Halloween Hijinks (A Zoe Donovan Mystery Book 1) (13 page)

I opened my eyes to Zak’s smiling face and a large cup of coffee. “You’re my angel?”

Zak laughed
. “If you’d like.”

“You did
all this?”

“I got here a little early and decided to get started.”

I frowned. “You aren’t on drugs, are you?”

Zak looked shocked by the question
. “Why would you think that?”

“Because you were up at least as late as I was last night, apparently got up even earlier than I did this morning, and got
even less sleep than I did the previous night. I feel like death warmed over and you look like you’re ready to enter this damn run.”

Zak shrugged
. “I travel a lot. I’m used to getting by on minimal sleep. The guys I lined up should be here any minute. What else do we need to do?”

I looked around
and smiled. “Nothing. Absolutely, gloriously nothing.”

“Fantastic.
” Zak led me over to a chair. “You drink your coffee and I’ll start signing people in.”

In that moment I both loved and hated Zak
. I hated him for once again bettering me by showing up all bright eyed and organized at six o’clock in the freaking morning, and I loved him for showing up all bright eyed and organized at six o’clock in the freaking morning. Did I mention that I often have irrational and complicated emotions?

“Wow, everything looks fantastic,” Ellie commented two hours later. I was actually surprised that she showed up after the marathon of sleeplessness we’d all endured the past few days. “I ran into a couple of the zombies on my way over and got literal goose bumps.”

“Yeah, Zak did a good job making everyone look both dead and deranged,” I agreed
. “Where’s Levi?”

“
Having another interview with the sheriff.” Ellie sighed. “Salinger is sure Levi is his guy and has been fabricating evidence to prove it.”

“Fabricating evidence?
” I asked.

“What else could it be
? We know Levi would never do something like this, yet Salinger is insisting that Levi had means, motive, and opportunity. When I talked to Levi this morning he seemed really worried.”

“Poor Levi,” I sympathized
. “I hope this gets cleared up soon.”

“Yeah, me
, too,” Ellie agreed. “Where’s Charlie?”

“Somewhere with Zak and Lambda
. Headed over to the chili cook-off?” I asked.

“Of course.
” Ellie was a chef by birthright and enjoyed a cooking competition even if it was chili in a park setting. “By the way, I don’t know if I should mention this, but I ran into your mother.”

“My mother?”

“I stopped off to get a cup of coffee for the road and she was on her way out. I guess she’s headed off the mountain to catch a plane for Paris. She said to say hi and she’d catch up with you the next time she was in town.”

I found myself wishing Ellie hadn’t said anything
. My mother can ruin a perfectly wonderful day, even when she isn’t around. I don’t know why I should let it bother me so much after all these years. She’d never been a real mother to me, and I know in my heart she never will. Still, there’ll always be a part of me that
wants
her to want me, the way the little girl inside me had always longed for her.

“I figured the news would upset you and considered not mentioning it at all
, but then I realized that I wasn’t the only one to see her, and I didn’t want you to think I was keeping things from you.”

“It’s okay
.” I shrugged. “My mom lost the ability to hurt me a long time ago,” I lied. “I figure Ashton Falls is better off without her. Maybe now that my grandfather is selling the house, she’ll stay gone for good this time.”

My heart sank as I realized that this very well m
ight be true.

“Yeah, maybe
.” Ellie hugged me. If there’s one thing you can say for Ellie, it’s that she gives good hugs. The long and hard kind that let you know she feels your pain and wishes to share her comfort. I hugged her back as I fought the tears I knew were waiting just under my barrier of steely self-control.

“On the bright side
, I brought you a coffee.” She reached into a bag she’d set on the table near me when she first walked up.

“Thanks
.” I managed a smile.

“So how’s the race going?
” Ellie asked.

“The lead runners should be coming around that corner any minute
.” I pointed to the finish line in the distance. “We ended up with some pretty awesome zombies this year. It’s going to be hard for the competitors to make it out alive.”

“Oh
, look, here they come now.”

Ellie began clapping and cheering while I prepared to record the runner
s in order of appearance.

“Isn’t that Ryan Tillman?
” Ellie asked.

I looked toward
a muddy runner in a black shirt. “Yeah, that’s him.”

“When I talked to Levi
, he mentioned that Ryan’s statement was one of the main things that kept him on the top of the suspect list. I can’t imagine what he could have said that would implicate Levi.”

“Let’s ask him,” I suggested
. I had plenty of volunteers to help sort through who was dead and who was alive and who crossed the finish line in what order, so I headed to the snack tent, where Ryan was chatting with a group of guys around his age.

“Ryan,” I greeted
. “Can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?”

“Yeah, okay.
” He followed Ellie and me to a shady spot away from the crowd. “What’s up?”

“We wanted to ask
about your interview with Sheriff Salinger,” I began.

Ryan hesitated
. “He told me I wasn’t supposed to talk about it.”

“I realize that
.” I tried again, “It’s just that the sheriff seems to have interpreted something you said as evidence of Coach Denton’s guilt in Coach Griswold’s death.”

Ryan frowned as he tried to work out whether or not to talk to us
. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell you what I said,” he decided. “I ran into Coach Denton a few days ago, and we got to talking about the game. I’m not sure how it came up, but I mentioned that I played on Griswold’s team when he coached kiddie league. Coach Denton said something about Coach Griswold demanding the best from his players, and I made a comment about getting kicked around if you didn’t give it your all.”

