"Reina," Calvin says with excitement as he shakes me awake, causing the springs in the sleeper sofa to squeak noisily.461Please respect copyright.PENANAqke2RqoNxR
"Go. Away." I order, completely exhausted. Even with my medication, it took me forever to fall asleep because Calvin shattered my calm state of mind by doing what he did last night. 461Please respect copyright.PENANAAGnV6y9RWd
"No. Wake up."461Please respect copyright.PENANAX8lWsVflGn
"Five more hours. Please."461Please respect copyright.PENANAECwXWznQ8c
"Rough night?"461Please respect copyright.PENANApWmXSpQpoX
Because of you. "Yes."461Please respect copyright.PENANAPkPVA953CF
"Too bad. Wake up. I have something to tell you."461Please respect copyright.PENANA2O3wWcLKtP
Since it's obvious that he won't 461Please respect copyright.PENANAEXOiMtdDcT
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leave me alone, I do the only thing I can. With much effort, I sit up, causing the springs in the bed below me to squeak tremendously.461Please respect copyright.PENANABwGCcYEN9E
"Good. Now listen to this. The night that McKenzie died, one of the neighbors says that he saw some men talking to McKenzie. Overheard them talking about getting drinks. Apparently, one of the men would buy his drinks for him because he was twenty. Then, they got into a white van and drove off."461Please respect copyright.PENANACcPSnxBzp6
"Okay, so how did you come by this information?" I ask, noting that it's about six a.m.461Please respect copyright.PENANAWndmoK0upr
"I went to every house in the area yesterday and asked about him. Took hours."461Please respect copyright.PENANAYzAcsxa8EB
"You're going to lose your job."461Please respect copyright.PENANAcjB1T9vIg6
"Probably."461Please respect copyright.PENANAPpuaOnDFM7
"Wait. If you found this out yesterday..."461Please respect copyright.PENANADPfRq2ISXs
"So the neighbor was able to identify the men, and two of them are known racists. I don't know if you've heard of them before. Brian Francis, and Rupert Spence."461Please respect copyright.PENANAUltvi28wcT
"Brian Francis."461Please respect copyright.PENANA0zc75rnv6o
"You know him?"461Please respect copyright.PENANARuBqOkBOOV
"Yeah," I mutter. "I know him."461Please respect copyright.PENANAfNbMKzWZF0
Brian is actually from Columbus, like myself. We went to the same elementary school, and high school. In elementary school, he gave me the nickname "mud girl" because of the color of my skin. When that was finally over, I escaped him through middle school. I was so relieved to get away from him. That is, until the first day of highschool. I recognized him instantly, and I was hoping that he would either not recognize me, or if he did, he would have changed. As soon as I saw that smile, however, I knew that I was wrong in both counts.461Please respect copyright.PENANAz8nNRiWaO8
He gave me hell.461Please respect copyright.PENANAKQ8q8WJvgR
"Hey, you okay?" he asks 461Please respect copyright.PENANAtji5NHxic6
"Yeah. Keep going."461Please respect copyright.PENANAq88ShWi9v7
"Okay, if you're sure," he says, to which I nod enthusiastically. 461Please respect copyright.PENANAsRVrSmOTNf
"I was Skyping a like-minded contact I found in Columbus this morning — I didn't find her this morning, I was Skyping her this morning, I found her day before yesterday — you get what I'm trying to say — and it turns out that Brian was in Columbus visiting his sister, when our second victim drowned. It's as if the deaths are following him."461Please respect copyright.PENANA8g74k8Cnrc
"So what now?" I ask quizzically.461Please respect copyright.PENANAnSmL3iZtYk
"I'm going to question him today. You can come follow me. Oh, and there's been another case, this time I'm sure they'll investigate it."461Please respect copyright.PENANA0xmZD8Uthf
"Why?"461Please respect copyright.PENANA4zVfS4AAbd
"You'll see."461Please respect copyright.PENANAfp32LA9ihP
***461Please respect copyright.PENANApiAAOtRn55
"She looks like she was in a fight," I mumble, still slightly disturbed, seeing the corpse hanging from the tree. Calvin dragged me out of bed, not even giving me a chance to shower, and took me to the crime scene where the body is still hanging.461Please respect copyright.PENANAzW9zEH9pPG
"That's exactly what I said. Her name is Naomi Harris. She has blood under her fingernails, and there are drag marks in the dirt leading up to the tree."461Please respect copyright.PENANA774FLlnE3j
