Chapter 37

“SHERIFF, THIS IS BILL out on Carnation Road. Normal morning drive-by behind the bus.”

“What do you have, Bill?” True to his word, Tom had a deputy stationed near the Steinman’s house twice a day to be sure Les got on and off the school bus. He’d seen the kid get off the bus Friday night and walk calmly into the house. The father was already home. They hadn’t really checked over the weekend.

Home. What a life. Steinman was a squatter. The sheriff’s office had been unable to locate the owners of the property, but the taxes were paid up and there was no reason to investigate. A few years before, Steinman had quietly moved a single wide into the shelter of the trees. He’d had no difficulty getting someone out to dig a well and septic system. The electric company had even connected him to the power lines. This was all unincorporated county jurisdiction and there were really no building codes to enforce. And until last year, everything had been quiet and peaceful there.

“I have a no-show. Les Steinman did not board the bus this morning.”

“Can you see his father’s car?” Sheriff Moran had his phone out to call Steinman.

“Negative. No apparent signs of life around the property.”

“Stand by and observe. I don’t want you in there without backup. The kid is too unpredictable. I’m ten minutes away and calling for additional eyes near the school.” Moran turned on his lights and headed for the Steinman place. On the way, he mobilized another deputy and the volunteer fire department to monitor the school grounds. This was exactly what he was afraid of.

“What’s up, deputy?” Natalie asked when she saw the patrol car with lights flashing at the school entrance Monday morning.

“A school emergency drill,” the deputy said. “Do you have a student ID?”

“Sure.” Natalie and her sisters showed their school IDs and the deputy waved them through. The next car got the same treatment. They could see volunteer firemen checking each school bus and student walking in. “Strange,” Natalie whispered. She thumbed Dennis’s number on her phone and texted him.

Sheriff’s Department and Fire Department are running some kind of emergency drill and checking student IDs.

Be careful! It could just be a drill. Or Les could be on the loose.

We’re watching and will get all the team inside.

Daniella parked the car and they immediately got out to start scanning the parking lot and surrounding area. They spotted a State Trooper at the cemetery where the parking area was shared with the school. Other players arrived and were hurried into the building. Some upperclassmen saw what they were doing and started the same routines with the arriving middle school students.

They’d settled into their first period classes when the loudspeaker system crackled to life.

“This is Principal Morris. Many of you were disturbed this morning to discover the entrances to the school blocked and IDs checked. Be calm. There is no emergency at the moment. Sheriff Moran called me early this morning to let me know there would be a public safety drill to test the readiness of our first responders to meet any emergency. Many of you remember the sad occurrence at our school last spring. As soon as the new sheriff took office, in November, he had a meeting with all school principals and administrators in the county to discuss how to better respond to emergencies. Unless the school klaxon sounds with our emergency warning, students are encouraged to go about their day as normal with the single exception of not leaving the school building. You will find an adult volunteer or staff member at each exit. Please do not give them grief when you are told to stay inside.”

There was a buzz of relief among the students. Many remembered too well the sounding klaxon announcing the presence of an active shooter. They’d had a drill in the early fall to make sure all safe rooms were fully equipped and operational. It reminded them all of the spring’s crisis.

“Dennis, it’s Sheriff Moran.”

“Yes, Sheriff. I understand there’s a drill going on at the school. I’m over in Boone.”

“Stay there. It’s not entirely a drill. Les Steinman is at large. We have an all-points bulletin out for him and are organizing a sweep originating at the school and moving outward. I’m betting Steinman has no idea where you are, so stay there until you hear from me.”

“Yes, sir. Please protect my girlfriends.”

“We’ll do our best, Dennis.”

Dennis turned to Brenda who had a worried expression on her face he was sure was reflected on his own.

“They say that Les Steinman is on the loose,” he said.

“Call your mother. It’s not likely he actually knows who she is or even where you live, but it’s better that she pick up Peg today and bring her here for the night. We’ll rent a hotel room. I’ll message the rest of the girlfriends,” Brenda said.

They made their calls and went to class, just as their girlfriends were doing. There would be some word by the end of the school day, they were sure.

The state forensics investigator was at the Steinman house along with the county medical examiner. The house was a mess and the elder Steinman could answer no questions. His body was in a comfortable chair in front of the television. He’d bled out from multiple knife wounds. The house had been ransacked. A gun safe had been broken into. If Steinman had been honest when Tom visited on Monday, he had only a handgun in the safe. The man’s wallet and keys were gone, as well as the old Buick he drove. Tom had put out an APB for Les Steinman and the 1999 Buick Century. The county was on high alert, but State Patrol had been alerted for the entire state. Les was assumed to be armed and dangerous.

