CHAPTER TEN

Angus sat across from Terrance Jefferies. The young man was tense and a bit nervous, but no more than most people he interviewed were. He was polite and had said he'd do anything to help them find answers. Angus just hoped that was true.

Like Gavin, Terrance was tall. Not as tall as Gavin, but at least six feet, maybe an inch more. He understood why Gail was so sure whoever had her hadn't been Gavin or Terrance.

"I'm sorry about the death of your friends," Franks stated. "Do you know of anyone who would want to hurt them? Anyone they've had a fight with recently?"

Terrance ran his fingers through his dark hair. It hung a bit long, covering his eyes when he leaned forward. "No, but I didn't know the girls that well. I mean, we hung out, but we weren't best friends or anything. I knew Liz better than I know Fiona or Gail, but that's only because Gavin dated her so she was around me more."

"So you didn't get together all the time and hang out?" Angus asked.

"No, we did, but the girls would sit talking while we gamed. Sometimes the girls would play too, but it was like there was always two groups there. The girls would have one conversation going while we had our own. Sometimes we'd all talk, but that wasn't always the normal." Terrance wrung his hands together in his lap. "In fact, there was one conversation we all had together not too long ago. I thought of it last night when I was thinking about their deaths. It's kinda strange."

"Tell us about it." Franks had his notebook out.

"A while back, maybe a couple weeks ago, we were all here in the basement. We'd ordered pizza and someone had watched some documentary on dying. We got talking about the worst ways to die. We all mentioned how we'd hate to die. Well, Fiona said drowning, Liz said choking or being strangled. Pretty much not being able to get air. I said being crushed, like having a building fall down on top of you after an earthquake or something." Terrance sighed. "Anyway, you see how strange it is that the girls died just how they feared?"

"What did Gavin, Gail, and Tom say?" Angus asked, though he already knew.

"Um, Gav. said he'd hate to starve to death. Gail was really scared of heights, so hers was falling from a high place, and Tom said poisoning." Terrance shifted as if very uncomfortable. "At the time, it was just a conversation. I didn't think much of it, but now, I'm kinda freaked out."

Angus nodded. "It is a bit suspicious. Do you think someone in your group is responsible for the deaths?"

"No, not at all." Terrance sat up straighter and shook his head. "No one in our group would do anything like that. I mean, I trust them all. I can't see anyone hurting another. We were friends. Have been for years. We've got each other's backs. Ya' know what I mean? No, I don't think anyone could do this, but it's just odd. Maybe someone mentioned the conversation to someone outside our group? I don't know."

"Was anyone else there that day? Someone you usually don't hang with?" Franks asked.

"No, it was like always. My parents were working late so we came here." A blush tinted his cheeks. "We usually came here to be alone."

Angus wondered if that was because of Terrance's relationship with Tom. He wouldn't ask about that yet. There was no reason to bring it up for now.

"Seriously, we didn't invite others over very often. My parents knew everyone who was there, and don't like it when I bring strangers over they haven't met yet." Terrance looked up as another teen walked into the room.

"What's going on, Ter?" the boy asked.

Angus looked the kid over. He didn't resemble Terrance at all. The kid was probably around twelve or thirteen. He was shorter, maybe five-five. He was also very thin and lanky. His hair was a mess as if he'd just climbed out of bed, and he was pale, as if he didn't get outside much.

"Nothing, Johnny. It's not your concern." Terrance waved the kid off.

"Whatever." Johnny rolled his eyes and turned into the kitchen.

"Who is that?" Franks asked.

"My stepbrother." Terrance shrugged as if the kid wasn't important.

"Is he usually here when your friends are over?" Angus asked.

"Yeah, but he like, never leaves his room. He's a nerd. Always on his computer. He only comes out of his room to eat or pee unless Mom and Dad make him come out." Terrance didn't seem interested in his stepbrother.

"How old is he?" Angus heard the fridge door close, then the water turn on in the kitchen.

"Fifteen," Terrance said.

Angus made a note.

"How would you say Gavin and Elizabeth's relationship was? Any problems there?" Franks asked.

"Not at all. Hell, those two were made for each other. The only thing stopping them from getting married now was their parents. They are like the perfect couple." Terrance grinned. "They've always been together."

"Are they the only ones that were dating out of your group?" Franks asked.

Angus sighed. So much for secrets. Maybe he should have told Franks about Tom and Terrance before they got here. He really didn't think it was going to come up in conversation. He watched Terrance to see his reaction to the question.

