Rebel Princess - Book 2 (The Hope Saga) (17 page)

“It’s a story about a girl who found a dead body and is scared that she’ll be the next victim.”

She gasped and held her hand over her mouth for a minute, then said, “Sky, you’ve got to butt out of this investigation, like Ted said. Leave it to the professionals.”

“I’ve gotten a whole lot farther than they have, Aunt Sarah. They aren’t doing anything but twiddling their thumbs and making half-assed guesses.”

“Well, now you’ve gone and put the spotlight on yourself. I don’t want you leaving the apartment. I’ll have Ted put ‘round-the-clock security on this place, and this amateur sleuth crap is over. Do you hear me?”

I didn’t answer.

“Sky, answer me! This isn’t just some mystery bouquet. Clearly, it’s an outright threat.”

“I’m positive I locked the door when I left, and if you didn’t see anyone, then I have no idea how he got in.”

She shot me a horrified look. “We slept in this morning,” she said, wide-eyed. “A monster like that walking around my house with my sleeping kids sleeping in just the next room. The thought sickens me.”

“You had Mr. Tams change the locks when Jeremy broke in and took those pictures of me sleeping. Whoever this guy is, he got a new key. It has to be somebody in security.”

“Ted still thinks it’s Daryl. Maybe he’s right.”

“I don’t wanna believe he could do something like that.”

“Gimme that book, Sky. I’ll take it to the team investigating the murders. Maybe they can pull some prints or other evidence off of it.”

“This isn’t a CSI episode. We don’t have stuff like that down here.”

“I guess I’m thinking about our old world. Anyway, I still want to show them the book.”

I hesitated for a moment, then handed it over. “Okay. Let’s just hope they find something. It’s about time they actually start doing their jobs.”

“They are working hard on this. And you’re lucky they didn’t put you in jail for stealing police evidence.”

I cocked a brow. “What?”

“I had a meeting late last night with Mr. Tams and others.”

“What was it about?”

“That box you found.”

I swallowed hard. “Who does it belong too?”

“We don’t know. But Mr. Panders and his security found that box in an enclosed wall in an obscure part of the city. There’s all kinds of witnesses to collaborate it. Mr. Panders was just keeping it for safekeeping in his office. It’s not like we have a crime lab here.”

“Annie’s mom needs Annie’s ring back.”

“And she’ll get it. They just want some time to study the evidence.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Chapter 26

Days passed.

Rachel and I about flipped when we saw Chad walking down the corridor, carrying several bunches and pots of flowers.

I punched Rachel in the arm. “Oh my gosh! Do you see that?”

“Yep. Blue moons.” She motioned for him to stop. “Hey, Chad. What you got there?” she casually asked.

“Dante ordered flowers for Mr. Tams as a token of his appreciation.”

“Who grows these?” I asked. “They’re beautiful. Blue moons, right?”

“Yeah. Cecelia Johnson, our gardener on the surface, grows a lot of them.”

“They’re gorgeous. I’ve only seen them in books before,” I said.

“Thanks. I help Cecelia a lot with the gardening in my spare time.”

I started to ask him another question, but he blew me off and said he was in a hurry to catch Mr. Tams but that he’d talk to us later. 

We hurried to a more secure location to talk.

“It’s him,” Rachel said, wide-eyed. “Chad is the Asha strangler.”

I pondered all the evidence for a moment. “Well, it’s sure not Cecelia.”

“Chad works with her. He probably worked on the garden with her that day, and a few petals stuck to his clothes and fell off when he strangled…” She couldn’t bear to say Lizzy’s name, and her voice trailed off.

I gripped her hand. “I know it’s hard.”

She took a deep breath to maintain her composure. “It’s
him
. You said those flowers had to come from the surface, and you were right.”

“Well, we know the killer had access to blue moons. It does seem…logical.”

“We know our killer is someone who goes back and forth between here and the surface.”

I swallowed hard. “Right, and that narrows the list of suspects drastically. Only a few come down here.”

“What if it’s one of his brothers though? I mean, it could be Melvin or Walter. Chad’s a little weird, but he doesn’t seem like a killer.”

“They never do,” I said. ”It’s part of their camouflage.”

She gripped my arm. “All three of them have keys to everything. They could’ve easily slipped in your apartment and left that book open to that page.”

I shook my head. I didn’t want to believe it, but she’d made a good point.

“Gosh, Sky, do you think you’re next on his hit list?” she asked.

“I don’t know, and I have no idea which one it is. I’m sure they’re not working together.”

“Wouldn’t that be something? A terrible trio.”

When Mr. Tams’s wife walked in, we clammed up.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you two were in here,” she said sadly. “I guess I was just looking for someplace to be alone.”

“We can leave,” I offered.

Ignoring me, she continued, “Can you believe Ted just tried to give me some flowers? As if that would make up for anything.”

“I saw Chad delivering them a few minutes ago,” Rachel said. “They’re beautiful.”

“Yeah, he had them brought down here especially for me. No surprise that they’re blue, because that’s exactly how he makes me feel,” she said, sighing.

What!? Re-gifting the flowers from Dante and passing it off as his own peace offering?  This guy is such a loser. Unbelievable!
I thought.
Surely Aunt Sarah can do better than a married, dishonest, lazy slob like him. I don’t know what she sees in him.

Rachel looked at me questioningly, but I gave her a look that told her to keep her mouth shut. The last thing we needed to do was get in the middle of their marital spats. Rachel was never very good at taking hints, though, so she blurted out, “Mr. Tams is obviously trying. Maybe you should give him a second chance.”

“Why? Because he gave me flowers? Maybe I’m just being too needy, too clingy though. He just…isn’t around as much, but I guess he’s got a lot on his plate. Maybe I oughtta give him some more space.”

