Chapter 25
Jack walked into the North Heron Sheriff's Office early the following morning, his mind still churning over everything Rachel and Carson had told him.
He'd barely slept, running through scenarios and connections, trying to piece together what was happening at the high school without jumping to conclusions.
As soon as Mark walked in, Jack moved to him and said, “Can I talk to you?”
Mark held his gaze with a curious expression but immediately answered, “Absolutely.”
“Colt is also involved.”
Now, Mark’s gaze sharpened, and he nodded. “Okay.”
They walked down the hall, finding Colt in his office, already at his desk with a cup of coffee and a stack of reports. Jack knocked on the doorframe.
“You ready for us?”
Colt looked up and gestured to the chairs across from his desk. “Always.” He looked at Mark as the detective took a seat in front of his desk.
Jack closed the door behind him and sat down.
For a moment, he just looked at his father…
the man who'd taught him what it meant to be a good cop, a good father, a good man.
The man who'd protected Jack when he was just a scared kid who needed someone to believe him.
He knew his dad was working through the information from Carson.
“Mark, I know this is the first time you are hearing of this, but I received some information yesterday and shared it with Colt. Now, we need to work the problem, and I thought it made sense to have Colt hear it officially while I tell you,” Jack said carefully.
Mark's expression shifted, something sharp and alert moving into his eyes. He leaned back in his chair. “Okay. I'm listening.”
He sucked in a breath, then released it, relief easing through his body, assuring him he was doing the right thing. “I think something's going on at the high school,” Jack said. “Something involving students being given pills by a staff member or coach.”
Colt's jaw tightened, but Mark managed to keep his voice calm. “What have you heard?”
Jack looked from his partner to Colt, finding both with gazes pinned on him.
Jack laid it out methodically, exactly what Carson had relayed from his conversation with Robbie.
A student hiding in the locker as part of a freshman prank.
The varsity wrestler. The man in the hoodie with his back turned.
The pills being handed over with promises about performance enhancement and going to states and scholarships.
Mark listened without interrupting, his expression carefully neutral. When Jack finished, Mark was quiet for a long moment but darted his gaze between Jack and Colt.
“You're sure about your source?” Mark asked finally.
“I am.” Jack held his partner's gaze. “And I want you to know this before I talk to anyone else. Before we bring anyone else into this. I don’t want this source to go further than this room unless there is no other way to check out the story.”
Mark nodded slowly. “Alright.”
“The kid who was in the locker is one of my JV baseball kids. Now, I haven’t talked to him, but he told two of his friends what he saw, and then I talked to one of them, who told me what was said. It’s my brother, Carson.”
“Oh shit,” Mark groaned as Colt growled.
Mark interjected. “Carson’s smart. He knows it’s risky to start throwing accusations if his friend has no proof. That’s a lot of pressure for a fourteen-year-old.”
Colt’s jaw was tight for a moment, then he scrubbed his hand over his face, sighing heavily. “I lay awake most of last night worrying about this. You more than anyone know what the pressures of being the sheriff’s kid are.”
“Exactly. So how do we investigate this now?” Jack asked.
“If kids are being given something from a coach or staff member, even if it's a legal substance, it's against school board policy,” Mark said firmly. “If it were any other student giving the pills, that’s still a big fucking problem. And if the pills aren’t legal, then we're talking about drug distribution to minors. Either way, we need to handle this carefully and by the book.”
Jack nodded. “I agree.”
“As a coach, you can talk to your kids informally, see if you can get them to tell you what they saw, going straight to the source,” Mark continued.
“I can search the locker room area,” Jack offered.
“But if you find anything suspicious, call me,” Mark interjected. “Any evidence can then be collected properly.”
Colt leaned forward, his expression grave. “We have to find out who the man in the hoodie was.”
Jack nodded. “Supposedly, the student couldn't see his face. His back was to the locker the whole time, and the hoodie covered everything.”
“It's not uncommon,” Colt said quietly. “Especially in competitive athletic programs. Parents push, coaches push, and kids feel like they have to do whatever it takes to succeed.” He straightened and pinned Jack with a hard stare. “Here's what we're going to do. Jack, I want you to talk to the JV baseball boys you coach. See if Carson will get the one who saw the activity to talk to you. You’re not interrogating, but just checking on them. See if there is anything one of them didn’t mention. Don’t promise confidentiality.”
