“Elena has discovered something about a homicide that happened about four years ago. One you know well.”
Josh did the math in his head. He wouldn’t have been working as a patrol officer—he would have been fired by that time. It wasn’t a period in his life he was proud of by any means, when he’d spiraled out of control and went from heavy drinking to heavy drug use. He’d worked hard to become sober, stay sober and start over in Colorado. He wouldn’t know about any homicides from that time, but his curiosity was piqued. Sighing, he said, “Which case?”
“Sydney Bradford’s.”
“What? That case is closed. They found the guy. Some gang member, if I remember right. From the Dark Angels or something like that?” Josh’s memories from that time were fuzzy.
“Yes, but that’s the thing. Elena was working on a case for the death of a child who took a bullet during a drive-by.”
“Makes me glad I’m not in Chicago anymore.”
“Yeah, I understand. But the guy convicted of Sydney’s murder was in the car. There’s proof from photos that a witness finally provided from the drive-by. Elena wants to reopen Sydney’s case and her boss said she needs more evidence. She went to the evidence storage and lots of items are missing. Gone. To open the case, she needs something, and I told her you found Sydney. You mentioned once you took photos and tried to write everything down about the scene even though you weren’t with the department anymore.”
Josh hesitated. Amber was right. Hehadtaken pictures and notes, but he’d been so messed up that night that the responding detective had questioned him, then sent him away and never followed up. Josh didn’t blame the guy. He wouldn’t have listened to someone babbling and that messed up either. “What do you need from me?”
“Do you still have the pictures? Or even your notes in your memo book?”
Josh didn’t answer. Could he even believe Amber? She had lied to him before about being called in for another case, but when he called the prosecutor’s office, he’d found out she had made everything up as revenge against him for dating Maya.
“Josh?” Amber said. “You still there?”
“I am,” he finally answered. “I’m wondering why I should believe you. You’ve lied to me before. This could be you lying again. You need to go back to your life and let me live mine.”
“I understand where you’re coming from. I did horrible things when I last saw you. I realize that now.”
“That’s an understatement. You drugged me,” Josh said.
“Um, I know, and I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say except that I know now that you need to move on with your life. That you’re happy with Maya. You’ve changed, so maybe you can believe me when I say I’ve changed. I’m not the same person anymore and I also want to get on with my life. I’m calling as a favor for Elena. She’s a good person. A great prosecutor and she’s trying to do the right thing. For once in my life, I’d like to be involved with doing the right thing.”
Josh stared out the window at the high mountain peaks still covered with snow. Wind gusts came up and blew some snow across the road, almost creating a ground blizzard.Will she ever leave me alone? There has to be a way to get her out of my life so I can move on.“I may still have the memo book and the memory card with the crime-scene photos. That was a bad time in my life, and my involvement with Sydney isn’t exactly innocent.”
“Because she was your drug dealer?”
Josh closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. Of course she’d remember that. Why was this happening to him? His past kept coming back to haunt him. He’d have to bring it up at the next Narcotics Anonymous meeting. “Yes, and I found her that night because I was going to buy drugs from her. I’m the one who called 911. I wasn’t supposed to be photographing the crime scene or taking notes. I wasn’t even a cop anymore. I can look for what your friend needs, but I’m not exactly a prosecutor’s dream witness.”
“I know, Josh, but anything helps.”
“Okay, I’ll go home and see if I can find the notebook or photos. I don’t know if I have them, but I’ll look.”
“Thank you. Can we meet in about an hour?”
“Excuse me?”
“I was certain you’d help us, so I convinced Elena to fly with me to Colorado for the weekend. We’ll get the evidence and be gone. It’ll take us five minutes.”
How long has she been in Colorado? Has she been watching us? Maya could be in danger.“No.”
“Please?” Amber begged.
“I don’t even know if I can find what you need in that time. It’s probably in a box somewhere in the garage.”
“How about you go home and look? If you can’t find it, text Elena’s number and you’ll never hear from me again.”
Josh stayed quiet for a minute. He knew where the box was. He was certain that he knew where the memo book and memory card were too. But he wanted something from Amber. “I’ll make you a deal.”
“What’s that?”
“You remember how you stole my gun?”