I clenched my hands into fists, furious that my aunt was probably one of the things on his plate.

“The flowers are beautiful, and blue is my favorite color,” Mrs. Tams said. “Maybe I’ll take them, since I refused the last ones he tried to give me. He took them to his study, and I never bothered to go get them. I was just so mad at him.”

“You were just trying to make him feel guilty, refusing his gift like that?” Rachel surmised.

“Yeah, I guess, and it worked. He was so upset. I guess it was wrong and cruel of me. I truly love Ted. I do. I think I’ll go talk to him. I want those blue moons after all, and they’ll make a great centerpiece for our living room table.”

***

Back in Rachel’s room, she looked at me and said, “We can’t just sit on this information. You know as well as I do that we have to tell Mr. Tams.”

“What for? He didn’t listen to us before when we tried to tell him it was someone from the surface.”

“I know, and I don’t get that. I mean, how else could blue moon petals got tangled in the poor girl’s hair?”

I let out a long sigh. “I don’t think he believes we actually found them on her.”

“You think he thinks we planted the evidence?”

“No, but he doesn’t believe what we told him. He just writes us off as pesky, nosy teenagers who have no business intervening in his so-called professional investigation.”

“Well, he’s gonna be really peeved when we solve this case and stop these senseless murders.”

“Maybe we should do a stakeout on Tuesdays for a few weeks. We can watch who comes and goes from the surface. We’ll just have to be inconspicuous about it, but no one will know we’re spying.”

“Hmm. Well, the killer would have to come through the main entrance. Any of the others would trigger the emergency alarms.”

“Do you think the killer could have a secret key or way to turn them off?” I asked.

“Nah. Daryl told me there’s no way to deactivate the emergency chutes. The killer has to use the front door, like everybody else. There’s no way to override the system.”

“Then we’ll watch those chutes like hawks and see who pays Asha a visit on Tuesdays.”

“Out of the brothers, who do you think is the most unstable?”

“I’ve tried to think through that, but all three of them are pretty nice and seem sane. Walter tried to give me diamonds on my birthday, which was a little odd, but I don’t think that makes him homicidal.”

“Maybe…or maybe not.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you turned those diamonds down, right? Maybe it’s like what Mrs. Tams said. Maybe Walter thought it was cruel of you. He wants you, and he can’t have you because you belong to Brett. Maybe he’s killing women in some sort of jealous rage. Didn’t the killing start after you rejected his gift?”

“You’re right,” I said, aghast. “That’s totally creepy though.”

“Well, the killer is clearly a psychopath. I’ve been reading up on profiling. They’re easily bored and create constant drama for their own entertainment. If it is Walter, he could be filled with hatred and bitterness after you rejected him. If he thinks you betrayed him, he might want you dead.”

“But what about the other girls?”

“He’s killing them to scare you, to taunt you and make you think you’re next.”

“And to think, I assumed it was just because I was getting closer to discovering the culprit.”

“Whoever the killer is, he’s threatening you. You’ve gotta take this seriously, Sky.”

“I do.”

“And we’ve gotta catch this monster, because he acts on his impulses, and those seem to be getting stronger. He was pretty brave to sneak into your room and leave that book there.”

Chapter 27

When I saw Mr. Tams in the corridor, he motioned me over. “Sky, you neglected your cleaning duties yesterday.”

“Oh! I’m sorry. I forgot. I got so busy—”

“Playing detective?” he finished, arching his brow.

“Mr. Tams, with all due respect, I think we should all be working on this murder case. We all want justice, and no one wants to see another girl murdered.”

Ignoring me entirely, he simply stated, “We need help unloading boxes of supplies in the docking area.”

“Yes, sir,” I said unenthusiastically.

“It isn’t a punishment. There will be four others to help you.”

”Okay.”

“What? You don’t have a smart-mouth comeback for me this time?”

“Nope. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a very hard worker.”

“Ah, there it is,” he said with a smirk.

“I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Just go, young lady. It should only take an hour, but I’ll let your aunt know you might be late.”

I really didn’t care if he was punishing me or not. As far as I was concerned, finding the killer was far more important than dusting the furniture. Without another word, I walked off in the direction of the dock.

***

I opened the door to the docking area. It was dark, so I figured the others had already finished with the unloading. When I flicked the lights on, though, I saw that no one had even begun to unpack anything. I debated leaving, because it would take me hours to unload everything by myself, and I still had work to do at the greenhouse. I decided I’d come back later, after recruiting Rachel and Brett to help me. Besides, being in that huge room all by myself was starting to freak me out.

As I stood there looking around at all the boxes, a thought struck me. Mrs. Tams had said Mr. Tams had tried to give her flowers before, but she’d never bothered to get them from his study. I also recalled seeing the toppled flowerpot in his study, next to the pile of dirt he’d haphazardly tried to sweep up. I’d even offered to repot the plant for him.
Was that a blue moon?
I wondered, trying to remember what the uprooted plant looked like.
Has he been dragging girls into his skuzzy office to strangle them? It’s surely secluded enough, and it does stink like death. Maybe that’s how those petals ended up in Lizzy’s hair!
My stomach clenched at the thought, especially since Mr. Tams had now purposely sent me to a lonely, dark, secluded area. My mind began working overtime.
Did he lure me here to kill me?
Quickly, I looked around for a weapon.  

When the door creaked open, I jumped. Just as I spun around, the lights went out, bathing the whole area in darkness. I gasped.
Shit! Mr. Tams sent me here to kill me. Why didn’t I fucking see it earlier?
My mind was racing, but I wasn’t about to let that sick son-of-a-bitch take me out as easily as he had the others. Unlike them, I would fight, and I would survive, just as I always had.