Blindsighted

Lena asked, "They broke up because she didn't have enough time for him?"

Je

Lena lowered her voice, as if to leave Jeffrey out. "I guess when you saw them in the library, they weren't exactly studying."

Je

Lena walked over, blocking his view of the girl. Jeffrey took the hint.

He turned his back to the two women, pretending to take an interest in the contents of Julia's desk.

Lena's voice dropped to a conversational tone. "What do you think about Ryan?"

"You mean, do I like him?"

"Yeah," Lena answered. "I mean, not like like him. I mean, does he seem like a nice guy?"

The girl was quiet for a while. Jeffrey picked up a science book and thumbed through the pages.

Finally, Je

"Kind of controlling?"

"Yeah, I guess," the girl answered. "She's from the sticks, okay? Ryan kind of takes advantage of that. Julia doesn't know a lot about the world. She thinks he does."

"Does he?"

"God, no." Je

"Of course not."

"He's just…" She paused. "He doesn't like for her to talk to other people, okay? He's, like, scared that she'll see there are better guys out there. At least, that's what I think. Julia's kind of been sheltered all her life. She doesn't know to look out for guys like that." Again she paused. "He's not a bad guy, he's just needy, you know? He has to know where she's going, who she'll be with, when she'll be back. He doesn't like for her to have any time to herself at all."

Lena's voice was still low. "He never hit her, did he?"

"No, not like that." Again the girl was silent. Then, "He just yelled at her a lot. Sometimes when I would come back from study group, I would listen at the door, you know?"

"Yeah," Lena said. "To make sure."

"Right," Je

"Nasty like what?"

"Like that she was bad," Je

Lena took her time asking the next question. "He's a religious guy?"

Je

"But Ryan's not religious?"

"Only when he thinks he can work her with something. Like he says he's real religious, but he's got all lands of body piercings, and he's always wearing black and he-" She stopped speaking.

Lena lowered her voice. "What?" she asked then, even lower. "I won't tell anybody."

Je

"Oh," Lena said as if she had heard it all. "Guys are so stupid."

Je

Lena chuckled with her, then asked, "What did Julia do that was so bad, do you think? I mean, to get Ryan upset at her like that?"

"Nothing," Je

"This was around the time they broke up?"

"Yeah," Je

"No," Lena said. "I wouldn't worry about that."

Jeffrey turned around, asking, "What's Ryan's last name?"

"Gordon," the girl supplied. "Do you think Julia's in trouble?"

Jeffrey considered her question. He could tell her not to worry, but that might give the girl a false sense of security. He settled for, "I don't know, Je

A quick visit to the registrar's office revealed that Ryan Gordon was study hall monitor this time of day. The agricultural wing was on the outskirts of the campus, and Jeffrey felt his anxiety build with every step they took across the campus. He sensed the tension coming from Lena as well. Two days had passed with no solid leads. They could very well be about to meet the man who had killed Sibyl Adams.

Granted, Jeffrey was not prepared to be Ryan Gordon's best friend, but there was something about the kid that set Jeffrey against him the minute they met. He had his eyebrow and both ears pierced as well as a ring hanging out from the septum in the middle of his nose. The ring looked black and crusty, more like something you would put in an ox rather than in a human nose. Je

Julia Matthews was, by all accounts, a very attractive young woman. How someone like Ryan Gordon had managed to snag her was a mystery to Jeffrey. This said a lot about the type of kid Gordon was, if he could manage to control someone who could quite clearly do a hell of a lot better than him.

Jeffrey noticed the kind part of Lena that had earlier worked Je

"Ryan Gordon?" she asked, leaning over the desk. Her jacket pulled back, and Jeffrey saw the kid's eyes gave her gun a sharp glance. His lips stayed pressed into a tight, surly line, though, and when he answered, Jeffrey felt the urge to smack him.

Gordon said, "What's it to you, bitch?"

Jeffrey grabbed the kid up by his collar and duckwalked him out of the room. Even as he did this, Jeffrey was certain there would be an angry message from the mayor before he got back to the office.

Outside the study room, he pushed Gordon into the wall. Jeffrey took out his handkerchief, wiping the grease off his hand. "They got showers in your dorm?" he asked.

Gordon's voice was just as whiny as Jeffrey had expected. "This is police brutality."

To Jeffreys surprise, Lena gave Gordon an open-palmed slap.

Gordon rubbed his cheek, his mouth turned down at the corners. He seemed to size Lena up. Jeffrey found the look he gave her almost comical. Ryan Gordon was thin as a rail, about Lena's height if not her weight. She had attitude on him in spades. Jeffrey had no doubt that Lena would rip his throat open with her bare teeth if Gordon tried to push her.

Gordon seemed to understand this. He took on a passive posture, his voice a nasally whine, perhaps from the ring in his nose, which bobbed when he spoke. "What do you want from me, man?"

He held his arms up defensively as Lena's hand reached out to his chest.

She said, "Put your hands down, you pussy." She reached down into his shirt and pulled up the cross hanging on a chain around his neck.

"Nice necklace," she said.

Jeffrey asked, "Where were you Monday afternoon?"

Gordon looked from Lena to Jeffrey. "What?"

"Where were you Monday afternoon?" Jeffrey repeated.

"I don't know, man," he whined. "Sleeping, probably." He sniffed, rubbing his nose. Jeffrey fought the urge to cringe as the ring in his nose moved back and forth.

"Up against the wall," Lena ordered, pushing him around. Gordon started to protest, but a look from Lena stopped him. He spread his arms and legs out, assuming the position.