Got Your Six

Chapter 23

Calvin

My head snaps around to the source of the light. A dark figure steps out of the patrol car, silhouetted by the bright headlights they're currently using to blind me.
"Hey!" A deep voice calls out. "What are you doing? You can't be here!"
Run. My mind is telling me to but my body won't do it. I've been caught, it's over for me. Run. I'll be fired and put in jail. I've been caught red handed, there's no denying it. Run! I can't make out who the officer is behind the lights. I can only hope they haven't been able to recognize me through the thick rain.
"Put your hands up!" Orders the officer with a loud voice that carries through the rain.
RUN! My body finally catches up with my mind, ducking under the yellow tape and making a run towards the trees. My right hand clutches the plastic bag tightly, probably crumpling the envelope.
"Hey! Stop!" The officer shouts. I can hear him moving towards me, his heavy footsteps splashing through the puddles in the gravel.
My feet slide around in the mud beneath me. My clothes are sticking to my body from being so wet. I know how much work it is to run in the uniform that officer is wearing, I just hope its enough to help me outrun him. I slip through the trees, shoving aside every branch that gets in my way and ignoring how heavy my shoes are getting from the mud. It's a miracle I haven't slipped yet. If that happens, I'd end up behind bars within the hour. I can't afford to let that happen.
I make it to my truck and jump inside, immediately shoving the key into the ignition. My headlights kick on and I quickly scan the surrounding area for my pursuer. He's nowhere in sight and I don't plan on sticking around to find out what might have happened to him. I shift my truck into gear and pull out of the parking lot, my tires sliding across the gravel until I make it back to the pavement. My wipers are working at full speed to keep the rain off my windshield.
I continue to check my rearview mirror every five-seconds until I make it back to the highway, expecting to see flashing lights coming up behind me. The red and blue lights never come, I made it out without getting arrested. I don't know if the officer got a good look at my face but I'll just have to make sure to lay low in case he did. I should've planned this better. I should've worn some sort of disguise to hide my face. A mixture of sweat and rain drips down my chin as I sit in my truck, staring at the front entrance of the hotel. I've got no reason to go inside. My adrenaline is pumping too hard for me to go to sleep right now. I shift my eyes to the plastic bag lying in the passenger seat. My mind overflows with the thoughts of what Gavin might have to say this time. I need to know.
After turning on the overhead light, I snatch the bag from the seat beside me and peel it open, retrieving the crumpled up envelope from inside. My fingers waste no time ripping it open, pulling out a singular piece of paper, and unfolding it to read the words Gavin left for me.

"I did what you couldn't - G.M."

The words confirm what I already suspected: that Gavin killed his own right hand man. Why? Just because I interrogated him? Threatened him? Asked him about Gavin's whereabouts? Was he afraid that it might happen again and Manny wouldn't be able to keep quiet? Maybe I was getting close to finding him and he felt scared enough to kill his own man, it wouldn't be the first time. Or maybe he's just toying with me. Either way I have to keep digging.
Gripping the gear shifter, I pull it back into drive and leave the parking lot once again, tossing the letter back into the passenger seat as I drive away. I can't let Gavin be in charge of this cat and mouse game he seems to be playing with me. No, I need to find a way to back him into a corner. Find him and pounce on him when he's least expecting it. In order to do that, I'll need to utilize every resource I have.
I stop my truck in the driveway, softly closing the door as I get out. There's no lights on inside the house. It is almost midnight after all, Kayla should be sleeping by now. Even if she is still worrying about where I went off to, she has to sleep eventually. I slip my house key into the front door and turn it slowly. The door swings open with a single creek and I step inside, leaving my muddy shoes on the porch. I don't want to leave any sign for Kayla to know I was here. It feels like I'm breaking into my own house but I'd rather sneak in instead of waking her and getting in another argument. I close the front door as quietly as I can and step softly past the living room and through the kitchen until I reach the door that leads down to the basement. The old wooden door squeaks with every inch it moves.
Sneaking into my own house is almost as nerve racking as sneaking onto the crime scene. The difference is that now I'm trying not to alert my own wife instead of some officer. I glide down the stairs into the basement and head straight for my desk, reaching into the drawer to pull out Olivia's phone and a charger. I'm able to slip out of the house just as quietly as I came in.
Back at the hotel, the same old man sits behind the desk, clicking away at his computer. He ignores me as I take the elevator back up to my room and let myself in. I wish I could've grabbed a change of clothes while I was at the house but I would've had to go into my bedroom and risk waking up Kayla. Doing what I did was already risky enough.
I shed my top layer of clothing and hang the items in the bathroom to dry and then plug Olivia's phone into the charger. Even though it hasn't been used since last night, the thing is nearly dead. I had made a note of her passcode on my phone after they got away from me. I had a feeling it would come in handy eventually. Now it's time to see what secrets it holds for me.
0-5-2-6, I punch the numbers into the phone and the screen brightens up, revealing a full page of random applications. I didn't pay much attention to all of them last night, I was only looking for what I needed. Now, I'm looking for anything that could help my situation. There's the typical social media apps that are on everyone's phone these days and a few other apps that I don't recognize. At the bottom of the screen, next to the contacts app, is the text messaging icon. The screen opens up to a long list of people's names with brief little snippets of the last message sent or received in each thread. None of the names look like they'd have any importance to me, except for Manny's name, but he's dead now. I decide to look into their messages anyway but still don't find anything useful.
There has to be something in this phone that can help me in some way. I start clicking on every message thread, starting from the top, and read through the last couple messages sent in each one.
Jess M. - The most recent messages are about some random conversation about a new TV show.
Becca W. - I read through messages of the two making plans to meet up this coming weekend. I wonder if that'll still happen now that Olivia lost her phone, and now her boyfriend for that matter. I decide it doesn't matter to me and move onto the next thread.
Marco S. - The last message is from Marco, asking to make plans to meet up. Maybe Olivia wasn't being completely faithful to Manny. I wonder if she's even sad that he's gone.
I skip over Manny's message thread, given the fact that I already looked into it, and move onto the next one.
Liz P. - Her conversation with Olivia is mostly made up of random girl talk. Just as I'm about to stop scrolling and move on to the next message thread, something catches my eye. There's a few messages between the two of them discussing the details of a drug deal. There's a message from Liz, asking if she can get a few grams from Olivia. Then Olivia named her price and their conversation jumped back into their usual girl talk. Was Olivia helping Manny with his drug sales? I keep scrolling further up the screen but nothing else about their conversation gives me any type of answers. Onto the next thread.
Pueblo M. - Their entire message thread is messages from Pueblo repeatedly asking Olivia to meet up with him and 'bring the goods'. My first thought is that Olivia might've been cheating on Manny with several different guys, but then I think about her conversation with Liz again and it suddenly clicks. Olivia wasn't cheating on Manny. She wasn't helping him out with his drug sales either. Olivia is working for Gavin too. It makes so much sense. How could you be dating the right hand man of the towns biggest drug lord and not be involved in it all too? I decide to keep digging and look into the next message thread.
Christina J. - There's a single message asking to meet up for a drug sale. This thread spikes my interest. Although, it's not the message that attracts my attention, it's the name, 'Christina J.'. I click on the name at the top of the screen, opening Christina's full contact page. Right at the top, underneath where a photo is meant to be, is her full name: Christina Jenkins.
It's my sister.