Gregory held Samantha in a grip so tight she had no doubt he’d keep her safe forever.
Chapter Sixteen
Gregory’s heart rate didn’t stabilize until he and Samantha were back inside the car and pulling away from Westman’s.
He glanced over at her. Her creased brow and downturned lips gave away her shock and fear. She must have been petrified in that factory, yet she’d stuck with it, all to get justice for Jacob and the rest of the factory workers.
When he reached over and covered her hand with his, she jumped a little and gasped.
“Are you okay?” Gregory asked her.
“I was just thinking,” she panted, “I bet you could probably catch up with Collin and his boys to see where they’re taking Hudson. Maybe I can even try and get some pictures of Hudson’s injuries. Man, I wish I’d thought of that while we were still inside the factory. But I was so terrified, and—”
“Samantha,” Gregory snapped, interrupting her rant. “Please. Stop it. I can’t believe that’s where your head’s at after what just happened. I don’t want you going anywhere near Collin again. I mean, seriously, haven’t you had enough? What you went through tonight was absolutely horrifying.”
She threw her hands in the air in exasperation. “But we need to help Hudson! He helped us! We’ve come too far to let up now. We’ve got Collin right where we want him. If we have proof of the drug lab and evidence that he brutally assaulted Hudson, there’s no way he wouldn’t be thrown in jail immediately!”
Gregory bit down on his jaw, struggling to choose his words wisely so not to further upset Samantha.
“We will help Hudson. I will call it in—that we saw someone being beaten and dragged from the factory. I’ll reach out to officers I can trust. But you’ve already put your life on the line not once, but twice trying to collect evidence against Collin. That’s done.”
Samantha turned toward the window and covered her eyes.
“So that’s it?” she asked. “You’re not gonna go after him yourself? You’re supposed to be serving and protecting the community. Or have you forgotten your job description?”
“Says the woman who broken into Collin’s house and Westman’s Automotive Factory,” he shot back. “If I was one hundred percent perfect at serving and protecting the community, you’d be sitting behind bars right about now.” He pulled out his phone and was about to dial when Samantha grabbed his arm and pointed up the road.
She leaned forward and squinted her eyes, struggling to get a better look.
“Gregory,” she breathed, pointing at the writhing figure, “I think I see a body lying over by the curb.”
“What the...” He turned on the engine and drove to where she’d indicated, and the pair jumped out and ran over to the body.
“Hudson!” Samantha screamed when she realized it was him. “Are you okay?”
“Nooo,” he wheezed feebly while gripping his chest. “My ribs...my leg...”
“Just hold on,” Gregory told him. “We’re gonna get you to the hospital—” He brought up his phone, still in his hand.
“No!” Hudson yelled before moaning loudly and doubling over in pain. “Don’t take me to the hospital. I don’t want anybody to see me like this. Then they’ll start asking a bunch of questions, and...”
As his voice trailed off, Samantha gently touched his shoulder. “Hudson, you are severely injured. You need to see a doctor.”
“My sister’s a nurse. I’ll have her come check me out,” he grunted through clenched teeth.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Hud—”
“Samantha, please,” he whined. “I’m in too much pain to go back and forth with you. Just take me home.”
She turned to Gregory, who glanced over at her. After several seconds, he sighed in apparent defeat. “What’s your address, Hudson?”
“Wait, so you’re just going to take him home?” Samantha whispered. “He’s in such bad shape!”
“Do I have a choice? The man made it clear that he doesn’t want to go to the hospital and will refuse medical treatment.”
“Fifteen thirty-one East Oak Street,” Hudson gasped before slumping down.
The detective looked over at Samantha and nodded his head. “Let’s get him inside the car.”
She carefully lifted Hudson up by the shoulders while Gregory slid his arms underneath his legs. Hudson emitted an agonizing cry as the twosome struggled to slide him inside the back seat.
“I think Collin cracked a few of my ribs,” Hudson groaned after Gregory and Samantha jumped inside the car. “And my right leg feels like it might be broken.”
“Just hang on,” Gregory told him. Once the man was situated, Gregory and Samantha got inside the car, and he gripped the steering wheel as he peeled away from the curb.
As Gregory pressed down on the accelerator, Samantha twisted her lips in frustration.
“After all this,” she said to him, “I really hope you’ll be contacting the district attorney first thing in the morning. We definitely have enough evidence for him to file charges against Collin and his cohorts now.”
The detective remained silent, staring out the window in deep thought as he continued to Hudson’s house.
* * *
GREGORY STOPPED AT a red light after he and Samantha dropped Hudson off safely at his home. They’d stayed just long enough to make sure the sister arrived to take care of him, and then were on their way.
The detective turned to her, his tired eyes filled with concern. “I didn’t want to discuss the situation with the district attorney in front of Hudson. But listen, if I take this new evidence to him, Collin could easily claim that he acted in self-defense after Hudson broke into the factory.”
He paused, waiting for Samantha to argue against his point. When she didn’t, he went on.