Jack nodded. “What about the administration?”
“I'll call Jacqueline Martine,” Colt said, referring to the high school principal.
“And the deputy resource officer. I'll let them know we are just checking into some alleged suspicious activity.
I'll tell her what we know and let her know that you'll be checking into the situation to see if there is anything to investigate. And once we have an idea of what we're dealing with, then Mark, you’ll take the lead.”
Jack felt something settle in his chest. This was real now. It wasn’t official, but the boys’ concerns were not going to be overlooked.
“Thank you,” Jack said quietly.
His dad’s expression softened just slightly. “You did the right thing by bringing this to me last night. Now let's make sure we handle it the right way.”
The meeting broke up, and Jack walked with Mark back to the detective's bullpen. Jack looked at the files on his desk and sighed. He wanted to focus solely on the high school athletes, but he knew he and Mark had active investigations to work on. At least, by lunchtime, they’d had a case solved just by a woman finding items in her boyfriend’s closet when she was doing the laundry.
Jewelry that she knew he couldn’t afford and shouldn’t have.
When Jack and Mark went to her house, it was obvious they were looking at the stolen items from the pawn shop.
Deputies picked her boyfriend up at his place of work, and when confronted with the jewelry found in his drawers, he immediately admitted to the theft.
As the end of the day neared, Jack looked over at Mark. “Sure would be nice if the rest of our cases resolved so easily.”
Mark chuckled, then looked at his watch. “’Bout time for you to get to the high school.”
Jack’s humor fled as he nodded. “Yeah. I’ll let you know what any of the boys say.”
His first stop at the school was to the principal’s office. Jacqueline Martine was a tall woman in her late fifties with short silver hair and sharp eyes that missed nothing. She stood when Jack entered, shaking his hand firmly.
“Detective Hudson. Sheriff Hudson called and briefed me. I want to be kept in the loop with whatever you find.”
“You will,” Jack assured her. “I promise.”
“Good.” Jacqueline's expression was fierce. “If someone on my staff is putting my students at risk, I want them out. Immediately.”
Jack nodded and left her office. He made his way through the familiar hallways… the same hallways he'd walked as a student a long time ago, and found Rachel's classroom. She was grading papers at her desk, but looked up when he knocked.
“Hey,” she said, surprise and relief crossing her face. “What are you doing here?”
He stepped inside and closed the door. “Thought I’d talk to the boys before practice.”
Rachel nodded, then stood and walked over, wrapping her arms around him. “How are you?”
“I have a lot to tell you, but no time right now.” Jack rested his chin on her head as he allowed the feel of her arms around him to settle the nerves that had been twitching inside since he’d talked to Carson.
Then he leaned back, peered down into her eyes as his lips curved. “I'll call you later.”
“Yeah, that’d be good.”
He looked at her sweet smile and felt the world tilt back to where it should be. She’d always had that effect on him. Why the fuck did I ever walk away from her?
Down on the field, Carson found Jack first. “I talked to Robbie. He’s agreed to talk to you.”
Jack threw up a prayer of thanks. A few minutes later, he called Robbie, Ben, and Carson over before practice officially started.
The other kids were still trickling onto the field, grabbing gloves from their bags and tossing balls back and forth to warm up.
Jack kept his posture relaxed and casual, like he just wanted to check in with a few players before drills began.
“Hey, guys,” Jack said, gesturing toward the dugout. “Got a minute? Want to go over some stuff before we get started.”
The three boys exchanged glances. Robbie was immediately wary, his usual goofy grin not on his face. Ben walked behind him with his hands shoved deep in his pockets, his face pale and his jaw tight. Carson brought up the rear, his expression closed off and intense, his shoulders rigid with tension.
They settled onto the bench in the dugout, the afternoon sun casting long shadows across the concrete floor. Jack sat across from them on the opposite bench, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, keeping his voice low and steady.
“Robbie, I know you saw something,” Jack said without preamble. “And you shared it with Ben and Carson. I know it's been bothering you, and I want to help, but I need to understand exactly what happened. Can you walk me through it?”
Robbie glanced at Ben, then at Carson. Carson gave him a small nod, and Robbie took a breath.