Wild Secret
care how you have to do it."I gave him a grim nod.
My eyes flicked to Paris Delaney. For once, I was glad to see her.
I left the sheriff and marched toward the beautiful blonde. She saw me coming and nudged the cameraman. The lens swung in my direction.
"Deputy Wild, what can you tell us?"
"This evening, about 10:15 PM, a Coconut County deputy was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop on Sunbeam near Pearl. If anyone has information about the crime, please contact the Coconut County Sheriff's Department immediately. Thank you."
I turned around and left the news crew.
"Deputy Wild, has the name of the officer been released?"
I ignored her and rejoined JD and Sheriff Daniels. We watched as Chuck was put into a body bag and loaded into the medical examiner's van.
"I guess I better break the bad news to Ellie,” Daniels said.
A call from the dispatch unit crackled over his walkie-talkie. He pushed the talk button. "This is Daniels. Go ahead."
“A patrol unit just picked up Justin Kessler. He was with a passenger. Both are being transported to the station."
"I'm on my way."
We left the scene and hustled back to JD's Porsche. We sped to the station.
After Justin was processed and printed, he was put into an interrogation room. There were plenty of deputies that wanted 5 minutes alone with the kid. Cop killers didn’t get treated too kindly around here. The kid was lucky he didn’t have an accident on the way to the station.
JD and I pushed into the interrogation room. Justin didn’t strike me as a cop killer. There was nothing in his record to indicate violence. But people do strange things when they’re hopped up on illicit substances.
Justin had blond hair trimmed short on the sides and long on top. The sun had bleached the tips. His face was somewhere in-between round and narrow, and his sad brown eyes drooped in the corners. He still had some teen acne, and his hairline was rapidly receding, despite his young age. His eyes were red and glassy, clearly stoned.
“Want to tell me what happened?”
10
"I don't know what happened," Justin said. "All of a sudden, there were flashing lights in my rearview mirror. These two deputies pulled me over, hassled us. Now I'm here, talking to you."
I asked, “No. What happened before the deputies arrested you?”
He was silent for a long moment.
"You know, when the first officer pulled you over,” I said in a condescending tone. “Deputy Chuck Atwood. The guy that's dead."
Justin's eyes rounded. "He's dead?"
"That's what happens when you fill somebody full of bullets."
"I didn't do that. I swear!”
"So, I'm going to ask you again. What happened?"
He exhaled. “The first cop pulled me over for a busted tail light. He gave me a warning and let me go. As he was heading back to the patrol car, these guys pulled up and shot him."
"Who?"
"I don't know who."
"Tell me about them."
"Two guys. They wore ski masks. They drove by and blasted your friend with a submachine gun. It was crazy."
"What were they driving?"
"A silver car."
"Two-door, or four-door?"
Justin shrugged. "I don't know. I think it was a four-door."
"And you just took off?"
"Yeah. I was scared shitless. I didn't know if those guys were gonna come back or what. I got the hell out of there."
"You can't just leave the scene of a crime like that."
"I was scared those guys were gonna kill me too."
"And you didn't bother to report the incident?"
He exhaled and slumped. "Man, I didn't want anything to do with that. I mean, what if those guys come after me?”
I frowned and exchanged a glance with JD.
"When you were arrested, Deputies Erickson and Faulkner found a bag of weed and paraphernalia in your car. Your blood alcohol level was 1.2, well beyond the legal limit. You mean to tell me that Deputy Atwood was just going to let you go with a warning?"
"Yeah. I swear!”
I didn't buy it for a second. "What else can you tell me about the shooters?"
Justin shrugged. "I don't know. It all happened so fast."
“You get a license plate?”
“No. I was too freaked out.”
"Who's the girl in the car with you?"
"Kennedy?"
"Yeah. She your girlfriend?"
His face tightened, and he clammed up. "She's just a friend."
"She's 17."
"So?"
"You're 22. You're an adult. She's not."
"Aw, come on, dude. She's close enough."
"Close enough doesn't count."
"I didn't touch her. I swear. We’re just friends."
Another line that I didn't believe. "Right. Friends. As it stands, you're looking at possession of a controlled substance, DUI, which is compounded by the fact you had a minor in the car."
"She's 17!" he protested. "Have you seen her? She doesn't look 17." His eyes flicked between the two of us, looking for sympathy. "I'm not going to jail, am I?"
"That's what happens when you break the law," I said in monotone.
“But I’m a prosecution witness. I can testify against the shooters if you catch them."
“That’s something you can work out with the DA.”
He frowned. "Does that mean I gotta spend the night in jail?"
"You'll stay in jail until somebody bails you out. You'll get arraigned in the morning."
"What does that mean?"
"You’ll go before the judge. If you can think of anything else about the shooters, let us know. If you help us, it might help your case."
I pushed away from the table and stepped to the door.
Justin hung his head and sighed.
A guard buzzed us out, and we stepped into the hallway.
Daniels joined us a moment later, having watched the interrogation from the observation room. “I’ll put a BOLO out on the silver sedan. Talk to the girl and see if her story matches.”
“Will do,” I said.
We walked down the hall and pushed into interrogation room #2.
Kennedy fidgeted nervously. She was a pretty girl. Shoulder-length dark hair, heavy eye shadow, piercing blue eyes, and a black choker around her neck. She definitely had the angsty teen thing going on. Hanging out with a loser like Justin probably had the desired effect of pissing off her parents.
"I'm not in any kind