Not the Killing Kind by Maria Kelson

Author:Maria Kelson [Kelson, Maria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thriller
ISBN: 9781639109678
Amazon: 1639109676
Barnesnoble: 1639109676
Goodreads: 205015078
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Published: 2023-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

28

I LOOKED AT THE officer. “My license is in my wallet.” He looked back. “Which is in my purse, which is in my car, which is … who knows where by now.”

He grunted, motioned me upstairs ahead of him. Back on the first floor, Yori went from person to person in the remaining group of men that still huddled in the corner, holding the mic over them and introducing himself. “Yori Shimada, North Coast Journal. And this is my intern.”

His intern aimed the camera at each face, asking people where they were from. Some answered “Zacatecas,” others said, “Michoacán.” A few of the men just turned their faces away from the camera.

“Don’t be scared,” the intern said in Spanish. “We’re here to document this injustice.”

The two agents who’d been zip-tying wrists stood beside the men, not touching them.

“You are interfering with federal agents,” said Chelton.

Yori turned to him. “Either you let me stay, or I’m going to record this from the street. How will that paint you? Dodging press, pulling people out the back door, throwing them into a van hidden in the alley. Why not show the public you can do your duty with dignity for all involved? And what about her? You going to cart her off too?” The camera swung to me.

“I’m a citizen,” I said right into the camera. “I run Daybreak Academy on Seaside Road. I’ve lived in Humboldt for over twenty years.”

“Are you going to take her in?” Yori asked Chelton again. The camera swung back to him.

“We are going to remove all undocumented peoples.”

“How’s this for documentation?” Yori pulled out his phone with one hand, still holding the boom by the other. “Okay, wait—it takes a second to load.”

He set the boom down, pushed at his phone a few times, stared at it, pushed at it some more. Finally, he raised the boom with one hand, held his phone out in the other.

“There’s her picture. Not a very good shot—I think she’s trying to look authoritative—but you can see it’s her. You should read her bio. Always doing positive things for our community, a champion of the undocumented, on and on. I’m sure she’s here to tell these guys about her school. She has English classes for adults there. Right?”

I nodded on cue.

“That school, look, it’s the logo right there on her shirt. That school is beloved. She’s beloved. I don’t think you want to deal with a public firestorm for bringing her in.”

My hero.

Chelton noticed the file I’d dropped when agents started breaking down the door. He picked it up and opened it.

“I brought that in,” I said. “It’s Braulio Tenorio’s. A personnel file of his. Tenorio helps fund my school, and I … I was checking on one of his employees.”

“Braten Staffing,” Chelton said, reading the letterhead. “You got this from Tenorio?”

All I could do was nod.

“Ma’am, he should’ve told you to stay away today. Go on and get out of here.”

Out on the sidewalk, I was at least five miles from my house, and farther from my school.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.