He shook his head. "Not enough to take anything to a DA for prosecution. That's why we're bringing in Allen."

I rolled my eyes and put my hand on the door. "You really think a seventeen-year-old kid bludgeoned his baseball coach?"

"No, but I think he's hiding something. Allen hasn't told us the truth."

Of course not. He was a kid and Anderson probably went at him all super cop. "I'm big and tough, so tell me everything." Some people found that intimidating, so they clammed up. Not me, but some people. Definitely kids.

"If you really don't know, it's Principal Rafferty."

Anderson took a moment to speak with our Lord. "You can't accuse the man of murder just because he suspended you once."

Twice, but who kept track of little details like that?

"Think about it, Anderson. Coach Torres planned to leave Pelican Bay for a better job. Rafferty couldn't lose his best coach. Not after all the work he did covering up his student harassment case. Torres was our best chance at a title in baseball."

"We spoke to Renee's parents. They had no plans to sue," he said.

I shook my head. "But Rafferty stuck up for Torres against the school board. What a slap in the face to leave after that! Plus, the tapes."

"There are no tapes," he said, his voice growing louder.

I snapped my fingers. "Exactly. Who had access to those tapes? The principal. Not some random student."

"We've already considered all these pieces, but even put together they are a flimsy case. Nothing the DA can take to trial."

"People have killed for less, Anderson, and you know it."

Sports were big in Pelican Bay. We didn't have a movie theater, mall, or anything else fun. You watched the waves at the beach or kid's sports. With the high rise in crime, murder was on its way to being a top sporting event as well-the doing and the gossiping about it.

"Where's your proof? Something non-circumstantial."

I shrugged. "I have a hunch."

"Hunches don't win cases. We know about the girl and the offer letter from the other school, but so far we have no proof Torres planned to leave."

"Did you know the bat manufacturer produced over two million of those bats? Anyone could have one in their home." I'd looked up the stats at home last night and then rounded up.

"Vonnie, I didn't mention the bat," Anderson said.

I opened the outside door a fraction. The rain was a steady drizzle, but nothing too horrible. The edges of the sidewalk had trash cans every hundred feet. Everything would be wet, but worth it if I found the tapes. "I know you didn't mention the bat. I did. Follow along, Anderson."

What good did it do when I mentioned important stuff if he didn't listen?

"Listen, Vonnie. We know Allen was dating your sister. Of course you don't want him to be involved. We're thinking it might have been a group of his teammates and they're letting him take the fall. If he rolls on one of his accomplices, we'll cut him a deal. No one wants to see a kid go to jail for life."

Seriously, the guys at the station watched too much ID. And I watched a metric ton of ID channel, so that was saying something. We didn't have a band of rogue teenagers going around killing people when they upset them.

"Yeah, my dad is going to be pissed when I clear Allen's name."

Anderson raised an eyebrow at me. "And your mom?"

"Ecstatic." I'd have to take my dad a batch of cookies from the bakery to make up for it.

It hit me. Damn it. Sometimes I thought too much like a cop. The principal wasn't a complete moron. He wouldn't dump the tapes here where a student might find them. I snapped my fingers.

"We have to check the dumpsters in the parking lot. Then the areas around his home."

Anderson glanced outside and motioned toward the rain. "It's raining."

"Are you afraid you'll melt?"

"No, but my hair might. Lainey likes it this way, and I don't have time to fix it before I interrogate Allen. We're just waiting for his parents to arrive at the station."

Ugh, still on Allen. What made cops so stubborn? Fingers crossed, the kid's parents drove slowly. Really slowly since it took less than ten minutes to span the entire town.

"Fine, I'll go, but you should search Rafferty's office while I'm gone."

"Uh-huh? I'll do that," he said in a voice that made me believe he would not do that. "You have ten minutes to bring me evidence or I'm going to do proper police work at the station with my suspect."

I opened the door more. "I'll have it to you in nine."

Anderson started a timer on his phone and held it out for me to see. So punctual.

My shoes were a brand-new pair of white sneakers, and I gave them one last glance of appreciation before trudging out into the rain. They were too nice to be trouncing around in a dumpster, but with only nine minutes to go, I didn't have time for a change. Anderson's blood pressure would explode if I asked.

I jogged across the back parking lot toward the three brown industrial-sized dumpsters lining the back row of parking spaces. They were taller than me by... a lot, and I circled around, looking for the best way inside. Black trash bags peeked out from the top of the can, making the side door inaccessible. I'd probably have to climb over and in for the best stuff with probably less than six minutes left on Anderson's timer. I had to hurry and make my alley-oop into the trash.

