The room was silent as they waited for Eric to start talking. After he’d agreed to tell them about what he’d been investigating, Eric had stared at the table and laid his palms flat. Maya had seen him upset over her mother’s death, but in some ways, Eric appeared even more torn up about what he needed to tell them. Part of her wanted to start firing off questions. But she held back. Pops and Josh were staying quiet too, although Josh was bouncing his knee. He caught Maya watching him and stopped.
Maya mouthed,Are you okay?
Josh nodded.
What was up with him? Maya was starting to lose patience with all of this. If Eric didn’t speak up soon, she’d say something.
Eric took a deep breath and finally said, “I need to face my demons and pay for my crimes. Abigail technically killed this young man, a good officer and a great person, but I’m just as guilty by not saying anything.”
“Start at the beginning,” Pops said. “What officer? I assume he was in your department?”
“Yes. I was his FTO.”
Maya never knew her father was a field training officer. Part of her figured he was a good mentor, but she also knew he had done things like take bribes. Had he put this officer in danger because of that? But if Abigail was involved then it had to be much worse. Maya had seen some of the evidence her mother had gathered.
Eric rubbed his temples and then stared up at the ceiling. “His name was Drew Levinson and he was a hell of a cop. He was going into the profession for all the right reasons like wanting to help others and keep the community he grew up in safe. He came from a family of law enforcement. He was excited to follow in their footsteps.
“By the time he was out of training, Drew had met Abigail. He was smart and noticed things. He figured out that Abigail was doing dirty things like extortion and running drugs. I think she even did some human trafficking or at least was paid off to make sure certain traffickers were never investigated. Drew didn’t like it. He came to me and talked about it and I . . . I told him to leave it alone. That someday even he’d do something he regretted as a cop. It was part of the job.”
“He didn’t listen, did he?” Maya said.
“No. I wish I could go back in time to that moment. Help him out. I’m not any better than Abigail. I took bribes and wasn’t on the up-and-up either. I think a part of me was worried that if he had Abigail investigated someone would find out what I was doing,” Eric said. “But Drew was still young enough to be idealistic and think he could make a change. And, maybe if I had helped him, he could have.”
“Don’t compare yourself to Abigail,” Maya said.
“Why not? I’ve made poor choices. Am I any different?”
“You haven’t killed anyone.”
“I feel like I did with Drew,” Eric said. His eyes reddened and there were some tears in them. He cleared his throat and composed himself and then continued. “Drew decided to pursue Abigail. I think he really thought he could take her down and she would go to prison, but as you all know, Abigail has people on her payroll. Everywhere. Even judges and prosecutors. In some ways, she’s built an empire in our town. I kept hoping Drew had dropped it, but then on one of his days off, he was out washing his car and was gunned down. There was no saving him. All I can hope is that he didn’t suffer long. I’ve never forgiven myself for his death and I vowed that when the time was right, I would work on adding his murder to Abigail’s rap sheet.”
“She didn’t pull the trigger, though, did she?” Maya said.
“No. We all know how she is. She likes others to do the dirty work for her. I’ve been working on trying to prove this was a murder for hire.”
“This is the case that’s been keeping you from turning yourself in?” Maya asked.
“Yes. I can handle facing time for my crimes, but I feel like I killed Drew myself by not listening to him or helping him.”
Maya took a deep breath. She understood. She had the same guilt about marines who hadn’t come home. The “if I could only go back in time” thoughts. “Even if you’d helped him, it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have died. You might have even been killed too.”
“I know,” Eric said. “But maybe I could live with myself better.”
“Have you found any proof that there was a murder for hire?” Josh spoke up. Maya had noticed that not only was he twitchy, but he wasn’t asking questions like he normally did. At least this was more like him.
“Unfortunately I didn’t find exactly what I wanted, but I do have some leads. I’d like to talk with Agent Kessler, but only Agent Kessler and see if he can help put the final pieces together,” Eric said.
“He should be here soon,” Maya said. “Although I’m sure his first priority will be finding Hope.”
“And I want that to be his first priority, but I think Abigail knew I was looking into this.”
“How?” Josh asked.
Maya saw his foot start tapping again. She shook her head and focused on Eric. She had to prioritize finding her niece and making sure Abigail hadn’t escaped. Then, she’d figure out why Josh was nervous. His tension was making her jittery.
“Abigail has people everywhere. I believe though that she has one special person that feeds her information. A partner.”
“Who?” Maya asked.
