Red, White, & Death Bloom by Ashleigh Quinn

Author:Ashleigh Quinn [Quinn, Ashleigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AKQ Publishing
Published: 2023-06-22T16:00:00+00:00

As we pull into the station, I see Beckett standing outside the front door smoking. Though I know he does it, it’s been years since I’ve watched him with my own eyes. Something must be wrong.

I let Arianna and Nick walk into the station alone. Arianna mouths the words, ‘everything okay?’ To which I nod. Beckett knows I’m coming to talk to him. He lets out a scoff before I even get to him.

“I’m fine, Emma.”

“I know. But it’s been a while since you’ve been smoking outside of a police station. You know I have to ask.”

He pushes the end of his cigarette into the provided ashtray. “Yeah, I’m okay. I guess I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed. Before Caroline, I barely had any experience with murders. I knew I could handle it in my own town because I knew everyone. There wasn’t this pressure to perform. But here, I feel like I could be letting down an entire town.”

I didn’t realize Beckett has been feeling the same way I am. This was much easier in a town where I knew everyone. Here we have fewer resources, fewer suspects, and next to no help from the community. Even though I have Arianna, it feels lonelier than the last case we solved.

“I’ve been feeling the same way. But we’re here to help these people. To find a murderer and make sure they’re all safe. We can’t hurt them. We can only help. I know it feels like we’re intruding, but we’re the only people who can help them figure this out. No one else is trying to do anything. We need to be the voice of Calvin and any other future victims from this murderer. We could save someone’s life.”

Beckett nods along. He knows I’m right. I know I’m right. But it doesn’t make it any easier to believe in us. “I know we can do this. This town is just stressing me out. And being in charge of a bunch of men who don’t have a clue what they’re doing.”

I laugh with him. “I didn’t think about those guys. They’re not doing well with all this new investigation stuff?”

He shrugs. “Some of ’em are alright at taking direction. Others aren’t so good at using common sense. But I guess they figured something out. Just so happened one of them is a big shoe guy, so he was ready to do all the research about that footprint.”

“Nick told us that someone cracked that case. This could be huge. We really only have a few suspects right now. We could use the help in making that list longer.”

“Usually you want to shorten up that list,” he jokes, starting to walk towards the police station’s front door.

I follow him inside as he holds the door for me. “We started off with no names on the list, and now we have a few. Hard to investigate fairly if you’re only looking at three people.”

The three suspects come to mind. Henry Sanders, the mayor’s assistant, seems to be acting suspiciously at every turn.

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