He had no idea.
He checked his phone for messages, but nothing had changed in the two minutes since he last checked. Throughout his day, a sense of tense anticipation, a foreboding, haunted him. He’d chalked it up to the prior night’s events, but couldn’t let himself sweep the warning away.
He’d gone into work fully prepared for it to feel like the longest day in history. The strain of working under Hawkins had become so great; he feared he couldn’t make it much longer. He’d either snap and walk off the job or lose his temper and attack the man. He’d love nothing more than to beat him bloody, but that went against everything his badge stood for.
He adjusted his baseball hat and stood just as the sound of tires crunching over gravel met his ears. A few seconds later, a silver minivan came into view.
Curiosity made him wonder what they were up to. The Grants drove a green SUV, if he remembered correctly. A moment later Brayden, Patricia and Mark Cline stepped out. They shut their doors and the sound seemed extra loud as it echoed through the forested hills.
Patricia opened the back door on her side and helped Nicholas, their youngest out of his car seat. She walked with him to the nearby playground while Brayden and Mark walked in his direction. Brayden didn’t appear any more excited to see Joe than he had the last time they’d spoken.
About the time they made it to the picnic table where Joe waited, another vehicle, the green SUV he’d been expecting, pulled down the road and parked beside the van. Brayden immediately turned around and jogged back to the second car. The moment Haley Grant stepped out, he took her hand in his. She was a pretty little blond with her entire life in front of her, but she’d nearly lost it. Her parents exited and walked over to join Mark Cline who waited just a few feet outside the shelter.
A faded blue truck parked near the first two vehicles, and he wasn’t surprised to see Lori and Alyssa Schmidt exit it. The teens had their little party and Haley overdosed in Alyssa’s bedroom. Lori, a single mother, had been at work and devastated when she’d been notified. The girls had been close friends since grade school.
He wasn’t surprised to see the families had come together, but he still didn’t get why they’d been so secretive. The three teens came to meet him, leading the pack, with their parents close behind.
Brayden led the girls, with his shoulders straight. The courage didn’t quite make it to his face, but Joe had to hand it to him—the boy was trying. “Mr. MacDonald, we need to tell you something.”
“All right, I’m listening. What’s going on?” Joe gestured to the picnic table, hoping the low-key setting would help put the kids at ease.
Silence.
Maybe a little prompting would set things in motion? “Is this about the night of Haley’s overdose?”
“Uh, it’s all my fault. I don’t want to get the girls in trouble.” Brayden sat at the table and the girls followed suit. They all hung their heads, finding the knife carvings on the scarred, wooden top fascinating.
Alyssa blurted, “We all tried it. And it was my idea.”
“No.” Haley looked up at him and twisted her fingers into knots. Her light brown eyes misted with unshed tears. “It was mine. I was stressing out and wanted to relax for a bit. Last year at school, Marcy talked about smoking weed and how it relaxed her. I just wanted to let go of the stress for a little while. I asked Brayden if he knew where to get some.”
Alyssa tucked a strand of streaked brown and blond hair behind her ear. “He told us it was a bad idea and tried to talk us out of it.”
“Then it became a game. We teased him. I begged him.” Haley looked up to Brayden with a silent apology.
“Then Clint heard us talking after a movie let out and said he knew a guy and would make a call. He set everything up with Jimmy Hawkins and told us where to meet him.” Alyssa met Joe’s gaze for a brief moment before looking back down to the table. She traced a carved heart with her fingernail.
Brayden’s shoulders slumped. He looked from one girl to the other, as if they baffled him, but Haley continued before he could say anything.
“He wanted to go alone, but we wouldn’t let him. When we got to the parking lot beside the movie theatre, Jimmy was acting strange. Brayden told him, no, never mind. We changed our minds and didn’t want the pot.”
Brayden’s eyes met Joe’s. “He insisted, said we had to take it. I told him no. Then to make him go away, I told him we didn’t have any money. I thought that would send him away. Instead, he took my hand, put the bag in it and said don’t worry about it. The first one was on him. Then he drove away.”
