Break the Silence (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“Bodies everywhere. The front door leads straight into a family room.” Kane turned back to look at her. “I can’t see or smell blood, so maybe they’ve all passed out.”

A noise from inside prickled the hairs on the back of Jenna’s neck. “What was that?”

“There’s something moving in there.” Kane took a step forward and the boards under his feet gave a loud moan. A strangled cry came from inside. “Stay back.”

The next moment a large calico cat shot out the door, carrying part of a slice of pizza, and took off into the darkness, tail fluffed out like a raccoon. Jenna jumped back then stared at Kane. “What the—?”

“If animals are raiding the place, something’s up.” Kane holstered his weapon, pulled on latex gloves, and then moved to the doorway.

“I’m going in.” Jenna peered around the door and raised her voice. “Sheriff’s department.”

When nobody moved, Jenna holstered her weapon and followed, pulling on gloves as she walked. She went to the first young man spread out on a sofa beside another with his head hanging over the arm. She touched his face. The warm skin under her fingers and the rapid eye movement under his lids told her he was in REM sleep. She checked the other man and found him to be fine. “They’re asleep.”

“So are these over here. We have six guys. Do you know how many live here?”

Jenna shook her head. “No, but they’re all seniors.”

“Well, Jacobs was one of them and there could be more asleep upstairs. I figure two to a room, they’d fit ten or more people in here. There has to be six bedrooms in a house this size.” Kane wrinkled his nose and bent over. “And look what we have here.” He held up a glass bong and a substantial bag of weed. “I bet you know what this is?”

Jenna took the bag from Kane, peered inside, and examined the weed. “It looks and smells like Ghost Train Haze or maybe Train Wreck.” She glanced up at him. “It’s been some time since I’ve seen any weed, and new strains are coming out every day. Whatever, it’s a federal offense to bring it into Montana. We’ll bag the evidence.” She looked around at the sleeping bodies. “Wake them up one at a time, get their names and prints. I doubt any of them have a medical marijuana permit but you can ask—but I figure this bag is way over the limit.”

As Kane went to work rousing the sleepy young men, Jenna took in the surroundings. The place was a mess. Beer and liquor bottles littered the coffee tables and the floor around the sofas. Empty wrappers from a variety of junk food, half-eaten hamburgers, and cartons of Chinese takeout littered every spare space. She moved slowly through the ground floor, passing a number of rooms set up for studying, with desks and laptops left unattended. A staircase led into darkness, but at the end of the hallway, she found the kitchen. Four coffee machines sat on a counter amid piles of dirty dishes, some with mold growing on rancid food. She heard footsteps and spun around as an athletic young man strolled into the room. Clean-cut and wearing a muscle shirt and shorts, the guy had blond hair and piercing, emerald-green eyes.

“It’s the maid’s day off.” He gave Jenna a crooked smile. “What brings you here in the middle of the night, Sheriff? Somebody die?” He leaned against the counter with one hand a little too close to a kitchen knife.

Jenna eased to the other side of the table then faced him, one hand resting on the handle of her weapon. “And you are?”

The young man looked abashed, almost insulted, and she caught a gleam of cruelty in his eyes.

“Seth Lyons.” He waved a hand to encompass the house. “My dad pays for all this so me and my boys can be alone, and here you are walking right in as if you own the place.”

Jenna lifted her chin. He was smaller than she expected for a football player, maybe five-ten with an athletic build. “The front door was open and we called out. When none of your friends moved, we entered the premises to offer assistance.”

“I see.” Lyons crossed his arms over his chest. “That doesn’t answer my question, Sheriff. Why are you here?”

“We found Alex Jacobs dead in the gym approximately an hour ago. I believe he lives here.” Jenna watched Lyons’ reaction and it was as if she’d punched him. “Is he a friend of yours?”

“Dead? How?” Lyons scrubbed his hands over his face. “Heart attack?”

Jenna frowned. “Did he have a heart problem?”

“Not that I’m aware of, but he pushes himself hard and his old man died of a heart attack recently.” Lyons pulled out a chair at the table, pushed away the plates to make a space, and dropped into the seat.

“When did you last see him?” Jenna went to the sink, took a clean glass from a shelf, filled it with water, and handed it to him.

“When we got back from training camp.” Lyons leaned back in his seat and sipped the water. “We all came back here but he decided to stay on campus and lift some weights.”

Jenna was making a mental calculation. Six men asleep in the family room, Alex, and Seth. “How many of you live here?”

“Eight.” Seth gave her a long look. “Sometimes more on the weekends when members of the team drop by.”

Not wanting to disclose any information about the cause of death, Jenna cleared her throat and moved on. “When was the last time you saw Chrissie Lowe?”

“Chrissie?” Lyons’ demeanor changed in a split second from relaxed to wary. He paused for some moments as if thinking but Jenna could see a man searching for a plausible story to tell her. It came soon after. “In the cafeteria on Friday. I asked her to party with us on Saturday night but she was a no-show. Why do you want to know about her?”

Oh, you’re good. Jenna leaned on the table and stared at him. “Really? A no-show, huh? Which one of you drives a silver or light blue sedan?”

“Most of the boys drive trucks and my ride is a Mustang.” He shrugged and stared out into the passageway. “I don’t know anyone who drives a sedan except maybe my old man.” He turned his attention back to her. “You’ve ignored my question and expect me to answer yours. Why do you want to know about Chrissie?”