Read Online The Sorcerer Heir (Heir Chronicles) by Cinda Williams Chima - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Cinda Williams Chima
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clothes were covered in blood. Yours look absolutely clean.”
“I puked on myself,” Jonah said. “So I changed clothes. Trust me, you should be glad I did that.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Gabriel was glaring at him.
Charm, Kinlock, not sarcasm, Jonah thought. It was hard to keep that front of mind.
“Where are they now?” Childers asked. When Jonah frowned, puzzled, he added, “Your clothes, I mean.”
“I tossed them,” Jonah said. “Some cleanup jobs just aren’t worth doing.”
“Where did you toss them?” Childers persisted.
“I threw them in the incinerator,” Jonah said. “Trash pickup isn’t until Thursday, and I didn’t want to live with them until then.” He paused, then asked, “Are you collecting clothes from everyone at the party, or am I getting special attention?”
“I had the same question,” Gabriel interjected. He’d remained silent up till then. “If Jonah is a suspect, then we need to proceed differently. I’ll fetch Matt, and we can begin again.”
Childers shook his head. “I’m just, you know, being thorough in collecting evidence. Why did you leave the party? Didn’t you have another set to play?”
“I was sick, like I said.”
“Did you tell anyone you were sick? Or that you were leaving?”
“I texted the other band members to tell them I was ditching,” Jonah said. “They’re the only ones who would care.”
“Did anyone see you leave? Or notice that you were sick?”
“I figured nobody wanted to see that,” Jonah said. “It wasn’t something I wanted to share with anyone.”
“Had you been drinking?”
Jonah shook his head. “I’m underage,” he said, as if he were puzzled by the suggestion. “I was drinking pop. I did eat some quesadillas.”
Childers gestured toward Jonah’s hands. “What’s with the gloves?”
“Jonah has an extremely painful nerve problem in his hands, caused by exposure to a deadly toxin when he was a child,” Gabriel said. “He wears the gloves all the time. Has since he was little.”
“You have a nerve problem in your hands?” Childers looked down at his screen. “But it says here that you’re a guitar player. How does that work?”
“I have a high tolerance for pain,” Jonah said, thinking, It’s a skill you develop when you kill everything you touch.
Childers’s eyes flicked to Gabriel, then back to Jonah. “How did you get back here from Trinity?”
“We took two vans,” Jonah said. “I drove one of them back.”
“Where is it now?”
“It’s a couple blocks away,” Jonah said. He felt the pressure of Gabriel’s eyes, and guessed his mentor was wondering why Jonah hadn’t parked in his usual spot.
“I’ll need the make, model, license, and all that,” Childers said. “We’ll want to take a look at it.”
“Don’t you need a warrant for that?” Jonah asked.
“Not if you give us permission,” Childers said.
“He’s not giving permission,” Gabriel put in. “You’ll have to show probable cause.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Childers said genially.
The door slammed open, and Matt Green entered, followed by the uniformed officers who’d been interviewing Kenzie.
“All done?” Childers asked, surprised.
“Yeah, pretty much,” one of the officers said. “Anyway, all our equipment went down. Some kind of electrical thing. We weren’t getting much anyway; it was obvious the kid was in pain, so we decided to pack it in and let him go to bed.”
Maybe Kenzie’s right, Jonah thought. Maybe I should start setting fire to things.
At the end of it, Jonah thought he’d done reasonably well, given what he had to work with. He was still on the list of suspects, but he hadn’t incriminated himself, at least, and he’d bought a little time.
After the others finally left, Gabriel rose and paced back and forth. “I hope you realize that you’ve put us into an impossible situation,” he said. “I cannot believe that you would get into
“I puked on myself,” Jonah said. “So I changed clothes. Trust me, you should be glad I did that.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Gabriel was glaring at him.
Charm, Kinlock, not sarcasm, Jonah thought. It was hard to keep that front of mind.
“Where are they now?” Childers asked. When Jonah frowned, puzzled, he added, “Your clothes, I mean.”
“I tossed them,” Jonah said. “Some cleanup jobs just aren’t worth doing.”
“Where did you toss them?” Childers persisted.
“I threw them in the incinerator,” Jonah said. “Trash pickup isn’t until Thursday, and I didn’t want to live with them until then.” He paused, then asked, “Are you collecting clothes from everyone at the party, or am I getting special attention?”
“I had the same question,” Gabriel interjected. He’d remained silent up till then. “If Jonah is a suspect, then we need to proceed differently. I’ll fetch Matt, and we can begin again.”
Childers shook his head. “I’m just, you know, being thorough in collecting evidence. Why did you leave the party? Didn’t you have another set to play?”
“I was sick, like I said.”
“Did you tell anyone you were sick? Or that you were leaving?”
“I texted the other band members to tell them I was ditching,” Jonah said. “They’re the only ones who would care.”
“Did anyone see you leave? Or notice that you were sick?”
“I figured nobody wanted to see that,” Jonah said. “It wasn’t something I wanted to share with anyone.”
“Had you been drinking?”
Jonah shook his head. “I’m underage,” he said, as if he were puzzled by the suggestion. “I was drinking pop. I did eat some quesadillas.”
Childers gestured toward Jonah’s hands. “What’s with the gloves?”
“Jonah has an extremely painful nerve problem in his hands, caused by exposure to a deadly toxin when he was a child,” Gabriel said. “He wears the gloves all the time. Has since he was little.”
“You have a nerve problem in your hands?” Childers looked down at his screen. “But it says here that you’re a guitar player. How does that work?”
“I have a high tolerance for pain,” Jonah said, thinking, It’s a skill you develop when you kill everything you touch.
Childers’s eyes flicked to Gabriel, then back to Jonah. “How did you get back here from Trinity?”
“We took two vans,” Jonah said. “I drove one of them back.”
“Where is it now?”
“It’s a couple blocks away,” Jonah said. He felt the pressure of Gabriel’s eyes, and guessed his mentor was wondering why Jonah hadn’t parked in his usual spot.
“I’ll need the make, model, license, and all that,” Childers said. “We’ll want to take a look at it.”
“Don’t you need a warrant for that?” Jonah asked.
“Not if you give us permission,” Childers said.
“He’s not giving permission,” Gabriel put in. “You’ll have to show probable cause.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Childers said genially.
The door slammed open, and Matt Green entered, followed by the uniformed officers who’d been interviewing Kenzie.
“All done?” Childers asked, surprised.
“Yeah, pretty much,” one of the officers said. “Anyway, all our equipment went down. Some kind of electrical thing. We weren’t getting much anyway; it was obvious the kid was in pain, so we decided to pack it in and let him go to bed.”
Maybe Kenzie’s right, Jonah thought. Maybe I should start setting fire to things.
At the end of it, Jonah thought he’d done reasonably well, given what he had to work with. He was still on the list of suspects, but he hadn’t incriminated himself, at least, and he’d bought a little time.
After the others finally left, Gabriel rose and paced back and forth. “I hope you realize that you’ve put us into an impossible situation,” he said. “I cannot believe that you would get into
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