Page 56 of Child In Jeopardy

“Self-inflicted?” Duncan immediately wanted to know.

“Again, to be determined,” Slater repeated.

“Drugged,” Leonard muttered, and he, too, looked down at his arm. “Yes. Someone drugged me.”

“Who did that?” Lana demanded, and she clearly wasn’t ready to dole out any TLC. If it turned out her father was innocent, there’d be time for that later. For now, they had to take every precaution.

And that included treating Leonard like the killer he very well could be.

“I, uh, don’t know,” Leonard said, his eyelids fluttering down.

Lana huffed. “How did you get here? What’s the last thing you remember?”

Leonard didn’t give her the fast responses that she clearly wanted. “Don’t know,” he said, but then his eyes popped open again. “I was at the estate. I had a drink. Then I woke up here.” He stopped, groaned. “Alicia’s dead?”

Duncan huffed, too, and took out his phone. “I’ll request an ambulance.” He hadn’t managed to press in the number, though, when there was a shout.

“Help,” someone yelled, and it was a voice that Slater instantly recognized.

Pamela.

“It came from the bleachers,” Duncan said, and both Lana and Slater pivoted in that direction.

Slater couldn’t see Pamela, but he had no trouble hearing a second shout for help. Either the woman was in trouble or else this was part of the ploy to kill them.

“I’ll go look for her,” Duncan said.

“You’re not going out there without backup,” Slater insisted.

Then he had a fierce mental debate with himself. No way would he leave Lana here alone in case her father’s drugging was all an act. Leonard didn’t have any other weapons on him, but he could have a henchman waiting nearby to kill Lana.

Slater took out the pair of plastic cuffs he always carried with him, and he slapped them on Leonard. “If he’s got a phone on him, take it,” he instructed Lana.

“He didn’t have one,” she answered.

Good. Slater didn’t want Leonard to have a way to contact anyone. “If he’s not the killer,” Slater spelled out, “then the real killer put him here. He or she could have just murdered Leonard but didn’t so maybe he’s a patsy, meant to be set up for whatever else is supposed to happen here. But in case Leonard’s faking being drugged, I don’t want him to be able to communicate with any thug who’s helping him.”

That’s why Slater tore off the sleeve of his shirt and used it as a gag on Leonard’s mouth. Again, if the man was innocent he could dole out an apology later, but the restraints and the gag just might stop Leonard from issuing an order to kill.

“Help me,” Pamela shouted again, and it seemed to Slater as if the woman was on the move. Maybe running.

Slater didn’t intend to take anything happening at face value, and when he, Duncan and Lana moved out of the stall, he did so with one thought. When they got to Pamela, she, too, would be treated as a killer until proven otherwise.

He glanced at Lana, and there were so many things Slater wanted to say to her. But now wasn’t the time. Later, though, he needed to tell her just how much she meant to him. For now, he settled for a warning that he hoped she would obey.

“Stay behind me and keep your head down,” he insisted.

A fierce look went through her eyes. “You stay alive. Hear me? Stay alive,” she repeated.

“You do the same,” Slater fired back before brushing a quick kiss on her mouth. Very quick. Since this wasn’t the time for that, either.

With Slater going first, then Lana and Duncan, they scurried out of the stall and toward the bleachers. Not directly toward them, though. They raced toward the wall. Slater wanted a look beneath the bleachers to see if he could spot Pamela and anyoneelse. He only hoped the seats were stable enough and didn’t come crashing down on top of them.

The three of them stopped when they reached the bleachers and listened. Slater cursed the silence and the darkness. He couldn’t see anything, but he especially listened for any footsteps behind them. He didn’t want anyone sneaking up on them or trying to get into the stall with Leonard.

“Keep an eye on the stall with your father,” Slater whispered to her.

Lana nodded and shifted her position so she could do that as they inched farther beneath the bleachers. That’s when he spotted the flashlight lying on the ground. He couldn’t be certain, but it appeared to be the one that Pamela had been using.