“It’s hard to tell. I’d say it all occurred soon after dinner Saturday night,” Richard Davis, the county medical examiner said. “The body has been here at least twenty-four hours.”

“Twenty-four hours could put him hundreds of miles away. Tom, I think you should call the FBI,” Alan Lapinski said.

“I’m not going to loosen the belt around the county,” Moran said. “There are too many vulnerable people he could go after.”

“Have we about run out of murderers in this county?” Lapinski asked.

“I sure hope so. I’ve seen enough in the past year to last my career,” Moran said. “I thought the sheriff’s job was mostly traffic stops.”

“Dream on,” Davis said. “I think we can get this out of here if you are both satisfied.” Lapinski and Moran agreed. A photographer snapped a couple more pictures and the doctor’s team moved in to bag the body and carry it out to the waiting ambulance for transport to the mortuary for autopsy.

“Where would you go if you were sixteen and had just killed your father?” Moran asked absently.

“Back to the scene of his first failure,” Lapinski said. “I’d be hidden out in the school building waiting for my opportunity to off the guy who stopped me last time.”

“If he is, he’s out of luck. The kid isn’t at school today.” Moran thought about the suggestion. Anyone could have come into the school over the weekend or early this morning. “The girls’ locker room,” he said suddenly. “If he’s waiting for revenge, he’ll wait there.”

Moran tore out of the driveway and headed toward the school.

The search was futile. Three officers entered the girls’ locker room when Ardith indicated it was empty. They opened every locker that did not have a lock on it. When they found nothing, they had Ardith and Jim lock the room and accompany them into the boys’ locker room. They went through the same procedure in vain. They searched every part of the athletic department, including the coaches’ locker rooms and offices, the equipment cage, and the expanded storage room where they’d put much of the new equipment they didn’t have any other room for.

The officers expanded the search from there and went through every classroom and office and janitor’s closet in the building. When they entered a classroom in the company of Principal Morris, the students were released and told to go home or get back on their bus for the ride home. All after school activities were canceled.

No sign of Les Steinman or his father’s car was found.

Officers scouted every road in the county and began working their way out from there. No sign of the missing car showed up. It was frustrating, but in a way, it was also a relief. It seemed the people of Bartley were safe.

For now.

The crew still stayed in Boone Monday night. Peg and Dot had a room in the Super 8 in Boone. Dennis and his girlfriends were used to sharing a king size bed and all piled into a single room.

An announcement during first period Tuesday morning said the danger that prompted the emergency drill on Friday had passed. Dennis got a call from Sheriff Moran telling him Les’s car had been found abandoned in Wichita, Kansas. The FBI had plotted the route and indicated they thought he was headed on south into Oklahoma or Texas. So far, no one had come forward to indicate they’d seen the fugitive. Police were checking all stolen car reports.

Less than half his normal contingent of athletes showed up for conditioning exercises Tuesday afternoon. Few people who weren’t actively engaged in one of the teams were there. The boys’ teams were finished for the season. The wrestlers had their final match on Saturday.

Dennis went over what he’d worked on with the crew over the weekend and Ardith picked up from there with the rest of the team. It was more important to keep the Angelines focused on the ball than to scrimmage. The girls were a little shaken by the whole Steinman thing and two of the younger girls decided their season was over and quit the team.

The regional final was played at the Chiefs’ gym, so neither the Angelines nor Eagles had home court advantage. The Eagles were listed as the home team and the Angelines as the visitors. They girls were happy just to get on the court where they understood the tension and pressure.

The first quarter looked like it would be another Angelines runaway victory and ended with the score at 20-7. The Eagles were a scrappy team, though, and outscored the Angelines in both the second and third quarters. The deficit was just too much for the Eagles to overcome. The last quarter looked like a shooting match between Natalie and the Eagles’ forward, Connie. It was the highest scoring quarter of the game and the Angelines captured it 24-23. The final score was 67-60.

The shoot-out between the two girls ended with both scoring twenty-three points for their team. The Angelines rode back to Bartley with a caravan of fans, celebrating their Regional Championship. As always, the boosters met the team at PJ’s for a pizza celebration. It was a little shorter this year as the 2A regional championships were played mid-week and kids still had to go to school in the morning.

Brenda called from the DMACC bus, traveling back from Nebraska after having won their game. Brenda had a record six assists and four steals in the game, but said her shooting seemed off and she scored only four points. Her team wasn’t even stopping back in Boone, but was spending the night at their next game site on the other side of Iowa. They would play the Trojans Thursday afternoon.