High Risk by G.K. Parks (books for 10th graders TXT) 📕

“If they realize you’re alive, they might make another attempt. That’s what your partner’s worried about.”

“Have they killed anyone else?” I asked.

“Not yet. We’ve been vigilant. No one goes anywhere alone. Two units to every call. It’s a miracle they didn’t kill the truck driver today.”

“What did he have to say about the attack?”

“A man with a Halloween mask jumped him when he went to make the delivery. He got out of the truck, opened the back, heard a noise, turned, and got clubbed. If they hit him any harder, we would have been scooping his brains off the asphalt.”

I cringed, causing Jake to regret his words.

“But they didn’t,” he assured me.

Brad hung up the phone and returned to the table. “Grayson said he’ll make the request, but he’s certain the higher brass will approve.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but one look from Brad silenced me. I’d give him this one because now I understood why he was so concerned. But I was a cop. I could handle myself. And if those men came back, they’d regret it.

“I think that’s enough for tonight,” Jake said. “You’ve given me some great starting points. I’m going to see if I can find any Diegos who live within walking distance of 24/7 Spirits. Maybe we’ll get lucky. I’ll have Lisco check to see if there’s anything the police have access to that no one else does. It could lead us somewhere. In the meantime, we’re keeping an eye out for your badge in case it turns up at another crime scene or in a pawn shop. If these bastards try to use it somewhere, we’ll hear about it. But in the meantime, I need you to get some rest. I’ll drop by tomorrow after work and we’ll hammer out more of these details. Who knows what we might have learned by then?”

“Thanks, Jake,” I said.

Brad got up to walk him out. They stood just outside my apartment for ten minutes, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. More than likely, it had to do with me and aspects of the case they didn’t want me to know about. If I hadn’t been so tired, I would have gone into the hallway and given them a piece of my mind. Instead, I took my water, changed back into my pajamas, got into bed, and called Emma.

“Do you want me to come back?” Emma asked.

“No,” I said, “Brad’s staying the night. And I only have one couch. I don’t want either of you to have to sleep on the floor.”

“I could always bunk with you,” Emma offered. “You remember, like summer camp. Girls in one cabin, boys in the other.”

“You snore.”

“Fine, but I’ll be over first thing in the morning. Make sure the cops outside add me to the list. I don’t want to have to run through another twenty questions and get cavity searched just to see you.”

“They didn’t really do that.”

“No, but I think they wanted to. Good night, Liv. And just remember, if you don’t feel well or something happens, go straight to the hospital and call me on the way, okay?”

“Fine.”

“I’m serious.” Emma let out a sigh. “I don’t like not being there. You should be staying at your parents’ house. There are plenty of extra rooms. I’m here. Gunnie’s here. Bradley could sleep in the guest room or on the couch or whatever.”

“Not tonight,” I said.

“Tomorrow.”

“Maybe.” I wished her a good night and hung up.

Thirty-one

Something wet pressed against the side of my hand. It wasn’t exactly cold or warm, just wet. Not blood, I thought, though that had been the only thing on my mind since I went to bed. That and the crime scene photos. I hated when Brad was right. He didn’t want me to see them. One of these days maybe I’d learn to listen to my partner.

The wet thing slid beneath my hand and pressed up against my palm, followed by a low whine. Surely, I didn’t make that noise.

Forcing my eyelids open, I watched Gunnie nudge my hand with his wet nose, intent on slipping his head beneath my palm so I would pet him.

“What are you doing here?”

He gave up on his quest and stood on his hind legs, with his front paws on the edge of the bed, and barked once.

“Emma,” I mumbled, interpreting his bark. After all, if he could talk, that’s what he would have said. He nudged me again. “Fine, I’ll get up.”

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and waited for the room to stop spinning before I attempted to stand. It was freezing, so I grabbed a zippered sweatshirt from the drawer, got cleaned up, and went into the kitchen. Everything hurt, especially my neck and shoulder which burned nonstop.

Brad glanced in my direction as I stumbled toward the table. “You didn’t sleep well.” He had bags beneath the bags.

“Neither did you.”

“I was busy.”

“Doing what?” I peered into the living room. “Where’d you get the giant whiteboard?”

“The office supply store has two hour delivery.”

“In the middle of the night?”

“No, but they opened at six. And since I ordered around two, I guess I was their first stop.”

“And the files?” I asked.

“Copies. Jake dropped them off on his way to work, but if anyone asks, we didn’t get them from him.”

I pantomimed zipping my lip and tossing away the key. Over the course of the night, Brad had recreated our murder board with all the updated intel from each of the five crime scenes. He flipped the board around to show me the profiles he’d been working on for our three suspects.

“I’m gonna need coffee first,” I said.

“Emma said you better eat breakfast and don’t forget to take your