DEATH IN PERSPECTIVE (15 page)

“You peek. I can’t tamper with potential evidence.”

A sheaf of papers slid out of the unsealed envelope and into my hand. I flipped through
the three sheets.

Each contained a single screen shot of a text message bubble.

Ei
ghteen

“
Well, this answers one of my questions
.
” I smiled. “The Phantom has sent Scott Fisher messages, too. That’s three faculty
members, so I’m going to guess there’s more.”

Luke circled the desk to stand next to me, pulling the flashlight from under my chin
to shine a light on the paper. “Those are screen shots. That was smart. Must have
sent the picture to his computer and printed them out.”

“Can my phone do that?” I asked.

“Your phone doesn’t do anything.”

“I think it can text, I just don’t pay for the plan. It’s only five
years
old.”

“Sugar, technologically speaking, a five-year-old phone is the equivalent of a dinosaur.”

I scowled. “I’m going to read Scott Fisher’s texts now. Y
ou
stand back so you’re not accused of tampering with evidence.”

Luke stepped closer, pressing against my back. “I’ll just hold the flashlight for
you. That’s what friends do.”

“Feels to me like your flashlight is in the wrong place.” I squinted at the wavering
light highlighting the first text box and read aloud, “‘Your private lessons aren’t
so private.’ This is dated two weeks ago.”

“Who’s it from?” Luke’s breath dusted my cheek.

“A bunch of random letters and numbers. Scott Fisher answered, ‘Who is this? What
are you talking about?’”

“Maybe Mr. Fisher isn’t giving private lessons and the Phantom is just guessing,”
said Luke.

“Could be
.
” I flipped to the next sheet. “‘I saw what you did.’ Fisher didn’t bother to answer.
The last one said, ‘I know about you and your special student.’”

“These texts sound different than the ones Tinsley received.”

“Each message was ghosted. Just a bunch of random characters.”

Luke flashed the penlight on the desk. “You better get that envelope back in his drawer.
We still need to check out the balcony.”

I slid the papers back in the envelope, replaced them under the bag of candy, and
shut the drawer.

“If these are the kinds of messages the faculty are getting, I can see why they’re
not telling anyone. What’s the purpose of sending these nasty texts?”

“Sounds to me like someone’s getting off on upsetting the staff,” said Luke.

“Is it illegal?”

“If they can be proven as cyberstalking. The fact that no one will report them to
the police tells me they don’t feel suitably harassed
to
fear
for their safety. Other than Tinsley.”

“And Tinsley refuses to go to the police.”

“Then, not much can be done about it. You can’t convince Herrera of cyberstalking
unless he has some evidence to go on.”

I skidded a glance toward the desk drawer.

“And the evidence can’t be stolen,” added Luke.

“Dammit.”

W
ith our thoughts quiet and our senses alert for more stalkers, we left Scott Fisher’s
room to return to the auditorium. And discovered the left side balcony door opened
without assistance from the master key.

Luke pulled open the door and squatted to examine the lock. “Looks like someone stuck
a wad of gum in the jamb so the door wouldn’t close all the way.”

“So a kid probably took those pictures of Tinsley?” I shoved my finger into the lock
hole and picked at the hardened square of gum. “Hubba Bubba by the looks of it.”

Luke rose from his squat. “I bet kids use the balcony for secret hookups. That’s what
I would have done.”

I rolled my eyes. “Did you learn anything in high school besides sex ed?”

After a fruitless search of the balcony and a few misguided turns, we wound our way
back to the drama lounge. Tinsley’s office door stood open, making the hollering-fest
inside all the more apparent. With Luke trailing behind me, I hurried forward and
halted just before entering. Camille Vail leaned over Tinsley’s desk, waving her arms
and pointing fingers. Tinsley slunk in his chair. While his body displayed apathy,
his face had hardened under her onslaught.

I pulled in a breath, but before I could charge into the office, a hand settled on
my shoulder and yanked me back. I flicked a what-the-hey glance at Luke, but he lifted
a finger to his lips and pulled me to the side of the door.

Grandma Jo might have had issues with eavesdropping, but if a cop encourages me, who
am I to contradict him? I hugged the wall next to Luke, hoping for something juicy.

“I know you’re behind this
.
” Dr. Vail hadn’t stopped her rant. “Don’t think I can’t read between the lines. Your
blog minions may love you, but I can see right through your bullshit.”

