justice, and Waverly got his justice.”
“And just when you think it’s safe to go back into the
water.” I had to laugh. “Let it go, Billy. It’s not your problem, and it’s not
your fault.”
“I think I’m getting soft. I never make mistakes like this. I
should know better than to trust the cops. They’re out to get their man, and it
doesn’t matter how they do it.”
“Right! It seems to me that you’re the one who always told me
to never trust the cops! You specifically said they can never, ever be trusted.
They’ll stab you in the back every chance they get. The minute you turn around
they turn on you. How many times have you told me that?”
“On more than one occasion, I’m quite sure.”
“I just can’t believe Captain Waverly would murder Raleigh
Jones in cold blood. That’s raw.”
“Oh, it wasn’t murder. It was self-defense. Jones drew down
on them.”
“A death by convenience.”
“That’s a good analogy.”
“Now, I understand why you got home so late.”
“Police and paperwork… there ought to be a law,” Billy joked as
he turned left onto South
River Road . His face
looked worn out. He was beyond tired, and I felt bad for him.
I watched the small screen on the camcorder, and then
chuckled again. I looked up at Billy and smiled. “I was going to ask you how
you got all beat up, but now I see.”
“We kinda got into an argument over the price the minute I
got the pound of marijuana in my hands. I had to stall. I told Raleigh it felt light. I already had the
pot, but the cops were dragging their feet. At first. Then they swarmed in like
a SWAT team besieging a compound full of fanatics.”
“What did you do?”
“I hit the ground.”
I looked back down at the camcorder. “Yep, I see it all now.
Hey… where did you go?” The scene of the shootout was now playing out on
screen. After a few minutes, I turned off the camcorder, and said, “Scary. That
was ugly.”
“It always is.”
Billy pulled up to the entrance of Savannah ’s driveway. The wrought iron gates
opened automatically.
“That’s strange,” I said, looking at Billy. “We didn’t even
have to push the call button.”
“Considering what’s going on, I’m sure Savannah has probably been standing at her
window waiting for us to arrive.”
His response triggered a question. “How could someone dump a
body in her garage if the gate was closed? Doesn’t it automatically lock when
it closes? They’d have to have the code.”
“Good question. I’d like to know the answer to that.”
Billy pulled up to the garage just about the time Savannah came running out the back door. She
was covered in blood.
“Oh, my God!” I screeched. “Look at her! She’s all bloody.
How did she get covered in blood? I don’t think this is just a case of a body
being dumped. There’s more going on here.”
We jumped out of the truck and hurried to Savannah . She was still in a fit. She looked
rattled.
“What happened?” Billy asked. “Are you hurt?”
“Whose blood is that?” I asked, confused and concerned. “Is
it yours?”
“Some… of it… is,” Savannah managed to say in between her sobs.
Billy and I stared at each other for a second, and then
looked back at her as he said, “Maybe we should go inside before we have a look
at the body,” Billy said. “This isn’t just a body dump, is it? You’ve been
attacked. You need to tell us what happened here.”
“It gets worse,” Savannah added. “There’s blood everywhere!”
I reached over and put my hand on Savannah ’s back, hoping there wasn’t any
blood there. “Let’s have a look,” I said as soothing as I could muster. “Tell
us everything, and start from the beginning. Don’t leave anything out.”
The three of us walked inside. To our horror, she wasn’t
stretching the truth. Bloody handprints were smeared on the wall and droplets
of blood could be seen on the floor. The place looked like a scene from a crime
show on