Chapter 9 - THE WRONG COP
Jake stared at Kelly.
“You’re bleeding.”
“Not mine.”
“What happened?”
“Where’s Dylan?”
“Across the road.”
“No.”
Kelly gripped his shoulders harder.
“Do not bring him here.”
“Why?”
“Because they’re watching him.”
“Who?”
Before she could answer, a branch snapped behind them.
Kelly pulled Jake down.
“Quiet.”
Footsteps.
Officer Ruiz appeared twenty yards away.
“Jake?”
Kelly put a finger to her lips.
Jake’s heart hammered.
“Jake, answer me!”
Ruiz came closer.
Kelly leaned toward his ear.
“She worked the investigation when Rebecca died.”
Jake whispered, “She would’ve been a kid.”
“Not Dana.”
Jake frowned.
“Her father.”
Ruiz’s footsteps stopped.
“Jake?”
Kelly whispered, “Her father was the witness.”
The witness.
WITNESS PAID. FILE CLOSED.
Jake felt sick.
He stepped out.
Ruiz rushed toward him.
“What were you thinking?”
“Sorry.”
“Did you see anyone?”
Jake looked past her.
Kelly was gone.
“No.”
Ruiz studied his face.
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
She didn’t look convinced.
Back at the road, Dylan demanded to know what happened.
Jake lied.
“Thought I saw somebody.”
“Who?”
“Nobody.”
Dylan frowned.
Jake hated himself for it.
But Kelly’s warning had been clear.
They returned home after midnight.
Jake couldn’t sleep.
At 2:13 AM, his phone buzzed.
A text from an unknown number.
YOU DID GOOD.
Then another.
COME ALONE.
An address followed.
Old St. Matthew’s Church.
Jake should have ignored it.
Instead, he rode his bike across town.
Kelly was waiting inside the abandoned church.
She looked exhausted.
“Where’s Dylan?”
“Home.”
“Good.”
“Tell me everything.”
Kelly sat in the front pew.
“Rebecca saw what happened to Adam.”
Jake stared at her.
“She was at the quarry?”
“She followed them.”
“Then why isn’t she in the video?”
“She parked down the road.”
Jake sat beside her.
“She saw them kill him?”
Kelly nodded.
“But she was terrified. Voss told her if she talked, he’d destroy her family.”
“So she stayed quiet?”
“For years.”
“What changed?”
“Cancer.”
Jake blinked.
“When Rebecca found out she was dying, she started collecting evidence.”
“The flash drive?”
“Part of it.”
“What did she give you?”
Kelly pulled a small envelope from her jacket.
Inside was a photograph.
A school office.
Stacks of cash.
Voss.
Harlan.
Coach Bell.
And three other people.
One of them was Officer Ruiz’s father.
The other was the current school board president.
Maya’s father.
Jake looked up.
“Does Maya know?”
“No.”
A car door slammed outside.
Kelly jumped to her feet.
“They found me.”
“Who?”
The church doors flew open.
Two men entered.
One was Coach Bell.
The other was Principal Voss.
Voss smiled when he saw Jake.
“Well.”
May you like
He locked the door behind him.
“The cameraman.”
