Chapter 34
Sawyer
Ifind Chris in the equipment room, restocking his duty belt after shift. The room smells like gun oil and leather. I lock the door behind me. He looks up when I walk in.
“What’s going on?” he asks, reading my expression.
“I need a favor. The kind that stays between us.”
He sets down his equipment and gives me his full attention. “Alright.”
“Lance Carlston. His family filed a complaint against me with the state police.” My jaw tightens. “They’re claiming I fabricated evidence and arrested him because I’m personally involved with Alice.”
“That’s complete bullshit.”
“Yeah, well they have money and lawyers, and they’re trying to make it stick.”
Chris leans against his locker. “What do you need me to do?”
“I need you to dig deeper into Lance Carlston's past. Not the stuff we already have—I need complaints that never made it to official reports. Other women he might have hurt. Anything his family might have buried with money or influence.”
Chris raises his eyebrow. “You think there are other victims besides Alice?”
“Guys like Lance don't usually start with GPS trackers and breaking into houses. They work up to it.”
“Okay.” Chris grabs a notepad from his pocket. “Is that it?”
“There’s something else. Alice’s mother, Tracy Campbell. She filed the original complaint against me, and she’s been pressuring Alice to drop the charges.”
“So what am I looking for?”
“She works for Lance’s family’s real estate company. Carlston Properties. I need to know how deep that connection goes. How long she’s worked there, if there’s any financial dependency that would explain why she’s protecting Lance.”
Chris writes that down. “So we’re looking at both Lance and his enabler. Got it.”
“Exactly. Because a mother doesn’t usually side with her daughter’s abuser unless she’s got serious skin in the game.”
“Anything else?”
“The GPS tracker Lance put on Alice’s car. I want to know where he bought it, when, if he bought more than one.”
“You think he’s tracking other people?”
“I think guys like Lance always escalate. If he’s done this before, there might be a paper trail.”
Chris finishes writing. “This is going to take some time.”
“How much time?”
“Few days, maybe a week if I'm careful about it. And I have to be careful, Sawyer. If anyone finds out I'm investigating this while you're under investigation—”
I run my hand over my face. “I know I’m asking a lot. But Chris, I need this. I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t important.”
He nods. "Then we find the pattern."
“They could charge her with filing false reports.”
Chris stops writing and looks at me. “They’d actually do that?”
“Rich families with good lawyers? Yeah. Or at least try until something sticks.”
“Alright.” Chris closes the notepad. “Give me everything you know about Lance.”
I spend the next fifteen minutes telling Chris what I know. Lance’s background, the stalking behavior, the break-in, his family’s real estate business.
“One more thing,” I add. “Be careful who you talk to. I don’t know how far the Carlston family’s influence reaches in this town.”
“I’m aware.”
“Money talks. Especially in small towns.”
Chris heads for the door, then turns back. “Sawyer, what if I don’t find anything? What if Lance really was just a jealous ex who went too far once?”
“Then I’ll deal with whatever happens. But my gut tells me there’s more.
And if there is more—if we can prove Lance has a pattern, that his family has covered things up before—it changes everything.
Makes it look less like I arrested him because of Alice and more like I arrested a serial predator who finally got caught. ”
“Your gut’s been pretty reliable so far.”
After Chris leaves, I sit in the empty equipment room for a few minutes. This is a risk. If anyone finds out Chris is investigating Lance while I’m under review, it could make everything worse for both of us.
But doing nothing isn’t an option anymore.
My phone buzzes with a text from Alice.
Alice: How was your day?
I stare at the message. My chest tightens. She's been distant since our conversation in the parking lot, but she's still checking on me. Still caring, even when she's trying to protect us both by keeping her distance.
Me: Long as usual. Yours?
Alice: Same.
Me: We should talk soon.
Alice: I know.
It’s not much, but it’s something. Alice isn’t giving up on us, even if she’s scared. That’s got to mean something, right?
I want to call her. Tell her about the cemetery—I drove past it an hour ago and saw her car there. Tell her I understand why she's pulling away, even if it kills me.
But I don't. Not yet.
I gather my things and head home. My hands grip the steering wheel tighter than necessary.
Tomorrow I’ll go through the motions of normal police work while Chris digs into Lance’s past. In a few days, we’ll know if my gut is right about Lance being more than just Alice’s abusive ex-boyfriend.
And if I’m right, we’re going to have everything we need to turn this investigation around.
But if I’m wrong, I might lose everything trying.