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

“He was shot inside Star Cleaners.” Fennel glanced back into the living room, but Carter appeared to be in a daze. “Do you own a gun?”

“A shotgun. I keep it at my parent’s hunting cabin.” He paled, looking like he might be sick. “Do I need a lawyer?”

“No, sir. We just have to figure out what happened. Do you remember any problems arising at work? Did you see or hear anything suspicious? Did Mr. Gardner mention any threats or problems with anyone?”

“No, nothing like that. I just do my job and go home. It’s hi and bye. Nothing more. Mr. Lee doesn’t exactly let us talk much. It’s just about doing the work.” Tolliver dropped into a chair. “I can’t believe this. This is insane. When did it happen?”

“Last night,” I said.

Tolliver appeared lost in thought. “God.”

“Half the party’s passed out in the back bedrooms.” I looked at my partner, surprised he had said so much. We didn’t mention any of this to Catelyn Rivera.

“So I heard.” Fennel turned to find Carter still leaning against the wall. “The groom-to-be wandered out in search of the bathroom, and I asked him about his night. I think we’re done here.”

“I just have one last question, Mr. Tolliver. By chance, did you tell anyone how to disarm Star Cleaners’ security system?”

“No, I wouldn’t do something like that.”

I nodded to him. “Get some sleep. We’re sorry to have bothered you.”

Carter walked us to the door. He stared at me with those bloodshot eyes. He looked like he wanted to say something. Finally, he cleared his throat. “I’m sorry,” he swallowed, “y’know, that I couldn’t be more helpful.”

Five

“Did you find anything in the MDT?” Fennel asked as he drove to the address we pulled off the victim’s license.

“Jonathan Gardner doesn’t have a record. I don’t think he’s ever even had a parking ticket.” I stopped tapping on the mobile data terminal and pulled out my phone. “Let me see if I can find anything else on social media.”

“We’re going to have to make the notification.” Fennel chewed on his bottom lip. Every cop hated this part of the job. Most were lucky enough to avoid having to do it. But we weren’t so lucky. “I didn’t see a ring on his finger. Do you think he’s married?”

“No.”

My partner let out a sigh. “Okay. What about kids?”

“Just give me a second.”

“I hope he doesn’t have kids.”

“Me too.”

“According to his license, he’s twenty-eight. He could have kids. Then again, I’m a little older than he is and I don’t have any kids. So I guess that doesn’t mean anything.”

“Are you sure about that, Brown Eyes? It’s not like you’d necessarily know if you did.”

“I don’t.”

“Are you sure?” I teased.

“Stop that, Liv. I would know. I’m not that kind of guy.”

“Does Ellie have kids? Oh hey, wasn’t she out on maternity leave these last few months?”

“You’re not funny.” Fennel intentionally hit a pothole just to rattle me.

“I’m hilarious. You just don’t appreciate my wit.” I tapped on my phone, scrolling through the photos on Gardner’s social media page. It appeared he had lots of friends but no steady girlfriend, at least not anymore. “I don’t think Gardner has kids. No wife. No girlfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” Fennel asked.

“According to this, he’s into women.”

“Are you looking at his dating profile?” Fennel’s lip quirked in the corner. “You know, you could try one of those dating sites.”

“To search for our victim?”

“No, to search for someone to share your wit with.”

“Is that what you shared with Ellie?”

“For the record, we never went out. We’re friendly. You know me. I’m a considerate guy, who doesn’t have a problem showing his appreciation for our hard-working support teams, so whenever I need a favor, she makes sure our evidence gets processed ahead of schedule. No harm, no foul.”

“I always knew you were good for something. I should pimp you out more often. But I don’t trust you not to break hearts left and right.”

“Do I look like Jake Voletek to you?”

“You might if you didn’t shave for a week.” Voletek was another homicide detective we worked with. He hit on anything that moved, including me until I set him straight, but despite that, my gut said he was a good cop, dedicated and with a lot to prove, kind of like me. Thankfully, my partner rarely hit on anyone, but that didn’t stop most of the women from shamelessly flirting with him. And Fennel and I had been partners long enough for me to know he wasn’t exactly a choir boy either. He was just more subtle about it.

“Regardless, you can’t pimp me out, Liv. We don’t work vice.”

“But we could. You might like it better than homicide.” I tried to hide the concern from my eyes. Fennel never wanted to work homicide, but he transferred because it’s what I wanted. He could have stayed in intelligence, but he wouldn’t leave me. He made it clear we were in this together, even if it meant starting some days with his head in a barf bag.

He pulled into a space and cut the engine. “Let me see that.” He took the phone from my hand and scanned Jonathan Gardner’s page. But there was nothing damning on it. No one had posted any threats. “What are we doing?” He glanced around, but he didn’t spot any patrol cars. “The sergeant said he called for a search warrant. But it doesn’t look like the paper’s here yet.”

“We could knock.”

Fennel scrolled through Gardner’s details one more time and handed back my phone. “Yeah, all right. For all we know, the guy could have a secret harem upstairs. Someone could be inside who knows why Gardner was killed.”

“We just left a