Saturday 1:00 pm
Jean wasn't just determined to find Sean, she was eager. She needed to tear somebody apart. How dare that incompetent security moron not believe her! List Megan as a missing person indeed. Lot of good that will do! Put her friend's face on a poster so she could see her at the mall. And then there was Paul, Jean grimaced. Her teeth dug into her lower lip as her hands throttled his neck long distance. Lying cowardly piece of scum! Jean scowled as she walked, her feet thumping the sidewalk.
The campus was quiet for a Saturday afternoon. Most people were either visiting the city for the weekend or watching the football game up at Thomsen field. Jean didn't see anybody she knew. Making a tactical decision, she decided to scope out Sean's apartment before she went inside. After all, he was hardly going to open the door to her if he was home. She snuck around the corner of the building but didn't see anybody. She wasn't exactly sure which room was Sean's, but after studying the open windows, she made an educated guess. Through the third window to the right, she could plainly see a poster of two beer clad women on the far wall. Beer clad was the right description: the women wore bikinis made out of bottle caps. Cold in the winter and searing in the summer, quite a fashion statement, she thought. Climbing to her toes, she peered inside the window. The room was deserted and still a mess. A pang of guilt shot through her: the room was a mess due to her, well... due to her and Paul. Heat flared into her face as she thought of Paul. Actual heat simmered into her cheekbones, annoying her to no end. But a moment later, she realized the sliver of warmth she felt wasn't due to anger, but to a crack below the window.
Breaking and entering wasn't a crime under the circumstances, she reassured herself. She shot a glance to her left, and then her right, still nobody around. Reaching up on her toes, she strained to open the window farther. It didn't work. The crack was too small, and she couldn't get any purchase to push. Frustrated, she flopped to the ground, trying to think of what to do next. As she lay there, an idea came. Scouring the ground with her fingers, Jean searched for just the right kind of stick. It had it to be small, very thin, but sturdy and strong. She found what she wanted under an old maple tree. She flexed the small branch in her fingers, bending it back like a bow. The stick obligingly bent, but didn't break. In a hurry now, she ran back to Sean's window and thrust the stick under the window frame, pushing up as hard as she could. Snap! It broke in two.
"Mind if I try?" a familiar voice asked behind her.
Spinning around, Jean saw Matt flipping open a Swiss army knife and grinning like the devil. The shortcut across campus had been a good idea. At first, he hadn't been sure what he was going to say to her, but now she needed his help. He didn't have to say a word. His grin grew in proportion to Jean's frown. She didn't want or need his help. She just needed a stronger stick, that was all. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, "Gonna report me for breaking and entering now?"
Matt stepped up to the window, putting his arm on her shoulder. "If I did, then I'd have to report myself, " he replied. "C'mon Jean-Genie, you can't do this alone. I said I was sorry. Now can't we make up? I'll let you play with my knife," he teased.
"No," she retorted. "We can't. Go away. I can handle this on my own. I don't need you or your," then she grinned right back. She was secretly very pleased that he'd followed her after she'd blown up at him, again, "little pocket knife."
He refused to be deterred. "C'mon, let me give it a try. I'm good at prying apart things."
"So I've heard," she responded, but she stepped back so Matt could insert his knife under the window pane. Feet solidly planted on the ground, he was able to push the glass halfway up before it stuck.
"Good enough." Sinking down to one knee, he motioned to Jean to climb up.
"This doesn't change anything," she said, stepping a little too hard on his hands.
"Of course not," he groaned as her shoes dug into his palms. "Doesn't change a thing," he agreed, tossing her up and inwards like a medicine ball. Just barely missing the glass, Jean managed to grab onto the window sill and pull herself through. She stuck out her head.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" she asked. "An open invitation? Come on up."
"I kinda thought I'd enter through the front door."
"Forget it." she shot that idea down fast. "Too many people in the stairs and halls. If you're gonna get up here, do it now."
