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THE SIRENS STOPPED long ago, but Emerson's ears were still ringing. She was stood in the half-completed building, staring at the empty floorboards where Gavin's body once laid. Kie had insisted they call the cops because she was sure the man was dead, but by the time Shoupe arrived and they took him to the scene of the crime nothing was there. Not even his blood, thanks to the torrential downpour that occurred earlier.
Her body trembled slightly from the cold and her wet clothes clung uncomfortably to her body, but she didn't really feel it. She was numb to it all, still in disbelief they had a finally just witnessed what could very well be a murder. Why did their "genius plans" always end up with someone dying?
"Look, it was right here, and this is where that maniac claimed his next victim," Kie was saying, pointing at the floor as Shoupe stared at her suspiciously.
"Right, and how long ago did you say it happened?" Shoupe queried. He held his pen above his notepad as his eyes danced between the four teenagers.
"Like forty five minutes ago, Shoupe," JJ spoke up. He stood back to his full height after being crouched down, searching for any remaining evidence of Gavin's blood or signs of struggle. Unfortunately, the place was as pristine as it was before Ward and Gavin arrived.
"So, Ward Cameron just popped one off and shot him," Shoupe stated slowly. "Execution style. And then cleaned it all up in forty five minutes?"
"It wouldn't even take him that long," Emerson deadpanned. She gazed up at Shoupe irritatedly. "All he had to do was get rid of the body. The rain got rid of the rest."
"We filmed the entire thing," Kie offered. Emerson groaned and closed her eyes, wishing that Kie would just stop talking.
"You filmed it," Shoupe repeated in disbelief.
"Yes, but we can't show it to you because I stepped on JJ's hand, and then he kicked Pope and then Pope dropped the camera and it broke," Kie rambled.
"It was a telephoto and we needed to get a long distance image," Pope added with a curt nod. "And I fell and it broke so the video is basically unusable, but we were there!"
"So the dog ate your homework," Shoupe sighed.
"No," Kie groaned. "Shoupe, I know it sounds —"
"Look, I don't know what you expect me to do with this," Shoupe interrupted loudly. "You dragged me out here in the middle of the night for a whole lot of nothing except for some crazy stories about how Ward Cameron is out on a random killing spree."
"It's not a random killing spree!" Pope cried. "Gavin was his pilot! He was paying him bush money because he was on the tarmac that day."
"Gavin was blackmailing Ward because he had the gun that Rafe used to kill Peterkin!" Kie added.
Emotions were running high once more and Emerson knew she should be as angry as her friends were. Maybe deep down she was, but she just didn't have the energy to express it anymore. Her life flipped upside down because of this stupid treasure hunt and months later, she was still trying to pick up the pieces. She just couldn't bring herself to fight the police anymore. She was tired.