“And,” he continued, “I can assure you that Hudson won’t report the assault, because he’s an addict who knows he was in the wrong tonight. It actually seems as if he feels somewhat beholden to Collin.”
When Samantha slowly nodded her head in agreement, Gregory leaned back in his seat. His tense muscles relaxed after realizing that he was finally getting through to her.
“Yeah,” she began, “I can see Collin and his boys coming up with any sort of story they want. They could claim that Hudson broke into the factory to steal auto parts, had a weapon, tried to attack them, anything...”
“Exactly. And of course Hudson would be too afraid to tell the truth and report the drug lab.”
“Especially considering Collin caught him stealing drugs from it. Speaking of which...”
When the detective stopped at another red light, Samantha pulled out her phone and showed him the photos she’d taken of the lab.
Gregory let out a sharp breath. “He’s running a full-blown operation in there.”
“Yes, he is. I’ll show you the video I filmed when we get back to your place.”
Gregory noticed the dejected tone in Samantha’s voice. He reached over and gently clutched her hand.
“Hey,” he murmured, “come on. Don’t get discouraged. You’re almost at the finish line. We’re almost at the finish line. Even though tonight got out of control, you accomplished your mission. But I think that from this point forward, we have to lie low and move smart.”
“I know. I’m just ready for all this to be over with,” she sighed, wiping away fresh tears. “I want Collin off the street. That man is way more dangerous than I thought. I wish we could just bypass the district attorney altogether and take this case straight to Mayor Elliot.”
“Well, keep in mind that when we take Collin down, Chief Wentworth is going down with him. And I’m sure several other law enforcement officers are entangled in their web of illegal dealings, too. According to the DA, he’s already informed Mayor Elliot of the case since the chief of police is involved. S
o that’s a good thing. But we still need to make sure the evidence we present was obtained in a legitimate manner, or else every criminal involved could get off on a technicality.”
Samantha sighed and threw her head back against the headrest. “I understand. I just hate having to stay silent, knowing what’s really going on. I can’t even use my blog to vent my frustrations because you’ve forced me to go dark for the time being.”
“I advised you to go dark,” he argued, steering the car down his block. “Not forced. I can’t force you to do anything, Miss Independent. Let’s take tonight, for example...”
Samantha stared down at her hands while fidgeting with her fingernails. The minute Gregory pulled into his driveway, she hopped out of the car and sauntered toward the house. He quickly climbed out and followed her to the door.
“Look,” he said, “you and I are conducting an intricate, complicated investigation here. This is going to take time.”
“I know. Can we just go inside now? I need a drink.”
The detective stared down at her. She kept her eyes on the ground. The corners of her mouth were curled into a frown. It was clear that she was hurting. She was just as frustrated as he was, and he knew she understood that everything she’d collected would have to be verified or collected again with warrants and more.
“Hey, come here,” he whispered, instinctively taking her in his arms and embracing her tenderly. He reveled in the feeling of her hands gliding across his shoulders, then clenching behind his neck.
After several moments, Gregory’s palms slid down Samantha’s back and rested on her hips. He pulled away and took her chin in his hand, raising her head until she looked him in the eyes.
“Why don’t we pull the plug on this conversation for now?” he suggested. “Let’s go inside, and I’ll light up the fireplace then pour you that drink. How does that sound?”
“That sounds good.”
As the pair entered the house, Gregory hoped that Samantha would be able to relax while he took some time to think. He knew they needed to wrap this case up soon before she took another risk to get it done herself.
The danger and threats were at an all-time high. Gregory had come too close to losing Samantha tonight. He couldn’t let it happen again.
Chapter Seventeen
The next morning, Samantha couldn’t stop herself from pacing the living room floor. Gregory had just left for work, and her mind was still racing from yesterday’s events.
She’d tossed and turned all night. Conjured-up images of Hudson lying on the factory floor after being beaten by Collin flooded her mind. The agony on his crumpled face as he writhed in pain haunted her dreams during the few moments that she was able to fall asleep.
“Stop it,” Samantha told herself, shaking her head rapidly as if that would push the thoughts out of her mind. She trudged over to the kitchen counter and grabbed her cell phone.
Don’t do it...
She sighed deeply and put the phone back down, then once again paced the floor. A restless anxiety rushed through her limbs, making it impossible to sit still. She wondered what time Gregory planned on doing a discreet drive-by past Hudson’s house, which he’d promised he would do at some point during the day to try and check on him. She’d attempted to convince him to let her ride along, but the detective flat out refused.
“Are you serious?” he’d asked. “What if someone saw us together? That could ruin everything we’ve been working toward, not to mention put us both in serious danger.”
Samantha had to admit that Gregory was right. But now here she was, alone in the house and eager to keep moving forward on the investigation, all while feeling forced to take a step back.
She shuffled into the kitchen and poured herself a second cup of coffee, then took a seat at the dining room table. Samantha realized she had to do something to get her mind off Hudson, Collin and last night’s catastrophe. So she opened her laptop and began editing her most recent article for the women’s journal.
