Aftermath(79)

“To take a closer look at Luka’s role.”

“Right. If he wasn’t guilty, then I’d like that cleared up. He deserves it. But the one who’s suffering for it is you. You and your family. My family would like to see the case stay closed, and I need to respect that. They want to get past it. You can’t. No one will let you. I see that now, and I’m really sorry if I made things worse.”

Our pizza arrives, and I wait impatiently for the server to leave, and then say, “What was I supposed to see in that police report?”

“Did you read it?”

I admit that I just did now, in the car… and I tell him that the police found it in my locker.

“Damn.” He squeezes his eyes shut. “I’m gonna have to warn Gayle. That’s the girl who got it for me.” He sends a quick text, and Jesse puts a slice of pizza on my plate as I continue waiting impatiently until Chris says, “She’s not around. I’ll talk to her when I can. Make my confession.”

“So the report…” I prompt.

“You see the problem, right?”

“No, I don’t. I read the pages a couple of times, but… nothing.”

He takes the sheets from me. “Okay, so what Gayle got me were the witness accounts. These particular pages are the most important. You know who this is, right? It might say it’s anonymous, but it’s not.”

“It’s Harley.”

“Right. Publicly, he said he didn’t know Luka’s role. That Isaac arranged everything and talked to Luka and Harley separately. Which is weird.”

“Not if you knew Isaac,” I say. “He always wanted to be in charge. Harley let him. Luka…” I shrug. “Luka thought friends didn’t need a leader. They aren’t a gang. If Isaac did something Luka didn’t like, Luka called him on it. So to keep control of the situation, Isaac would definitely play it this way – not letting Harley talk to Luka about it, saying that was safer.”

Jesse nods. “When, really, he just didn’t want Harley to hear Luka questioning the plan.”

“Yes,” I say. “So Isaac tells Harley that Luka is all for it. Harley’s not bright enough to question that. He’s just relieved that Luka agrees. Luka was the one Harley went to for advice.”

“The one whose opinion carried more weight,” Chris says. “So, officially, all Harley will say is that Isaac told him Luka was in. Nothing more. Here, though, is where he gave the evidence that convicted Luka. In his so-called anonymous informant statement.”

Chris runs his finger over the pertinent part of the report. “Harley says that he was in class with Luka when the school went on lockdown. Then Luka snuck out before the teacher got control of the situation.”

“Snuck out and went to the bathroom,” I say. “Then he came out with the gun. So this” – I point at the report – “actually proves Luka knew what he was doing. He knew the school was going into lockdown. He snuck out and hid in the bathroom with a gun. It’s damning evidence.”

“Except it’s a lie,” Chris says.

I look at him, confused, and he turns to Jesse and gets the same look from him.

“Where was Harley?” Chris prompts.

“What?” I say.

“At the time of the lockdown, where was Harley?”

“In…” I remember the image projected at NHH. “He was in gym class, wasn’t he?”

“Right. Harley and Isaac were in gym when it all went down. That’s how they got out of lockdown so easily. It was near the end of the period, and kids were going inside to change – no teacher around. So when Luka got shot, it was easy for Isaac to grab Harley and get the guns, which they had in their backpacks. The shooting started there, in the locker room.”

“That’s where Brandon Locklear died and another boy was injured.”

Chris nods. “They walked out and shot Vicki Pryor – Owen’s cousin – as she was turning to run into the girls’ locker room. She was shot in the back, which left her paralyzed. Then they continued into the hall and —” His gaze moves to Jesse. “And that’s all the detail you guys need.”

Because Jamil had been next.

“The point is where it started,” Chris says.

“In the locker room,” I say. “Isaac and Harley —” I stop. “Isaac and Harley were in gym. But in Harley’s report” – I lift the file – “he said he saw Luka duck out when the lockdown was called. Luka was in English, though, not gym.”

“Exactly,” Chris says. “Harley’s lying.”

“That’s a huge lie,” I say. “And it’s easy to see through. I can’t believe no one’s put that together.”

“They probably have,” Jesse says. “This is a statement, not an interrogation. It’s what Harley claimed. It isn’t what they proved.”

“But if the police knew Harley was lying…,” I say.

“I have no idea what’s going on,” Chris said. “But if no one saw Luka duck out of English during the lockdown, he may have already been in the bathroom. He may not have known what was going on.”

“But he still came out holding a gun,” I say.