“Brayden wanted to flush it, but Alyssa and I wanted to try it. So we did, and then I got sick.”
There was more. He wasn’t sure what yet, but this wasn’t enough to warrant the secrecy their parents had gone to.
“We really thought it was regular pot.” Alyssa glanced up at her mother who stood close by watching with her arms crossed and a fist over her mouth.
Joe looked to Brayden. He was being as patient as he could with the kids, but he’d be doing them a favor by getting to the point. “So you didn’t find it.”
The boy met his eyes. “No, sir.”
“All right, kids. Your parents didn’t call me out here for a secret meeting to tell me that. What is it that’s got you all scared so badly?”
Brayden pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “That night, after they took Haley away in the ambulance, I thought I was going to puke, like really vomit. There were still people everywhere, and I didn’t want to be heard if I did puke. I went out into Alyssa’s backyard hoping that I could breathe easier and so, if I got sick, no one would think I needed to go to the hospital, too. I just wanted a minute or two of fresh air. When I opened the patio door, I was quiet.”
Lori spoke up for the first time and placed a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “It had a wretched squeak the week before, and my brother oiled the hinges just a couple of days prior. If he hadn’t been so picky—” She covered her mouth again and shook her head. “I can’t imagine how much worse things could have been.” She half-sobbed, half-laughed. “When the kids finally came to us, I baked him a cake and told him thank you. Only I couldn’t tell him why it had been so important. He looked at me like I had a screw loose.”
Haley’s mother gave Lori a side hug. “When we get this out and things come to light, you can explain. We can’t let him get away with this, hon.”
“I know.” Lori hugged her back and patted Brayden’s shoulder who looked up to her.
“It’ll be okay. We’re going to fix it.” Then he turned to Joe. “I heard someone talking and didn’t think much at first. I was going to take a minute to see if I was really going to puke or not. I think it was more for worrying about Haley than the pot… but then I realized his voice sounded familiar. Once I heard what he was saying, and realized who he was, I froze.” He paused for a moment, running a hand through his hair.
His voice was steady when he continued. “I was scared. But then he said something that made me mad, really angry, and I didn’t think at all. Something inside me snapped, and I started recording.”
Something black and oily swirled in Joe’s belly. “Who did you hear?” With dread lodged like a hot lump in his throat, he asked the question although he already knew the answer.
“It was Sheriff Hawkins. When he came around the corner, he had his cell phone in his hand.”
Joe held out his hand and Brayden put the phone in his palm. Joe pushed play on the video. The backyard was dark, and the poor kid’s hand shook as he’d held it. The image was virtually worthless until he heard the voice confirming everything the teen said.
“I swear, boy, if you weren’t blood, I would have already put you away for the rest of your life. What made you think that pinching the product and lacing pot with it would be a good idea? You are not to touch the H again, do you understand me?” The video was silent for a few seconds but when it continued, things only got worse.
�
��Maybe we’ll get lucky and the little blond will die.” Joe flinched and he saw Haley’s father turn and walk away with his hands fisted by his side, his wide shoulders tense.
Brayden reached over and paused the video. Joe looked and saw anger blazing in the kid’s eyes. “That’s what he said that made me mad. He said that same thing before I started recording. I mean, I know we did something stupid, but she didn’t deserve to die.”
“No, buddy. You’re absolutely right. Can I hear the rest?” Joe watched as his words seemed to ease something in Brayden. Maybe he’d taken a portion of the boy’s burden by agreeing?
He let Brayden press play and braced himself. “I know Mark Cline is a volunteer firefighter. They’re a respected family. It would be easier if the kids came from the trashy side of town, but kids are easy to manipulate. If they cause trouble, I’m sure there’s something I can hold over their head. Their parents need their jobs. The Clines have another kid to feed. It’s easy to paint girls, even the good ones, as whores. If push comes to shove, then we can always make sure there’s another overdose or two. That wouldn’t be too hard to stage and everyone would believe it after tonight’s mess. Just keep your fucking nose clean.” The video came to the end and Joe looked to Brayden.
