Blood Knot by S.W. Hubbard

Author:S.W. Hubbard [S.W. Hubbard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2005-06-21T18:30:00+00:00

18

FRANK DROVE BACK to Trout Run for his appointment with Dawn Klotz and Reid Burlingame, enjoying a few minutes of peace in the patrol car. The day of interviewing students and staff at the academy had turned up many facts, but he hadn’t been able yet to organize them into a coherent picture of what had occurred at the school last night. He hoped he could dispense with the reporter quickly and regroup with Meyerson’s team to analyze the information they had so far. If they couldn’t figure out what had happened to Heather and Lorrie, at least the brainstorming would prepare him for a second round of interviews at the school.

He had been too busy all day to really think about Heather herself, but in the solitude of the car, her image loomed: her frightened face when she’d told him someone else was going to die; her forlorn slump when she admitted she’d been exaggerating. What the hell was the truth? Should he have known she was in danger? Should he have acted to get her out of there? But who was he to intervene in a treatment plan that Heather’s parents had set up willingly with MacArthur Payne?

Or was that angle entirely wrong? Had Heather “worked a deal,” as Justin implied?

Which brought him to Lorrie. From what he’d seen of her so far, she seemed more a victim than a perpetrator. But getting kicked around by the strong brought out the worst in the weak—he’d seen it time and again.

The lights of Malone’s came into view as he approached the green, but they didn’t convey their usual cheery welcome. Frank drove on by and went to pick up Reid at his home. He spent a few minutes bringing the lawyer up to speed on the investigation, then they headed out to meet Dawn Klotz.

The reporter sat in the back booth of Malone’s, furiously tapping away on her laptop. Her eyes never left the screen as Frank and Reid dropped into the seat across from her. Her fingers continued to fly across the keyboard until, with a grunt, she punched one final key and looked up.

“Sorry. I’m on deadline.” She extended her hand to Reid. “Dawn Klotz, New York Beat.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Reid said graciously.

Frank felt like telling him not to bother. The woman would only regard civility as a sign of weakness. He stared at Dawn impassively, waiting for her to make the first move.

She obliged. “So, have you determined if Heather LeBron is a suicide or a murder victim?”

Reid adjusted his tie. “My dear woman! There’s no conclusive evidence that anyone has died. The girl is simply unaccounted for—”

“But there are signs of foul play at the school, are there not?”

“It appears someone may have been injured,” Frank said.

“And Lorrie Betz, who would have been the last person to see Heather alive, is also missing, right?” Dawn started pounding her keyboard again.

“No…uh…” Reid stammered.

Dawn’s keen eyes peered at Reid over the computer screen. “So, someone else

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