Page 30 of Don’t Say a Word (Angelhart Investigations #2)

Chapter Twenty-One

Margo Angelhart

Wednesday morning I woke up before dawn and found two text messages on my phone.

I wanted to assess her in person. It was much easier to lie over the phone, and impossible for me to read body language.

The second text came from Elijah’s friend Andy: We have late start Wednesday. 8 okay?

I assumed by we Andy meant him and Peter. I had left both of them messages yesterday.

How was I going to fit in all of these interviews and get to Eyman Prison before noon?

I didn’t want to put them off as they might have information.

I was mostly fishing with Bradford as I had nothing solid to connect him to anything that had recently happened on campus, but since I put myself on the list to visit my dad, I didn’t want to disappoint him and not show up.

To Andy, I responded that I would meet them at Black Rock Coffee on Seventh Avenue at 7:30 a.m. Black Rock was far enough from the school that we shouldn’t see anyone they might know, but close enough that I wouldn’t feel guilty making them walk if they didn’t have a car.

To Danielle I said I could meet her anywhere near the school or her house around 8:30 a.m. That should leave me plenty of time to get down to Eyman.

After showering, eating a piece of toast, and a slightly overripe banana, I jumped into my Jeep. Luisa called before I had backed down the driveway.

“I’m on my way to class,” she said, “but I got into Elijah’s computer last night, removed his password protections, and left it on your desk. Sorry it took so long.”

“Long? You had it for a day.”

“It actually only took me thirty minutes,” Luisa said. “I just couldn’t get to it until last night.”

Damn, how did the bulk of the Angelhart brains end up in the youngest kid? “Thanks. Did you see anything wonky?”

“Nothing specific, but I downloaded his search history for you. Good news, bad news there—his history is auto-wiped every fourteen days, so there’s only three days available.”

“What, you can’t undelete his old history?” I teased.

“Well, yes, I can, but it’ll take more time.”

“I’m kidding! I’ll go through it, see if anything pops.”

“He has a cloud account, which you should be able to access simply by being on his computer. I didn’t have time to see what he had saved up there.”

“Seriously, you’re amazing.”

“If you need me, call. I can come by this afternoon.”

All the praise seemed to roll off her. Did she not know she was amazing? Or did she know and was tired of hearing it?

Who got tired of hearing how brilliant they were?

“Thanks, Lu,” I said. “I’ll let you know what I find.”

I was grinning when I hung up. Computers were not my superpower. I could navigate around a desktop and cyberspace, and I never wanted to throw my smartphone against the wall, but that was the extent of my skills. My little sister? Absolutely incredible.

Black Rock catered to the drive-through coffee crowd, and was my usual go-to for iced coffee when I was in a hurry. Today I parked and went inside. Not a lot of seating, but I got my coffee and sat at a tiny table with three chairs, eyes on the door.

They were a few minutes late and easy to identify. One was tall, gangly with long limbs and shaggy blond hair. The other was not much taller than me, with short dark hair and glasses.

They looked at me, then at each other, and I said, “Andy?”

The short kid nodded. I knew only a little about each kid from Tess’s review of their social media.

Andy had three sisters and a large extended family they traveled around the state to visit regularly; his dad had been in the military and now worked security for a convention center.

Peter had little on his social media but appeared to have an older brother, and his dad didn’t seem to be in the picture.

I started to get up. “Go get something to eat, I got you.”

“No, that’s okay,” Andy said. He glanced at Peter and they silently communicated, then sat down across from me.

“Angie called last night,” Andy said. “She said you were hired by Elijah’s mom.”

“Correct,” I said.

“So, um, what do you want to know?”

They looked stiff and awkward, so I gave them each my business card and asked them to tell me how they knew Elijah.

Andy did most of the talking, explaining that he and Elijah had known each other since first grade and their moms were sort of friends from church.

They met Peter when they were freshmen because they were in PE together and none of them were athletic.

Peter began his internship right after school started this fall, and Andy worked for his mom on the weekends; she had her own house-cleaning business.

But the three of them usually hung out together when they were free.

Recently Elijah started bailing on them, saying he was working extra hours.

“Except,” Andy said, then stopped as if wondering if he should keep talking.

“Except what?” I pushed.

