Chapter Fourteen
Everett
The look of disappointment on her face nearly killed me. The last thing I wanted to do was leave her. And it had nothing to do with where the moment seemed to be heading. Even if we’d have still just been watching a ridiculous movie, I would have wanted to stay. Being with her was the most at ease I’d ever felt with anyone. Something about being near her just felt right.
"I'll call you as soon as all of this is done," I promised as I got up and got my keys and phone.
"Can you tell me what happened?" she asked.
I sighed before answering.
"Someone's been shot."
Her eyes widened with shock. "What?! First you, and thankfully it wasn't serious, but now someone else has been shot?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Except this time, it was a kid. One of our students."
"Oh my god, that's horrible... Is the kid okay?"
"He's in serious condition, but he's stable, and he’s apparently going to need surgery."
"How did it happen? Who's the kid who got shot? Who shot him?"
I shook my head. "I don't know the answers to any of that yet. And that's why I need to go there right away."
"I understand. Look, if you need me to go back to the hospital and check in on Jane, I'd be happy to."
"Would you? That would make me feel better."
"Absolutely," she stated.
I bent down and gave her a kiss, and then we stared into each other's eyes for a good few moments, intense attraction gushing through me. This woman was really putting a spell on me... and it wasn't an entirely bad thing. It had been so long since I'd last felt this way about anyone, so long...
Still, I couldn't linger. There was a serious situation that needed attending to, and I had to get there right away – and it was great to see that Vivienne not only understood but that she was supportive as well.
"Thank you so much, Vivienne... for everything. I'll see you soon."
"Make sure you don't forget your phone this time," she said with a wink.
I chuckled, relieved to have some levity in what was sure to be a grave situation.
"Believe me; I won't! See you later."
"Be careful, handsome," she said with a flirty smile, and as soon as I was out the door, I was missing her already. I thought briefly of messaging her to say that but then figured that it might come off as coming on too strong, too soon, so I left it.
My mind shifted into a different state; my focus became razor sharp, and my sense of purpose was powerfully driven. While I had been pissed off that the scumbag Mr. Mask had shot me, now that he, or one of his accomplices, had shot a kid at my school, I was beyond pissed. Now it was personal.
I drove fast and hard and got to the school in record time. The ambulance with the kid was just leaving, but some police cars with their lights flashing were parked out front, as was Ben's car. He was there chatting with a police officer. I parked my truck, jumped out, and ran over to Ben and the cop.
"Ben, I got here as quickly as I could," I said as soon as I reached him.
"I called you as soon as I was made aware of what happened. I only just got here myself. Oh, by the way, this is Captain Walter Smith. He's in charge of the whole Rocket investigation. Walter, this is Everett James, our new principal."
"Nice to meet you," I said as I shook Captain Smith’s hand.
"Likewise," Smith replied.
"So, what can you guys tell me? Firstly, who was it that got shot?" I asked.
Ben sighed. "His name is Kendrick Green. Good kid, real good kid. Fantastic basketball player; the kid's got some serious talent. He's a 10th-grader."
I nodded, digesting this information. "And he was mixed up with Rocket?"
"No, not at all, actually. He was totally clean. Straight and narrow, this kid is a real star, Everett, a real star."
"So how did he end up getting shot today if he's not involved in this Rocket business?" I questioned.
"He and some buddies were here on the school grounds shooting hoops. They come most weekends; like I said, he's got some serious talent on the basketball court. Anyway, he took a break, went to the bathrooms to take a leak or whatever, and that's when he stumbled across a dealer selling to some kids. Thinking he could be a hero, he got his phone out and started filming. The dealer saw him and demanded that he hand the phone over. Kendrick refused. There was a scuffle, and the dealer got a gun out and shot him."
"Damn. Damn it! These scumbags!" I barked.
"I know. I know," Ben agreed.
"Do we at least have the phone with the evidence on it?"
Ben sighed and shook his head. "No. The dealer got away with it. We've got nothing."
"What about the kids who were buying the drugs? Surely, they saw something? They must know who this dealer is, where to find him. Was it Mr. Mask himself, or just one of his lackeys?"
"The buyers fled the scene. Kendrick says he recognized them. They are students at our school, but older than him. He says he knows everyone in his grade. But he doesn't know their names, so we're going to have to get some yearbooks to him in the hospital so he can look through the photos and ID the kids who were involved. As for the dealer, it didn't sound like Mr. Mask. From the description, it could well be an accomplice of his."
I could sense that Ben didn't want to go too in-depth with this, at least not with this cop present. Maybe he thought we would get into trouble because of our little "independent" investigation we were conducting on the side, or maybe he just didn't trust this cop. Either way, I decided not to push the issue for the moment. Instead, I decided to see what I could find out about this cop.
"So, Captain Smith," I said to him. "What are your thoughts on this? You got any leads?"
He frowned. "Right now, until we have an official statement from the witness and positive ID on the kids who were buying the drug, there isn't much I can do."
"Official statement? But what about everything Ben just said?" I asked.
"Kendrick said that stuff to me," interjected Ben.
"So? Why does that matter?" I glanced back at Ben, noting the expression on his face before returning my attention to the cop before me.
"We need to get an official statement on paper from your witness. Until then, this is all hearsay, and we can't act on hearsay," Smith said.
I stared at him coolly for a few minutes, quietly assessing him.
"Alright, Captain Smith," I said coldly. "Well, don't worry, you'll have our full cooperation with everything in this investigation."
"Good," he replied. I detected a hint of latent aggression in his tone. "Because we expect nothing less from you."
"Don't worry, Smith. We want to catch these guys just as badly as you do," I assured him.
