Read Online Harper Madigan: Junior High Private Eye by Chelsea M. Campbell - Free Book Online
Authors: Chelsea M. Campbell
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actress—but she’s constantly tweaking her lines, the lyrics, the musical score.” He rubs his forehead with his thumbs. “It’s been… interesting . Let’s just say that if I never have to work with her again, I won’t be shedding any tears over it.”
“And Danigail?”
“How many guys have an overprotective little sister? A few weeks ago, Veronica was giving me a hard time. Really getting on my case. She actually shoved my chair. Then Danigail disappears and the fire alarm goes off. Doesn’t take a genius to do the math there, and who asked her to do that, anyway? Veronica’s a pain, but I can handle her. I never needed Danigail getting all in her face about it. Making threats. And now… acting on them.”
So there it is. He thinks she did it. I can’t help the way my mouth droops or the disappointment that sits heavy in my chest. “She wouldn’t, Oliver. You should know that.”
“I don’t know anything about what she’d do or not. She’s changed, Harper. You don’t know her anymore. Don’t think for even a minute that you do. Not after what happened.”
“Which was?” Austin asks, flipping pages in his notebook to get to a new section.
“There was an incident,” I say.
“An accident,” Oliver corrects. “A random twist of fate that left me paralyzed and stuck in this chair. It changed my life forever, and it changed Danigail, too. She took it hard. Not just this”—he gestures to himself—“but you leaving really hurt her. You guys have been friends forever. Had been, I mean.”
“The detective with the dark past,” Austin mutters, scribbling like mad in his notebook. “This is the good stuff.”
I glare at him, my teeth clenched. “It’s none of your business—that means stop writing it down !”
“Don’t worry. These are my own personal notes. I’ll file them separately from my report. Unless of course this figures into the investigation.”
“It doesn’t and it wasn’t an accident,” I add, looking Oliver in the eyes. “Connor Mills didn’t like me making inquiries about him. I was playing detective and I got too close. You wanted to play sidekick, but I was in over my head and I should have done it alone. And, Phelps,” I growl without looking at him, my hands balled into fists, “if you even think about writing that down, I’ll feed that notebook to you, page by delicious page.”
“Got it,” he mumbles. “Switching to memory mode.”
What is he, a robot? “I didn’t need a sidekick,” I tell Oliver. “I should have gone alone.”
“You didn’t know it was a trap,” Oliver says.
He’s right, I didn’t. But still. I can’t say I had no idea Connor Mills might be dangerous. I’m a lot wiser now than I was last summer, a seasoned detective, no longer new to this business. Looking back, it’s easy to see it was a mistake.
Connor sent me a note saying he wanted to meet me at the old barn in the woods, what he calls his headquarters. Like a clubhouse for thugs, and he’s their king. You go behind the school for a little ways and there’s the woods. You go a little farther than that and there’s a trail that leads to the barn. It’s secluded enough as it is, and he wanted to meet after dark—and of course he brought friends. He wanted to teach me a lesson for snooping into his business—the stuff he does on a daily basis that everyone else looks the other way on. Going alone to an old barn in the woods to meet Connor Mills wasn’t my idea of a good time, but I wasn’t going to back down, and Oliver wanted to go with me. He said he’d have my back, but while he was watching out for me, who was watching out for him?
“It was an accident ,” Oliver says again. “Even Connor didn’t intend for this to happen to me.”
“No, he meant for me to fall from that loft. I was his target. It should have been me.”
“He wanted to scare you—not put one of us in a wheelchair. I’m sure he didn’t mean for this to happen!”
I’m not
“And Danigail?”
“How many guys have an overprotective little sister? A few weeks ago, Veronica was giving me a hard time. Really getting on my case. She actually shoved my chair. Then Danigail disappears and the fire alarm goes off. Doesn’t take a genius to do the math there, and who asked her to do that, anyway? Veronica’s a pain, but I can handle her. I never needed Danigail getting all in her face about it. Making threats. And now… acting on them.”
So there it is. He thinks she did it. I can’t help the way my mouth droops or the disappointment that sits heavy in my chest. “She wouldn’t, Oliver. You should know that.”
“I don’t know anything about what she’d do or not. She’s changed, Harper. You don’t know her anymore. Don’t think for even a minute that you do. Not after what happened.”
“Which was?” Austin asks, flipping pages in his notebook to get to a new section.
“There was an incident,” I say.
“An accident,” Oliver corrects. “A random twist of fate that left me paralyzed and stuck in this chair. It changed my life forever, and it changed Danigail, too. She took it hard. Not just this”—he gestures to himself—“but you leaving really hurt her. You guys have been friends forever. Had been, I mean.”
“The detective with the dark past,” Austin mutters, scribbling like mad in his notebook. “This is the good stuff.”
I glare at him, my teeth clenched. “It’s none of your business—that means stop writing it down !”
“Don’t worry. These are my own personal notes. I’ll file them separately from my report. Unless of course this figures into the investigation.”
“It doesn’t and it wasn’t an accident,” I add, looking Oliver in the eyes. “Connor Mills didn’t like me making inquiries about him. I was playing detective and I got too close. You wanted to play sidekick, but I was in over my head and I should have done it alone. And, Phelps,” I growl without looking at him, my hands balled into fists, “if you even think about writing that down, I’ll feed that notebook to you, page by delicious page.”
“Got it,” he mumbles. “Switching to memory mode.”
What is he, a robot? “I didn’t need a sidekick,” I tell Oliver. “I should have gone alone.”
“You didn’t know it was a trap,” Oliver says.
He’s right, I didn’t. But still. I can’t say I had no idea Connor Mills might be dangerous. I’m a lot wiser now than I was last summer, a seasoned detective, no longer new to this business. Looking back, it’s easy to see it was a mistake.
Connor sent me a note saying he wanted to meet me at the old barn in the woods, what he calls his headquarters. Like a clubhouse for thugs, and he’s their king. You go behind the school for a little ways and there’s the woods. You go a little farther than that and there’s a trail that leads to the barn. It’s secluded enough as it is, and he wanted to meet after dark—and of course he brought friends. He wanted to teach me a lesson for snooping into his business—the stuff he does on a daily basis that everyone else looks the other way on. Going alone to an old barn in the woods to meet Connor Mills wasn’t my idea of a good time, but I wasn’t going to back down, and Oliver wanted to go with me. He said he’d have my back, but while he was watching out for me, who was watching out for him?
“It was an accident ,” Oliver says again. “Even Connor didn’t intend for this to happen to me.”
“No, he meant for me to fall from that loft. I was his target. It should have been me.”
“He wanted to scare you—not put one of us in a wheelchair. I’m sure he didn’t mean for this to happen!”
I’m not
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