“That guy is a mess. He was so strung out, and from what I heard, he didn’t quit. He got fired. He worked our area some and we just left him alone because half the time he was tweaking and looking for his next fix. Seriously, miss, stop looking into these cases.”
Elena sat back. At least he was calling her “miss” now. That was an improvement.
“I heard through a friend who works in the DA’s office that this cop has changed. Moved out of state and has his life together now. He’s clean and back working in law enforcement. I think he could help us find the real killer in this homicide. And with your help, you could testify against the shooter in the car where you were a passenger and bring justice to a little boy. A little boy who was about the same age as your son is now. Help me do this. There’re two murderers who need to be behind bars. I don’t believe you pulled the trigger in the drive-by and I don’t believe you strangled this woman. I do believe you were involved in the drive-by and you’ve served time that you deserved to serve. Help me help you.”
“Why do you want to convict these murderers so bad? What’s in it for you? A promotion? A person like you doesn’t care about gang members. Or maybe it’s because of the victim of the murder I’m serving time for? Is that it?”
Elena hesitated. She had to choose her words carefully so that she could prove she wasn’t only doing this for a promotion, which was a part of her motivation, but also because she believed in justice. “A person like me? You think I grew up in a perfect house with a white picket fence? Nope, not me. I grew up with a father who loved to slap my mother around, and it got worse until he killed her. I was a teenager and I watched how the prosecutor in that case made sure my father served time for what he did. I want every family to get justice and I don’t want to see someone sitting in prison for something they didn’t do.”
“Very noble,” Ref answered. “Look, if I agree to help you, I need to know my son and girlfriend will be safe. Like I said, there’s powerful people who put me here. I figure I should serve my time. I’m not a good person. Say I tell you that it is me in that photo? Then I was involved in a shooting that killed innocent people. Leave this be. Let me serve my time. I figure it doesn’t matter what crime I’m here for, I deserve to be here. Plus, if you pursue this, you could be in danger. Have you thought of that?”
“Yes,” Elena said. “But that comes with the job. It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
“Go ahead, take this on, but when someone tries to kill you, don’t come crying to me. I’ll agree to be your witness in this drive-by, but do you really think you can reopen and overturn a conviction for the murder of a bigwig senator’s daughter? Especially if the only evidence is from a strung-out cop?”
“I do,” Elena answered.
“You’re crazier than I thought. Look, I’ll agree to testify in your drive-by case, but if something happens to you, we never had this conversation. If you’re found dead, I want to just serve my time.”
“I’ll keep it quiet, then,” Elena said. “I’ll look into the other case, but when I find the real killer, I do need you to be a witness in the drive-by case.”
“Deal,” Ref said. “I’d shake your hand, but I’m a bit, you know, restrained.”
“I’ll be in touch. I’m going to figure this out.”
“Just do me a favor and don’t get yourself killed.”
“It’ll take a lot more than that to scare me off,” Elena answered, and then thought,Hopefully Josh Colten really is clean and has the evidence I need.
CHAPTER THREE
Josh Colten drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, listening to the radio as he drove. In the back of his vehicle, his yellow Lab, Finn, snored, tired from certifying. Finn had been fantastic and worked well. Josh was excited and had even talked with the examiner about certifying Finn in water search to find drowning victims. As hard as it would be to find someone deceased, Josh would rather a family had answers and maybe some closure.
Although, after watching Maya struggle with the loss of her mother and grandmother and finally having closure with their deaths, he questioned if there was such a thing. Maybe just having answers was better. If he could give a family that, he’d feel a sense of helpfulness.
Tonight, he and Maya planned to go out to dinner and celebrate Finn passing certification. He also looked forward to going back home and having some alone time with Maya. He had missed her.A lot.He couldn’t imagine his life without her in it.
Lost in his thoughts, his phone rang and made Josh startle. Maybe it was Maya. Knowing he would only have service for about another mile, he pulled over into a scenic overlook. Finn lifted his head and, realizing they weren’t getting out of the car, went back to sleep.
The caller ID readElena Pierce. Who the heck was that?
Josh answered and a familiar voice made him almost hang up. The person blurted out, “Don’t end this call. Please.”
Amber Zielinkski. Great. Not who he wanted to hear from. Amber was his ex-fiancée and had been arrested for stalking and harassing Maya this past January. He’d heard that her initial court appearance had happened and she was getting mental health help. The DA had let her keep her job for now and since her past record was clean with no priors, she would probably get a plea deal.
Against his better judgment, but also knowing he could drive for about a mile and have the call cut out from lack of service, Josh finally said, “I’ll give you two minutes. What do you want?”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“Two minutes, Amber. Then you need to leave me alone. No more phone calls or contact. I can reach out to the prosecutor for your case and make sure a plea deal is off the table.”
“I know. I promise I’ll make this quick and it’s not what you think. I’ve gotten help. I know what I did was wrong.”
“Why are you calling me from someone else’s phone?” Josh asked. He knew the answer. If he’d seen Amber’s name on the caller ID, he wouldn’t have answered.
“This is about something else. A case that you were involved in. My friend Elena Pierce is a junior prosecutor. It’s her phone. Please, hear me out.”
“You’re running out of time. Get to the point.”
