LITMIR.BIZ

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would reveal anything? If one of them was involved, they certainly wouldn’t confess. And they would get in trouble.

      Was she making this show of trying to find the culprit to throw suspicion off herself? His gut clenched.

      What did he really know about her? She could very well be on the crime syndicate’s payroll. Or her partner, Jim, could be. Parker needed to have both officers’ finances looked at, see if either of them had money troubles, because that would be the only logical reason why someone like Melody, who was so smart and competent, would ever betray the oath she took to protect and serve.

      As much as he hated the directions his thoughts were taking, he needed to report this to his boss.

      And her boss.

      They were supposed to be on the same team. If Melody had something to hide, then she’d have to pay the price. That thought didn’t settle well with him at all.

      * * *

      Melody watched Parker step away to make a call. Tension coiled through her. She needed a plan of action. Get the kids to talk, and then track down the culprit. She would get to the bottom of this situation and prove to Parker the center wasn’t being used for drug dealing. This was a one-time incident. It had to be. But the unease in her stomach taunted her.

      “I saw John Riviera hanging around that locker,” Joy Haversham said, drawing Melody’s attention back to the question she’d asked the group of teens gathered in a nervous circle around her.

      “Joy!” Tony Roberts made a slicing gesture across his throat.

      Melody would be talking to John ASAP. If he were the culprit, then he would pay the price for his bad judgment and illegal activity.

      “What? I did,” Joy said. The fifteen-year-old girl twirled a brown curl around her finger. “He was standing there, leaning against the lockers last Thursday night.”

      “Doesn’t mean those are John’s drugs,” Tony countered. “They could be anybody’s. This place is easy to get into.”

      Melody arched an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

      Tony shrugged. At nearly eighteen, the kid was more man than boy. Had he been the one dressed in black this morning?

      She eyed the width of his shoulders and decided no, he wasn’t the man who’d rammed into her and knocked her against the wall. That man had had broad shoulders as hard as bricks. “What do you mean this place is easy to get into?”

      A guilty, sheepish look crossed his face before he carefully masked it with insolence. “The windows in the locker room are never locked.”

      That was a surprise. Well, they would be from now on. The locker-room windows were at street level since the locker rooms were in the basement. She’d make sure Jim secured them every night.

      Parker returned, pocketing his phone. He leveled her with an inscrutable look. “Our captains want us over at the station house as soon as Rose and Clay wrap things up.”

      “You two can go,” Jim volunteered. “I’ll stay and keep an eye on the place.”

      Parker shook his head. “They want to see you, as well.”

      A flash of annoyance shot through Jim’s gray eyes. “I don’t know anything about this. I’m just a volunteer.”

      Melody frowned. Technically, he was her co-director. “Jim, we’ll both go. The center is both of our responsibility.”

      “Yeah, well, I keep telling you these kids are trouble,” Jim groused. “Wouldn’t surprise me if the captains decided the youth center was too much of a liability.”

      His words sent a shaft of apprehension sliding straight to her core. Jim knew how much this place meant to her. He and his late wife had taken Melody under their wing when she’d first arrived in town. Jim had tried to talk her out of opening the center.

      But she wouldn’t be dissuaded. And so he’d stepped up to be her co-director.

      She suspected he’d volunteered to help her in order to protect her. But would Jim take this opportunity to help Parker convince the captains to close the youth center doors for good?

      She sent up a silent plea for God’s protection over the center. They were doing good work here. It would be a shame for everything they’d accomplished and all they could do in the future to end now. There were still so many kids who needed the help, the guidance the center offered. She’d made a promise to herself she’d do all she could to see that teens like Daniel were given every opportunity to choose a path other than drugs.

      “I’ll keep an eye on things,” Ally assured Melody.

      Melody wanted to trust Ally. The young woman had been a faithful volunteer from the beginning. They shared the bond of grief. Ally had been Daniel’s girlfriend. After that horrible night, Ally had pulled her act together and had been clean ever since. At least Melody believed so. But at the moment, she wasn’t sure what to think or who to trust. Someone with access to the center had stored his or her drug contraband in the locker.

      “That’s okay, Ally. I think it will be best if we close the center for the rest of the evening,” Melody said, hating to cancel the classes and programs scheduled for the night. But Parker was right. The place had to be shut down. At least temporarily. “Would you mind posting a note on the doors?”

      Ally sighed. “No problem.”

      Melody caught Parker’s gaze. She detected a hint of approval mingled with the surprise in his brown eyes. Her hackles rose. She wasn’t doing this for his sake. “Best to close now and sort this out than...”

      Let you close us down for good. She let the unspoken words form in her mind.

      He nodded as if he’d heard and understood.

      Rose put all the bags of cocaine into a large evidence bag. “We’ll take all this to the station. There’s too much to print to do a good job here.”

      “I’m done,” Clay added. “I got everything I could off the locker.”

      He and Rose gathered their things and exited the center. Jim followed closely behind.

      Melody ushered the teens out the door. Hating to see the disappointment and confusion on the kids’ faces, she said, “You all can come back tomorrow.”

      She could only hope and pray she’d be able to keep that promise. Would God come through for her? She’d find out soon.

      “I’ll give you a lift to the station,” Parker said as he and Sherlock followed her while she locked up.

      She shook her head. “I can manage to walk over there by myself.”

      “I’ve no doubt you can,” Parker said. “But the captains are waiting.”

      “True.” Realizing that it would be quicker to accept the offer of a ride, she followed Parker and Sherlock to the SPD vehicle.

      The thick tension between her and Parker made her shoulder muscles tighten. Despite what Parker might think, she knew she’d done a good job with the youth center. And she’d do whatever it took to find who the drugs belonged to. She couldn’t allow these kids to be in harm’s way.

      She rolled her shoulders, trying to release the tightness. Someone had breached the center with their

      poison.

      After arriving at the station house, they went straight to the conference room. An oval table with leather chairs dominated the center. A floor-to-ceiling window stretched across one wall while the far wall was lined with shelves full of procedure books.

      Jim was already there as were Rose and Clay. They’d filled the captains in on the situation. Captain Drexel stood by the window. A tall, African-American man in his late forties, he had his hands clasped behind his back as his dark eyes assessed them.

      Captain McNeal sat at the table,

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