Blind Tiger
Page 68
Brandt answered before I even heard the phone ring. “Hello? Is this Robyn?”
“Yes.” She smiled at me with the phone held to her ear. “How did you know?”
“Drew gave us your number and told us to answer if you called.” He hesitated. “In case you need anything.”
Translation: In case Titus turns out to be the monster we all now suspect he is.
“Well, that was nice of him. And I do need something.”
“Happy to help.” Brandt sounded as eager as a puppy with a bone. “What can I do for you?”
“I need you to put me on the phone with one of the new strays,” Robyn said. “Preferably Corey Morris.” With whom she’d already bonded.
“Oh…” Brandt hedged. “I don’t think that’s what Drew had in mind.”
“I didn’t call Drew. I called you, because I knew I could count on you. I’m trying to help Corey and Elliott. You and I have both been where they are, so I know you can sympathize. I need to talk to Corey for one minute. Do you think you can get into the basement without bothering Drew?”
“Yeah. He’s out running an errand. Just a second.”
Robyn made a scrawling gesture with her right hand, and Spencer dug a pen and a notepad from a kitchen drawer, while we listened to the familiar echo of Brandt’s footsteps clomping down the basement steps.
“Corey?” he said, and the minor reverberation of his voice confirmed that he was in the basement. “You have a phone call. It’s Robyn.” In the pause, I heard the familiar squeal of mattress springs, as Corey sat up on his basement bed. “You wanna talk to her?”
There was no reply, but a second later Corey Morris was on the line. “Robyn?”
“Yes, it’s me.” She gave Spencer and me a silent “shh” gesture. “I have a couple of questions for you, if you don’t mind.”
“Okay…” But he sounded hesitant.
“The party you went to the night you were infected? Was it one of the Blind Tiger parties?”
“Um…yeah.” He sounded…guilty. “But I wasn’t drinking.” There was a beat of silence. “How did you know about that?”
She gave me a wide-eyed, panicked look for a second. Then she shrugged and improvised. “There are posters all over campus, but they’re surprisingly vague.”
“They do that on purpose. The locations are spread through word of mouth. Which is texting, basically.”
“The last party’s tonight, right? Do you know where?”
“Um…maybe. Let me check my messages.”
“Thanks.” Robyn’s voice betrayed none of the tension and anticipation I saw in the death grip she had on Spencer’s pen.
“Oh! It’s at the zoo,” Morris said a minute later. “In the reptile house.”
“Seriously?” Robyn frowned. “That’s crazy!”
“That’s the whole point.” Despite the circumstances, Morris sounded disappointed by the prospect of missing the party. “The hosting organization has to figure out how to get the security guards out of the way by midnight—without hurting anyone—and how to get food, drinks, and people in. All without getting caught. And everything has to be cleared out by five in the morning. There’s no way they’ll pull all that off at the zoo. But if they do, that party will go down in history.”
I had a feeling Morris was right, about the last bit, anyway.
“Thanks, Corey,” Robyn said. “How are you, by the way?”
“Better. But I can’t wait until they let me out of here. I need to sleep in a place that doesn’t smell like him.”
Like me.
Like Justus.
Morris would never be able to escape that scent—it was a permanent part of him. But before long, he’d be so used to it that he wouldn’t even notice it anymore. I knew that from experience.
“Hey, Robyn, why are you asking about the party?” Morris asked, “Are you going?”
Robyn hesitated. “Maybe,” she said after a second. “I haven’t had any fun since I had to drop out of school, and I saw the posters, so I thought I might check it out.”
“If you do, get a picture for me, okay?”
She nodded, though Morris couldn’t see her over the phone. “I will.”
A second later, Brandt was back. “You’re going to a party?”
“Maybe…” Robyn hedged. “Thanks again, Brandt. I appreciate the help!” Then she hung up before he could ask any more questions.
“Well done!” Spencer said. “So, if you guys find Justus tonight, this whole thing’ll be over, right? You can tell everyone the truth?”
“That’s the hope, yes.” I stood. “I have to find him before the council finds out about any of this, to keep them from taking him into custody or executing him on sight. I’m sorry about your front door. And I’m even sorrier about the favor I’m going to ask for next,” I added as I retrieved my steering wheel from his end table.
“Let me guess. You want my car.”
“I hate to ask, but…”
“Fine. If it’ll get you out of here, so I can sleep. I can get a ride to work.” Spence dug a set of keys from a decorative bowl sitting on his kitchen counter. “Just bring it back in one piece. With a full tank!” he added as I accepted the keys.
“Thank you. Seriously. I owe you.”
“Damn right you do.”
I gave his door an experimental swing, as if the problem were in the hinges. “I’ll have a repairman over to fix this within the hour.”
“No.” He scowled. “I’m going to bed. Send him tonight, around nine. I should be up by then.”
“Done.”
Spencer closed his front door behind us, and a heavy scraping sound came from inside as he pushed something in front of the broken door to hold it closed.
“Wow,” Robyn said as I followed her down the stairs. “I thought I was a natural disaster, but you’re hurricane Titus. You took out his door and his car, in one fell swoop. Not to mention stealing his sleep and accusing him of murder.”
“If you knew he wasn’t the killer, why did you let me accuse him?” I demanded as I stared into the parking lot, looking for a Toyota that Spencer Cole might own.
