Chapter 12 #3
His hand left hers and slid up her arm. Slowly, he tugged her closer.
When she stood a few inches away, he pulled her to him, settling her against his chest. The steady beat of his heart filled her ears.
His well-washed cotton T-shirt felt scratchy against her cheek, but she didn’t care.
It had been too long since she’d allowed herself to get this close to anyone.
Certainly, Blaine had never, in her memory, held her like this.
An embrace that demanded nothing but gave freely.
“I know what you’re thinking. But I know you, Mia. There’s no way you had anything to do with this. If there were signs, you would have seen them. You care for these kids too much. But we’re obviously dealing with professionals here. This is not your fault.”
“I can’t believe you’re saying that. I’m the one who convinced Dylan to go to the camp. It promised to teach survival skills.” Bitterness seeped into her tone.
“How can I judge you? Haven’t I done stupid things in my life?”
Mia swallowed. The breeze touched her cheek, cooling the single tear that traced down her face. She lifted a hand to wipe it away. “Jackson, I was so mad at you. But I want you to know, I was wrong, so wrong, to hold a grudge this long. I forgive you. Can you forgive me?”
In response, his eyes darkened and his expression softened.
He was going to kiss her.
She pushed up onto her tiptoes, closing the gap—
A beep broke through. Mia jerked back, twisting out of his arms, her face hot. A cruiser with the Renegade Police Department logo pulled up next to them. Two officers stepped from the car. The younger one, she recognized as Officer Jason Beckley.
“Jackson.” Officer Beckley smirked. “Did I come at a bad time?”
Mia nearly groaned. He’d seen their near kiss. How could he have missed it?
“Jason.” Jackson acknowledged him, ignoring his comment, then turned to the other officer. This one seemed older, with gray lightly dusting his dark hair. “Tucker.”
“I have more backup right behind me. We’ll wait for them and the coroner, then you can lead us to the body and walk us through it.”
Mia let Jackson do most of the talking while they waited, as he had more experience with this type of thing, although she listened carefully to every word.
A second vehicle soon arrived with a shrill shriek of brakes in need of replacement, and a loud-voiced lieutenant took over the scene, instructing her and Jackson to lead the officers to the body.
Once they arrived, Tucker slipped on a pair of gloves and inspected the scene without touching the body.
When the lieutenant approached the body and inspected it, Mia shifted closer to Jackson. Jackson wrapped an arm around her waist, bracing her body with his own. The lieutenant stood and gave her a flat stare.
“You said you knew this man.” His deep, gravelly voice scraped over her nerves.
She took a deep breath. “Sort of. I was a camp counselor over the summer. The camp was funded through a group called the Youth of the Future Foundation. One of the teachers at school had received a flyer about it, and since I teach kids who are more troubled, he gave it to me.”
She was rambling. Just answer the questions.
“Sorry. This man is Brent Kazwell.”
One of the officers typed in the name. When he showed them the picture, it was of an old man. “This is Brent Kazwell. He died six years ago from heart failure.”
“Okay, so we have a dead man who lived under a stolen identity.”
But the officer wasn’t done. “Yeah, and I am not finding the website for that foundation. It doesn’t exist.”
She swallowed. What had she gotten herself and her students mixed up in?
“Hey.” Another cop stepped up and glared down at the dead man. “I recognize his face. His real name is Frederick Bean. He’s wanted on multiple counts of trafficking, child endangerment, and fraud.”
As one, all the officers focused on Mia.
Jason spoke up. “I think we have to assume this foundation was nothing more than a front to find more victims. Get them into a camp, earn their trust, see which kids could disappear without being missed.”
Jackson stiffened beside her. No matter what they thought, these kids were all precious. And they were missed and valued.
“Why would you encourage your students to go to this camp?” the lieutenant demanded.
She read condemnation in his face. He believed she was involved. She blinked back tears. This was her fault. She couldn’t look Jackson in the eye. “It looked official.”
“Guys, Mia didn’t do anything wrong,” Jackson stated, shocking her. She clenched her jaw to keep it from flopping open. “She didn’t get anything for it.”
“I did,” she whispered. “I was paid. I had to call and leave messages, but I was paid for it.”
“Where is the money?” The lieutenant frowned at her.
“I paid for my final semester in my master’s program with it.” She shook her head. “I will cancel that, of course. I won’t use money that was made illegally.”
Most of the cops kept their faces smooth, but Jason’s eyebrows drew together, giving him an air of concern.
“Don’t do anything rash. We need to see that transfer and where it’s from.
” The lieutenant in charge motioned for Jason to back away.
“Follow us to the station. We’ll have more questions for you there. ”
Mia didn’t want to leave Jackson. He was the only one she trusted. They had a bad history, true, but he was the only one she felt she could confide in. And she was invested in finding Dylan and Reggie.