“And Coach Denton’s response?
” I could picture Levi literally exploding. I knew he’d confronted Griswold shortly after talking to Ryan.

“He was pretty mad
. He said that people like that shouldn’t be allowed to work with kids.”

“Did
Griswold actually hit you?”

“No,” Ryan admitted
. “He usually picked the weakest, littlest guy on the team and focused all his negative attention on him. I shot up quite a bit in high school, but I was a skinny runt when I was in kiddie league. He didn’t think I should be on the team. He said I was holding them back because league rules required that everyone who was signed up be allowed to play. He tried to get me to quit, but I refused. It totally pissed the guy off. He was always on my case, and if I screwed up, he made me do extra laps. I felt like he intentionally put me in positions where the likelihood of my being injured was greatly increased.’

“Why didn’t you tell anyone
?” I wondered.

“
My dad would have killed him if he’d found out. He has a really bad temper that he can’t always control. I didn’t want him to get in trouble for beating the guy up. Besides,” Ryan said with a shrug, “I was used to being kicked around. It was no big deal.”

I thought of what he’d said about his dad
’s inability to control his temper.

“Can you think of anything else you might have said or
Salinger might have heard that would cast suspicion on Levi?” Ellie asked.

“Coach Denton is a good guy
. He takes care of his own. I’m guessing I’m not the only one Griswold abused, and the sheriff probably realized Coach Denton knows that.”

“You think he’s telling the truth?
” Ellie asked after Ryan had returned to his friends.

“Seems like it
, although I don’t think I’ll take him off my list yet.”

“You have a list?”

“More of a mental list, but I think it’s time to take the one I started with Zak, add the stuff in my head, and modify the whole mess to see if anything pops. I was hoping Salinger would move on from Levi entirely and we could put this whole thing behind us.”

“Yeah
.” Ellie sighed. “Me, too.”

“Let’s go find Zak and Charlie,” I suggested
. “Maybe he’ll want to join us for a brainstorming session. We’ll text Levi and ask him to meet us when he’s finished with Salinger.”

“If he doesn’t end up back in jail,” Ellie grumbled.

“Yeah, there’s always that.”

Unfortunately
, Salinger decided he had enough evidence to detain Levi. I was unwisely heading down to the sheriff’s office to give the lug head a piece of my mind when I ran into Commissioner Cromwell, who kindly reminded me that if I didn’t keep my nose out of things and let the sheriff investigate without my interference, I’d be out of a job. This, he reminded me, was my third and final warning.

Perhaps I should back up here
. The last time Salinger and I locked horns, I sort of destroyed three months’ of investigation and surveillance on the sheriff’s part. We don’t have a huge drug problem in Ashton Falls, but like any town in America, we do have drugs. About six months ago the incidence of overdose from a specific strain of street-level crack was on the rise. Salinger and his team spent months trying to trace the drugs back to their source.

On the very day they planned the bust, I responded to an animal cruelty
call and, rather than reporting it to Salinger, as I was mandated to do, I broke into the house to free the dog, which was chained to a wall. In the process I discovered plans for a meeting between the local dealers and their source. When the dealers realized that I’d learned what I had, the buy was canceled. Salinger’s surveillance efforts had been wasted. 

I really did feel bad that I’d messed up Salinger’s sting operation especially since it was the second time my bumbling attempt to do what I felt was the right thing resulted in a headache for him.  The first time involved a car theft and the vehic
le I actually helped steal (unwittingly of course) but that is a story for another day.

I took heed of the
county commissioner’s warning as I arranged to meet Zak and Ellie. I love my job more than I can convey. I believe that I serve a purpose in our community, and I know that many of the animals I’ve saved would be dead today if not for my dedication and hard work. I tell you this so you can understand the seriousness with which I took Cromwell’s threat.

We decided to pick up sandwiches and have our meeting in the park
. That way we could enjoy the Haunted Hamlet festivities while we talked. I decided to drop Charlie and Lambda off at the boathouse, while Ellie went ahead to the park to find a table and Zak picked up the food. By the time everyone arrived, the activities around us were in full swing.

“It’s so strange to be sitting here in the middle of hundreds of kids dressed in costume and having the time of their li
ves, all the while the adults are talking about a gruesome murder,” Ellie commented.

“Yeah, when I first woke up it didn’t even register that today is Halloween,” I supplied
. “Happy Halloween, everyone.” I lifted my soda in a toast.

“
This has been the most surreal week of my life, and not in a good way,” Ellie sighed. “Were you able to get in to see him?”

“
No.  I ran into Commissioner Crowell on my way in to see Salinger, though.”

“And?
” Ellie knew about the commissioner’s previous warnings.

“He kindly reminded me that if I stuck my nose into this even a tiny little bit
, he’d have me fired, as previously promised.”

“Can he do that?
” Ellie wondered.

I shrugged
. “I work for the county, he runs the county. I suppose if he wanted to fire me, he’d find a way. Salinger has him convinced that I’m a menace to the town and shouldn’t be allowed to work in a position of authority.”

“Maybe you should just stay out of this,” Ellie s
aid. “I’d hate for you to get fired.”

I looked Ellie in the eye
. “It’s Levi. What would you do?”

“
Yeah, I get it,” she admitted. “But be careful. Let Zak and me do the legwork.”

“
Might be a good idea,” I acknowledged. “Have you heard from the attorney?” I asked Zak.