Chapter Eleven

Part 3

That evening I followed Jon from the post office to the guys’ dorm once again. His backpack was bulging from the weight of something he had concealed inside. He was making another delivery to Marshall. I could feel it.

I hid in the stairwell and watched the transaction take place. This time the box Jon extended to Marshall was much bigger than the last one, which made perfect sense. Clearly Marshall was stocking up for the party that weekend. I was sure he did a lot more business at the monthly event. He had to be prepared.

As far as I was concerned, at that moment, the matter was decided. Marshall was the drug dealer and he was going to be peddling his butt off on Friday night. I wasn’t going to dither about this anymore. I had to call my mother and tip her off so that we could forestall the event.

I waited for Jon to return to his floor and then hustled back to my room. Danielle was sitting at her computer, emailing yet again, and she looked up when I ran in and grabbed my cell phone.

“What’s up?” she asked, breaking her silence for the first time in days. She appeared concerned, and I realized I must have looked like I was in a panic, my hair wild and my face flushed from running outside.

“Nothing. Just need to make a private call,” I told her, flashing my cell phone.

She shrugged and I headed to the defunct phone booths. My mother picked up on the first ring.

“Hey, Mom,” I said. “I think I have your dealer.”

“You have compelling evidence against one of our suspects?” she asked. I could tell she was practically salivating to resolve this case.

“Yep. Marshall Cone has been getting secret deliveries from the post office,” I explained. “They’re always wrapped in plain brown paper, and he’s very careful about hiding them. The whole thing makes him totally nervous.”

“What else?” my mother asked.

“Well, he hosts this secret party once a month in the school gym, and it’s going to happen this Friday night,” I explained. “And he just got this box that’s at least twice the size of all the others. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“So he could be getting ready for big sales at this party,” my mother said.

“Exactly,” I said, my skin sizzling with excitement. “Look, I know it’s not concrete, but I think you guys should stake out the campus on Friday. That way if I see anything go down, I can call you in. We need to maximize our chances of catching the guy.”

“I concur,” my mother said. “Here’s what we’re going to do . . . .”