Free Stranded by J. T. Dutton Page B

didn’t seem like the sort of person who possessed insider information, yet everyone turned to him and gave him their attention. He leaned forward and glanced out the door to make sure all fifteen of us were alone. Natalie, I noticed, copied Ms. Duncan’s diagram from the board. She sat with her back to the rest of us with even better posture than she had at home. I should be following her example, I thought,but I wanted the dish and was hoping to hear it from Boog if he was the man to supply it. I hadn’t known Kenny more than forty-eight hours, but I was as curious as everyone else about what kind of crime he had committed that the police wanted to drag him away almost in handcuffs. Heaven was turning out to be quite a shifty place.
    “I’m not supposed to know,” Boog explained.
    “Did they take Kenny because of Baby Grace?” Sherry seemed rabid with excitement.
    Boog tried not to confirm or deny Sherry’s suspicions.
    Steve thumped Boog on the arm. “What’s that fucking meth dealer scumbag done now?”
    Boog hesitated. “I don’t think he really sells the stuff.”
    “Don’t defend that asshole, Boogman.” Steve walloped his friend on the arm again.
    I was sorry that Steve hadn’t yet noticed my beret. He seemed impatient for a boy who was supposed to be awash in desire for a mysterious stranger. When I first arrived in the room, I had done what I could to capture his attention, curling my hand under my chin, tilting my head in his direction, trying to sit myself next to him, but since the arrival of the police,I held the edges of my desk so hard my knuckles turned white. Not exactly sexy, but sometimes it is easy to forget yourself when you think you are about to be arrested.
    “You know how Stockhausen spends all his time out at the Quonset huts?” Boog asked the entire room.
    “To deal meth,” Steve said.
    Boog didn’t contradict him a second time.
    “Do they think he knows something about that baby they found?” Sherry asked.
    “He might,” Boog confirmed.
    People immediately began to speculate and even broke into discussion groups.
    “He’s a Satan worshipper,” Sherry exclaimed to her foursome, which included Boog, Steve, and Natalie. “I bet he kidnapped the baby to sacrifice it!” She turned to Steve in a fit of what seemed like panic and touched his arm.
    Steve didn’t acknowledge her hand. I hate to say it, but Steve didn’t seem to be easily seduced. He was a match for Natalie, who was taking only a small interest in the conversation and not seeming like she would go mad unless she heard every detail. Like Steve, she revealed a faint look of irritation at Sherry’s excitement.
    I wondered how Boog had learned his facts, andthen he explained, because he had noticed the beret and me raising my eyebrows like I might have sex with him if I could only hear more. He said that his dad was the local sheriff. When I thought about it, I realized that one of the two men who had come with Mr. Gruber resembled Boog.
    Sherry told a story about how Kenny had once broken a water fountain. No question, Kenny had the dangerous, isolated quality of somebody you might assume carried a gun to school. Hearing what people wanted to believe about him made me wonder if I should be grateful I had only been abandoned by him in a parking lot.
    “So what do you think the police are going to find in Stockhausen’s locker?” Steve asked.
    “I don’t know exactly,” Boog said. “But they were asking about the knife that was used to cut the baby’s umbilical cord.”
    “He always carries a knife,” Sherry yipped. “I’ve seen him with one. He used one to ruin that desk,” she said, and pointed at the place Kenny had vacated.
    We all turned to examine the desk that Kenny had hacked, scribbled on, and kicked out of alignment.
    “It might be that he saw something.” Boog made an effort to be neutral.
    “I have to give that asshole credit,” Steve remarked.
    “What do you mean?” A furrow