"I've got it!"
He flung open the front door, sending it crashing into the wall with a loud thump. Leah glanced up from her milkshake and took out an earbud in surprise. Ignoring the looks of irritation from the other customers, Greeny hurried through the malt shop and slid into the booth across from the girl, taking his laptop from his backpack with shaking hands and pulling up the article.
Leah watched him with faint amusement. "I thought I told you to call," she mumbled around her straw as she took another sip. Still, she was unable to hide her curiosity as she leaned over the table to read the computer upside down, her fair hair falling across the screen. "What did you find?"
"Here," Greeny said quietly. This was something big. Something that everyone didn't need to know about. Not yet anyway. "It looks like you might have been on to something with this story, Leah. I did a bit of digging. Turns out, this isn't the first time something like this has happened. Do you remember the government meeting last January?"
Leah's brow furrowed. "Yeah?"
"Well, turns out, there was a news story for that as well." He turned the laptop toward her and she leaned back with a frown. "It was covered up too. Same unidentified boy, different shooters. This isn't the first either. I found over a dozen incidents, all vaguely similar to the one in Catrial. That's far too many coincidences in my opinion. But why is the media covering up? Is there something going on that someone doesn't want us to know about? Who? And why?" He glanced up now and realized that he'd been rambling. Leah was staring at him in confusion. He paused to take a breath and waited for her to speak.
"How did you know all of that?" Her look was disbelieving, but there was something in her voice. Something that told him he was on the right track. Leah knew more than she was letting on, he realized. She'd never been a good liar. But what she knew and wasn't telling him, he couldn't imagine. He guessed it was something her father, Chief of Police, Arthur Grasslake, was working on and wasn't allowed to tell anyone. So, naturally, Leah knew everything and was trying to work her own angle of the investigation.
"I found it on the internet," Greeny answered, shying away from her curious stare. He hated lying to her. Though it hadn't been a total lie. He had found the information on the internet. He'd just done some not-so-legal things to get it. So, in a sense, he was still telling the truth. That didn't make him feel any better, nor did it ease the guilty pang in his heart.
"Amazing the things you can find on there," Leah muttered, sounding as though she didn't entirely believe him, but didn't dare say so out loud. She took another sip of her drink and said nothing more.
"And?" Greeny raised an eyebrow, waiting. This had been her idea after all. Surely she'd want to follow up with her own sleuthing. Which was why he was slightly disappointed when she simply sat back in her seat to ponder what he'd just told her. "Leah, did you not hear what I said? You were right! Something's definitely going on! Don't you want to investigate?"
"No," Leah replied, folding her arms thoughtfully. "No, I think this one would be better taken to my father. I think it's a bit out of our league."
Startled, Greeny closed the laptop and peered at her over the tops of his lenses. These were not words he'd ever expected to hear. Especially not from her. "But," he began, "Leah...this is your lead! Don't you want to follow it?"
She hesitated and for a moment, Greeny was sure she would change her mind, but she shook her head, giving him a small smile. "Not this time," she responded, "but, thank you for finding all of this. Dad will be pleased that you took such an initiative to help."
No, he won't, Greeny thought. He'll kill me for getting involved in the first place. He knew her father quite well. He was a level-headed man who preferred him and Leah to stay out of all things to do with police business, Mr. Grasslake had given him several warnings about snooping around potential crime scenes or following any leads that might result in his life--or especially Leah's--being put in danger. Of course, someone probably should have told Leah this because she still dragged him off on her wild escapades whenever her father wasn't looking.
Except for this time. This time, there was something different. She didn't want to get involved. What could that mean? He could hardly dare to hope that meant she'd given up on being a detective. It was her dream. He wanted her to chase it. He just didn't want to be thrown under the bus with her.
"Listen," Leah sighed, retreating to her corner of the table and finishing off her drink in one gulp. " Thank you for this. I'll take it to Dad and he'll know what to do with it. " She got up to throw away her cup and swung her sling pack over her shoulders as she started toward the door. She paused, however, when she got back to him. "And, Mac?" she added, leaning against the table to look him in the eyes seriously. "It might be better if you pretend you never saw any of this."
"What? Why? " He turned to stand up, but she was already out the door. What's gotten into her? he wondered. He decided he had to find out. Shoving his laptop under his arm, he took off after her.
"Leah!" he yelled. " Hang on a second! Leah! Wait up! "
She spun as he neared and scowled. She said nothing, however, seeming to be waiting on him to go first. So he did. "What's going on, Leah?" he demanded. "This isn't like you at all. I don't think I've ever seen you turn down an opportunity to do some detective work. " Snooping was more the word he would have used for it, but he wasn't about to tell her that.
