“Why?” yelled Amanda. “It’s not like they should be angry!”

“Several of them have been arrested over the last year,” said Jack. “They might try again to send a message.”

“What message?” she demanded.

“Intimidation,” said Laura. “To scare anyone else from talking to the police.”

“This is bullshit!” Amanda looked at Jack and said, “Even with masks, they would never have gotten away with it. I know their voices. Two of them are not even in any of my classes, but I know them to hear them.” She looked intently at Jack and said, “Tell me, their apology letters … do you think they were genuine?”

“No. It is a common ploy by defence to impress the judge. Believe me, these guys are not repentant, which is why I would like to see you move somewhere else.”

“This really sucks.” Amanda brooded for a moment and said, “I want to be alone. Goodbye.”

“Amanda, I know you’re angry,” said Jack. “So am I, but —”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take the rest of the year off and try to find a different school to work at next year. Please, just go.”

As Jack and Natasha were making dinner, Natasha asked, “Bad day?”

“Why do you say that?”

“You’re slamming the cupboard doors. You always do when you’re subconsciously trying to take control of a situation.”

Jack smiled to himself, once again realizing how easily Natasha could read him. “It wasn’t that bad of a day,” he replied. “Things turned out as I expected, just not as I would have liked.”

Over dinner, Jack told Natasha about the three punks receiving probation and how much it had affected Amanda’s life. He realized that Natasha was unusually silent over dinner and when they finished eating he asked, “Something on your mind?”

Natasha sighed and said, “You’ve had a bad day …”

“Doesn’t matter. What is it?”

“There is something I want to tell you. Let’s go sit on the sofa.”

Jack nodded and Natasha held his hand and led him to the living room. As they sat down, Jack’s BlackBerry vibrated. He glanced at the call display. It was Gabriel Parson.

“I better answer,” he said.

Natasha forced a small smile and nodded.

Gabriel was in hysterics. It took Jack several seconds to calm her down before she spoke coherently.

“Noah and I were at BCCH visiting Faith,” she sobbed. “When we returned home … Noah saw a bloody footprint on our sidewalk coming from Amanda’s.”

“Did you go in?”

“No! Not after —”

“Did you call 911?”

“Yes. The ambulance is taking her away. That’s their siren in the background … or maybe the police. I heard the paramedics talking. She was gagged and tied to her bed. Naked … her face … blood everywhere.”

“Is she alive?”

“Yes, yes, she’s alive. I heard her voice.”

Jack heard Gabriel’s voice turn from the phone and she said, “Yes, Noah,” before speaking to Jack again and saying, “The police are here. I need to go.”

Jack called the Major Crimes Unit, while quickly explaining to Natasha what had taken place. MCU had already been called and Connie Crane who was on her way to the hospital.

Jack didn’t know if he wanted to cry or to vomit as he placed his next call to Laura.

“Laura, something —”

“Jack, it’s Friday night and Elvis and I are out having a romantic dinner. The waiter is setting our meal down right now. Can whatever —”

“No it can’t wait!” Jack yelled harshly, before pausing to apologize and blurting out the details.

“We’ll head home immediately,” said Laura. She was still in shock over the news. Her mind was still reeling, trying to grasp the reality of it all. She felt like she was listening to someone else’s voice telling Jack where she was, robotically repeating some of the details, hoping somehow that she was still sounding professional.

“Wait at the restaurant,” she heard Jack say. “It’s closer for me to pick you up there than go to your house. I’ll be there in twenty minutes. I’ll also call our friend and tell him to get over to Sy’s and see what he can find out.”

Jack’s call to Rodine went unanswered and he cursed out loud. He was heading out the door when he glanced at Natasha and said, “What was it that you were going to tell me?”

“With what you’ve got going on … be careful. I want you to stay focused.”

“I always am. What was it you were going to tell me?”

Natasha briefly reflected on her thoughts and said, “About how much I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Jack quickly kissed Natasha and hurried to his car. He tried to call Rodine several more times as he drove to the restaurant.

Laura was with Elvis in the restaurant foyer when they heard the squeal of tires approaching. Laura stuck the tissue back in her purse that she had been using to dab the smeared mascara off her face. Without thinking, she automatically used her hands to brush a wrinkle out of the front of her skirt before giving Elvis a quick kiss on the cheek. He watched as she ran in her high heels out to the car to join Jack, leaving Elvis thinking that under any other circumstances, it might have appeared funny.

“Where we going?” Laura asked, as soon as she closed the door.

“Over to Sy’s and see who he’s with. Tell him we want to see him about the apartment or something. Our friend isn’t answering. I left him a message to —” Jack stopped to answer his BlackBerry.

“Sorry, I couldn’t pick up,” said Rodine. “I was with Sy. You gotta get over to that teacher’s place. She’s been attacked and is tied to her bed. Probably less than an hour ago. I just found out.”

“We know. She’s at the hospital. Who did it and where are they?”

“Three kids. Juvies. I’ll be burned if you bust them.”

“I won’t burn you. Are they the same three as were in court today?”

“No, those guys are apparently at some Pizza Hut so they have an alibi. The three that did it just left here.”

“They were already there! Who are they?”

“I don’t know who two of them are, but the oldest one, Ray, lives in the apartment on the floor below Sy. He’s only seventeen, but looks older than the other two.”

“I’ve seen Ray coming and going from the apartment building,” said Jack. “What about the other two. Did you see them?”

“Yeah, I saw them, but they’re not from around here. They look to be about fifteen or sixteen years old. One has a purple Mohawk hairdo and the other has long black hair parted in the middle. Ray called Sy to meet him out front of the apartment. That’s when Sy told me what they did, so I walked out with him. Ray and the two others were waiting in Ray’s red Camaro. Sy gave them a case of beer and they drove off.”

“Son of a bitch,” muttered Jack through his rage. “Any idea where they might have gone?”

“Not really. Sy asked Ray what they did with the masks and knife. Ray said they put it all in a plastic bag and tossed it into the bushes when they drove past some park. Sy was pissed. He told them to go back and bury it so it would never be found.”

“What park? Do you know the name of it?” asked Jack, his mind pleading for the right answer.”

“I don’t know. They didn’t say. They left a couple of minutes ago.”

“Jesus fucking Christ!” yelled Jack.

“They did say it was about a ten-minute drive from the teacher’s house, if that helps.”

Jack felt relief. “That helps a lot. Coming from Sy’s they’ll be using Highway 99, which means they’re coming in our direction. We’ll be waiting when they get to Richmond.”

“Man! You do that and I’m dead! You promised —”

“I know what I promised. Don’t worry, I keep my promises.”

Chapter Nineteen

Jack told Laura what he had been told while driving to intercept Ray.

“We can’t let them get away with this,” cried Laura. “Informant or no informant. We can’t sit by.”