Save Her Soul (Detective Josie Quinn #9)(14)

“Ray, you’re drunk. One whiff of your breath and Frisk can take you in. He’ll ruin everything for you. No baseball. No scholarships. No college. Stay here.”

Before he could reply, Josie got out of the car. The night seemed to close in on her as she strode over to Frisk. He folded his arms across his chest, leering at her. “Well, well, what have we got here? You lost, young lady?”

Josie glanced behind him where Lana stood against her car. A barely detectable tremor shook her body. “I was supposed to be following Lana home,” Josie lied. “We’ve got a project due tomorrow. We’re supposed to be at her house right now finishing it up. But I got lost.”

“Did you now?” Frisk asked. He licked his lips and smiled, a carnivore showing its teeth. “It’s awfully late to be working on a school project, isn’t it?”

Josie stepped closer. “True,” she acknowledged. “That’s why we really need to get going.” She gestured toward Lana. Neither Frisk nor Lana moved.

Josie’s heart did a double tap. Her hands felt cold. She hadn’t thought this through. She didn’t have a plan. She just knew she didn’t want Frisk’s hands on a teenage girl, but how exactly was she supposed to accomplish that? She had no authority over him. She wasn’t even a legal adult. Absconding with Lana wasn’t really an option. What the hell could she do?

“Officer,” Josie tried, “if we promise to drive carefully, would you mind if we went home?”

“I pulled this young lady over for a busted taillight,” he told Josie. “You think I should just let her go?”

“A busted taillight?” Josie blurted. “You need to frisk her for a busted taillight?”

The instant the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. Frisk’s eyes narrowed. He motioned toward the space next to Lana. “Truth be told, we’ve had a lot of kids from Denton East getting caught with illegal drugs. Your friend here seemed like she might be on something. In fact, I’m thinking you might be on something too. So if you don’t mind, step up and I’ll pat both of you down.”

Josie’s body began to tremble. She wished she could hide it. Hugging herself, she glared at him. “No,” she said.

Shadows warped his face as he tipped his chin back and laughed. Josie glanced up and down the road, wishing someone else would drive by, another adult, another cop, maybe. But they wouldn’t stop, would they? All they’d see was a police officer dealing with some sort of traffic violation. Nothing to see here.

Frisk said, “I’m sorry, what’s that? Did you say no to an officer of the law?”

Before Josie could respond, a car door slammed, and Ray jogged across the road. He smiled at Frisk. “Officer Lampson, is everything okay over here?”

Frisk studied him. “I’m not sure that’s any of your business, son.”

“Oh, sure,” Ray said. “I meant no disrespect, sir. In fact, we don’t mean to trouble you at all. We were just looking for our friend, Lana. Here she is. Thought we’d lost her. You saved us a lot of searching by pulling her over, actually. Right, Jo?”

He looked at Josie, his eyes imploring her to go along. All she could manage was a nod. Her mouth was full of saliva. Frisk stared at Ray, taking in his easy smile and then his jacket.

“Hey,” Frisk said. “You’re that pitcher, aren’t you? Denton East Blue Jays.”

Ray held out a hand for Frisk to shake. “Yes, sir, Ray Quinn.”

Frisk took his hand, holding onto it a moment longer than necessary. “You boys are gonna win the championship,” he said.

“Hope so,” Ray agreed as Frisk relinquished his hand. “Sir, if you wouldn’t mind, I really need to get these ladies home.”

There was a long, silent moment. Crickets chirped in the darkness beyond the vehicles. A moth fluttered in front of Frisk’s cruiser, causing a strange, momentary strobe effect. Frisk looked from Ray to Josie, then to Lana and back to Ray, as if he were trying to decide something. Finally, he said, “You ladies shouldn’t keep our star pitcher out so late.” He waved them toward Ray. “Get out of here, and go right home.”

“Thank you, sir,” Ray said, maneuvering himself between the two girls and Frisk.

Josie grasped Lana’s upper arm and dragged her toward her grandmother’s car. Opening the back door, Josie pushed her inside. “Get in.”

Ray got into the passenger’s seat. Josie’s hands shook as she put the car in drive. Ray said, “Go, go, go.”

Lana said, “My car.”

“I’ll bring you back for it tomorrow,” Ray told her. “Right now, we need to get out of here before that shithead changes his mind and decides to screw with all three of us.”

Once Frisk’s car receded from view and they were back in town, Josie let out a sigh of relief. From the backseat, Lana said, “Thank you.”

Ray said, “No problem.”

“How did you know?” Lana asked. “About him?”

Josie answered, “I have a list.”

Ray laughed.

“A list of what?” Lana asked.

“Pervy guys to avoid,” Ray supplied.

“Like Mr. Rand?” Lana asked.

“Eighth period chemistry?” Josie said. “Yeah. Exactly. Anyway, that guy back there? He’s on the list. We call him Frisk.”