"Reina," Calvin says with excitement as he shakes me awake, causing the springs in the sleeper sofa to squeak noisily.465Please respect copyright.PENANAeuHWHkL6bq
"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. 465Please respect copyright.PENANAtXegi59yMd
"No. Wake up."465Please respect copyright.PENANAlfdjtPgptG
"Five more hours. Please."465Please respect copyright.PENANAKevejIMw2Y
"Rough night?"465Please respect copyright.PENANAdtVOsf94gu
Because of you. "Yes."465Please respect copyright.PENANAv60GSbhO8s
"Too bad. Wake up. I have something to tell you."465Please respect copyright.PENANAn1ijIVIRiJ
Since it's obvious that he won't 465Please respect copyright.PENANAGdXYA43ajN
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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.465Please respect copyright.PENANAyBwkOutJn4
"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."465Please respect copyright.PENANA52swltLK8z
"Okay, so how did you come by this information?" I ask, noting that it's about six a.m.465Please respect copyright.PENANABS36LRNwAE
"I went to every house in the area yesterday and asked about him. Took hours."465Please respect copyright.PENANALONN06NAQS
"You're going to lose your job."465Please respect copyright.PENANAy7vndghsgh
"Probably."465Please respect copyright.PENANAuJVtLcftde
"Wait. If you found this out yesterday..."465Please respect copyright.PENANARltBNmeOKZ
"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."465Please respect copyright.PENANAm5A7gLInRv
"Brian Francis."465Please respect copyright.PENANAALdm5dxgeO
"You know him?"465Please respect copyright.PENANADzJYx21GA8
"Yeah," I mutter. "I know him."465Please respect copyright.PENANARviX5nHOM1
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.465Please respect copyright.PENANA30F3HPpWjC
He gave me hell.465Please respect copyright.PENANAq3dRkuLGHi
"Hey, you okay?" he asks 465Please respect copyright.PENANAziyMJaXSCI
"Yeah. Keep going."465Please respect copyright.PENANAomxDes1Mid
"Okay, if you're sure," he says, to which I nod enthusiastically. 465Please respect copyright.PENANA8Rp20C0BkC
"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."465Please respect copyright.PENANAHkFvLeMMgp
"So what now?" I ask quizzically.465Please respect copyright.PENANApZKFLfkXwW
"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."465Please respect copyright.PENANA27YMnDHktI
"Why?"465Please respect copyright.PENANAqT6dHTwXVj
"You'll see."465Please respect copyright.PENANAbY0xF43bPB
***465Please respect copyright.PENANAkBiZe8VKe7
"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.465Please respect copyright.PENANAJs84sR0Jpp
"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."465Please respect copyright.PENANAa0NQzD9XMv
"Probably still gonna say she killed herself."465Please respect copyright.PENANAWt7WdhokbO
"How? How could they possibly—"465Please respect copyright.PENANAcfFO3EhMMU
"Because they're lazy, and she's just a little black girl. She's not important."465Please respect copyright.PENANA4nBUilxlc1
"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."465Please respect copyright.PENANAmELWI6HNbh
"I think they're also terrified about what will happen if this gets out."465Please respect copyright.PENANAvqRrtPmNxI
"How about you take a break, huh? Keep at this, and you might end up giving yourself a heart attack."465Please respect copyright.PENANAgJzsJEz0rs
"I'm not taking a break."465Please respect copyright.PENANAMsBM4YOByg
"Fine. Do whatever you want."465Please respect copyright.PENANA1lYU2PZvdk
"He don't get mad at me for doing my job. You're the one that—"465Please respect copyright.PENANAxBHRuLNUPR
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.465Please respect copyright.PENANA7J8fTFhXSE
"Hello?" he answers the phone, but within seconds, his face crumbles.465Please respect copyright.PENANACPOZZdB5sD
"Are you sure it's her? Sorry. That was a stupid question. Okay. Thanks. Bye," he says, hanging up the phone.465Please respect copyright.PENANAoVZpkjzgfz
"What?" I ask after a few seconds of silence.465Please respect copyright.PENANA7H7VqyTYbh
"Antoine's mother commited suicide."465Please respect copyright.PENANAtntR5FpCWn
"Like actually?"465Please respect copyright.PENANALddXtfxQVm
"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."465Please respect copyright.PENANApHj2woLIrA
"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.465Please respect copyright.PENANA4ov3Cv3aWf
"Well, let's see what we can do about this. I'm going to interview Brian this afternoon. Do you want to come?"465Please respect copyright.PENANAyzcv2PKEFx
"No," I say a little bit too quickly.465Please respect copyright.PENANA0f7aRJG3hi
"No?"465Please respect copyright.PENANA3xGwdOcZn7
"No. I'm tired. I want to go back home and sleep."465Please respect copyright.PENANAtHrZFtjNno