"Probably still gonna say she killed herself."461Please respect copyright.PENANAjAssR2r7T8
"How? How could they possibly—"461Please respect copyright.PENANAyzIwFFPjKW
"Because they're lazy, and she's just a little black girl. She's not important."461Please respect copyright.PENANAPWDnJpWnTP
"So how are we going to solve this?" he asks in frustration. "Because if that's really the attitude that you think that they're gonna have, then we're screwed."461Please respect copyright.PENANAOkfNwsA6cv
"I think they're also terrified about what will happen if this gets out."461Please respect copyright.PENANAs99Lw2QlE0
"How about you take a break, huh? Keep at this, and you might end up giving yourself a heart attack."461Please respect copyright.PENANAujzTphoknh
"I'm not taking a break."461Please respect copyright.PENANAhckM7MpV2J
"Fine. Do whatever you want."461Please respect copyright.PENANAtbQF30csyn
"He don't get mad at me for doing my job. You're the one that—"461Please respect copyright.PENANAXkFDSsvfeW
The sound of his phone ringing cuts him off. He pulls it out while giving me a look that says that he's not done with me.461Please respect copyright.PENANA3VFJ22Co0S
"Hello?" he answers the phone, but within seconds, his face crumbles.461Please respect copyright.PENANAw70ljEzy4K
"Are you sure it's her? Sorry. That was a stupid question. Okay. Thanks. Bye," he says, hanging up the phone.461Please respect copyright.PENANA9RBCAcJGjm
"What?" I ask after a few seconds of silence.461Please respect copyright.PENANAVSSS3QxXaE
"Antoine's mother commited suicide."461Please respect copyright.PENANA0XItMXgkb8
"Like actually?"461Please respect copyright.PENANAr7wAb1N586
"Hanged herself in her closet with a belt and a chair. Her husband found her this morning, when he came home from the night shift."461Please respect copyright.PENANAcO8hg7Qvo2
"Damn." I personally have never judged people for committing suicide. I can't even imagine what she was going through. Losing your child must be painful. No one should have to bury their child, especially with so little closure.461Please respect copyright.PENANAk7jp5wTHuI
"Well, let's see what we can do about this. I'm going to interview Brian this afternoon. Do you want to come?"461Please respect copyright.PENANAf4OUSlBnEA
"No," I say a little bit too quickly.461Please respect copyright.PENANA3a0tBrYAt8
"No?"461Please respect copyright.PENANAJZ9MwFG4dq
"No. I'm tired. I want to go back home and sleep."461Please respect copyright.PENANAxFlrWSB2Mq
"Are you sure?" he asks, looking slightly disturbed, and I briefly consider coming just so that he doesn't suspect me, but I just don't think I can stomach facing Brian again.461Please respect copyright.PENANAmE2qoalTow
"Yeah. I'm sure."461Please respect copyright.PENANAnhUFxqRsab
"Okay," he says, unspoken suspicion in his eye. "I'll take you home."461Please respect copyright.PENANAHUOWc7LhUz
***461Please respect copyright.PENANAviNMGUkadK
"Brian volunteered to take a polygraph," Calvin says as he walks through the door, exhaustion coloring his voice.461Please respect copyright.PENANAgvSyetAu6o
"What did you do?"461Please respect copyright.PENANAEFc4QO3iT2
"I told him that it won't be necessary. Polygraphs don't work; they're archaic. If he agreed to do it then he knows that he can pass it. I don't need a lie detector, I need my captain to believe me," he says in frustration.461Please respect copyright.PENANAxALINOp8wT
"You told her yet?"461Please respect copyright.PENANAbHcDdwR6Hq
"Yes. She said some really awful things."461Please respect copyright.PENANA7Va0mKHSvW
"Like?"461Please respect copyright.PENANA8MXtTN6BEb
"Antoine and his mother had the same mental disorder, which caused them both to kill themselves."461Please respect copyright.PENANABfio8adt9K
What?461Please respect copyright.PENANAOeQJlCskGP
"She killed herself because she was depressed that her child died."461Please respect copyright.PENANAoPF3Fv8lHK
Calvin bites his lip as he laughs cynically.461Please respect copyright.PENANAV2vqFkUVBb
"Not according to boss."461Please respect copyright.PENANA6gd7RC5HZK
"Well she'll see sense. We'll make her see sense. She has to."461Please respect copyright.PENANA4DDa4x3nek
"Reina," he starts, "please don't get involved. I don't want you getting hurt, but I have no intention of giving up on these people."461Please respect copyright.PENANAZiPxEHxT8m