Matt contemplated the window. This wasn't going to be graceful. Taking a deep breath, he hoisted himself upwards. Arms quivering, he managed to raise himself onto the sill where Jean took hold of his shoulders and pulled. He fell with thump on the floor.
"Ow," he rubbed at his right knee. "That hurt!"
"Quit being a baby and get up and help me look," Jean said, completely lacking in sympathy.
"For what?" Matt's eyes took in the clothes on the bed and on the floor, the books scattered about, the small figurines on their sides in the bookcase. "We searched everywhere last night," he pointed out. "I mean check out this place. It's a mess!"
"Yeah, I feel kind of bad," she blushed. "At least we should have stayed and helped him clean up."
"Last night you wanted to punch him," Matt said. "Or did you forget that's he's the reason Erik had a key to your apartment."
"You're right. The wimp deserved it. Let's get started. There must be something we missed."
Opening the closet door, the first thing they discovered was that Sean's jacket and duffel bag were missing from inside. Assured of all the time they needed, Jean and Matt methodically ripped the room to shreds. Over an hour passed by with the same results: nothing. Jean collapsed on the bed, running her hands through her curls. Matt flopped down next to her.
"Do we have any idea what we're looking for anyway?" he asked.
"No, oh, I don't know," she muttered. "I had this feeling last night that Sean was hiding something from us."
Matt snorted, not even trying to hide his sarcasm. "After you and Haverson so generously beat him up, why would he do that?"
"OK, so maybe it could have gone smoother. I just got a little upset, that's all. You'd be upset too if some creep had a key to your apartment."
"Already does, but I've known the guy since sophomore year," Matt smirked, winking at her.
She ignored him. "We're missing something, I know it. But what?" Again, both of them studied the room. Matt had even pulled down the shades earlier because he remembered a mystery where the villain had hidden incriminating photographs inside the rolled up blinds, but there was nothing there.
"Jean," he sighed. "We've been over every inch of this room. There's nothing here. Now c'mon, help me put this stuff back to the mess it was before." He offered up his hand. She took it, pulling herself up off the covers. But then she braced her knees up against the bed. With one quick pull, she yanked down hard on his arm. Not expecting it, Matt fell on top of her, laughing hard. Jean started laughing too, but stopped as Matt hovered above her, his eyes shining. Inches away from her lips, he hesitated. Jean saw that hesitation. Instantly, she rolled away. Matt came up to his elbows.
"I think we've covered everything."
"We can't have." Jean tossed up her hands. "I know we've looked everywhere, but there's got to be something. That little twit tried to lead me off course with Albion lake. He's hiding something. I know it."
"Well, unless you can conjure him out of the air, we're outta luck."
"I know, damn I know." Picking up Sean's pillow, she pounded it against the wall. A porn magazine suddenly stared up at her from the sheets.
"Ello, ello" Matt said in the lousiest British accent she had ever heard, "Wot's this?" He picked up the magazine and started flipping through.
"Don't be a moron," Jean replied. "What else does the little Neidermyer do in bed?"
Matt flashed her one of his I'm brilliant grins. "What he does in bed, of course!" Slapping the covers, he kissed her hard on the cheek. "You're right. You're so right! What else does he do in bed!" Jean flushed, but Matt ignored her sudden smile, though he did take note of the new shade of her lips. Not now, he told himself. Sliding his hand under the mattress, he began to search. When his hand hit paper, his I'm brilliant grin got even bigger.
The photograph was old and torn in one corner. But Erik and Sean were clearly pictured in it. Proudly, they stood in front of a deer strapped to the hood of a truck. Erik's fingers were casually wrapped around his gun while a lake sparkled behind the truck's tailgate. Jean flipped the picture over. In clear blue ink, the words: Erik and me at Cameron Lake, 14 point buck! were written across the back of it. Jean started shaking. Her hands trembled then dropped the photo. This was important! She knew it. She felt it. She just didn't understand why... yet.