that the girl had been admitted. Broken nose. Blunt force trauma.
Jay stood in the same place the entire time. Nobody threw the book. It didn’t fall on her; she was at least three feet from the locker. He pulled out his calculator and some scratch paper. He reviewed the recording frame by frame. He counted the frames between seeing the book outside of the locker and hitting her face. Three frames. Most security video was not high quality, likely about 30 frames per second. That meant three frames was one-tenth of a second. One yard in one-tenth of a second. Ten yards a second. What could propel a book out of a locker like that? Spring loaded? The locker was sitting open the whole time. Time release? Who the fuck is going to set up a time-released, spring-loaded device inside a locker?
He watched again. The Asian girl, Chi, appeared to be staring at Jay before the book came flying out. Jay certainly would have access. Would he be that stupid? Good of the V.P. to send him home.
They’d need to inspect the locker soon, question all the kids, and check the last 24 to 48 of the video feed. Fuck. What a nightmare. He looked at the victim’s name, called to mind her parents’ occupations. He wondered who they were going to try to sue. The police had better be thorough. Rather, Sean had better be thorough. He could barely stand up, let alone go poking around a goddamn high school.
What the fuck was up with this Jay character all of a sudden?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Friday, 7 p.m.
Sean sat at the back of The Whistler. After leaving Jay’s, he’d driven to San Antonio and killed time. He hadn’t checked in with his chief and hadn’t gotten any priority messages. He sipped his second G&T, passively waiting for Bethany to come on stage. The crowd was already pretty big. There were a few couples, but mostly groups. Maybe Bethany had some regulars. He didn’t really mind one way or another. It would be a good way to get his head away from the high crimes in Rockport.
Bethany didn’t know he was coming. He’d just made a couple of assumptions. He didn’t want her thinking he was trying to start anything. He wondered how long before she realized that. This was new territory for him. He’d checked his phone again, and there were no messages from Dr. Nguyen. He’d left a couple messages earlier asking about BioGyn and LoZiet. He was pretty sure that these types of studies were kept pretty close to the chest due to the proprietary formula. He’d swing by Jay’s house tomorrow morning if he was up early enough, but more likely Saturday afternoon. He was pretty certain Jay only worked a half day this coming Saturday. Ideally, he’d want information from Nguyen about LoZiet, so he could slip that into the conversation with Jay.
He did get a message from the mayor, Winnie Rodriquez. She wanted to talk to him. Likely offer her official condolences. They didn’t really speak much in any official capacity—at least not after university. They had been a lot closer when Sean was younger, before he went away. He’d get back to her after the weekend.
He smiled in Bethany’s direction when she came on stage; this time, she had a full band behind her. They were all wired up. Keyboard player, drummer, bass player, the whole works. Because the lights were a bit brighter, he watched them play for a full ninety minutes before she recognized him. He was halfway through his fourth G&T when she noticed him. Shortly after their set, she ran up and threw her arms around him.
“Why don’t you call before you come over? You don’t have to sit all the way back here!” she said, pressing her breasts against him.
“I don’t want to be a bother,” he said, shrugging off her concern. She pulled back, looking at him for a beat.
“Slow down, tiger!” she playfully admonished, judging his intoxication level. “Or at least let me catch up with you!”
He sipped his fourth, then drank
Jay stood in the same place the entire time. Nobody threw the book. It didn’t fall on her; she was at least three feet from the locker. He pulled out his calculator and some scratch paper. He reviewed the recording frame by frame. He counted the frames between seeing the book outside of the locker and hitting her face. Three frames. Most security video was not high quality, likely about 30 frames per second. That meant three frames was one-tenth of a second. One yard in one-tenth of a second. Ten yards a second. What could propel a book out of a locker like that? Spring loaded? The locker was sitting open the whole time. Time release? Who the fuck is going to set up a time-released, spring-loaded device inside a locker?
He watched again. The Asian girl, Chi, appeared to be staring at Jay before the book came flying out. Jay certainly would have access. Would he be that stupid? Good of the V.P. to send him home.
They’d need to inspect the locker soon, question all the kids, and check the last 24 to 48 of the video feed. Fuck. What a nightmare. He looked at the victim’s name, called to mind her parents’ occupations. He wondered who they were going to try to sue. The police had better be thorough. Rather, Sean had better be thorough. He could barely stand up, let alone go poking around a goddamn high school.
What the fuck was up with this Jay character all of a sudden?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Friday, 7 p.m.
Sean sat at the back of The Whistler. After leaving Jay’s, he’d driven to San Antonio and killed time. He hadn’t checked in with his chief and hadn’t gotten any priority messages. He sipped his second G&T, passively waiting for Bethany to come on stage. The crowd was already pretty big. There were a few couples, but mostly groups. Maybe Bethany had some regulars. He didn’t really mind one way or another. It would be a good way to get his head away from the high crimes in Rockport.
Bethany didn’t know he was coming. He’d just made a couple of assumptions. He didn’t want her thinking he was trying to start anything. He wondered how long before she realized that. This was new territory for him. He’d checked his phone again, and there were no messages from Dr. Nguyen. He’d left a couple messages earlier asking about BioGyn and LoZiet. He was pretty sure that these types of studies were kept pretty close to the chest due to the proprietary formula. He’d swing by Jay’s house tomorrow morning if he was up early enough, but more likely Saturday afternoon. He was pretty certain Jay only worked a half day this coming Saturday. Ideally, he’d want information from Nguyen about LoZiet, so he could slip that into the conversation with Jay.
He did get a message from the mayor, Winnie Rodriquez. She wanted to talk to him. Likely offer her official condolences. They didn’t really speak much in any official capacity—at least not after university. They had been a lot closer when Sean was younger, before he went away. He’d get back to her after the weekend.
He smiled in Bethany’s direction when she came on stage; this time, she had a full band behind her. They were all wired up. Keyboard player, drummer, bass player, the whole works. Because the lights were a bit brighter, he watched them play for a full ninety minutes before she recognized him. He was halfway through his fourth G&T when she noticed him. Shortly after their set, she ran up and threw her arms around him.
“Why don’t you call before you come over? You don’t have to sit all the way back here!” she said, pressing her breasts against him.
“I don’t want to be a bother,” he said, shrugging off her concern. She pulled back, looking at him for a beat.
“Slow down, tiger!” she playfully admonished, judging his intoxication level. “Or at least let me catch up with you!”
He sipped his fourth, then drank
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