Page 38 of Treasured By Them
“Too busy to handle an insidious new criminal organization?”
“Yeah.” Grinnote throws the ball. It bounces off the backboard and misses the hoop entirely. It bounces and rolls back toward us. “The detectives are all busy with the new murder.”
“There’s another one?” Troy stops the ball with his foot.
Grinnote looks on, annoyed. “This isn’t soccer. How about we shoot some hoops instead of all this talking?”
“No.” Troy kicks the basketball toward him.
Grinnote scrambles for it. “Come on, just a few minutes?—”
“Is it the same killer?” I need to get Grinnote back on topic.
“Looks like.” Rather than try for another shot, Grinnote holds the ball under his arm. “More weird-ass symbols and shit. We had to empty out the fountain at the south end of Blackberry Park because it was full of blood.”
“The body was in the fountain?” I try not to picture it, but the image is there in my head. I envision the guy in the alley floating in water instead, dead eyes staring at a sunny blue sky instead of the empty, black night.
“Propped against it.” Grinnote runs a hand through his blond hair. “Look, I shouldn’t be sharing this stuff with you guys.”
In all the time I’ve known him, Grinnote has never looked guilty. But he does now.
“You’re on our payroll.” I fuss with the cuffs of my jacket, trying to look bored instead of frustrated.
Grinnote frowns at his ball. “Yeah, it’s just…”
Troy and I wait. Where’s he going with this? Does he want out? There is no out after someone starts working with my family. Troy’s the only one who’s come close to leaving. And now that I look back, I think the only reason my father let him go was that he believed Troy wouldn’t stay gone. And he was right. I might hate my old man, but he isn’t stupid.
“It’s nothing,” Grinnote finally says. “The serial killer, and finding Britney Gardner’s remains, have us all working overtime. We have to protect the city.”
“Make time to handle the Vorsong presence.” I narrow my eyes at him. “It might not seem as important, but if they move my family and the Aseyevs out, you won’t have a city to protect.”
14
Danica
I try to give Malcolm and Zora some space over the course of the day. Partly because I feel a little bad being here when they’d hoped to be alone. Partly because I want to look through my scrapbook from camp.
Something about that one photo of my old bunk is stuck in my head. I want to look at it again. So I grab the scrapbook and another beer and get comfy in one of the deck chairs.
I stare hard at the photograph of my old bed. Why does this picture matter? Something tells me it does—something about the way my throat feels tight, how my heart squeezes ominously in my chest.
“Hey, Dani!” Zora waves her hand, a concerned squint to her deep brown eyes. “You okay?”
I blink. How much time has gone by? It’s early afternoon already. “Yeah, I’m good. Just spacing out, looking at old pictures.”
“Aw.” She peers over my shoulder at the scrapbook and points at one of the rare photos of myself. “Is that you? You went to camp as a kid?”
“Yeah. Right here on Danish Lake, actually. The camp was just across the water, on the opposite shore. If we had binoculars, we’d be able to see the old buildings.” I give an involuntary shiver. The thought of being so close to the place is eerie. That weight presses on my chest, the beginning of a panic attack. I breathe slowly like Troy taught me, hoping to ward it off.
Oblivious, Zora keeps talking. “That’s really cool, the history you have with this place.”
“It kind of is, isn’t it?” Deep breaths. Even breaths.
“I hope Malcolm and I can both get teaching jobs nearby.” She gazes wistfully at the lake. “I want to put down roots, you know? Become a part of something. He feels a real tie to the lake. He spent a lot of years in the area. Maybe we can get a place up here eventually. If we save a lot. It’ll be next to impossible on our teaching salaries.”
Listening to her chatter helps me calm down, so I’m able to say, “Teachers are freaking heroes. I admire both of you for the work you do.”
“Thank you…I love teaching. Just wish it paid better.”
