The Truant Officer by Derek Ciccone Read Free Book Online Page A

Sea. His riches were legendary.
    Viktor escorted Natalie inside. He began preparations for their dinner guest, but his thoughts were on his potential reunion with Nick.

Chapter 12
     
    Darren walked out of the interrogation room beaten and dazed. Despite Agent LaPoint’s claims to the contrary, Darren didn’t feel like he had anybody in his corner. He would have to find Lilly by himself—he had never felt so alone.
    He entered the main airport terminal through a door marked Authorized Personnel Only . It was now closing in on seven o’clock and the airport had woken up from its slumber. Passengers lined up for security checks, restaurants were open for overpriced breakfasts, and newspaper stands were selling Monday morning editions of the Arizona Republic. On the front page was the headline: Gang Warfare!
    Darren bought a copy, and after quickly skimming it, was relieved that Lilly’s name wasn’t released. If she was really abducted by a student who’d tried to make it look like a copycat crime, as the police hinted, then Darren saw an advantage in the media helping to sell the gang angle. Perhaps lull her captor into a false sense of safety.
    He folded the paper under his arm and began heading toward the pilot’s parking area. But blocking his path was the same reporter from earlier.
    “I have no comment,” he replied before she even opened her mouth, and continued his walk toward the parking garage.
    “I don’t know where you’re going, your wife dropped you off on Saturday morning. You have no car at the airport.”
    He had forgotten—the plan was for Lilly to pick him up when he returned. “How do you know that?”
    “I’m a reporter, remember? Sounds like you have a lot on your mind, maybe you’d feel better if you talked to someone about it.”
    She was right—he did have a lot on his mind. He mentally pictured Brett Buckley from one of their encounters at Lilly’s tutoring sessions. He stood out to Darren because he seemed much more mature than some of his classmates. Darren also remembered his intense eyes and powerful looking physique. Now he pictured him in that ski mask with a knife, throwing his wife into the back of their vehicle and driving off. Darren felt ill, causing him to stop in his tracks.
    Jessi caught up to him. “So do the police have any leads?”
    He doubted it would really make him feel better, and logic told him that he’d regret it if he engaged this reporter, but he felt compelled to talk to someone, and she was the most readily available. “They had some theories, but seemed to be fishing. They definitely didn’t think it was gang related. Hinted that it might have been one of my wife’s students, she is a…”
    “Teacher at South Chandler High, I know,” she informed, as if to showcase her reporter cred.
    “I shouldn’t be telling you anything,” he said, having second thoughts, and began walking away again. But he couldn’t shake her.
    “So they think one of your wife’s students was stalking her?” she asked. “I’ve had a few stalkers myself, makes you feel very alone and vulnerable. Did the police give you a name of the student they suspect?”
    “No,” he lied, but his thoughts were on the first task in front of him—getting home. Maybe when he saw Lilly’s things or smelled her perfume he would be able to think more clearly.
    “I don’t know who you think you’re dealing with—I’m not some local yokel, I used to work in New York—the police would’ve run possible suspects by you, want to know if she ever talked to you about X student or Y student. Maybe she mentioned being scared of one of them, or had some romantic overture made toward her, something along those lines. So how about we start with some honesty?”
    Coming from the person who stole his wife’s credit card, that was a bit rich. Darren should have left her behind, but for some reason he didn’t, and continued talking, “They were throwing some theories against the wall,