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Parker shrugged, but his posture immediately tensed.  I have my ideas. Can t prove them
though.
 I told you I m off duty. This is just between us. Who do you think is behind all this
crap or are the eggs unrelated? It seemed a little too coincidental in Zach s opinion.
 Doubt it, though I don t think it s exactly the same jerks. Notice there haven t been any
fires while the baseball team s been out of town. They didn t get back until today, though, so
they didn t do this. It happened overnight.
That had Zach stopping in his tracks. How had he not bothered to check and see if any
group of students had been away while the fires had paused? He was going to need a list of
everyone who d been gone with the baseball team.
Parker kept talking.  The nasty notes, though, those just started while the jocks have been
gone. I m wondering if it was one of their girlfriends, or maybe Kendricks little brother.
 Kendricks? Finished collecting eggshells, Zach sat down on the step. He waved at a
neighbor who walked out to pick up her mail.  Maybe we should take this conversation inside if
we re going to start talking names.
 Sure. Anyway, Aunt Laney would have my hide if I didn t at least offer you something
to drink after you helped out.
 I ll take more of that iced tea she keeps in the fridge. He followed Parker to the
backyard where he emptied the eggshells into a tidy plastic compost bin, while Parker rinsed out
the bucket of soapy water with the hose. Then they stacked their buckets in the garage before
going through the back door into the kitchen.
 You got a piece of paper and a pen? Zach accepted the glass of tea the boy handed over
and helped himself to the sugar bowl on the table.  I want to write this down, so I don t forget it
when I go in to work tomorrow.
 Yeah. Parker pulled open a drawer and handed over a notepad and a pen with roses and
a romance author s name on it.  Sorry about the girly pen. Laney gets to meet a bunch of authors
at library conferences, and they re always giving her stuff like that.
 I can handle flowers on a pen. I m fairly secure in my masculinity. He looked at the
boy who slid into the chair across from him.  Occurs to me you must be, too. Eyeliner, nail
polish you must take a lot of crap for that in a town like this.
Parker shrugged.  A little. I can handle that. Wranglers and mesh-back caps aren t my
style. I like being set apart from all the rednecks and cowboys. I just don t want to end up in jail
for something I didn t do. And I don t like anybody threatening Aunt Laney.
 Threatening? Zach s spine straightened, and his vision narrowed. Adrenaline spiked his
bloodstream, just like it always had before a mission.  I hadn t heard about any threats.
 Letters. The kid reached into a cupboard behind him and pulled out a rolled-up plastic
grocery sack which he handed to Zach.  Aunt Laney tries to throw them out, but I rescued them
from the trash. Thought we might need to show them to somebody. There s been one in our
mailbox every morning since Friday. I brought today s in already.
When Zach unwrapped the bundle, he found six folded sheets of paper that had been
taped closed no envelopes, no address, nothing. These hadn t been sent through the regular
mail. They were on standard computer paper, in a big font from a common printer. In pencil on
one corner of the outside, someone namely Parker had written dates, ranging from Friday
through today. There was even one for Sunday.
Get out of this town, bitch. Most of them were on that theme, calling Laney a variety of
nasty names. Take the freak and leave, was one of just a few that mentioned Parker. The one
labeled that day, Get out or else. Your kind aren t welcome here, was the only one that properly
constituted a threat, but the overall tone was pretty ugly.
Zach rewrapped them in the bag and looked up at Parker.  Thanks for saving these, and
for giving them to me. It was the right thing to do. I ll talk to Laney tonight and make sure she
knows to bring any others straight to me. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]