Faye Kellerman - Blood Games

“I will not try, I will be on time. Look around this place. I’m the only one crazy enough to be here Sunday afternoon. Where’s Gabe?”

“He went to the opera. He said he’ll be home by dinner.”

“The boy is an enigma, but he knows a good meal.”

“How’d the memorial service go?”

Decker gave her a recap. “Actually I’m here to talk to Gregory’s best friend. He’s a little odd. Or maybe I made him nervous when I pulled him over.”

“Y’think?” When Decker made a face, Rina said, “What struck you as odd?”

“He’s holding back.”

“That’s not odd, that’s cautious.”

“Since when have you been hired as his defense attorney?” The intercom beeped, the receptionist informing Decker that Joey Reinhart was on line two. “Hi, Joey, this is Lieutenant Decker.”

“Uh, I could make it a little earlier.”

“Sure. What time?”

“I’m actually right outside the station house.”

“Go inside and I’ll come get you.” Decker put the receiver back in the cradle and stood up. “My interview showed up early.”

“I’ve got to go anyway.” She stood up and gave him a peck on the lips. “Today we’re discussing whether to install a vending machine or to set up a snack bar and sell our own food to the kids.”

“What’s the issue?”

“Well, if we let a vending machine company provide the food, there could be potential problems with kashrut. But the pro is that they handle everything and just send us a check. Plus we don’t have to have someone manage it. If we sell our own snacks, we make more money and kashrut isn’t a problem. But then we have liabilities issues and health department issues and we have to find someone to run the snack bar. Yes, it seems trivial, but these kinds of niceties go a long way with the kids.”

“I get it. Ever since we put in a professional coffee/cappuccino machine to go along with our candy dispenser, everyone’s been much happier.”

“So there you go.” Rina smiled. “Just goes to show you. Never underestimate the power of caffeine and sugar.”

EVEN LAYERED IN a bulky, hooded sweatshirt and baggy jeans, the kid was all limbs and bones. Decker took the boy into an interview room, setting him up with a glass of water and a candy bar. The kid said, “I got the taillight fixed.”

“Great.”

“Thanks for not giving me a ticket.”

“No problem. Glad you got it taken care of.” Decker pulled out a portable tape recorder. “Do you mind if we record the conversation? It’s standard procedure. No one has a perfect memory.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Decker gave the introduction, the name of the person he was talking to, the time and the date. “Thanks for coming in.”

“Sure.” Joey interlaced his long fingers and shrugged. “What’s there to say?”

“Gregory’s mom is completely in the dark about what happened. It caught her off guard.”

“Tell me about it.”

“You didn’t see it coming, either?”

The boy looked doleful. “No.”

Decker said, “Tell me about Gregory Hesse. What was he like?”

Joey’s eyes darkened. “It’s hard to describe a person that you’ve known forever. Greg was Greg.”

“What did you two do together?”

Another shrug. “We hung out … went to movies, played video games. We always got along. We’re both kinda nerdy … like you can’t tell. I’m more the typical math/science guy. Greg was great in math also, but he liked English. Reading and writing came easy to him. He used to help me with my essays.” Joey bit his lip. “He was a smart dude.”

“You have other friends in common?”

“Yeah, we have group—Mikey, Brandon, Josh, Beezel. If you’re going to survive at B and W, you need buddies.”

“What happens if you don’t have buddies?”

“You’re screwed. B and W is not a nice place. But if you don’t come across as desperate, you can get by and get a good education.”

“What happened with Kevin Stanger?”

“Oh man, poor Kev.” He shook his head. “Survival of the fittest, you know. Kev couldn’t hack it.”

“Why not?”

“You know, not all nerds are smart. That was Kevin’s problem. He was dorky without having any brains to back him up. It made him a target.”

“Guys were beating on him?”

“Nah, it’s more subtle. They just crowd you, man. Like you’re walking along and suddenly there’re a dozen of them walking next to you, flicking the back of your head or groping you or asking for money, which you give them. But even afterward, they don’t let up. With Kevin, it went on day after day after day.”

“He didn’t go to the administration with his problems?”

“You do that, it gets worse. Best thing to do is ride it out and hope they find some other target. Crowding is especially anxiety provoking because inside you’re thinking that any moment, it’s gonna turn violent.”

“That’s what they call it? Crowding?”

“Yeah, a group of guys and girls just get in your face.”

“How many?” Decker asked.

“Anywhere from four or five to upward. And since they’re not really hurting you, who are you going to whine to? It’s just all about mastery—like who’s the boss.”

“Who are they?”

“Just jerk-offs,” Joey said. “It’s stupid for me to name names because once you become a target, it’s like the word gets out and you’re fair game for everyone. I get by just fine. No offense, but I’m not going to screw myself over.”

“They wouldn’t know the source, Joey. We could keep it private.”

“Find someone else. It wouldn’t help you anyway, because Greg didn’t have a problem. He could work it.” Joey appeared lost in thought. “We both do tutoring—which is also why I’m not naming names. I have to pay for my car, and gas is expensive. Tutoring brings in good money.”

“I understand. Tell me about Greg and his tutoring.”

“I wouldn’t swear to it, but I think Greg was doing some heavy tutoring.”

“As in writing papers for some seniors?”

“Nah, he couldn’t get away with that. It was more like … filling up the space. Senior theses are a minimum of thirty pages. That’s a lot of writing for most people.”

Decker nodded.

“There’s nothing evil with that. I mean most of the kids at B and W have been getting tutored for years: from professional teachers, SAT tutors, college kids. It’s well known that if you do a term paper at school, like forty million people have already looked it over before you turn it in. B and W has strict grading policies. You’re expected to perform at a college level—which never made sense to me. Why do you need high school if you’re already at a college level? But you know how it is. The competition is fierce.”

Decker scratched his head. His own kids were past the rat race, but he remembered all too well the stress associated with getting into top-tiered universities. Gabe was the only teen Decker knew who wasn’t nervous about college. So basically it took a musical genius to go through the process without anxiety.

“If Greg was doing well, Joey, why do you think he took a gun to his head?”

Joey’s eyes watered. “It’s a mystery.”

“You told me he was acting different lately.”

The kid paused. “Just that the past couple of months, he became obsessed with his video camera. At first, it was okay, but then it gets annoying to have a camera in your face while you’re eating a hot dog.”

“What was Greg recording?”

“He claimed he was just documenting the lives of typical teenagers.”

Decker thought a moment. “When Greg started filming, did he start distancing himself from you and your group? Did he start hanging with different friends?”