Majoring in Murder

Chapter 17

The digital alarm clock beside my bed went off at seven-thirty Thursday morning. I rolled over, slapped the snooze button, and pulled the covers tight around my neck. I heard Daniel sit up on the edge of his bed and I opened one eye to see him yawn and scratch his head.

"You getting up?" he asked.

I coughed, feigning sick, and said, "I don't feel well." It wasn't too hard to act sick with the hangover I was experiencing.

Daniel paid me no more attention. He got up, dressed, and continued through his normal morning routine.

"You mind letting me copy your notes for today's lecture?"

Daniel plopped down behind his desk with a cherry-filled Pop Tart and gave me a look of exasperation. After mulling it over, he conceded.

"Thanks, man. I owe you one." I coughed again, indulging in my act of deceit.

By eight fifteen, Daniel was out the door and on his way to class. I threw the covers aside and pulled on a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. I snagged one of Daniel's Pop Tarts from the box on his desk and a few aspirin from the bottle in his desk drawer. I downed them while I retrieved my assignment envelope and looked at the picture of Stanley Russell of the S. Russell Holding Company again. I gathered my things and drove to Buckhead.

Traffic on Hwy 316 to I-85 was thick as it normally was with the mass exodus of suburban commuters on their way into downtown Atlanta. I parked three blocks from the building at ten minutes to ten. So much for my plan to wait on Stanley as he arrived for work. The traffic into the city had made me late.

I fed quarters into the parking meter, grabbed the gym bag from the passenger seat, and walked down the sidewalk to the building the construction crew was remodeling. I glanced up and down the street. When I was comfortable that no one was paying me any attention, I turned down the narrow alley behind the building and went to the fire escape. I set down my bag and paused to look around again. Confident that I went unnoticed and no one was around, I shouldered the bag and hurried up the ladder.

The bolt cutters made easy work of removing the lock, which I placed in the bag to take with me. I pushed the mesh gate aside and stepped onto the tarred roof.

There were some places where the heat had already made the tar sticky and it felt like bubblegum stretching between my shoe and the surface. I walked straight across to the other side and peered over the edge. The parking lot that separated both buildings spread out below me. Half the lot was full of cars belonging to people in the neighboring building while the construction crew's work trucks and vans sat huddled closer to the building I stood on. From my perch, I had a clear view of the other building's entrance. I kneeled down and opened the gym bag.

I took out the rifle parts and assembled them the way Leo demonstrated when he had delivered them. I lined up the scope with the etched markings on the rail and secured it into place by twisting the locking screws. When I finished, I shouldered the rifle and looked through the scope at the glass entrance. A black woman wearing a white blouse and dark slacks exited the doors as I peered through the scope. I felt for the zoom dial, twisted it, and drew her closer to me. Perfect.

I got the paper out of the bag and studied the face rather than trusting the cursory glance I had given it before. I wanted to make sure that I could identify Stanley whenever I saw him entering or leaving the building. Since I had arrived late, I hadn't seen what he was wearing, which would make identifying him a more difficult task.

When I checked my watch, it was ten thirty. I located a nearby spot without the sticky tar and sat down to wait. I began to wonder if Stanley was an early lunch person, a normal lunch person, or someone that preferred a later lunch. Then it occurred to me that he could be a no lunch person. If that was the case, it would throw a monkey wrench into my plans and I'd have to sit there until the end of the workday waiting for him to leave. If I missed my window when he left, then I'd have to come back tomorrow. I couldn't afford to miss too many days away from my schoolwork, and I didn't want to consider having to come back on Monday should I return the next day and miss him.