“Yes.” She smiled at me with the phone held to her ear. “How did you know?”
“Drew gave us your number and told us to answer if you called.” He hesitated. “In case you need anything.”
Translation: In case Titus turns out to be the monster we all now suspect he is.
“Well, that was nice of him. And I do need something.”
“Happy to help.” Brandt sounded as eager as a puppy with a bone. “What can I do for you?”
“I need you to put me on the phone with one of the new strays,” Robyn said. “Preferably Corey Morris.” With whom she’d already bonded.
“Oh…” Brandt hedged. “I don’t think that’s what Drew had in mind.”
“I didn’t call Drew. I called you, because I knew I could count on you. I’m trying to help Corey and Elliott. You and I have both been where they are, so I know you can sympathize. I need to talk to Corey for one minute. Do you think you can get into the basement without bothering Drew?”
“Yeah. He’s out running an errand. Just a second.”
Robyn made a scrawling gesture with her right hand, and Spencer dug a pen and a notepad from a kitchen drawer, while we listened to the familiar echo of Brandt’s footsteps clomping down the basement steps.
“Corey?” he said, and the minor reverberation of his voice confirmed that he was in the basement. “You have a phone call. It’s Robyn.” In the pause, I heard the familiar squeal of mattress springs, as Corey sat up on his basement bed. “You wanna talk to her?”
There was no reply, but a second later Corey Morris was on the line. “Robyn?”
“Yes, it’s me.” She gave Spencer and me a silent “shh” gesture. “I have a couple of questions for you, if you don’t mind.”
“Okay…” But he sounded hesitant.
“The party you went to the night you were infected? Was it one of the Blind Tiger parties?”
“Um…yeah.” He sounded…guilty. “But I wasn’t drinking.” There was a beat of silence. “How did you know about that?”
She gave me a wide-eyed, panicked look for a second. Then she shrugged and improvised. “There are posters all over campus, but they’re surprisingly vague.”
“They do that on purpose. The locations are spread through word of mouth. Which is texting, basically.”
“The last party’s tonight, right? Do you know where?”
“Um…maybe. Let me check my messages.”
“Thanks.” Robyn’s voice betrayed none of the tension and anticipation I saw in the death grip she had on Spencer’s pen.
“Oh! It’s at the zoo,” Morris said a minute later. “In the reptile house.”
“Seriously?” Robyn frowned. “That’s crazy!”
“That’s the whole point.” Despite the circumstances, Morris sounded disappointed by the prospect of missing the party. “The hosting organization has to figure out how to get the security guards out of the way by midnight—without hurting anyone—and how to get food, drinks, and people in. All without getting caught. And everything has to be cleared out by five in the morning. There’s no way they’ll pull all that off at the zoo. But if they do, that party will go down in history.”
I had a feeling Morris was right, about the last bit, anyway.
“Thanks, Corey,” Robyn said. “How are you, by the way?”
“Better. But I can’t wait until they let me out of here. I need to sleep in a place that doesn’t smell like him.”
Like me.
Like Justus.
Morris would never be able to escape that scent—it was a permanent part of him. But before long, he’d be so used to it that he wouldn’t even notice it anymore. I knew that from experience.
“Hey, Robyn, why are you asking about the party?” Morris asked, “Are you going?”
Robyn hesitated. “Maybe,” she said after a second. “I haven’t had any fun since I had to drop out of school, and I saw the posters, so I thought I might check it out.”
“If you do, get a picture for me, okay?”
She nodded, though Morris couldn’t see her over the phone. “I will.”
A second later, Brandt was back. “You’re going to a party?”
“Maybe…” Robyn hedged. “Thanks again, Brandt. I appreciate the help!” Then she hung up before he could ask any more questions.
“Well done!” Spencer said. “So, if you guys find Justus tonight, this whole thing’ll be over, right? You can tell everyone the truth?”
“That’s the hope, yes.” I stood. “I have to find him before the council finds out about any of this, to keep them from taking him into custody or executing him on sight. I’m sorry about your front door. And I’m even sorrier about the favor I’m going to ask for next,” I added as I retrieved my steering wheel from his end table.
“Let me guess. You want my car.”
“I hate to ask, but…”
“Fine. If it’ll get you out of here, so I can sleep. I can get a ride to work.” Spence dug a set of keys from a decorative bowl sitting on his kitchen counter. “Just bring it back in one piece. With a full tank!” he added as I accepted the keys.
“Thank you. Seriously. I owe you.”
“Damn right you do.”
I gave his door an experimental swing, as if the problem were in the hinges. “I’ll have a repairman over to fix this within the hour.”
“No.” He scowled. “I’m going to bed. Send him tonight, around nine. I should be up by then.”
“Done.”
Spencer closed his front door behind us, and a heavy scraping sound came from inside as he pushed something in front of the broken door to hold it closed.
“Wow,” Robyn said as I followed her down the stairs. “I thought I was a natural disaster, but you’re hurricane Titus. You took out his door and his car, in one fell swoop. Not to mention stealing his sleep and accusing him of murder.”
“If you knew he wasn’t the killer, why did you let me accuse him?” I demanded as I stared into the parking lot, looking for a Toyota that Spencer Cole might own.