The boy spoke before he could say anything. “During the last part, where’s the video is extra blurry, I was moving back to the door. I was standing on the porch with the door open when he came back around the corner. He saw me. I think he thought I was just coming outside. But…he asked me how my little brother was doing, and had a scary look on his face. I…I almost deleted the video, but I didn’t want him to get away with it. Then again, I didn’t want to cause trouble either. I just didn’t know what to do.”
Joe sighed. “For what it’s worth, you and the girls made the right choice. It might have been scary, but you told your parents everything. You stuck together for what’s right.”
“What do we do? I mean he’s the Sheriff, but he’s wrong. Mom said that you really seemed like you wanted to get to the bottom of things, wanted to know where the heroin came from. That we could trust you, but you’re not the Sheriff.”
“You’re right on all accounts.” He handed the boy’s phone back and met him eye-to-eye. “You can trust me and, yes, I absolutely want to get to the bottom of this. I don’t want what happened to Haley to happen to anyone else. When drugs come to town, bad things happen. I’m going to do everything I can to put a stop to the drugs and to Sheriff Hawkins, too.”
Alyssa spoke up. “He should be the one in jail, not planning to do those horrible things to us or our parents. They’re good parents. We made a stupid mistake, but that’s not their fault.”
“You’re right. And I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure he ends up in prison where he belongs. I’m honored that you kids and your parents trusted me with this. Will you trust me just a little longer?” Joe stood and looked to the adults.
Haley’s father still looked ready to commit murder, and Joe didn’t blame him. “What happens from here? My wife has begged me not to go after him. Shed tears on my chest because she’s worried I’ll lose it and go after him. I’m trying, but…”
“As hard as it is, you need to keep it together for just a little longer.” Joe looked at them as a whole. “We need to take this to the right people. It sucks, but that’s the way it has to be. If I set up a meeting with Judge Holt, Detective Bowie, and Commander Stephens, at the State Police Post, would you all be willing to come? All of you? I know it’s hard, but when you come together, like you have, they’ll listen.”
Mark Cline put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “We’ve discussed it, and we’ll do whatever it takes to put him behind bars, but we have to keep our kids safe too.” Worry had aged the man ten years since Joe had last seen him.
He looked to them all, humbled that they’d trusted him with something of this magnitude. “Agreed. No question, they come first. I will keep an extra eye out, run extra patrols and will talk to a couple of deputies I’m close to. I won’t tell them why exactly, just that I have bad feeling. They’ll help. I’ll move as quickly as I can on this. You have my word.
“Brayden? I want you to keep the video and your phone. I’m not going to take that from you, but can you send me a copy?” He pulled a card with his number out of his wallet and handed it to the teen.
“Brayden, look at me.” The boy did and something tugged at Joe’s heart. They were all too young and far too innocent. “You need anything at all, or if you have any questions, you can call me direct at any time. Okay?”
“Sure.”
“Same thing goes for you girls. And I don’t want you to pay any mind to what he said about girls. He’s wrong. Dead wrong.” They nodded, but when Joe saw the beginnings of tears in their eyes, he wanted nothing more than to put his fist in Dale Hawkins’ face.
Chapter Seventeen
Joe checked the time on his dash. They should pull in any time. He’d arrived at the Caudill’s place about five minutes prior, planning to meet Cara, Rick and his sister. While starting his truck after watching the teens and their parents head out before him, he’d gotten Cara’s message. She said they planned to make a quick stop, and she placed a lot of emphasis on the word quick. Cara and Leigh could ride with him and update him on what had happened with Bailey.
He didn’t like the thought of taking Leigh and Kate virtually next door to the snake’s nest, but he knew is sister. When she set her mind to something, Rick didn’t have a chance. Leigh loved all kids, but something about this girl tugged especially hard on her heartstrings.
