Entering the lobby, I find Griffin and Knox still there, dutifully waiting for my return. They jump to their feet and follow me out.
When we’re all outside, we take off in a sprint to Griffin’s truck and hop in. Griffin briskly starts the engine and zooms away.
Knox looks at the pocket folders in my lap. “What’s that?”
My hands squeeze the folders reflectively, as if they’ll disappear into thin air at any moment.
“Whitlock’s and Jackson’s demise.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
GRIFFIN
Iwill never ever ever never ever never never let Raven do something like that again. The sound of Wanda turning pages of her magazine was about to set me off. Knox and I were on the verge of staging a hostile takeover of the police station.
Now I know what the start of a heart attack feels like.
When Raven finally showed her face again, we still weren’t able to relax. The edge will only subside when Whitlock and Jackson are behind bars.
Camden and Kat played their part perfectly without any hiccups. After he hijacked the sheriff’s truck, Camden drove a few miles outside of town, ditched the truck where Kat was waiting for him, and they drove back into town. Annabelle agreed to say that Camden and Kat were with her in the kitchen of Mystic Beans if anyone asked.
Thankfully, Langston was still in the area, so we were able to meet up with him and give him the flash drives. If he had left and gone back to Lubbock, we would’ve driven the couple hours to get him the evidence.
Once the flash drives were delivered, there was nothing left to do but wait. We’ve been holed up at mine and Knox’s house for the last couple of days.
And this morning, Langston called to say he wanted to come by and update us. Noah is upstairs in what is slowly morphing into his room, playing with the newest toy Knox and I were excited to spoil him with.
Raven sits on the couch, chewing on her nails. Knox and I have tried everything to help her relax, but she’s too wound up. And now her nervous energy has contaminated me and Knox. I’ve been unable to sit, and Knox hasn’t stopped pacing.
A knock on the front door has Raven close to jumping out of her skin. Knox halts in his tracks, and I dart for the door.
The peephole reveals Langston and his cowboy hat, which he seems to never leave home without.
Opening the door, I wave him inside.
He nods in greeting. “Thanks for seeing me.”
“Thanks for coming.”
We join Raven and Knox in the living room. Knox stands behind Raven, his hands gripping the back of the couch. Langston sits in the unoccupied armchair, and I, still unable to sit, stand at the end of the couch with my arms crossed and my stance wide.
“I want to start off by saying thank you for handing over the evidence that you did. Camden confirmed that he couldn’t bring himself to give it to me and asked you three to do it for him.”
A lie we told him the other day, so we didn’t incriminate ourselves.
“I’m choosing to believe the surfacing of the flash drives has nothing to do with the theft and return of Clayton Jackson’s police vehicle.”
None of us utter a word. Knox and I keep blank expressions while Raven bites her lip.
Langston continues, ignoring Raven’s obvious tell, “The flash drives were more than enough to get a warrant to search the psychiatric hospital and arrest Lewis Whitlock. He had fled right before we got there, but rangers were able to catch up with him. We had to lay spikes on the road to get him to stop.”
My body locks up. “So, he’s been arrested?”
“Yes,” Langston replies.
Tears line Raven’s eyes, and her chin wobbles. Knox and I take a seat on either side of Raven. My arm wraps around her shoulders, and Knox holds her hand.
Langston watches us intently before continuing, “Upon searching Lewis’s office, we found bags of pills. We know they weren’t purchased through his pharmaceutical distributor. The pills are being tested for their contents at the lab now, but they’ll most likely match some others we’ve found around the state.”
