ROUGH DRAFT of Loser || WlW

Thirty-Six

 "Thanks for meeting with me," I start.

Hodge glances around the park. "No problem, kid." He takes a sip of his coffee. "What did you want to talk about?"

It must look odd. Us meeting together under cover of the trees like we have something to hide.

"Did you guys ever go check surveillance at the pizza shop?" I ask.

He sighs. "You see." He rubs his mustache. I've noticed he does when he's about to deliver bad news. "I can't get Kyle to follow any kind of trail that leads this investigation away from you."

"But I didn't do it!"

He looks over his shoulder. "I know," he admits.

"If you keep trying to find dirt on me, you'll never find the killer."

He's nodding. "I know," he repeats. "I'm afraid that's what Kyle wants."

"He's covering for his brother, huh?" I ask. "Trevor went back to the pizza shop that night," I explain. "He could have returned my keys after he murdered Claire."

He shakes his head. "I've talked with Trevor. He doesn't seem like the type who could do what was done to our victims."

"What happened to them?"

He shakes his head again. "I can't divulge that information. And trust me," he leans closer and whispers, "you don't want to know anyway."

"But you think they're linked?"

He takes another drink of his coffee and nods. "I know they're linked. But you're not supposed to know that either." He puts one finger over his lips and raises his eyebrows at me.

"Claire and Jack?"

"Claire, Jack, and Mia," he answers.

"Oh shit." I forgot Mia could be another victim. After a moment, I say, "What am I supposed to do?" My shoulders fall.

He shrugs. "Let it fade away." He clears his throat and adds, "No one thinks you did it. You're the one who keeps drawing attention back to yourself."

"I'm trying to find Claire's murderer," I protest.

"Well, don't." He raises his voice.

"That's not fair to Claire. Or her family. And just because you guys refuse to do what's right doesn't mean I should too."

Officer Hodge rubs the space above his eyebrow and sighs. "I'm going to do some more digging and get back to you." He takes a step closer and whispers, "I have a feeling Kyle has more to do with this than he's letting on."

"You think Kyle is killing Jefferson High students?" My head is swimming.

He lets out a small grunt and stretches his back. "I can't say for sure."

My eyes catch a shadow from a few trees away. I crane my neck to get a better view. Hodge turns to look too but it must be my imagination because no one is out here but us.

I kick a pebble with my shoe. "Officer? Do you think my mom could be doing this?"

"Your mother?" He tilts his head a little.

"Yeah." I nod. "She tried to kill me when I was a kid. Tried to drown me in the bathtub or whatever. I was just wondering if..." I rub my arm. "I don't know. She's crazy, you know? What if she's killing random kids because she thinks it's going to get to me?"

Hodge smiles. "You need some sleep, kid." He squeezes my shoulder once. "I'll be in contact. Call my direct line if you need anything," he says and starts down the hill toward his cruiser.