"Yes, Calvin," I mumble compliantly.461Please respect copyright.PENANAL1V3CTPRum
He exhales in relief, or maybe, it's just exhaustion.461Please respect copyright.PENANAVjMxYBlZ8P
"So what do we have?"461Please respect copyright.PENANAdHUGCSVCcR
"They're still investigating Naomi—"461Please respect copyright.PENANAua7hjRcpdW
"But they say that she commited suicide too, didn't they?" I ask. It's a rhetorical question, because I know that I'm right. His frustrated groan tells me so, anyway.461Please respect copyright.PENANAdX9vExRmRI
"I've never seen my Captain this apathetic before."461Please respect copyright.PENANAaKl28R888W
"She usually fights for people?"461Please respect copyright.PENANAxj9LSTA88a
"Yes," he says, anger now seeping into his voice. "She's part of the reason why I am the way I am."461Please respect copyright.PENANATS2ifqNn5l
"Maybe it's not apathy. Maybe it's fear."461Please respect copyright.PENANAJfPAH887LP
"She's a police captain. She's supposed to be brave. She's not supposed to let fear get in the way of justice. If she can't do that, she needs to leave. Now I have to go find a new way to bring this asshole down."461Please respect copyright.PENANAU4pyezWTwg
But how do we do that if the people in power do nothing? Their apathy and/or fear is getting in the way of our goal. We have to go to someone, something, people that we haven't tried already.461Please respect copyright.PENANA0KMni6K4IN
The citizens.461Please respect copyright.PENANAyypV8OAnbL
"Call a community meeting," I say.461Please respect copyright.PENANAKMB4UtKG74
"What?"461Please respect copyright.PENANAmWHgDAD6qc
"A community meeting. Connect with the people, and they'll pressure the law enforcement into doing something. You can't go; you might lose your badge."461Please respect copyright.PENANAHflslu99c3
"So you want to do it? No."461Please respect copyright.PENANAtbJDZmPt1z
"I won't let you lose your job, Calvin."461Please respect copyright.PENANAPifFbKd4Nj
"I won't lose my job, because I won't be breaking any laws. As a citizen, I have the right to protest."461Please respect copyright.PENANABnClvKIEKM
"Your faith in the system is truly adorable."461Please respect copyright.PENANAeC8uo9PDw8
"You're not going."461Please respect copyright.PENANAQjzXCU0tul
"You can't publicly protest the police if you are one. They will find a reason to fire you, even if the community meeting isn't it. Listen, before I met you, I didn't even know that cops like you existed. You need to keep your job."461Please respect copyright.PENANAIMI4MIEfTG
"Then it's settled. There will be no community meeting, because you're not going."461Please respect copyright.PENANADngymf0v8v
"But—"461Please respect copyright.PENANAZujh1YszOU
"Please don't argue with me, Reina. I'm tired—"461Please respect copyright.PENANA0Zug4tPOmw
"We don't have many options, Calvin! It's been days since these mystery culprits broke into our homes. Besides, I have pepper spray. If someone sneaks on me, I'll be prepared." 461Please respect copyright.PENANAdjoeYndmxE
"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. One pepper spray versus a bunch of fully grown men. Who will win? Not to mention the fact that you're terrified of Brian Francis."461Please respect copyright.PENANA6ufVpZBdmK
"You noticed," I state, just above a whisper.461Please respect copyright.PENANAaFcKgBC6gp
"Yes, I did, and I'm gonna find out why."461Please respect copyright.PENANAWhKLFpzugw
I simply shake my head. I don't have time to dwell on that right now.461Please respect copyright.PENANANVR6mH2KpE
"Whatever. I'm having that community meeting, and that's final."461Please respect copyright.PENANAR3guP9CKuL
He looks at me with calculating eyes, and then finally, he sighs.461Please respect copyright.PENANAxYenZc9efd
"Fine. But I'm coming. It's that, or I'll lock you in the house."461Please respect copyright.PENANAR41Gix3Rtw
In that moment, I know that he's serious; he will hold me prisoner for as long as he deems necessary.461Please respect copyright.PENANAkdTExrwpfN
"Okay." I concede. "We'll go together."461Please respect copyright.PENANALxdJp2HNtL
Strangely, I have both a good and bad feeling about this particular decision.461Please respect copyright.PENANAn1J4j6MZZK
***461Please respect copyright.PENANAdBXrLxMnfP
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