They glanced at each other, and then Andy said, “So Elijah said he was working extra hours, but we went by there, like, a week before he died and he wasn’t working, even though he said he would be.”

That was interesting.

“Did you ask him about it?”

“Yeah, and he said he left early to help his mom, but it was a lie.”

“He’s not a good liar,” Peter said. He tapped Andy and said “Tell her about your mom.”

“Well, he talked to my mom a couple weeks before he died.”

“About?”

“Working for her. She said yes. She couldn’t promise how many hours, but he said anything would help, that he was going to be quitting his job.”

That was also news. “Do you know if he actually quit?”

They shrugged in unison, and Andy said, “He just said he was going to quit.”

“Did he say why?”

They shook their heads, then Peter added, “Everyone wants a job at the Cactus Stop. Hatcher is closest to the school, but they hire high school students at all the Stops. It’s really hard to get a job when you’re under eighteen, unless you know someone.

That’s why I’m doing the school-to-work program at the corporate office.

I’ll have a good job right when I graduate. ”

It was a good program for kids who didn’t want to go to college. I asked Andy, “When did he talk to your mom about working for her?” I asked.

“Labor Day weekend,” he said confidently. “It was my little sister’s birthday and he came to the party.”

I did the math. That would have been less than two weeks before he died.

“Did we help?” Andy asked hopefully.

“It all helps,” I said, but I wasn’t quite sure how it fit.

If Elijah was having problems at work and wanted to quit, that steered me toward his work being the source of potential trouble, not school.

“Have you ever done drugs with Elijah? Or saw him use? I’m not going to jam you up, but it’s important that I have the truth. ”

“He wouldn’t,” Andy said. “He’s never even smoked pot. I’ve known him practically my entire life.”

I glanced at Peter. “You agree?”

He shrugged. “I never saw him do anything like that. But he was being all, um, well, secretive the last few weeks.”

Which confirmed what Angie said. “One more question. Elijah’s backpack and cell phone are missing. Have you seen them? Did he give you anything for safekeeping?”

They both shook their heads.

“If either of you remembers anything that he said or did that seemed out of character, or if you hear anything, call me, okay?”

They both nodded.

“Do you want a ride to school?” I asked.

“I have a car,” Peter said. They walked out and I looked down at my phone. Danielle had responded to my message.

My mom leaves for work at 8. Come anytime between then and 930.

At 8:20 a.m., I arrived at the Duran house. Only the Honda was in the carport.

Danielle opened the door before I knocked.

“Danielle Duran?” I asked.

“Dani,” she said. She glanced around the street as she let me in.

“Why are you nervous?” I asked.

“I’m not,” she said unconvincingly. “My mom was running late, and half the time she forgets something and comes back.”

“You don’t want your mom to be part of this conversation,” I guessed.

“I don’t care, but sometimes she gets mama bear protective when I don’t need it.”

“I can relate,” I said.

Instead of the dining table, Dani plopped down on the couch. I sat in the chair across from her. “What do you want to know?” Dani said.

I got straight to the point. “Elijah Martinez turned you in for cheating. You got in trouble, and according to your mother, you don’t hold a grudge. Is that true?”

“It is now.”

When she didn’t elaborate, I said, “Then?”

“I was furious. At Elijah for being a snitch, at myself for being so stupid, at Mrs. Porter for hating me. I mean, I was wrong, I fully take responsibility for my actions. No one made me cheat. But Mrs. Porter hated me for no reason, it was so obvious. I mean, I’m sure she had a reason, but whatever it was didn’t justify her always marking me down, nit-picking everything, never calling on me in class, being dismissive when I asked questions.

I love English. I love writing. I wanted to impress the teacher who hated me, and I worked myself up to the point that I had such anxiety about the class that I convinced myself the only option was to cheat. ”

I was impressed that this seventeen-year-old had such keen insight into her own psyche.

“The day after the final, you had a public argument with Elijah.”

“I took everything out on him. But really, he was just the messenger, you know? My parents went to bat for me, and then... that’s when I just fell apart.

I couldn’t let them believe the lie. I admitted it, asked for forgiveness, got a zero.

That sucked. But this summer I took a couple classes at community college and they were so much better than Mrs. Porter’s English.

” Dani looked me in the eye. “Are you here because you think Elijah did drugs because I was mean to him?” She wrinkled her nose. “That would be dumb.”