Dishonorable Conduct

Chapter Eleven

Latrelle shuffled through the back yard, looking for something he dropped. Something glinted in the sunlight and he picked it up. It was the item he dropped.

From the front yard, he heard the mail truck stop, then leave a few seconds later. He ran to the front and towards the mailbox, grabbing the newspaper and a few envelopes. As he walked back to the house, he looked through the mail, and an envelope with his, Kevin's and Rosa's names on it. He turned it over, about to open it, when bold red lettering said 'don't open without the other two'.

* * *

Latrelle, Kevin, and Rosa sat around the kitchen table with Harold and two other detectives. Latrelle reached for the envelope and began opening it. Pictures tumbled out, showing Rosa with her friends, Latrelle and Kevin messing around with their friends, Harold, Tina and Michael, there were even pictures of Mitchell. And a letter with just eight words on it:

Shut up if you don't want another funeral.

* * *

The look on Latrelle's face made chills run down their spines.

"What is it?" Kevin asked. It was a question the entire room was asking themselves. Latrelle didn't speak; instead, he turned to paper until the entire group could see what he'd been looking at.

"Whoever sent this is threatening to silence us, once and for all."

Kevin snatched the paper and read it aloud, "Shut up if you don't want another funeral."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose asked. Latrelle shushed her and Harold spoke.

"It means that whoever wrote and sent this is threatening the lives of minors," he said thoughtfully. "If that's what they were aiming for, then we have no choice but to pull you three off the case and keep you protected 24/7."

"What?!" Kevin and Latrelle shouted simultaneously. Harold nodded, then turned to the two detectives, giving them instructions.

* * *

Latrelle leaned back in his chair, boredom getting the best of him, and he threw paper balls across the room and into a trash bin.

"Would you stop?" someone behind him said. He turned around and looked at the boy. Latrelle didn't speak, just stared at him until the boy got uncomfortable.

Latrelle turned back around and saw Kevin looking through the files his father had given him.

"I thought your dad said to stop looking through those, Kev," Latrelle said as he walked over. Kevin was writing furiously then showed him the paper.

"It has to be Kyle. No one else has so much of a reason to kill Richard," Kevin whispered.

"Is it more than circumstantial evidence?" Latrelle asked. Kevin was silent for a second before nodding.

"Alright, then. Let's get crackin'."