Dead Shot (A Cal Murphy Thriller Book 1)

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Crime scene?" Cal and Kelly both asked in unison, suddenly confused again about the real nature of what happened in Statenville over the past 24 hours.

"You heard me. Now get back in your car and get on out of here," Dawkins growled.

Kelly's gusto was rubbing off on Cal. He stood his ground.

"Dawkins, this morning Jones told us that all three deaths in the past 24 hours were drug overdoses. Now, that's not exactly a crime scene."

Dawkins backpedaled.

"Well, we think it's a drug overdose but we're still collecting evidence."

"So, what have you found that makes you think this could be something else?"

"Cal, Kelly, I think it's best that you go now. You don't want to make a scene in front of this grieving family, do you?"

Cal and Kelly shot knowing glances at one another. This was not a hill to die on. Not today. Not with Mrs. Reid grieving the loss of her son. Not with Dawkins channeling his inner Steven Segal. Not with two other "crime scenes" that had no officers present.

The pair didn't say a word as they turned and headed straight for Kelly's car.

"Who does he think he is?" asked Kelly as she twisted the ignition.

"That Dawkins is such a punk. There's obviously a lot more going on here than he's telling us."

As Kelly's car roared back down the road, she bit her lip and shook her head, muttering hollow threats about Dawkins and his job and what her next column would be about if she had one. Cal slunk in his seat, flummoxed over the Brooks County Sheriff's Department stonewall. He peered in his side mirror as the scene shrunk from sight.

Cal noticed Dawkins immediately began talking into the radio mic attached to his upper sleeve. Who could he be calling? Cal wondered. Are we being watched? His eyes remained fixed on Dawkins.

Dawkins then looked up and glared in the direction of Kelly's car, which was beginning to turn onto the highway. Cal shuddered. Dawkins' haunting stare seemed more than passing interest about where the pair was headed next. Cal's firm belief that the Brooks County Sheriff's Department was just a notch above a living Mayberry - complete with Don Knotts as the sheriff and Gomer Pyle as his chief deputy - was being shaken. Gone was Dawkins' happy-go-lucky disposition. Dawkins' mouth said one thing, but his body language said something else, a something else that made Cal quake with fear.

Kelly made it to the highway and turned right, heading toward the Murray's house.

Cal looked back toward the Reid house again only to see Dawkins still speaking into his radio and keeping his eyes locked on Kelly's car. More than likely, Cal thought Dawkins was telling someone where they were headed and to watch out for them.

Finally, Cal broke the silence. "What have we got ourselves into, Kelly?"

"I don't know, but this smells like some sort of cover up." She jammed her foot on the gas pedal and Dawkins vanished from sight.