“Camille
.
” Tinsley’s voice held a mocking blend of compassion, pity, and annoyance. “I am sorry
you’re so upset, but you’re being a tad overzealous.”

“Am I? We’ll see what Cleveland says.”

“Don’t bother Principal Cleveland with this. You know how distraught he is over Maranda’s
death. I don’t expect him back to school this week.”

“Convenient for you, isn’t it? Then I’ll just take this to Brenda. She might be interested
in what I’ve learned about your expenditures.” Her voice grew louder.

Luke and I slipped off the wall to pose near the table.

With her tunic billowing, Dr. Vail stalked out of Tinsley’s office. She whipped around
to ply us with a hardened look, then slammed out the drama lounge door.

“Well, hell
.
” I glanced at Luke. “If the woman didn’t hate me before, she does now.”

He nodded his head toward Tinsley’s office. “Let’s see if we can get Tinsley to talk
while he’s still shook up.”

“I bet you always play bad cop when you’re interrogating suspects.”

“You want a demonstration of my good cop skills after this?” A dimple popped in his
cheek, and I mentally slapped my hormones back in place.

“Does Uncle Will approve of you searching personal property without a warrant and
eavesdropping while hitting on his niece?”

“I’d prefer you not tell him,” said Luke. “Particularly the hitting on his niece part.”

“Then cool your jets, son.” I pivoted on my boot heel and marched into Tinsley’s office.

Tinsley jerked his head up and straightened at our entrance. Luke strode to his desk,
tossed the keys on it, and retreated to stand with his back against the bookshelf.
I parked myself across the desk from Tinsley. With his jacked up chair, we could look
each other in the eye.

“We didn’t find anything in the balcony,” I said. “What’s going on between you and
Dr. Vail?”

He rolled his eyes and began gathering papers into a neat stack. “An old rivalry.
She’s jealous of the popularity of the theater department. Unfortunately, the art
students have a bad reputation and it reflects on her. Rightly so. They need a strong
leader to reign them in.”

“You mentioned this in your blog, didn’t you?” I accused.

“Perhaps, but I only speak in generalities. I never use names. Besides, it’s supposed
to be funny.” He pushed out of his chair and lifted his briefcase to the desk, keeping
his gaze from mine.

I folded my arms over my chest. “You know, that kind of stuff will come back to bite
you in the butt.”

Bent over the desk, Tinsley peered at me over his glasses. “I’m not distressed over
Camille. She’s harmless.”

“You don’t think Dr. Vail could be the one sending these messages? Or one of her students?”

Tinsley straightened and laughed.

“My dear, that’s why Dr. Vail is so irate. She’s received texts, too, and believes
I wrote them.”

“What did they say?” Luke edged forward.

“I daresay it referred to something about her relationship to her notorious students,
judging by the ferocity of her complaint.”

“Like covering up their drug use?”

“Something like that.”

“
Do you think
she’ll show the texts to the police?”

He shook his head. “She’ll do what she always does and complain to the principal.
And Cleveland will look at the revenue I bring in versus her expenses in the art department
and tell her to ignore me.”

I glanced at Luke and wondered if this was why he wanted to talk to Tinsley “still
shook up.” Tinsley’s personality had grown cold.

“Don’t fret about Camille. Have you spoken to Mr. Avtaikin about contributing? How
are the sketches for the set design coming along?”

“I’ve spoken. And I finished several designs for each setting.”

“Already?” Tinsley gasped. “I didn’t expect you to work this fast. If you finish so
quickly, how can you watch the school?”

“I don’t do anything slow, Mr. Tinsley. That includes finding the Phantom.” I delivered
a stiff smile. “I expect that’s why you hired me. I’ll bring in the drawings tomorrow.”

“Very good,” said Tinsley. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“By the way, do you know Scott Fisher?”

Tinsley’s features blanked out for a moment. “I believe he teaches science? Why?”

“His name popped up recently. Just curious if you’d heard of him. Or if something
about him had appeared on PeerNotes recently?”

Tinsley shook his head. “I
’m
sorry. I don’t recall anything about him.”

“Just wondering. One more question, besides you and Dr. Vail, who else would be at
school this late?”

Tinsley shrugged. “I’ve been in the theater or my office since dismissal. Any of the
faculty involved in extracurriculars could stay late.”

