extended his hand. “Nice to meet you, Matt. Have any idea who pulled the alarm?”
“No, sir. Apparently some guy broke in.” He pointed toward the broken window.
“Some guy? Not mischievous teens?” Billings asked.
Matt opted for sticking to the truth as much as possible. “No, it was a man, sir.” He looked directly at Billings, whose eye twitched ever so slightly.
“Can you describe him?” Kyle asked, pulling out a small notebook.
“About five-ten, a hundred and eighty pounds.” He directed the rest of his answer to Kyle. “He wore a black leather jacket and knit cap. I’m thinking he was pushing forty?”
“Wow, how close did you get to this guy?” Kyle asked.
“Pretty close. He took a swing at me.”
“Are you injured?” Billings said with mock concern.
“No, sir. I grew up the youngest of five boys so I’m pretty good at defending myself.”
“The knit cap perp was inside the building?” Kyle pushed.
“Actually we got into it outside, back by the playground.”
Kyle looked up in question.
“I went out to my truck to get something, and that’s when I encountered the man,” Matt said. “The alarm had gone off—not sure what that was about. He claimed his wife was in the building.”
“His wife?” Kyle said. “But the center was closed.”
“That is correct,” Matt said. “I thought I convinced him to leave, but then he went all Rocky on me.”
The fire crew exited the building. “It’s clear,” the shift captain said.
“Thanks.” Billings turned to Matt. “I’d like you to walk me through what happened tonight. Step by step.”
Of course he did. He wanted to figure out if Matt was telling the truth or creating a story to protect himself, Jenna and the little boy.
“Sure, this way.” He led Kyle and the chief into the community center. By the end of this story, they’d be at Matt’s truck. He hoped they wouldn’t decide to search it, but why would they? Matt wasn’t a suspect. If Jenna stayed down and the little boy didn’t cry, Billings wouldn’t find her.
She’d be hiding right under his nose.
“I was in the back office on break, listening to the hockey game,” Matt said.
They got to his office and the cops poked their heads inside.
“Closed circuit?” Kyle asked, eyeing the monitor.
“Yep. For security.” Matt curled his fingers into his palm to keep calm. “It gives me a view of the main hallway.”
“You didn’t see the suspect break in?”
“No, he probably accessed the building while I was at my truck.” He feigned panic and looked at Kyle. “Man, I hope I don’t lose my job over this—I mean for not preventing the break-in.”
“If he was determined to get in, nothing would have stopped him,” Billings said.
Matt nodded. Was that subtext? A subtle warning?
“Continue,” Chief Billings said.
“So about ten thirty I went out to the truck.” He led them to the back door and swung it open. The three men ambled outside. “It wasn’t parked this close originally, but kids were finishing up basketball when I arrived at six. I figured as long as I was out here I’d repark closer to the building.”
“Besides the basketball league, who else was here tonight, Mr. Weller?” the chief asked.
“A yoga class, line dancing for seniors and the knitting club. They were all gone by nine.”
“Anyone else, perhaps employees working late?” Billings pushed.
Matt wondered if he’d seen Jenna North’s little blue car parked in the overflow lot. He had to play this just right, be as truthful as possible.
“I might have seen Jenna North earlier. She works for a foundation that leases space here.”
“I’ll look into it,” Kyle said.
Chief Billings eyed Matt speculatively, and he broke eye contact in his effort to act submissive and nonthreatening.
Innocent.
That’s when Matt noticed the back window of his truck was cracked open. Matt needed a quick redirect to get them away from Jenna and the child.
“We got into a fistfight over here.” Matt led them to the other side of the truck. “Actually, there was one other thing about the knit cap guy.”
Billings’s eyes flared.
“He had a scar above his eyebrow here.” Matt pointed to his own forehead.
“That could help,” Kyle said.
“I yelled at him to stay away from the building. He yelled back that his wife was inside, which made no sense. Then he threw a punch. That’s about it.”
“That’s a lot,” Kyle said, jotting notes furiously.
The chief kneeled, analyzing something on the ground.
“What is it, sir?” Kyle asked.
“Found a cigarette butt. I’ll bag it.”
Except Knit Cap Guy hadn’t been smoking, which meant Billings was trying to throw the investigation off course.
“Can you tell us anything else, Matt?” Kyle said.
“No, sorry. I’d better go fix the front door, and I should probably call Mrs. Harris, my boss.”
“If anything else does come to mind, please call me directly.” Billings handed him a business card.
“Will do. Thanks.”
Matt led the cops back to the front of the building, and the knot in his gut uncoiled as they got farther away from the truck, from Jenna and the little boy.
He called Lucinda Harris and explained the situation as he watched the fire trucks pull away. She was worried about Matt and told him to finish cleaning up the mess and leave early. A good thing, since he was desperate to check on Jenna and the child.
The chief and Kyle were still out front, assessing and speculating.
Matt went inside and found a piece of wood from the storage area to cover the broken window. He secured it in place and swept up the mess. He wanted to play the role of night custodian a little longer, until the cops left the premises.
And then he needed to get to Jenna and the child. Let her know everything was okay.
He started flipping off main lights. Through one of the community room windows, he noticed the two police cars pulling out of the lot.
After jogging to the back of the building, he got his jacket out of the office, locked the building and headed to his truck. He grabbed the door handle, but it was locked. Fearful of being found, Miss North must have locked the doors. He tapped twice, blowing on his chilled hands, and glanced over his shoulder out of habit.
The door unlocked with a click. He climbed into the front seat. “They’re gone.”
He felt the barrel of a gun pressed against the back of his head.
Jenna’s hand trembled as she aimed the gun at the janitor’s head. Of course there was no way she could pull the trigger, but she didn’t know what else to do.