal workers—at least until we have something more…concrete.”

“So this is about politics?” I retorted.

“I have to keep the peace, Sky. Jumping to conclusions can—”

“Get you fired,” I mumbled.

“
We
can try to ask some questions,” Rachel said. “We’ll tread around the subject lightly.”

“I should do the questioning myself, but what do I tell them? That I suspect them because some teenagers say they found a flower in a dead girl’s hair?”

“Yes,” I said. “We need this person caught before the body count is through the roof.”

“You make a great point,” he said, sighing. “I just wish we had more proof.”

“We’ll keep looking and hopefully find it,” Rachel said.

“Just stay out of it,” he said. “This is adult business.”

I wondered how much he’d really do, and I didn’t expect much. I glanced over at the corner of his smelly office and noticed a pile of clothes crumbled up in the corner. “You live here now?” I asked, cocking a brow.

“Well…the missus kinda has me in the doghouse,” he admitted.

“But you just got back together with her,” I said.

“She asked me some real serious questions that I had to answer honestly. She was mad when she heard the answers.”

“You told her about Aunt Sarah?”

“Yes.”

“So she didn’t take it so well?”

“No, she did not. I just slept here last night, to give her some time to cool off.”

I couldn’t understand why his wife would want him back at all. Not only was he a putz, but he also lived in filth. My gaze drifted over to a pile of soil on the floor. It looked as if he’d tried to sweep it up, but he hadn’t done a very good job. I almost felt sorry enough to clean this hellhole for him. “Lose a plant or something?” I asked, nodding toward the dirt.

“Betsy. She’s crazy when she’s mad. She came at me, slapped me right across the face. I guess love does bite. Hey, do you think you could re-pot that for me? It was my favorite plant.”

I had to wonder if the fight had anything to do with my aunt. In any case, I admired her for throwing him out, and I couldn’t feel the least bit sorry that he’d been smacked across the face, since he probably deserved it; I’d wanted to smack him myself several times for being such a wimp, for his lackluster attempts to investigate the murders, and for messing around with my aunt. Especially when he was in love with his ex-wife.

“Sure, I can replant it for you,” I finally said.

“Thank you. I want you girls to know that I do take your concerns seriously, but we have another suspect in mind. I’ve been painstakingly searching the crime scenes for clues, and—”

He was abruptly interrupted when my aunt walked in. She seemed surprised to see me there, but she looked right at him and said, “It’s not Daryl. Please don’t tell me you’re still on that theory.”

I quickly filled my aunt in on our discoveries and our thoughts.

“Hmm,” she said. “I think you two are more on track than Ted here.”

“The killings always happen on Tuesdays,” I said.

“And Daryl is off on Tuesdays,” Mr. Tams said smugly.

“It’s a coincidence,” I said. “I mean, I blamed him as my stalker, and it was Jeremy all along.”

He peered at me, angry that I’d defied him, emasculated him in front of his old lover. “I think you should leave catching predators to the professionals,” he said.

“Well, that wouldn’t be a problem, if anyone was investigating it like a professional,” I snapped, wanting to laugh that he was being upstaged by a couple of teenagers.

“Are you afraid the girls will make you look bad when they solved the crime before you do, Teddy?” my aunt jibed.

“No, but I am afraid they’re going to get themselves killed. These girls should leave the adult business to the adults. It’s very dangerous, and we can handle it.”

“Like you handled my stalker, who almost raped and killed me?” I asked.

Mr. Tams ignored my question and stared at my aunt. “Sarah, I need you to keep your niece and her little friend away from this investigation. I won’t have their blood on my hands. I already have too much guilt over this, that we haven’t caught this bastard yet. I’m the one who has to tell those mothers and fathers, to look them in the eyes and inform them that their baby girls are dead. Do you have any idea how hard that is? I
have
to find this killer. I gave them my word that I would.”

I found that a bit admirable, but he really just wanted to be the hero. If Mr. Tams solved the murders, it would give him favor in Dante Marcelle’s eyes and the eyes of the people. He’d warned us to butt out, but I couldn’t possibly do that.

“He really is trying,” my aunt said after he dismissed us, coming to his defense. “He wants to bring the killer to justice, even if no one takes him seriously.”

“Well, I’ll take him seriously when the killer is caught. Until then, I’ll do what I can to figure it out, because girls need to quit dying in Asha,” I said.

She shook her head. “You don’t know when to back off, do you?”

“If she did, she wouldn’t be our Sky,” Rachel said, locking her arm in mine as we made our way down the corridor.

“If your aunt and Mr. Tams are broken up, then why is she there?”

“I hope she’s not trying to win him back.”

“I noticed a little tension and hostility, but they were civil to each other.”

Chapter 24

The next day I had some questions about Daryl so I went to talk to Brett’s dad personally. Sure, he might throw me out, but I didn’t care. I was going to ask and see what kind of response I got. I really needed to take Daryl off my suspect list. Mr. Panders wasn’t at home so I tried his office in the security area of the city. I ran into Daryl and he had me wait a few minutes before he said to go up to his office. I climbed the stairs and saw the door was open. Taking a seat, I sighed. After waiting for a while, I got up and stood in the hallway.