just on the street over there.”
Cam wondered if she’d regret this. She didn’t know Dylan very well, but she felt the sooner Judith Towers-Stevens was out of there, the better. It would help her argument with Jimmy Meares if Judith could be seen as too deeply grieving but that an excellent substitute was on the way.
* * *
C am watched as Dylan escorted Judith toward the street. She looked a little like she had something under her nose, which probably reflected her opinion of men with dirt under their nails, though Dylan’s hair might have been a little long for her professional pedigree and he had grass stains on the knees of his jeans, too. As she watched, she saw something else of interest.
Ducking behind the stage was a smallish woman built like the figure caught sabotaging things, so Cam sprinted in that direction.
Rob spotted her and gave chase, too. Rob was a baseball player, and extremely fast, so it didn’t take him long to figure out who Cam was chasing and pass her in pursuit.
Tackling the woman onto the grass probably wasn’t the best idea he could have had, but it was effective, and Cam met them where they lay sprawled.
“Violated!” the woman shouted. “I’ve been violated!”
“Stopped, more like,” Cam said. “You planned more sabotage for the pageant, didn’t you?”
The woman closed her mouth and wouldn’t say any more, but Rob called Jake, whom Cam had seen go into the Arts Commission building a few minutes earlier. He was probably canvassing for potential murder witnesses, but he arrived within five minutes. The woman remained seated on the grass, glaring, and responded to the officer as expected.
“This young man assaulted me!”
“I tackled her to stop her from running. She’d . . .” Rob looked to Cam desperately. He didn’t know what the woman had done.
“She is suspected of all the vandalism that’s happened here,” said Cam. “There are witnesses who put her at the stage, and the security tape puts her in the Arts Commission building the night our music was sabotaged.”
Jake looked uncomfortable. “You just
think
it was her?”
“She was there two of the three times.”
“Cam, that’s circumstantial. I can’t arrest somebody for that.”
“Search her bag!” Cam shouted.
“And I can’t do
that
without a warrant.”
The woman looked very smug as she rose. “Am I free to leave, Officer?”
“You are.”
Cam thought they were lucky Jake didn’t offer to press charges against her and Rob. The woman seemed just the type to do it for spite.
Jake eyed them both as he headed back to the Arts Commission. Cam recognized his “You know better” look. But she wasn’t sure how to catch a criminal without chasing her down when you saw her. She decided to imagine they’d just avoided a huge fiasco by scaring this woman off.
* * *
T he sound of someone screaming brought her back to the present, and the trio rushed back to the front of the band shell. It was delighted screaming. Cam rolled her eyes. In spite of the obnoxious show of his agent a few nights earlier and the agent’s recent mention in conversation, she’d forgotten that Kyle Lance would be arriving before the show to meet the girls. Teen, or in this case tween, idols brought more emotion than any other kind of star.
She rushed back to the amphitheater. The curtain finally had been taken down to reveal her dad’s spectacular skill with the lattice. She suspected Lydia Fennewick might have made herself available to help, as she was hovering now, eying Nelson Harris with a dreamy smile.
Cam went around the giggling girls.
“Daddy, it’s gorgeous!” She hugged him.
“You sound surprised.”
“I’m never surprised when you make something beautiful, but you had so little time! So I’m still impressed.”
“What was all that excitement with you chasing that lady?”
“We think she’s the vandal, but we don’t have any evidence.”
“That little thing?”
“She’s
Cam wondered if she’d regret this. She didn’t know Dylan very well, but she felt the sooner Judith Towers-Stevens was out of there, the better. It would help her argument with Jimmy Meares if Judith could be seen as too deeply grieving but that an excellent substitute was on the way.
* * *
C am watched as Dylan escorted Judith toward the street. She looked a little like she had something under her nose, which probably reflected her opinion of men with dirt under their nails, though Dylan’s hair might have been a little long for her professional pedigree and he had grass stains on the knees of his jeans, too. As she watched, she saw something else of interest.
Ducking behind the stage was a smallish woman built like the figure caught sabotaging things, so Cam sprinted in that direction.
Rob spotted her and gave chase, too. Rob was a baseball player, and extremely fast, so it didn’t take him long to figure out who Cam was chasing and pass her in pursuit.
Tackling the woman onto the grass probably wasn’t the best idea he could have had, but it was effective, and Cam met them where they lay sprawled.
“Violated!” the woman shouted. “I’ve been violated!”
“Stopped, more like,” Cam said. “You planned more sabotage for the pageant, didn’t you?”
The woman closed her mouth and wouldn’t say any more, but Rob called Jake, whom Cam had seen go into the Arts Commission building a few minutes earlier. He was probably canvassing for potential murder witnesses, but he arrived within five minutes. The woman remained seated on the grass, glaring, and responded to the officer as expected.
“This young man assaulted me!”
“I tackled her to stop her from running. She’d . . .” Rob looked to Cam desperately. He didn’t know what the woman had done.
“She is suspected of all the vandalism that’s happened here,” said Cam. “There are witnesses who put her at the stage, and the security tape puts her in the Arts Commission building the night our music was sabotaged.”
Jake looked uncomfortable. “You just
think
it was her?”
“She was there two of the three times.”
“Cam, that’s circumstantial. I can’t arrest somebody for that.”
“Search her bag!” Cam shouted.
“And I can’t do
that
without a warrant.”
The woman looked very smug as she rose. “Am I free to leave, Officer?”
“You are.”
Cam thought they were lucky Jake didn’t offer to press charges against her and Rob. The woman seemed just the type to do it for spite.
Jake eyed them both as he headed back to the Arts Commission. Cam recognized his “You know better” look. But she wasn’t sure how to catch a criminal without chasing her down when you saw her. She decided to imagine they’d just avoided a huge fiasco by scaring this woman off.
* * *
T he sound of someone screaming brought her back to the present, and the trio rushed back to the front of the band shell. It was delighted screaming. Cam rolled her eyes. In spite of the obnoxious show of his agent a few nights earlier and the agent’s recent mention in conversation, she’d forgotten that Kyle Lance would be arriving before the show to meet the girls. Teen, or in this case tween, idols brought more emotion than any other kind of star.
She rushed back to the amphitheater. The curtain finally had been taken down to reveal her dad’s spectacular skill with the lattice. She suspected Lydia Fennewick might have made herself available to help, as she was hovering now, eying Nelson Harris with a dreamy smile.
Cam went around the giggling girls.
“Daddy, it’s gorgeous!” She hugged him.
“You sound surprised.”
“I’m never surprised when you make something beautiful, but you had so little time! So I’m still impressed.”
“What was all that excitement with you chasing that lady?”
“We think she’s the vandal, but we don’t have any evidence.”
“That little thing?”
“She’s
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