Page 75 of Free Fall (The Quantico Files 3)

“And do you know what happened to that girl at the park?”

“Yes’m. She was found two days later. Her and the boy she went off with. Someone kilt ’em.”

Jeff was having a hard time remaining silent. If only this guy had reported what happened in that beer garden, he might have saved everyone all the heartache since.

“But you didn’t tell the police about the incident in the beer garden?” Williams asked, obviously thinking the same thing Jeff was.

“No, ma’am. I mean, Roberta. I needed to stay with the carnival. I couldn’t lose my job. Besides, I truly believed that kid had nothin’ to do with it.”

“And why is that?”

“If you jes coulda known him. He weren’t that kinda kid. And I didn’t have no proof, and I didn’t want him to get in trouble. I still don’t think he did it. Like I said, he was really shy. Had a scar on his lip, you know. Had what they call a harelip? Weren’t that noticeable, but it bothered him, I think. Anyways, now that I don’t work for the carnivals no more, I figgered it was time for me to tell someone ’bout what I saw.”

“And do you know this kid’s name?” Williams asked.

Jeff held his breath.

“No. I mean, not all of it. I heard his last name once, but I jes can’t recall it. I only remember his first name ’cause his daddy called him by that. Didn’t cotton to what the other carnies called him. The name I knew him by.”

“So what was his first name?”

“Lum. It was Lum.”

“What about his father’s name?”

“They called him Junior,” Mike said. “Might be ’cause he liked Junior Mints so much. He was always eatin’ ’em. Have you ever had Junior Mints, Roberta?”

“What was Lum’s handle?” Jeff asked, unable to stay silent.

“It didn’t fit him, but he usually ran the same ride wherever we went. In fact, he insisted on it. Since keepin’ workers was so hard, the owners of the parks let him do it. So that’s how he got his handle.”

“Which was . . .” Jeff was getting impatient with the man.

“Ghost Rider, but we all just called him Rider.”

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