Chapter 18

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The smell of fresh cut grass always reminded Sam of summers in Kenosha. She and her sister, Bridget, would lie on the prickly grass and stare up at the clouds wondering what their futures would hold. Bridget wanted to be a dancer on Solid Gold while Sam didn't care what she did as long as she didn't have to live in a trailer in Kenosha. Looking up, Sam saw that today's sky was dark and gray; so much for searching for fun cloud formations.

Martin opened the gate to the football field and stepped aside so Sam could enter first. She gave him a quick 'thank you' and he gave her a small smile with thin lips. The entire drive up to the school he was quiet and pensive. She tried to get him to loosen up by joking about Danny and nudie magazines but he only replied in clipped, curt answers of 'yes' or 'no'. Giving up, she turned on the radio and decided to just let it drop. They would have to talk about what made his mood turn so sour but judging from past experience, she knew that getting into an argument in the middle of an investigation just made things worse. Trying to focus on the reason they were here, she looked over at the football players lined up for warm-up exercises.

Coach Lofton walked up to them. He was wearing a red baseball cap that read, 'Abbott Academy', "Are you the agents?"

"Yes, we're here to interview some of Jeremy's friends." Martin smiled and he extended his hand to shake with Lofton. "We'd like to start with Steve Cates."

"You got it." Lofton turned and yelled, "Cates! Get over here!"

Sam saw a tall, handsome young man with dark brown hair and big brown eyes jog towards them. Looking him over she knew that he was the kind of boy that made girls hearts swoon as they penciled his name into their notebooks. Then she wondered if he was also the kind of boy that made boys hearts swoon, too.

"Hi, are you the F.B.I.?" He asked.

Sam pulled out her badge and made the introductions. "I'm special agent Samantha Spade and this is special agent Martin Fitzgerald. We'd like to ask you a few questions about Jeremy."

"Sure, he's my best friend. Have you heard anything yet?" His eyes filled with concern.

Sam shook her head and asked, "What can you tell us about Jeremy?"

"He's a great guy. I've known him since first grade."

"Do you know if he was having any problems with his parents or school?" Sam asked as she flipped open her notebook.

"Nah, everything seemed fine."

"What about with his girlfriend, Liana? She's your twin sister right?"

"Yeah, well, they did break up but I think they were trying to work it out and get back together. They really loved each other." Steve replied earnestly.

"Really, then why did they break up?" Sam asked cynically.

Steve looked Sam over before replying, "You'd have to ask Liana that. She's over in the gym for cheerleading practice."

Sam gave him a weak smile and said, "When was the last time you saw Jeremy?"

"At the lockers in the hall the day he disappeared."

"Did anything seem out of the ordinary?" Sam asked, glancing at Martin who had yet to ask a single question.

"He was a little moody but nothing too strange." Steve shrugged.

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The hallway was filled with students dawdling near their lockers. Three bulky boys were standing in the hall talking to Steve, who was leaning back against the row of lockers. Jeremy approached and he and Steve eyed each other carefully but they didn't speak.

"Hey, Jeremy, what's up?" One of the other players asked.

Jeremy didn't say anything he just shrugged and turned to Steve. "I gotta talk to you."

"So talk," Steve replied as he exuded the air that boys who consider themselves kings of high school can. "If this is about my sister, that's between the two of you."

Jeremy looked at the other boys who were listening intently. "Do you mind?"

"Hey, they can stay. I have nothing to hide do I?" Steve looked intensely at Jeremy.

Steve and Jeremy exchanged glares but in the end Jeremy relented and slumped off saying, "Never mind."

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"And then he disappeared." Steve finished.

"What do you think he wanted to talk to you about?" Sam asked.

"I think he wanted to talk about my sister but I don't know. I feel kinda guilty, like if I hadn't been joking around then maybe he would have told me."

Sam noticed that Martin was eyeing Steve's hands; he had small cuts and scrapes. Martin asked, "How'd you hurt your hand?"

"Practice," He looked at Martin and smiled. "You know how it is."

"Yeah," Martin smiled back. "Do you know how Jeremy got his black eye?"

Steve bit his lip before replying, "I hit him. I was mad at him for breaking my sister's heart but we worked it out." Again he looked at Martin. "You know how it is with us guys."

Martin just gave him a grin. Sam knew by Martin's smile that he didn't believe a word of what Steve was telling him.

"Can I go now? We have to break in a new quarterback." Steve asked, glancing between the two of them.

"Yeah, you can go." Martin replied. As Steve ran back to his teammates, Martin turned to Sam and said, "Let's go talk to Liana."

Sam nodded her head and the two of them headed for the gymnasium.