One Step Ahead

Such A Good Guy

   Note: Translations for words marked with * will be given at the end of this chapter.   

      Sanger navigated his car as quickly as he dared through the suburban streets, siren blaring. Eloise Han was in the passenger seat, her phone held to her ear, while Irv Weintraub and Lew Bremerton sat rigidly in the back.

      "Are you sure this kid wasn't just yankin' your chain, Lieutenant?" Weintraub queried, causing his seatmate to roll his eyes in exasperation. "Like maybe him and his buddies saw the story in the newspaper and thought it would be a nifty prank or somethin'?"

      "Irv, this is the same kid who got everything started when he spotted Dee Whitman out on her front lawn after she had just found her mother's body," Sanger ground out, his voice betraying his irritation. "Eric Whitman is his best friend, and he said the guy who owns this house is his other friend's uncle. So I find it highly doubtful that the other boy would go along with something that would cause this kind of trouble for his uncle just for a laugh."

      "Okay, I get it! No need to bite my head off."

      "Chief MacDevitt just got off the phone with the DA, and she's contacting a judge for a search warrant to cover the rest of the property, as well as one for any computers or phones on the premises," Eloise announced. "He says that she's gonna try to get it expedited, so hopefully we should have it in an hour or two."

      "Be nice to have it sooner, but I'll take what I can get," Sanger muttered, as he turned a corner and spotted a familiar figure standing in the grass near the sidewalk. He pulled up to the curb and turned off the car, opening his door and propelling himself from the vehicle almost before the sound of the engine had died away.

      Michael Donnelly was shifting nervously from one foot to the other as he attempted to divide his attention between the police officers approaching him, and the lanky blond boy who slumped against a nearby tree, his face streaked with tears. Finally directing his gaze toward Sanger, he said, "Hey, Lieutenant. Is somebody coming that can help Ty? He's totally weirded out, I thought he was gonna pass out a couple minutes ago."

      "Yes, Mike, the paramedics are on the way, and they can help your buddy. But I thought you said that there were three of you here?"

      The teenager nodded emphatically, pointing toward the open door of the house behind him. "We started to come upstairs like you said, and the lady started freaking out and asking us not to leave her there by herself. So Seth stayed down there to talk to her through the door, tryin' to make sure she wouldn't maybe hurt herself or somethin'. He wants to go into the fire department like dad after he graduates, so he's been studying up on what to do if there's an emergency."

      At that moment, the sound of sirens drowned out any reply that might have been forthcoming, and neighbors began pouring out of their homes as the street filled with patrol cars, firetrucks, and ambulances. As emergency personnel converged on the house, Sanger recognized Jason Donnelly hurrying across the yard toward the boys. "Mike! What's going on here? Where is your brother?"

      As the boy began to explain the situation, Sanger interrupted to say, "Captain, I think somebody should check on Mike's friend, he may be in shock. And if either of you know how to reach them, someone should probably call his parents." When Donnelly nodded his acknowledgement, Sanger motioned for his colleagues to follow him into the residence, along with several uniformed officers, and a firefighter equipped with a large pair of bolt cutters.

      They entered the living room, weapons drawn, and he began issuing orders. "Palmer, Calvert, the two of you clear the garage, make sure no one is in there. Cavanaugh, DeLuca, you clear the other rooms on this level. The rest of you come with me to the basement."