Eat Crow (Cheap Thrills 6)

It was unnecessary to point it out, seeing as how he was a detective, but we needed to have all of the facts out on the table at all times.

“You’re right,” he conceded, “but the doctor who operated on her said the angle that the bullet entered her head was nigh on impossible f

or her to shoot herself at that distance.”

Both Alex and I straightened at the smirk on Kap’s face.

“Go on.”

Holding up a diagram with a head on it, he pointed at a red dot near the top of the skull. “That’s where the bullet entered.”

Then, pointing at one below that of a side visual of the head, he added, “And that’s where the bullet stopped. If you look at the wound, the gunpowder didn’t burn the skin like it would if she’d held it herself. In fact, there isn’t that much evidence of it. Interestingly enough, we’ve also had a preliminary autopsy report back on Jordy Watts.”

Using Diego’s real name threw me for a second because I’d been so focused on the diagram in front of me. Thankfully Alex was more on the ball than I was.

“Let me guess, one of the bullets entered the body after he died,” he drawled.

“Exactly. So, that accounts for the GSR on her hand. We’ve requested that the hospital measure her arms under the watch of the officer on her door to make sure it’s done properly, and then we’ll be able to confirm that attempted suicide doesn’t factor in.”

The door opened, and in walked the sheriff, Judd Bailey.

“Bell, Richards,” he greeted dryly.

The man was as serious as they came and roughly the same age as DB was. There were actually a lot of similarities between the two men, including the fact that they’d had to maneuver under the watchful eye of a corrupt mayor, ensuring the safety of the residents of their towns.

Some might ask how they’d done it under those conditions, but I knew from DB that he’d been biding his time and collecting evidence and proof for when he could bring it all forward. I’d be lying if I said that we hadn’t all helped him out with the endeavor, and I had zero doubts that Bailey’s team did the same. A tight case is the best case.

“Thanks for having us, Judd,” I greeted, standing to shake his hand.

Once Alex had done the same, and we were all seated, Judd jumped right in without preamble. “So, we have a problem. Our mayor, Mick Johansen, worked with King Kirkwood to have Jordy Watts released after we caught him dealing in town. Two people are in hospital in comas because of the drugs he sold them, but there appears to have been a glitch—“ he ground his teeth and glanced at Kapono who looked pissed “—in our body cams during the arrest, and Kirkwood claims that Jordy said his Miranda rights weren’t read to him.”

“You’ve got someone on the take,” Alex guessed.

“We’re figuring out what happened,” he said diplomatically. “Anyway, we have confirmation that Watts was released and collected by King after the Mayor called in a complaint. Watts was then passed over to Lord Kirkwood,” he rolled his eyes at the name. “It’s unusual that Johansen does anything for the Kirkwoods, though, so it’s possible the person on the take is working with the family or was paid off by them to fuck up the footage submitted. That’s the last we saw of him until the bodies were discovered this morning and called in.”

“There was no sighting of Watts in Piersville after that, either. How do you go from being a hinky bastard with a corrupt dad to a murderer?” Alex asked, taking notes.

Judd ground his teeth together, then glanced at Kapono. “Well, when you’re the one mixing the drugs, and your new dealer gets caught and is a weak link, you do what you can to stop the hammer coming down?”

Smiling at what he was about to impart, Kap spun his pen on the top of the table. “It goes like this: Your mayor, Dirk Kirkwood, is the head honcho. King’s the one who makes sure the product gets mixed up and is ready to go, while Lord manages the operation and distribution. Our theory is that our mayor is getting paid handsomely to look the other way while they sell in the town, and that he also handles where and gives them tips on the best and most lucrative areas for sales, but we don’t have enough confirmation of that yet."

"Jesus," I growled, thrusting my hand through my hair. How did my day start so great and move into this shit? “How long has this been going on?”

Judd focused his seriousness on me. “It was widely known Kirkwood was up to something, but no one thought he was doing this.”

No shit.

“We need evidence,” Alex muttered, staring blankly at the table. “And it needs to be solid. A mayor stepping down because he’s caught doing something isn’t rare. One being arrested because he and his family are involved in the manufacturing and distribution of drugs, murder, and attempted murder? That is, and it’s not an easy job with a relatively small department.”

“Well,” Judd drawled, leaning forward with his elbows on the table as he looked between the two of us. “A helpful resident of your town put us in touch with Ned Dahl, who’s offered his assistance. He’s busy at the moment with other things that need his attention, but he’s offered us some extra brains to get what we need. He’s going to distract the mayors with their excitement over an impending visit to commend them on how they’ve dealt with the death of a young man and attempted suicide of a young girl.”

“The Governor?” I asked, shocked and confused. “Why would he involve himself in something like this?”

“Seems he’s recently found himself related to the helpful resident.” Judd’s eyes were twinkling.

“Just to make sure we’re talking about the same Dahl—the Austin Dahl? The Austin Governor guy? The Governor of Texas who said he was bringing Austin with him when he was elected?” I clarified.

Ned Dahl was a Texas icon. When he became governor, he immediately embarked on a road that got him overwhelming support from a vast majority of the state. It wasn’t that he gave false promises and crap like that, either. Ned was honest, hardworking, had zero intolerances, and had made shit happen for all of us.