Terrance smiled and his cheeks pinkened a bit. "It's a secret because Tom's parents will kill him if they find out, but my parents know. All my friends know. Tom and I have been dating for a little over a year now. But we are really careful about who knows. Everyone at school and on the basketball team just thinks we're best friends." He looked worried for a minute. "You won't tell Tom's parents, will you? Seriously, they'll freak out."

Angus held up a hand. "We won't tell anyone unless it becomes important to the case. Right now, it's not. We don't want to out anyone." He wished he could guarantee the news wouldn't come out, but he couldn't do that.

"Detective Young is right. We don't need to get into any of that for now. The last thing we want is to cause Tom any problems. Things are good with you two? No issues?" Franks wrote something down.

"No, they're good. It's just hard not being able to go out and do things as a couple. As soon as he graduates, he's moving out, then we'll be able to go public. It's just another year." Terrance shrugged. "We'll get an apartment together then. Gavin and Liz were going to get a place with us, but now, well, I don't know what Gavin will do. Losing Liz is destroying him."

They talked a bit more about the friends' relationships and how everyone got along. They spoke a bit about Terrance's alibi during Liz and Fiona's deaths, which Angus thought was solid. He'd looked into Tom and Terrance's alibis after he'd spoken to Gavin. The boys had been together during Fiona's murder, but they'd been in a very public park playing ball when Fiona died and had several friends to back up that they were there, along with cameras in the park that showed them playing basketball. Both boys had been home with family during Elizabeth's murder, and he had no reason to doubt that as of now.

"Can you think of anything else we should know?" Franks asked.

"Not at the moment. I'm seriously freaked out. I'm not sure if someone was just going after Liz and Fiona or if I should worry about them coming after the rest of us. I wasn't so worried until I remembered the conversation we had about dying. Now I'm worried someone will try and push a bunch of rocks on me. I'm staying home until you catch whoever did this."

"I wish I could ease your mind, but I can't. We have no idea who is doing this or why. It's probably best for you to stay in as much as you can until we find out." Franks stood and offered his card. "Call us if you think of anything or if something happens that we should be aware of."

"I will. Thank you." Terrance got up and saw them out.

Once in the car and on the road, Franks glanced over at Angus. "Thoughts?"

"He seems genuinely freaked out, and not the guilty freaked out we sometimes see. We'll see what Tom is like. I was surprised to find out about Johnny. I had no clue there was a stepbrother. We may need to speak to him at some point. He was in the house when that conversation took place, but I didn't get murder vibes off the kid." Angus looked at his notebook. "Still, I'm not getting those vibes off anyone in this case, but it has to be one of them, doesn't it?"

"Unless someone talked to someone about the conversation they all had or someone else was there. Have we verified where Terrance's parents were that afternoon or during any of the murders?" Franks stopped at a stop sign.

"No, but we will." Angus pointed. "Tom's house is there on the left." It was only a few blocks from Terrance's home. Like the others, the homes were more expensive with the yards professionally manicured. "I'm obviously in the wrong line of work. I couldn't afford a place like this no matter how I saved."

"You and me both. But would you really want something so big? I mean, what do you do with all the room? Even my little place is bigger than I need." Franks parked the car.

"Yeah, that's true. The bigger the house, the bigger the bills for everything, I guess. I bet their yard care bill is about the same as my mortgage was." Angus shoved his notebook in his pocket. "Let's do this."

They climbed out of the car into the hot air. Angus couldn't wait to get home, get a shower, and put on something lighter. He was so done with the heat and was counting the days until cooler weather moved in.

"I hear dogs," Franks said as he rang the doorbell.

"Great. Haunt hates it when I come home smelling of others. She makes me feel like I'm cheating on her. I'll get the silent treatment for hours." Angus sighed.

Franks laughed, then sobered as the door opened.

"I'm guessing you're the detectives who called to speak to our son?" an older woman asked as she swung the door open. She appeared to be sixty or so, but that couldn't be right. He would have sworn he'd read the wife was in her late forties. She wore a tailored pantsuit and wore very little make-up. Her gray hair fell in perfect curls around her small face.

"Yes, I'm Detective Franks, and this is Detective Young." Franks offered his hand.

"Come in. We're ready for you." She stepped aside, ignoring Franks' hand.

Angus followed Franks into the entry way, then waited as the woman closed the door and led them to a large living room. He could see a dog gate in the distance with two small dogs watching them through it. "I'm Claire Eckhart. My husband Don can't be with us, but he's available by phone if you need to speak with him."