"Excellent. Well then, gentlemen, I'll be on my way. If you have any leads, and when your witness is ready to make an official statement, get hold of me." He handed us each a business card.
"We will," I said. "We will. Goodbye Captain Smith."
"See you later, gentlemen."
He stuck his hands in his pockets and strolled casually off. When he was out of earshot, I turned to speak to Ben.
"Something doesn't seem quite right with that cop," I remarked.
"You're telling me, Ev. He's done nothing useful for the whole six or seven months he's been on this case."
I raised an eyebrow. "That's how long he's been working this case, and nothing has come of it?"
Ben shook his head. "Nothing at all."
"That seems a little too suspicious to me. We've got these dealers selling to kids in the open, operating brazenly in this area, selling a life-threateningly dangerous drug – and this guy isn't doing anything about it?"
"He's not doing much at all. That's why we needed to get someone like you in on this," Ben reminded me.
I nodded. "I understand. Yeah, I get it now... Look, I'm not making an official accusation or anything, but do you think he might be working with the dealers? Taking bribes to look the other way? Getting kickbacks from their profits in exchange for protection."
Ben scratched his chin. "It's a definite possibility. I don't know how else to explain his inaction or his lack of interest."
"Well then, we better not let him know that we're investigating this on our own," I added.
"No... but word is gonna get out that we are. Maybe he already knows."
"Maybe he does. Regardless, we have to keep our involvement under wraps as much as we can, at least until we've got something the cops can charge these guys with. You know, hard evidence, stuff that can't 'get lost' in a police station."
"I agree,” Ben stated. “But Mr. Mask, if he is working with Captain Smith, he's gonna tell him about you and me. He knows we're on his tail, and he's gonna want all the protection he can get."
I wondered if Ben had any idea what had happened last night.
"Ben, did Panetti message you last night?"
He looked surprised. "No, I didn't hear anything from him. Why? What happened?"
I let out a long, slow sigh.
"There was some, uh, drama last night."
"Drama? How so? What happened?" Ben asked.
"Panetti messaged me about a deal that was about to go down. Said I had a good chance of catching Mr. Mask. I just assumed that he’d told you as well – I guess he hadn't, though. And I was an idiot – I didn't bring my phone with me. I got so caught up in things that I raced off to the place and left my phone behind."
"Where was this?" Ben questioned.
"The same apartment building we scoped out."
"Ah, alright. And what happened there?"
"I uh, I got shot…by Mr. Mask," I informed him.
Ben's jaw dropped with surprise. "You what? You got shot?!"
I nodded. "I was lucky. It’s just a flesh wound. I have a friend who is a, well, a vet."
"You mean someone who works on dogs and cats? That kinda vet?" he posed.
"That kinda vet, yeah. He stitched up the wound."
"Everett, you didn't go to a hospital?! Are you crazy?! You let a freakin' vet see to something as serious as a freakin' gunshot wound?!"
"Relax, Ben. Like I said, it wasn't a serious wound. Look at me; I'm fine. Nothing to worry about."
"Nothing to worry about?! Listen to you man! Now we’re getting shot at? I’d say that's plenty to worry about! I want to stop these guys, don't get me wrong, but I don't want to get killed doing it. I don't know, Everett, I don't know. Maybe we should rethink this. We aren't cops, and we aren’t trained soldiers. And this seems to be turning into a war zone. Maybe, maybe we're getting in over our heads here."
"Ben, if we don't stop these guys, who will? Look at Captain Smith! He's not going to do a damn thing about this. Hell, it's obvious he's likely in on the whole thing! He doesn't want to catch these guys. Look, I understand you might be scared. I mean, sure, any reasonable person would be. And... and I understand if you want to bow out now. There's no shame in that. You're right; you're not a soldier, you're not a cop. And yes, we're in way deeper now than we thought we would be. But me? I'm not giving up. I'm not going to allow this Mr. Mask scumbag and his henchmen to walk all over us, to ruin the lives of the kids at JFK High. If Captain Smith isn't going to do anything about it, well, someone has to. And that someone is gonna be me. I won't sit back and watch these guys destroy so many young lives. I don't care what the risk is to myself; I won't sit back and let it happen."
Ben nodded, his jaw tightening with determination and new courage flaring up in his eyes.
"And that's why we got you here," he said with quiet determination. "That's why we got you here. You're right. We're the only ones who can do this. And we have to do it. We have to save these kids and stop these bastards. I'm sorry for being a coward. I'm with you all the way, Ev…all the way."
I put my arm around his shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze.
"You're no coward, Ben. Not at all. You're braver than many men who carry guns every day. I guarantee you that."
"Thanks, I appreciate you saying that. I just want to do what's right, you know?"
"I know, I know. We're both on the same page," I told him.
"Well, what did you find out last night then – besides how it feels to get shot?"
I chuckled dryly. "Yeah, that wasn’t my favorite part of the evening. The dealer in the building, I saw him hand over a big briefcase filled with a ton of cash to Mr. Mask who, in turn, handed him a bag full of drugs. I wanted to kick myself; if I had caught that on camera, it would have been the hard evidence we need. Unfortunately, I didn't – and that's when I got shot."
"Well, you must have at least spooked them. Now they know we're aware of where they're dealing from."
"I figured that much. They're going to move their operation elsewhere for sure."
He nodded, frowning. "Yeah, one step forward, two or three steps back."
"Remember, we still have Panetti informing for us, though. He'll be able to help us find out where these guys have gone."
"And now we have more leads if Kendrick can help us ID the kids who were buying here at the school earlier," Ben added.
"Yeah. We'd better get to the hospital to see how he's doing."
"We'd better do that, yeah. Maybe we'll be able to get there before he goes into surgery. I'll get the yearbooks, you drive."
"Sounds like a plan."