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» CHAPTER TWELVE «

~ One Week Later ~

 "Find anything yet?" Brian asked the others, digging through the trash as they searched Denise McLean’s office for any information they could find on A.J.

"No luck," Kevin said, shutting the desk drawer.

"Hey, who’s this?" Nick asked, holding up a picture of a girl who couldn’t be more than three years old.

"Probably just a niece or something," Howie said.

"What are you guys doing in here?" Denise demanded as she entered her office.

"We were just-"

"Looking for something for Donna," Brian cut in before Howie could tell the truth.

"So how’s A.J.?" Kevin asked, trying to change the subject.

"Didn’t he tell you he wouldn’t be around for a few days? Just leave him alone. He just lost Stacey and doesn’t need to be harassed right now."

"Who’s Stacey?" Howie inquired.

"I’ve said too much already," Denise said, leaving.

"Hey, Stacey must have been the woman on the beach, and A.J. killed her," Howie said.

"No you idiot, she was probably a girlfriend that died," Nick decided.

"Guess what happened?" Mary asked Rebecca.

"What?"

"Christian cheated on me with Mandi and now Nick and I are going out," Mary said, summing it all up for her best friend.

"Wow, I can’t believe Christian would do that. But I’m happy for you and Nick. He is really sweet," Rebecca said.

"So tell me about Kevin," Mary said slyly.

"Let me just tell you he is the man in the bedroom," Rebecca said.

"And there’s nothing going on with you two?" Mary asked suspiciously.

"No, we’re just friends," Rebecca stated firmly.

"Not yet anyway," Mary added. "Speaking of the guys, where are they?"

"They mentioned something about A.J.," Rebecca answered.

"Did he leave yet?" Howie asked loudly.

"Shhh," the guys said in unison.

After A.J. got in his car and drove away, it was safe for the guys to snoop around in his apartment. "It’s locked," Kevin said as he jiggled the doorknob.

"We’ll have to put someone through the window," Brian said as he chomped on some gum.

The guys turned to Howie. "Oh no," he said, folding his arms across his chest. A moment later Brian opened the window and Kevin and Nick stuffed Howie inside.

"Okay, let’s start looking," Nick said.

"Hey look, a Victoria’s Secret catalogue," Brian said.

"Turn to page 41," Kevin said.

"Damn," was all Brian could say.

"You're damn right. Rebecca wears it."

"This isn’t the time for this guys," Nick said, grabbing the catalogue. "Ooh, she wears this one, the skimpy one?"

"I thought we didn’t have time for this?" Brian asked.

"We don’t," Nick answered, putting down the catalogue.

"Hey guys, look what I found," Howie announced, holding up a gun.

"Oh my God, you might actually be right Howie," Nick said.

"Check this out," Kevin said, holding up a long sheet of paper. "It’s A.J.’s cell phone bill, but why would he make calls to the New York Police Department?"

"Maybe he killed her and he didn’t want to get caught so he was the one that called in the murder," Brian deduced.

"That sounds reasonable," Nick said.

"Put everything back where you found it and let’s get out of here," Kevin said.

¤ Chapter 13 ¤
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