Rain pelted me in the face, and I pushed back my already wet hair as I tried out different footholds. Hopefully, mystery meat cushioned my fall.

A car pulled into the parking lot and jetted toward the trash cans. I peeked out from my hidden spot and watched before climbing into the hole. If someone caught me there, Anderson might leave me behind.

The driver behind the wheel of the bright blue Honda drove with a purpose. He, Principal Rafferty, stopped inches from the dumpster and jumped out. He left his car running as he popped open his trunk and gathered two stuffed black trash bags.

Bags full of evidence! He had to have everything in there from the way the bags hung as he carried them toward the dumpsters. They were heavy. With tapes and other evidence.

I stepped out from the back dumpster before he lugged over the first bag.

"Getting rid of evidence is a federal crime." I never understood that one because you'd already committed a big enough crime to need evidence disposal, so what was one more crime on your list? But we didn't have time to debate the merits of the American law system.

Rafferty froze with the bag over his head. Gravity brought it down, and he dropped it to the ground before it hit him in the head.

"What do you want, Vines?" he sneered. "This is school grounds and last time I checked, you'd somehow graduated."

"I'm curious how you sleep at night with Allen going away for a murder you committed?" I placed myself between him and the dumpster but then stepped away. Once he tossed it in the bin, it became public and Anderson could search through it without a warrant.

Rafferty laughed, but something was just a little off about it. The volume was too high. "I heard they're bringing him in. He's a bad seed. It comes from who he hangs out with."

I didn't appreciate the dig at my sister. Vivi was wonderful. Bossy and a perfectionist, but no one got to be mean to her but me.

Rafferty dropped both bags at his feet. Did that count as disposed of? I stepped in front of his driver's side door so he couldn't get in the car and drive away, but he walked toward his trunk.

"It's probably for the best. You wouldn't cut it in prison. You're too weak," I said, leaning against his car to get a look inside for more evidence. "I know you killed Torres because he planned to leave the school and coach at Machias."

Rafferty raised a baseball bat from his trunk.

Oh shit.

I tensed, trying to find the best and quickest way from him. Where the hell was everyone getting all the baseball bats?

"I made Torres who he was. He tried to fuck a student, and I put my name on the line for him," he said and walked toward me. "He owed me and this school."

Slowly.

If he'd worn a mask and had a chain saw rather than a baseball bat, I'd have some serious Jason references to make. Especially when I slipped on a puddle of gathered rain water by his front tire. "Why do all that?"

"Sports. It all comes down to sports. Do you know how much our boosters provide for the school? We need our teams to win if the drama department wants to put on their little plays. You think the mathlete program draws a sizeable crowd?" He laughed, so I took it as a no. "People pay money to see a winning team. Torres wanted to steal that from me."

I nodded, still inching away from him.

Rafferty swung at me. He put his entire body into it and swung with too much hip movement, but the bat arched in the air and swooshed inches from my face. Form didn't matter with murder.

"You couldn't let him go," I said and turned the corner of the dumpster. "He ruined your plans."

He followed. "I thought for sure splitting him and his wife up would make him stay, but it only made him more determined to leave. We don't take betrayal lying down here. He had it coming."

"One of those 'if you can't have him, no one can' things?" I held on to the edge of the dumpster, and Rafferty swung, almost connecting with my fingers.

The dumpster rattled and vibrated with the attack. "You amaze me, Vines."

"Why is that?" He swung, and I ducked.

"You barely passed gym class, but put all this together. If only you'd applied yourself in school."

I shrugged. "I don't like to run." Or school. Too many textbooks and not enough on-the-job training.

Principal Rafferty swung at me again, putting the full force of his body behind the movement. "I'll tell you a secret."

Barely a bat's worth of space separated us as I tried and failed to inch away from him. If I turned my back, he'd use the opportunity to knock off my head. "You'll have to tell me from there."

"It only took three strikes to bring Torres to his knees, but I'm betting I can take you in two."

The bat struck out and hit me in the middle. Ouch. I flew into the side of dumpster, the metal connectors digging into the other side of my body. I crumpled over and gasped as the hit knocked the air out of me. Shit. I had to get out of here or I'd be the next mystery meat meal.

My ribs screamed in agony as I limped toward the opposite end of the dumpster, looking for an escape. Water splashed at the bottom of my pants as I slipped into another puddle and crashed to the pavement.

I rolled, my palm scratched from the gravel as I tried to stand up. Rafferty leaned over me with a deadly glint in his eye and the bat raised above his head.

And to think, my day started out so well.

He smiled as he lined up his swing.