Pike Island by Tony Wirt

Author:Tony Wirt
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
ISBN: 9781662519888
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2024-11-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Krista listened from her perch on the edge of Jake’s threadbare couch as he bounced back and forth in a befuddling and rambling rehash of the four boys’ postgraduation trip to his family cabin.

It could have even been entertaining had it not been so disturbing.

She sat, playing the role of an objective journalist, as Jake blinked through tales of drug labs, masked intruders, and teenagers being held at gunpoint. She often wanted to interject for clarification, but before she could ask anything, Jake had moved on to something even more unthinkable. It was all impossible to believe, and Krista’s head was buzzing with thousands of questions. Unfortunately, she had no confidence in any answers she might get.

Jake stopped his story and eyed Krista from across the room, where she fought to keep a neutral expression.

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

Krista honestly didn’t know what she thought—whether Jake was inventing crazy stories to hurt Harry’s career or if he was truly delusional.

And she didn’t know which was worse.

“Okay, here’s my issue. You can’t get elected without people going through your past with a fine-tooth comb. Representative Leonard’s past has been vetted countless times, and nothing like this came up.” Krista glanced down at the tiny red light on the little digital recorder between them and remembered she was supposed to be a journalist, not Harry’s chief of staff. “But I looked into this before I came out here, and there was a big drug bust on Cedar Lake, but nothing mentioned rogue DNR officials running drug cartels or anything like that. Even if you guys never said anything, the cops certainly would’ve figured out who was running things out there, and it would’ve been all over the news, right?”

He looked at her with the mix of disappointment and condescension that conspiracy theorists have perfected over the years.

“The DNR covered it all up.”

Krista couldn’t keep the doubt from her voice.

“The Department of Natural Resources covered it up?” She thought back to her elementary school days, when an old guy in a khaki shirt would come to their class once a year to teach them about water conservation or how to dissect owl pellets. His name was Roger or Rick or some other name that paired with Ranger, and he always had a bushy mustache that made him look like a walrus.

The DNR was many things, but an organization capable of operating and covering up a drug ring was not one of them.

Jake’s eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward. Krista could smell the beer on his breath.

“This shit happens all the time. These fucking cops, politicians, guys like Andy . . . fucking evil. They don’t ever want anyone to know what they’re really up to, so they cover it all up. Kennedy, 9/11, that thing with the pizza shop . . .” He jabbed a shaky finger at her. “You’re gonna tell me the kind of people who do that shit can’t cover up a little drug lab in Minnesota? Don’t be naive.

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