corner, checking cars. What about the family?”
“Contacted,” Obaje said. “Everyone’s fine, and the mom’s on her way here, but she’s coming from Attleboro.”
As far as I knew, all of the previous murders had gone down in private family homes. But clearly, Keats wasn’t taking any chances.
“Where do you want me?” I asked.
“Take this.” He handed me a radio on the fly. “I want you thinking like a high school girl. Where would she go?”
I started to answer, but he’d already turned to head inside. There was no time for chitchat with the intern. I was just an extra pair of eyes, at best, and a second later I was standing alone on the school steps. I wasn’t even sure if I’d just gotten folded further into this thing or shut out of it.
But I did have some idea about where to look.
Based on what I’d read in the file, Nigella Wilbur didn’t much like school, loved weed, and wasn’t afraid of taking risks, either. That’s what had gotten her onto our radar in the first place. Opening the app was a risk in and of itself, whether or not she knew it; but then on top of that, I had the distinct impression that a little bit of danger wasn’t such a bad thing to Nigella.
When I was in high school, I was fairly straight and narrow, but I did know plenty of girls like her. And I knew a little something about how they operated. My first thought was that Nigella might have gone out for a little wake-and-bake to help her face the day. And to do that, she’d need to be outside.
It was just an educated guess, which was as much as I had to work with. I didn’t actually expect to be right.
But as it turned out, I was.
CHAPTER 34
BOSTON LATIN SCHOOL has no campus to speak of. It’s just one huge building in the middle of the city, with alleys and parking on either side. The Fens was only a few blocks away and a likely spot for stoners, given all the woods, paths, bridges, and other good hiding places over there. I figured I’d start with a quick lap around the school and work my way out from there, depending on what I saw, then maybe head to the park after that, if nobody found Nigella in the meantime.
I headed up the north alley first, scanning every nook and cranny along the way. From there, I moved down Palace Road behind the school and back up the other side. I was almost all the way around and had pretty much written this off when, sure enough and to my own surprise, I got a whiff of marijuana.
It didn’t take long after that to hone in on Nigella’s little smoking party. There were four of them, two boys and two girls, passing a vape pen around. Nigella was wearing a huge pair of sunglasses, but I recognized the blond dreads right away.
They had a pretty decent hideout, too. It was a three-walled alcove in the parking lot, meant to shield two dumpsters from view. Anyone inside the school wouldn’t have been able to spot them. But from there in the alley, I had a clear sight line.
I stepped back and radioed Keats.
“This is Hoot,” I said. “I found her. She’s with some friends in the parking area on the south side of the building.”
Some part of me felt bad for busting them. That’s not what I was there for. But they definitely had a serious buzzkill headed their way.
“Keep an eye on her, but do not approach,” Keats came back. “I’ll be right out.”
“Got it,” I said, trying to sound calm. I’d been wishing to get thrown back into the pool, and now here I was, swimming alone in the deep end. I wasn’t afraid of high schoolers, but by the same token, I hadn’t been left to my own devices like this before. Not with the stakes as high as these were.
A second later, Nigella’s group was on the move. One of the boys chirped open a RAV4 with his clicker and they headed toward it.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Keats, where are you?” I radioed.
“On our way,” he said.
There was no time. And no way I was going to be the rookie who found and lost this person of interest before Keats could catch up to her.
“Nigella!” I called out before I could even consider it either way.
All four of the kids turned to look at