Blackwater Falls: A Thriller by Khan Ausma Zehanat

Author:Khan, Ausma Zehanat [Khan, Ausma Zehanat]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, thriller, Crime, Adult, Contemporary, Suspense
ISBN: 9798885788106
Amazon: B0BQ1WBLV7
Goodreads: 141006371
Publisher: Thorndike Press Large Print
Published: 2022-11-01T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

The same evening that Inaya spoke to Rupi, Seif arranged to speak with Campbell Kerr. Grant had warned him to go easy.

“Kid’s been through the wringer,” he’d said. “Parents don’t like it, and they’ve got plenty of say in this town.”

Seif took that to mean they were major contributors to Grant’s reelection campaign. He’d flagged that for Brandt, his boss at the FBI. But so far, everything he’d turned up on Grant suggested his campaign was clean. Seif knew there was dirty money, he just hadn’t proven it yet. That didn’t mean it wasn’t there—he needed to get more creative, because something was brewing between the major players in this town, a rot beneath the slickness.

He pulled up to football practice, the glare of the floodlights illuminating the best field money could buy. The practice was wrapping up, the coach giving a few more instructions to the players before the team filed out to their locker room.

He had a word with the stocky, gray-haired coach, flashed his badge, and was directed to Campbell Kerr. He was the team’s quarterback, and had the finely muscled body to go with it. He was handsome in the way of a young man yet to be formed, with ample Southwestern courtesy, not hard-edged like Seif had expected. Kerr didn’t want to be alone with him, so the coach stayed on the field while the two of them took a seat on the bleachers facing the faded hills.

“Great place to play,” Seif said as an opening. “I hear you’re the local hero.”

“My stats are good,” Kerr said modestly, “but it’s a team effort all the way.”

“Have you been scouted?”

“The future’s looking golden.” The bitter note in Kerr’s voice surprised him.

“You don’t sound happy about it.”

Kerr’s blue eyes turned to him, a surprisingly candid look. “My classmate was just murdered. It takes the glow off any celebration.”

He got off the bench, catching a ball that the coach tossed his way. He began doing tricks with it—spirals at the tip of his fingers, throwing it up and catching it between his legs—a range of actions that showed off his fitness and fluidity of motion.

Despite himself, Seif was impressed.

He raised an arm, and the football solidly met the flesh of his palm. He threw it back at Kerr in a smoothly delivered spiral. Kerr ran back a few steps, leapt up gracefully, and caught it at the tips of his fingers. Coming to his feet, Seif continued to question him through their play.

“I wasn’t expecting you to be that concerned about Razan. I’ve seen the video of you tearing off her headscarf. I’ve seen her video too.”

Kerr missed his catch, the football bouncing up to his knee. He held it between his hands, the pressure so intense that his knuckles and fingertips were white.

Seif waited, poised on the balls of his feet, expecting a hard throw. Kerr tossed the ball absently, all the way across the field through the posts. His talent, at least, was genuine.

“What I did was stupid and cruel, and now I can’t take it back.

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