"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.465Please respect copyright.PENANAzdQDkJT4jM
"Yeah. I'm sure."465Please respect copyright.PENANAPngqwtK9bj
"Okay," he says, unspoken suspicion in his eye. "I'll take you home."465Please respect copyright.PENANAgoGA5Umgex
***465Please respect copyright.PENANAfs0zSPpcTr
"Brian volunteered to take a polygraph," Calvin says as he walks through the door, exhaustion coloring his voice.465Please respect copyright.PENANABSR46exGcE
"What did you do?"465Please respect copyright.PENANAM0QXBK37tN
"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.465Please respect copyright.PENANAuHQuCEf3AL
"You told her yet?"465Please respect copyright.PENANAxVVtbj8d1t
"Yes. She said some really awful things."465Please respect copyright.PENANAWGbaEH1Mb5
"Like?"465Please respect copyright.PENANAWGcfYvNgin
"Antoine and his mother had the same mental disorder, which caused them both to kill themselves."465Please respect copyright.PENANATDE1dvJ94Z
What?465Please respect copyright.PENANAl66JNGxAkN
"She killed herself because she was depressed that her child died."465Please respect copyright.PENANAJwoGXyxnsw
Calvin bites his lip as he laughs cynically.465Please respect copyright.PENANApfnJl8G6Zx
"Not according to boss."465Please respect copyright.PENANAD1A5d0YdUo
"Well she'll see sense. We'll make her see sense. She has to."465Please respect copyright.PENANAst99WneeVp
"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."465Please respect copyright.PENANAmW4bEAtxTA
"Yes, Calvin," I mumble compliantly.465Please respect copyright.PENANA0dmuz49X3z
He exhales in relief, or maybe, it's just exhaustion.465Please respect copyright.PENANATRPeCpUfnh
"So what do we have?"465Please respect copyright.PENANAm9GZFWJHBd
"They're still investigating Naomi—"465Please respect copyright.PENANAQt1ObcR3C5
"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.465Please respect copyright.PENANAd8c1Sfapv4
"I've never seen my Captain this apathetic before."465Please respect copyright.PENANAoAi8xAyCG4
"She usually fights for people?"465Please respect copyright.PENANAMcegT3gl6P
"Yes," he says, anger now seeping into his voice. "She's part of the reason why I am the way I am."465Please respect copyright.PENANAHrIPIcCpXm
"Maybe it's not apathy. Maybe it's fear."465Please respect copyright.PENANAzhB7VNze6I
"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."465Please respect copyright.PENANAp3ajopbfTm
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.465Please respect copyright.PENANAsZqLpnPIG4
The citizens.465Please respect copyright.PENANA2R3MEJ7JYE
"Call a community meeting," I say.465Please respect copyright.PENANAc1GJfJJhuY
"What?"465Please respect copyright.PENANA8UVWioYf20
"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."465Please respect copyright.PENANAZ5GXWiChQI
"So you want to do it? No."465Please respect copyright.PENANAnk1B8BsxUR
"I won't let you lose your job, Calvin."465Please respect copyright.PENANAJxK8OH57R5
"I won't lose my job, because I won't be breaking any laws. As a citizen, I have the right to protest."465Please respect copyright.PENANATmVdeFhnvA
"Your faith in the system is truly adorable."465Please respect copyright.PENANAScrfRmFCfy
"You're not going."465Please respect copyright.PENANAfgh7pCt7Do
"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."465Please respect copyright.PENANAHbwrys4Dza
"Then it's settled. There will be no community meeting, because you're not going."465Please respect copyright.PENANACQBGUayRUK
"But—"465Please respect copyright.PENANAmXpxsKf7jA
"Please don't argue with me, Reina. I'm tired—"465Please respect copyright.PENANATadBcZBWN0
"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." 465Please respect copyright.PENANAO57zLBGLTi
"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."465Please respect copyright.PENANAQdHpZ8vpZY
"You noticed," I state, just above a whisper.465Please respect copyright.PENANAqOogfZU4dr
"Yes, I did, and I'm gonna find out why."465Please respect copyright.PENANAnc8ZIWHYrv
I simply shake my head. I don't have time to dwell on that right now.465Please respect copyright.PENANAVCNgXcddJl
"Whatever. I'm having that community meeting, and that's final."465Please respect copyright.PENANAYyovyTV98G
He looks at me with calculating eyes, and then finally, he sighs.465Please respect copyright.PENANAik93ml86cN
"Fine. But I'm coming. It's that, or I'll lock you in the house."465Please respect copyright.PENANAZw3Z8ZKFLq
In that moment, I know that he's serious; he will hold me prisoner for as long as he deems necessary.465Please respect copyright.PENANA5H3fapUlkg
"Okay." I concede. "We'll go together."465Please respect copyright.PENANAwocuPrJdmt
Strangely, I have both a good and bad feeling about this particular decision.465Please respect copyright.PENANA9h7oLZp8yk
***465Please respect copyright.PENANAA2Up5qTM2o
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