“We’ll see ourselves out,” I said. “Don’t worry about those photos. I’ll keep my eye
on the balcony while we work on the set. In the meantime, you better get someone to
fix the lock to the balcony door.”

Tinsley bowed his head. “I am in debt to your service.”

“Just be careful with your blog
.
” I backed toward the door with Luke strolling behind me. “You might have pissed off
more than just Dr. Vail.”

Maranda Pringle, Dr. Vail, Scott Fisher, Tinsley. Seemed the Phantom had several axes
to grind.

With Tinsley’s assistance, we exited through the theater’s outside door, but stopped
on the edge of the parking lot to survey the school and remaining vehicles. Two Prius,
a Lexus, a newer model Dodge Ram pickup, a couple battered sedans, an old pickup,
and a paneled van remained.

“If I were going to judge folks by their vehicles,” I folded my arms over my chest
as a night breeze brushed over my skin, “I’d say that grouping of tired transit parked
in the handicapped spaces belongs to the night cleaning crew.”

Luke nodded. “And I’d say one of the Prius belongs to Tinsley. Or maybe the Lexus.”

“So the green Prius, I’d guess is Dr. Vail’s. That is if she’s still here. That leaves
the Ram and one other car.”

“I can run their plates,” said Luke.

“That’d be pretty cool if you did. One of them might be our flashlight stalker.”

“Or not,” said Luke. “There were more vehicles here when we arrived. They might have
taken off. Or if it was a kid, they might have ridden here on a bike.”

“I’m not so sure if Peerless has the kind of students who ride bikes. Maybe a golf
cart. Or a Bentley.” I rubbed the gooseflesh on my arms. “You’re being awful helpful.”

Luke rocked back on his boot heels. “I don’t want you to think I’m a total dick. And
I do want to make it up to you.”

“And it helps that this isn’t your case.”

“This isn’t a case at all
.
” Luke grinned
.
“
B
ut yeah, it helps a lot, sugar. You’ve given me a couple ulcers in the past, but this
here has been fun.”

“Are we friends now, Luke?” I swung my gaze up. And found myself centered within dusky
gray eyes staring back at me.

“We’re trying, sugar,” he whispered. “But it’s real hard when you look at me that
way.”

Shit. He was looking at me that way, too.

Thoughts of Tara, family feuds, and squirrels fled my brain. A rush of heat invaded
every cell in my body like the rumbling of a volcano ready to erupt. I felt barely
cognizant of strolling up to Luke, my hand reaching to brush his bruised cheek, and
he capturing my hand to place his lips against my palm.

I pulled in a breath as his lips feathered from my palm to my wrist, and down my arm
to the crook of my elbow. His eyes met mine and I caught the wicked glint of steel
that doused me in more fire, until I couldn’t breathe. I realized I held my breath
and let it out in one long rush as Luke hitched me against his body. His hard planes
met my soft, slight curves. His lips fell over mine and set to plunder and invade
my mouth.

I was the defenseless village to his barbarian horde. And I had thrown open the village
gates to give a welcome party. One of my hands curled to fist his ripped t-shirt and
the other tangled into his luscious, soft curls. Luke’s hands slid lower to hike me
harder against his body.

“Lord, I missed you.” Luke’s mouth fled my lips to anoint my neck with pledges and
promises of what he’d like to do to the rest of my body. His hands slipped beneath
my thighs, hoisted me up, and he began to carry me across the parking lot to his truck.

I wrapped my legs around his torso, closed my eyes, and tried not to think about anything
other than Luke’s lips. And tongue. And hands.

Oh my Lord, his hands.

This was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. My family was going to kill me. The town was
going to scorn me. Tara would die of heartache.

My body told my brain to shut the hell up and just enjoy myself for once.

When my back bumped the side of his truck, Luke fumbled in his pocket for the keys.
“Put me down, Luke.”

“Sure, baby.” He slid a kiss against my cheek and lowered me to the ground. “Just
give me a second.”

I shook my head. “No, we’re not ready for this.”

“I beg to differ. That felt like we’re both pretty ready
.
” Luke forced a smile, but his eyes had tightened. “Don’t do this to us, Cherry.”

“Look where we are, Luke. We’re in a school parking lot. It’s no different than when
we were kids. We haven’t grown up at all.”