AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mitch raised an eyebrow. “A delivery of what?” he asked, taking a closer look at the young man. He was sweating excessively, yet the night was cool, and his hands had a tremor that Mitch didn’t think was nerves alone.
He could see the struggle in the man’s eyes. He seemed to look like he might run, and Mitch braced himself. “Drugs, all right? Drugs... meth,” he eventually said, sounding pained. It was immediately obvious he was in withdrawal. “But I swear I didn’t touch that girl!”
Mitch watched him carefully, but he seemed to be telling the truth. He would get arrested for meth if some was found on him, but possession or even dealing were far lesser charges than attempted murder.
“Why did you come back tonight?” Mitch asked.
Thomas shook his head. “Because I saw two police officers before you stopped me that night. I panicked and ditched the drugs. But I need them, so I thought I’d lie low for a few days and then come back and get them.”
“This vehicle isn’t registered to you, is it?” Mitch asked.
Thomas closed his eyes again like he knew more bad news was coming.
“No, it’s my friend’s car. He gave it to me in exchange for drugs. It’s still registered in his name because he can’t risk his father finding out.”
“And what is your friend’s name?” Mitch asked.
Thomas looked at him, a war raging behind his eyes. “Brandon Ross.”
Mitch nodded, raising an eyebrow. What were the chances that Brandon Ross was connected to Thomas Laube and Lana Seacombe, and Lana Seacombe had ended up dead here?
There were too many coincidences, Mitch decided. Something still wasn’t right with this story, especially given that Graham Laube claims to know nothing of the shed.
“How often do you come to Redwater?” Mitch asked.
He seemed to think that through for a long minute. “To Redwater, every month. To visit my uncle... every three months, maybe, and I tie those visits in with some photography work.”
Mitch realized it was likely Graham had told him about the view from Zoe’s house, and the date on the Facebook upload did show it was taken before she moved there.
“Why do you pick up drugs from Redwater?” Mitch asked, wondering who was supplying him.
“It’s the drop-off point,” Thomas said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. But it wasn’t—not to Mitch.
“Why travel from St. Louis to Redwater to buy drugs? That seems like a lot of effort for something you could get pretty easily in St. Louis.”
Thomas gave a sad smile. “Because this dealer gives them to me at half the price, because there are no territorial issues in Redwater to be concerned about.”
This was news to Mitch, and it made his blood boil. “I need your dealer’s details,” he said.
Thomas looked skittish and once again Mitch thought he might run.
“I’m still considering charging you with fleeing a crime scene... or murder,” Mitch said. “If you give up your dealer, we’ll consider lesser drug charges.”
“I’m not giving you anything else. I want a lawyer,” he said as a bead of sweat ran down his face.
“Arrest him and take him to a holding cell. He can call a lawyer from the station,” Mitch said to the officer holding him. “And search his car.”
An officer stepped forward, cuffed Thomas, and read him his Miranda rights.
“Thoughts?” Jackson asked from beside him.
“It’s plausible, if we can verify it. But it still doesn’t solve the issue of the shed. If Graham didn’t do it, and Thomas didn’t, who did?”
“Well we can collect a DNA sample from him at the station and see if we can match it to anything in the shed,” Jackson said as he fell into step beside Mitch. “That will at least tell us if he was in there. If he was, it’s damning evidence, don’t you think?”
“The problem is that Graham’s DNA is also in there,” Mitch said. “Obviously it’s his shed, so it’s not unreasonable his DNA would be in there.”
“What do you think about Redwater being used as a dealing ground? What he said was true—there are no territorial issues—so it’s the perfect place for deals to go unnoticed,” Jackson said.
