Page 58 of Don't Say a Word

She snorted. “Yeah. Right.”

“I’m serious. If they want to talk to you again, call me. I have friends, and my Aunt Rita has a whole team of lawyers who often work pro bono. It won’t be a problem.”

She didn’t look like she believed me.

“Why’d you leave campus in the middle of the day?” I asked. “It’s not a good look.”

“Because I don’t like Detective King, and they were acting alldon’t leave town.”

“They said that?”

She shrugged. “Attitude. You know. Disapproving and stern.”

I was trying to understand what the cops were thinking, but realized that the only way I could ferret out their theory would be to talk to Rachel King myself.

“Angie, keep your head down, go to school, and do not talk to the police without a representative.” I pulled out my business card and wroteRita Garciaand her number on the back. “If you need her, call. Tell her I referred you, but I’ll also send her a message to give her the heads-up.”

“She’d really help for, like, no money?” Angie shook her head in disbelief.

“She will,” I said.

With teens like Angie, actions spoke louder than words, soI pulled out my phone and called Aunt Rita. After a minute of pleasantries, I said, “I’m sitting here with a seventeen-year-old high school student who was questioned by police at her school about the murder of one of her teachers. They claimed it was perfunctory, but said they might want to talk to her again because she had an argument with said teacher shortly before she was killed. Should she have council with her?”

“I would advise so.”

“What if she can’t afford it? Her mom can’t pay, and she doesn’t have her own job.”

“Margo, are you trying to make a point with this young lady?”

“Yes.”

“Let me speak to her.”

I handed my phone to Angie. “Rita Garcia, my aunt.”

Angie hesitated, then took the phone. “Hello?” she said nervously, then she listened. She answered a few questions either “Yes,” “No,” or “I don’t know,” then said, “Thank you,” and handed the phone back to me.

“Thanks, Aunt Rita.”

“You don’t know what I said.”

“You told her why she needs an advocate, that you’d make sure someone was with her should the police want to talk to her again, and that under no circumstances should she answer any more questions from the police related to this crime, even if she’s innocent and just wants to help.”

Aunt Rita laughed. “Still a brat, Margo.”

“Love you, Auntie,” I said and ended the call.

“It’s for your protection,” I told Angie. “The police aren’t generally the bad guys, but they can make your life difficult, and I don’t want that for you. Lawyers protect the innocent as well as defend the guilty.”

“Do you really, honestly believe that Mrs. Clark was killed because she was asking questions about Elijah?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “It’s suspicious that she was killed lessthan two weeks after Elijah died, and that she had been vocal in trying to find out what happened to him. Which is why I think you should lay low and not ask questions.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Stop cutting school. Don’t put yourself in a position where you’re cornered—just in case Lena’s murder is somehow related to Elijah. And call me anytime.”

“What are you going to do?”