Free The Yanti by Christopher Pike Page B

our games, and played them regularly.”
    Judge Lincoln nodded to Garten. “You may continue.”
    “These three kids were in Toule, and the next day, Cindy and Steve were back in Toule. But Ali had disappeared. I know because I swung by her house and she wasn’t home. I called her father, who was out of state, and he didn’t know where she was. He thought she was staying at Cindy’s house, but that afternoon Cindy was with Steve in Toule. Like she had four weeks earlier, Ali had once again disappeared.” Garten paused. “Then, the next day, the other two kids also vanished from sight.”
    Ali could see holes in his story. She had actually been up on the mountain, and in the elemental kingdom, two days before Steve and Cindy had been taken captive by Sheri Smith. But she saw no point in explaining the flaws in his time line. It was clear where he was heading with his long-winded explanation, and she was surprised she had not seen it earlier.
    Garten was going to blame her and Cindy for Steve’s disappearance. Then he was going to roll the mystery of Karl’s disappearance into one gigantic conspiracy on the part of Breakwater’s two little devils. Garten glanced at the two of them as he reached for the climax of his theory. He had an audience. Everyone in the room appeared to be listening closely.
    Except for Officer Jed Broach, who continued to stare off into space.
    “Now about last night,” Garten said. “Here I must turn to Officer Jed Broach for help. Officer Broach, at what time did Cindy appear at the Toule police station?”
    The deputy stirred at the question. “Pardon?” he mumbled.
    Garten moved closer to the man. “What time did Cindy Franken walk into your station last night and say that Steve Fender had been killed by Sheri Smith?”
    Officer Broach struggled to remember. “It was late. No, it wasn’t that late, but it was after dark.”
    Garten acted impatient. “Estimate the time.”
    “Nine o’clock?”
    Garten checked his notes. “Last night you said it was ten o’clock.”
    Broach appeared dazed. “It could have been ten.”
    “Okay. Somewhere between nine and ten o’clock Cindy walked into your station. Were you present when she was questioned about Steve’s murder?”
    “Yes.”
    “What did she say?”
    Broach hesitated. “That Ms. Smith had stabbed Steve to death with a knife.”
    “In her basement?”
    Officer Broach’s eyes wandered, confused. Ali could not help noticing how they came to rest on Sheri. Ali sensed invisible magnetic tendrils in the room, psychic snakes that reached out and enveloped Broach’s skull. The deputy stared at Sheri for several seconds, before answering in a firm voice. If Ali had had any doubts before that the man was under the woman’s control, they had just been erased.
    “Yes,” Broach said. “The girl said her friend had just beenkilled in Ms. Smith’s basement. Of course none of us believed her. Sheri Smith is a fine, upstanding woman. But we went out to the house nevertheless, checked it out.”
    “Did you find Steve’s body?” Garten asked.
    “No. We didn’t even find a basement.”
    Garten acted surprised. “Why is that?”
    “Because there wasn’t one.”
    The answer hung in the room. A cop was a strong witness. Even Judge Lincoln was giving Ali and Cindy a peculiar look. Garten continued, there was no stopping him now.
    “So what did you do with Cindy?”
    “When my partner, Officer Kwan, and I returned to the station, we told our captain we were pretty sure the girl was lying. He told Kwan to take her home.”
    “Did you know at that time that Steve Fender was in fact missing?”
    “Yes. We’d been notified by the Breakwater police that all three of the kids—Ali, Steve, and Cindy—were missing.”
    “Did you go back to the Smith residence that night?”
    “Yes.”
    “At what time?”
    “It was close to one o’clock.” Officer Broach pointed at Ali. “At that time I saw that young woman enter and exit the