After giving it one last read, she emailed the piece to her editor. When she closed her inbox, Someone Knows Something’s home page popped up on the screen.
Samantha hadn’t posted any updates on Jacob’s murder in days. Her fingertips were itching to type. She missed the blog. The fact that she hadn’t been able to keep the community updated on her investigation and interact with readers left Samantha feeling empty and disconnected. But as Gregory insisted time and time again, continuing to cover the case wasn’t worth risking her life.
Her eyes wandered down to the lower right-hand corner of the screen. There were twenty-four unread messages in her blog’s inbox.
Do not open them. Do not open them, she kept telling herself.
Reader questions or comments could easily trigger her need to investigate more, and Gregory had been right to caution her about getting evidence legally. But she was dying to know what the townspeople were saying about Jacob’s case. Maybe there was a lead here.
She squinted her eyes, tapping her fingernails on the keyboard while staring at the screen. Temptation forced her to slide the cursor toward the message in-box. Just as it hovered over the unopened envelope, her cell phone rang.
The shrill ringtone practically jolted her out of her chair. She glanced down at the caller ID, hoping it was Gregory. But no name appeared on the screen. The call registered as unknown.
Oh no...
A weight of panic dropped into the pit of her stomach. She grappled with whether or not she should answer the call. Maybe it was just spam, a telemarketer. By the time she decided to grab it, the call went to voice mail.
Just as she set it back down, the phone rang again.
“Yep, this is not good...” she muttered, bracing herself before finally hitting the accept button on the third ring.
“Hello?” she uttered into the phone, struggling not to sound as timid as she felt.
“Hey, Sam! It’s Ava.”
“Oh, thank goodness!” Samantha breathed. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear your voice. I thought it may have been—”
“Wait,” Ava interrupted, “let me guess. You thought it might be Collin?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“The security guard who was working at Westman’s last night called and told me some of what went down. He knows I’m trying to find out what happened with Jacob and keeps in touch.”
“Girl,” Samantha practically choked, “it was unreal!”
“Wait,” Ava interjected, “before you get into that, I’ve got some good news to share with you.”
“Well, I could certainly use some good news right about now. What’s up?”
“Kenzie is alive and well.”
Samantha jumped up from her chair as tears of joy immediately filled her eyes. “Is she? I am so happy to hear that! How’d you find out?”
“Her boyfriend, Alex, called me early this morning and told me that she reached out to him last night.”
“Really,” Samantha said, now pacing the floor. “So, where is she? And why’d she just up and vanish like that?”
“She’s hiding out in Alabama at her great-aunt’s house. Long story short, she was terrified after Jacob and the other Westman’s workers were killed and afraid she’d be next.”
“Well, that’s perfectly understandable. But wait, what about the email she’d allegedly sent to Alex that ended up coming from an IP address belonging to Collin?”
“Good question. According to Alex, Kenzie sent the message from one of the computers located in Westman’s break room. So even though it came through Collin’s IP address, she was in fact the one who wrote it.”
“Wow,” Samantha breathed, walking over to the window and peeking outside. “I can’t say I much blame her for abruptly skipping town like that considering all the madness surrounding the factory. I’m just glad to hear she’
s okay. But wait, speaking of madness, did the security guard at Westman’s tell you that Collin beat up Hudson? Really badly?”
“Wait, what? No! He did tell me that Hudson had somehow gotten injured when he saw Collin and his boys drag him out of the factory. But I don’t think he realized that Hudson had been beaten.”
“Well, he was,” Samantha confirmed, “with a steel pipe, no less.”
“I cannot believe this,” Ava choked. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of Hudson to see if he’s okay. But the calls have been going straight to voice mail, and he hasn’t responded to any of my text messages.”
Samantha walked back over to the dining room table and slumped down in her chair. “I am so worried about him. He was bludgeoned pretty badly. And Collin just hauled him out of the factory then tossed him onto the street a few blocks away from Westman’s like a bag of trash.”
“That man is so disgusting.”
“He really is. Luckily Gregory and I spotted Hudson and picked him up. But he refused to go to the hospital and insisted we take him home.”
“Unreal...” Ava sighed, pausing briefly before continuing. “Wait, weren’t you inside the factory with Hudson?”
Samantha hopped up out of her chair and began pacing the floor again. “I was. And being in there while Hudson was assaulted was an absolute nightmare.”
“But how is it that Collin caught him and not you, too?”
Samantha cringed as the memory of Hudson refusing to leave the drug lab popped into her head. “I warned Hudson when I heard Collin and his boys walking through the factory and told him we needed to get out of there. But he was too busy stealing drugs to listen to me—”
“Hold on,” Ava interjected. “What do you mean, he was stealing drugs?”
“Oh girl, we’ve got a lot to catch up on. Hudson and I found an underground drug lab inside the factory. And despite Hudson having gone through Westman’s drug rehabilitation program, he’s clearly still an addict. Because he was in there trying to snatch up every bottle of dope he could find.”
Cold Case True Crime Page 18