Rick’s SUV pulled into the driveway and parked not too far from his truck. Joe stepped out and adjusted his hat to block out the early evening sun. When he saw the look on Rick’s face, his greeting stopped before leaving his mouth.
Doors opened and shut and Rick let the orders fly. “Leigh, Cara, Joe, you’re with me. Trent and Kate, stay here and keep watch.” He made it about a step and a half before Leigh stopped him. Joe suspected not many men or women could keep up with or had the courage to face a pissed off Rick, but leave it to his sister. With her long legs, she caught and stepped in front of him.
“Hey.” She stopped him with a tender hand on his chest. “I’m sorry to do this to you. I don’t mean to be a pain in your ass, I swear. I just want—need—her to be safe. Thank you for everything you’ve done for her and for me. I mean it.”
Rick’s strain eased as he cupped her jaw in one hand. “Let’s just get this done and get you out of here.” The man looked like he wanted to do more, but held himself back. “Grab her things. If she sees this crowd, she may run.”
“Okay.” Soft and accepting, Leigh agreed making Joe wonder if Rick was a miracle worker.
After his sister grabbed the grocery bags bags, Rick led the way. Joe let Leigh, then Cara, follow behind them. He brought up the rear. They followed Rick around the back where he opened the door and went in first while Joe surveyed the backyard. Everything looked the same as it had each time he’d been there with his sister. The grass was getting too high again, making the place look twice as neglected.
Something set him on edge and he told himself that it was Rick’s tension. He stepped inside and shut the door. The interior was dim as always, but surprisingly cool. He looked around and saw that a small refrigerator had made an appearance and so had a small writing desk.
Rick had been busy.
Apparently his rule forbidding anyone from coming out here alone applied to everyone but him.
“Anything new?” Rick and Leigh stood close together in the corner where Joe guessed a miniscule dining room might have once been. It was hard to tell where one room should end and the next began. Nothing remained except bare floors and naked studs.
Joe paced to the front room then turned when his sister spoke.
“I don’t think so. Only a new set of drawi—”
Crack.
A shockingly loud report blasted the house and everyon
e flinched. Joe heard Cara’s whimper and saw Rick wrap his arms around Leigh and tackle her to the ground. He and Cara both dropped to the ground a millisecond after them. As he crawled across the floor toward her, four more shots blasted the house in quick succession.
He made it to Cara’s side. She answered his question before he could ask it. “I’m okay. Scared the shit out of me, but I’m okay.” Her golden eyes met his and he was relieved to see they were steady. “You?” Then she called her friend’s name a little louder. “Rick?”
“I’m fine. Sis? You okay?” Joe’s gaze never left Cara’s worried but steady eyes as he waited an eternity for his sister’s answer.
Rick spoke for them both. “We’re good. Mayhem, you armed?”
Cara didn’t hesitate. “I am. My Beretta, loaded with fifteen plus one in the chamber. You?”
“I have my Wilson Combat .45 with nine total. Joe?”
“G22 with fifteen and my backup G27 at my ankle with nine.”
“Oh no. Trent and Kate.” Just then, an engine roared to life and then quickly faded into the distance. Joe’s concern matched Cara’s exclamation. He loved Kate like a sister and Trent had earned more than his respect this past summer. Joe had come to think of him as a friend.
Rick spoke. “Windows are bulletproof glass. As long as they were inside, they should be fine. Fuck!”
Leigh’s soft voice spoke up. “I’m so s—”
“Not now,” Rick said coldly, all business. When Joe noted his hold on his sister seemed no less gentle, he chose not to interfere. As long as the man kept his sister safe, Joe would gladly accept the added debt.
Joe braced and readied to chance a quick peek out the front window when the back door burst open. Dale Hawkins walked in and swept the room with his rifle and a cocky sneer. When his focus landed on Joe he froze, his expression full of condescension and hate. A split second later, the front door crashed open with a curse. Jimmy Hawkins stepped in and fired wildly.
Catching Cara: Dark Horse, Inc: Book 2 Page 21