"Nothing's going on," she answered. "I just don't feel like investigating anything today. Besides, twelve different places? It would take the two of us the rest of our lives just to try and process it all. "
The light turned green and they crossed the street. When they reached the adjoining sidewalk, Greeny started up again. "Then why make me go to all the trouble of looking at that article if you didn't actually want anything from it?"
She didn't answer as they went on. Greeny snuck a glance at his watch. It was just after four. He'd have to be getting back to the school before too long. He exhaled. He didn't want to leave Leah like this. She obviously wanted something from him. He really wished she'd tell him what.
Leah sighed. "It doesn't matter now. Just drop it, okay?" She quickened her pace.
"Okay," he agreed. They walked in silence for a moment. "But just answer me this. What are you so afraid of? What do you think you're going to find by investigating this?"
"I'm not afraid of anything, Bush."
His last name. He held back a smirk. She was lying and it was clearer than day. She only addressed him by his last name when she wanted him to back off, which, of course, he wasn't about to do. "Don't you want to go to Catrial and see the place for yourself? I mean, you were right! Something weird happened there! Don't you want to know what?"
"Not anymore."
"Why not?"
As to answer his question, she gestured across the street to a docile police cruiser. "They're everywhere," she responded in a lower voice. " I put one toe out of line and they report back to my father, and I get grounded for the rest of summer. "
Oh. Now I get it. "He's still upset about the winery?" he guessed, recalling one of her previous attempts to "sleuth" which had ended up with them both being grounded for a month. And when Greeny tried to protest that the chief wasn't his father, he was threatened with spending the night in a cell. He chose the grounding.
Leah grimaced. That was all the answer he needed. He ran a hand through his hair and fiddled with his spectacles. "So what do we do now?" He saw the familiar glint in her eyes. She still wanted to do this. That meant they were going to need some sort of plan.
"Let's go talk to my father," Leah decided after a long moment of silence and indecision. "Maybe we can get permission. And even if we can't, maybe we can find something that'll help us."
Greeny squinted, locating the police station down the street. The sunlight reflected off its tall glass windows and acted as a kind of lighthouse across the entire town, particularly at sunset. Leah thought it was beautiful. He found it obnoxious and flashy.
Just another reason he'd make a horrid cop.
He felt the curious gazes of over a dozen officers fall on him as they entered the building. He kept his head down nervously as he followed Leah through the main office and toward the very back of the room where a small area had been closed off from the rest. From where he was standing, Greeny could see a large chair and an average-sized desk. Papers were scattered everywhere and several were tacked to a small pegboard opposite from a small tinted window. Greeny quickly took it all in as Leah knocked on the office door.
And then he sneezed.
There was a meow and they both turned to see a plump orange tiger hop up on the desk beside them and brush contentedly against a large potted plant. Leah beamed as she saw it. "Hi, Amicus!" she cooed, sliding past Greeny to stroke the fluffy longhair.
Figures, Greeny thought. My worst nightmare has arrived. Already he could feel another sneeze coming on. The station's mascot was loved by all. It was the personal pet of Leah and her father, but the station had somehow ended up with joint custody and now the feline lived there which made it extremely difficult for Greeny to be there. "Amicus," he said flatly, edging in the opposite direction. "How lovely to see you again."
The cat flicked his ears back and narrowed his eyes as the teen spoke. Clearly, he wasn't any fonder of Greeny than Greeny was of him. The teen tensed in case the feline decided to lunge at him.
There was a creak as the door opened and a middle-aged man stuck his head into the main room. He spotted Leah and Greeny and a deep frown etched across his face. "Come in," he said, ushering them inside. Leah went first and Greeny followed. Chief Grasslake brought up the rear and closed the door behind him. "Go ahead and sit down," he said, gesturing to the chairs opposite the table as he seated himself behind his desk. Greeny hastily obeyed, swallowing hard. He wasn't used to Leah's father being so formal. He supposed it was because he was on the clock. "Has something happened? Are you both all right?"
Greeny opened his mouth to answer but Leah beat him to it. "We're fine," she said quickly, "but there's something we wanted to show you. I know you've been working the...incident...in Catrial so we did some searching and we think we found something. Greeny?"
He'd been so busy focusing on reading the Chief's expression that he didn't hear Leah saying his name until she had to repeat it. "Huh? Oh yes, sorry, sorry, here." He pulled his laptop out and brought up the screen, connecting to the high-speed internet and turning the device so Mr. Grasslake could see it. "As you can see, sir, I did a bit of digging. This isn't the first time an attack like this has happened. And there's this boy." He pointed out the dark-haired figure in the crowd. "He's in every video at every incident. And...we were hoping you might be able to tell us who he is."
"I see." Mr. Grasslake stared at the video and then watched it all the way through twice more before handing the computer back. "Well, as you know, this is an ongoing case," he warned, "so there's not much I can tell you."
Greeny sighed. He'd expected this reaction. It was just like a crime movie. The police couldn't legitimately tell average citizens anything. Still, he couldn't believe they were being stonewalled this hard.