"That's fine. We're really just here to speak with Tom." Angus smiled at the teenager who was standing by a chair. He offered his hand to the boy. "I'm Detective Young. Thanks for meeting with us."

"I'm glad to help. I don't know how I can help, but I'll do whatever I can." He shook Angus's hand, then nodded. "Have a seat."

Angus and Franks sat side by side on the couch while Tom and his mother had chairs across from them. Tom looked more nervously at his mother than he did at either Franks or him. Angus got the feeling that Tom didn't communicate well with his parents, and that wasn't just because he was hiding the fact he was gay.

"We're sorry about the death of your two friends." Franks pulled out his notebook. "Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt them?"

Tom shook his head. "No one. Terrance and I were talking about it this morning, and we can't imagine who would do something like this. I mean, everyone loved Liz, and Fiona was popular too. They didn't have enemies. None of us did. We kept to ourselves. At least outside of the basketball team, but the girls didn't really get involved with basketball except to come to our games when they start up."

They ran through pretty much the same conversation they'd had with Terrance and Gavin, getting no new information. Either these boys were good at hiding secrets or they really didn't have a clue who killed the girls.

Tom glanced at his mother when there was a lull in the conversation, then back at Angus. "Did Terrance tell you about the talk we all had one night about dying?"

"He did." Franks nodded.

"What conversation?" Mrs. Eckhart asked.

Franks ignored the woman. "Do you remember anyone else in the house that night other than the six of you?"

"Um, I guess Terrance's brother was upstairs, but he never comes downstairs where we are. Heck, he doesn't even come out of his room. There was no one else there. Tom's parents don't get home until later."

"Did you or anyone you know of tell anyone about that conversation?" Angus asked.

"What conversation?" Mrs. Eckhart asked again.

"Your son can tell you once we leave if he wants to. Let us finish our questions so we don't keep you." Franks stared directly at the woman, all but telling her this wasn't about her.

Angus was glad. He already didn't like Tom's parents. If their son had to hide who he was dating, then Angus had little respect for them. Right or wrong, it was how he felt. He knew the fear of coming out to people, but luckily, he never had to worry about that fear with his parents.

Mrs. Eckhart frowned but kept quiet.

"I didn't talk to anyone about it. I'd forgotten about it until Terrance brought it up. It wasn't like it was an important thing. At least it wasn't until it started to come true." Tom sat forward. "Am I safe? Are Terrance, Gavin, Gail, and I going to be next?"

"I can't answer that. We are doing everything we can to figure out who killed Elizabeth and Fiona, but until we do, it's probably smart to be careful. Keep doors locked, make sure any security cameras are working. I wouldn't take any chances," Angus warned him.

"Don and I are leaving town tomorrow morning. We'll only be gone through Sunday. I'm letting Tom stay with Terrance. Do you think that's wise?" Mrs. Eckart asked.

"Yes. Much better than him being here alone. There is safety in numbers. We've given the same warning to Terrance about being careful," Franks told her.

"Good. I'm so worried. I can't believe this is happening." She rubbed her hands together. "What leads do you have?"

"We aren't able to talk about an active investigation." Angus closed his notebook, figuring it was better to end this before she started demanding answers that they didn't have. "Thank you for talking with us." Angus handed Terrance one of his cards. "Call us if you think of anything, no matter how small it might be."

"Thanks." Tom took the card and stood.

Angus and Franks both stood. Angus shook the boy's hand. "We'll be in touch if we have more questions."

"Okay." Tom slid past his mother and walked them to the door. "I'll be at Terrance's starting tonight. You can get hold of me there."

"Sounds good. Have a good time and try not to worry too much. I know this is hard on all of you." Franks shook his hand, then they were out the door.

"What now?" Angus asked as they pulled away from the curb.

"Food." Franks smiled. "Then after we eat, we'll start looking into Gail's death. By the time we're back in the office, hopefully she's been identified. Either way, the family told us she was missing. We can at least see if her work has any cameras and start things moving."

"Sounds good to me. How about that chicken place across from the high school?" Angus had a craving for wings.

"Perfect." Franks nodded. "Maybe a double order since I doubt we'll be home for dinner tonight."

"Yeah." It wouldn't be the first time they'd eaten at their desks. "It's going to be a long one."

"We'll figure this out. Something's got to break."

"Let's just hope it's before someone else gets killed." Angus stared out the window, not wanting to think about which one of the teens might be next.