“Logan Bennett is your problem. The rest of the team, I can handle.”
My gut clenches as dread unfolds in me. I’ll fucking kill him before time if he goes after Logan. And I’ll make an example out of anyone he sends.
“You sure you can get to Kyle without anyone figuring it out?” Jake asks me, his eyes trained on the screen too.
I don’t answer, because I’m busy listening to what’s being said.
“If he takes me down, you’re coming with me. Remember that, Johnson,” the sheriff snarls as he shuts the door to his office, giving them privacy.
Johnson narrows his eyes. “I never told you to go after those kids. This psychopath is targeting you because of them. He’s not targeting you because of Evans. That sick fuck of a son you have needed a leash, and instead, you turned him loose, told him to do his worst. That team is here because you gave that monster free reign.”
The sheriff’s face twists in anguish, and Jake mutes all the other screens, focusing on this one with me. We knew the sheriff wasn’t the original killer, but we never expected to see any remorse, because we profiled him as a sociopath.
“He’s not sick. He was hurting. He saw his sister all spread out like that, brutally raped and murdered.”
Johnson points a finger in his face. “I went along with Evans, because that cunt lawyer from New York got wind of his case and was already well on the road to proving the case was beyond biased. The trial was never supposed to be here, and too many jury members were affiliated with you. He would have gotten free, and my career would have been ended for all the strings I pulled. You have no idea what I had to do just to get on this case so I could clean up this mess. I gave you the real profile. Find the fucker who is killing your people before Bennett finds out what we buried.”
I look to Jake, and he glares at the screen as I speak. “They’re on edge.”
“Right where we wanted them,” Jake says quietly.
The Wheels on the Bus starts playing on the speakers, and one woman trips, falling to the ground as my mother’s voice continues to echo through the town. The voices of so many children accompany her voice, making it a hair creepier. The music dies suddenly, and Jake’s lips twitch as he studies something on his laptop.
“They unplugged it from the server.”
“Just like we knew they would,” I agree.
“When they plug them back in, it’ll alert me. I’ll start it over.”
“Until they have no choice but to leave them unplugged, and no way of telling the town what’s going on when the haunted house opens.”
He nods slowly. “You ready for that?”
A dark grin etches the corners of my lips. “Very much.”
Someone entering the sheriff’s office has my attention. Chad Briggs steps in, wearing his deputy’s uniform, and seals the door behind him. His eyes flick to Johnson, then he addresses the sheriff.
“Some information has come to light.”
“Then spill it,” Sheriff Cannon growls.
His eyes flick to Johnson again. “Some sensitive information.”
He waves dismissively toward Johnson. “He’s not the one from that group to worry about. What information?”
I can tell Briggs is hesitant, but he finally answers. “SSA Bennett and another agent were spotted leaving Diana Barnes’s home. They were there a while, Sheriff, and I just got word that her son is untouchable right now. Staying with some lawyer in New York. I think she told them everything.”
Sheriff Cannon curses, running a hand through his hair as he tosses his hat across the room.
“Calm down,” Johnson says, regaining his own composure. “That’s just the ramblings of an old woman. He’d need proof. There is none. And most of the suspects involved are dead already, so it’s not like they can confirm or deny. We need to focus more on making sure there’s nothing left that could show what we did to Evans.”
“There’s nothing,” Sheriff Cannon says, but my lips twitch.
“There’s plenty,” Jake says, grinning broadly. “You’re just too stupid to know it, Sheriff.”
And we have so much to share. When the time comes.
“Diana Barnes could become a problem if she gets someone to corroborate the story,” I hear the Sheriff telling Johnson, then his gaze shifts to Chad Briggs. “See to it that isn’t the case.”