"Oh, come on, Dad!" Leah groaned. "Don't use that worn-out old line on us! You know we aren't the paparazzi. You can tell us anything!"
No, actually, he can't. Greeny hastily tucked his computer back into his backpack, sat back quietly in his chair, and waited. He glanced between father and daughter and suddenly felt the urge to back up and disappear before the shouting fest began. "E-excuse me," he mumbled, averting his gaze. "Bathroom. Down the hall, right?" He darted out the door before either one could answer. Even as he closed it quietly behind him, he heard the stewing silence erupt into furious shouting.
"You know what'll happen if you go there!"
"I don't care! He's out there! He needs our help!"
"I won't allow it! It's too dangerous! You have a job right here!"
Blushing slightly, he backed away from the office, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping on their conversation. Several officers glanced up from their reports, smirking slightly in his direction as he spun on his heels and headed down the hall toward the restrooms. He didn't need them, but he knew he needed to get out of there. He'd been friends with Leah long enough to know that these anger flares tended to go on for quite a while.
He exhaled as he rounded a corner and found himself standing in an empty corridor. On either side of him were spotless white walls, covered partially with tacks and papers. He read a few as he passed, noticing that several were recent newspaper clippings. Tacked next to some of them were ripped sheets of paper with Chief Grasslake's handwriting on them.
Mineben. Animore. Flarient. He paused, scanned the unusual words with a frown. What is this? They weren't words and they didn't look like any language he'd ever heard of. He reached into the side pockets of his backpack and pulled out a small notebook, hastily scribbling the words into the border for later.
"May I help you?"
Greeny's head shot up at the kind voice behind him. He quickly shoved his notebook back into his pack and twirled around toward the owner of the voice, a young female officer who looked to be in her late twenties. "Erm...no...t-thank you," he stammered, hurriedly slipping past her just in case he wasn't supposed to be there. He stopped just before reaching the main hall, however, and slowly turned back to face her as she followed him. "What...what was that?" he questioned, gesturing behind them.
The woman hesitated. She opened her mouth, looking ready to give him an excuse, but was interrupted by the door as Leah came flying out, a deep scowl on her face. She spotted him almost instantly. He kind of wished she hadn't. He still had questions and he still wanted answers.
It didn't matter. She blew by him without a word and signaled for him to follow. He didn't argue. He knew better than protesting when she was angry. Besides, he might have just got them the lead they'd been looking for.
"Leah," he said quietly as they stepped out of the station and back into the quiet town. A car whizzed by at that moment, blocking out his voice. "Leah," he repeated as she turned and power-walked away. "Where are you going now?" He charged after her. She didn't look back at him once. "Leah, please. Talk to me. Let me help."
She took a deep breath, finally coming to a halt and turning back to face him. He could see the tears sparkling in her eyes and he immediately felt bad. He didn't know what had gone on inside, but he knew she had been crying. He wanted to help her, but he didn't know how. "What did your dad say?"
"It doesn't matter," she muttered, sniffing and wiping her tears away, trying to put on a smile.
"It does to me," he answered. "So...?"
She gulped back another wave of tears. "He said we should stay out of it. That it was too risky for us. He said he'd take care of it. He...he said not to let you go within a hundred yards of that plaza."
"Me?" Greeny blinked. "Why me?" Leah's his daughter. She's the one that he should be protecting. Not me.
She shrugged. "I don't know."
More lies.
Greeny groaned. "Right." He pushed by her and continued down the street.
"Wait...what is that supposed to mean?" Leah hurried after him. It was an unusual change for him to be leading. Any other time, he would think this a great accomplishment, but right now, he was too distracted to be excited. The words, the explosion in the capital, they were linked. He could feel it.
"Where are you going?" she questioned, catching up once more.
"I have to go to the capital," Greeny answered without stopping. "I need to see that plaza for myself."
"Why?"
"Because something is going on there," he responded for probably the thousandth time. "I want to know what it is."
"Wow. I really got into your head, didn't I?" Leah commented triumphantly.
"No," Greeny grunted. "You don't have to come with me, Leah."
"But I am going to," she interjected, shoving any traces of annoyance away and replacing them with determination. "And don't try and stop me," she added as he began to argue. "Admit it. You need me."
He wasn't going to argue with that. Mostly because it was true. "But what about your father? He'd kill you and I don't really feel in the mood to plan your funeral right now."
She shrugged. "I can deal with him. Now come on!"
I must be insane. He sighed and pushed his glasses up on his nose. Leah brushed past him and he did nothing to stop her. She was coming. He wasn't going to be able to stop her. He knew that, better than anyone. I'm definitely insane. He glanced toward the heavens, silently praying that he wasn't about to do something incredibly stupid.
"All right," he muttered. "Let's go."