“Good question.” Gregory checked his phone. “I haven’t gotten any calls or text messages. But judging from the way these guys roll, they probably wouldn’t report the crime. They’d hide Collin’s body and seek revenge.”
“Judging from the way these guys roll, I wouldn’t be surprised if Chief Wentworth had something to do with it.”
Detective Harris stared at her, absorbing what she’d just said. He slowly walked over to the couch and took a seat next to her.
“You know, it’s funny you say that. When I was in the chief’s office, he did have a rather interesting phone conversation that I overheard.”
“Did he? With who?”
“Some guy named Larry. The conversation just seemed...odd. Chief Wentworth was saying things like, ‘So you got him? Are you sure you got him?’ Then he told the guy that he’d done a good job and he would send him his payment.”
Gregory glanced over at Samantha and saw that she was staring back at him in shock.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she whispered.
“That Chief Wentworth put a hit out on his own son?” He had a hard time getting his head wrapped around that.
Samantha nodded her head while she massaged her temples. “Well, if the chief thought Collin was getting too careless in the way he was handling their drug operation, then yes. Absolutely. I’ve seen firsthand how ruthless these men can be.”
Gregory grabbed the files he’d taken from the police station. “And to add to the suspense, I found a report in Chief Wentworth’s office on Axel Guzman—”
“Wait, Axel Guzman—where have I heard that name?”
“He’s a drug dealer. Part of a big Midwest cartel.”
“Oh my God...” Samantha covered her mouth with her hands. “Do you think he’s working with Chief Wentworth and Collin?”
“That would be my guess. And you already know how he moves. The man is a savage. If Collin crossed him, he also could’ve been the one to have him killed.”
Samantha was visibly shaken. She ran her hands over her arms, as if trying to warm herself up.
“I want to take this to the mayor, but he’s not available until this evening. Let’s go check on Hudson, then head there.”
They gazed at one another, the energy between them palpable. In that moment, Gregory realized that the imminent danger surrounding them had only brought them even closer together. He wanted this case over so she’d be out of danger and in his arms for more than just protection.
Chapter Eighteen
“I am really not looking forward to telling Mayor Elliot about Chief Wentworth and Collin’s drug ring,” Gregory muttered to Samantha as they headed to the mayor’s house. They’d already done a quick check on Hudson, who was recovering from his injuries.
“I know,” Samantha said, gripping the thick file of information that she and Gregory had compiled tightly. “He is going to be crushed. He thinks the world of the chief.”
She stared out the window, thoughts of the day’s outrageous events flashing through her mind. “I still can’t believe Collin is dead.”
“Neither can I. But in all honesty, we shouldn’t be surprised. Look at all the damage he’s done and bridges he’s burned all over this town.”
“Very true.” Samantha turned to the detective, her eyelids lowering with doubt. “But at this point, I’m wondering whether Collin’s only guilty of manufacturing illegal drugs and injuring Hudson. What if he isn’t the one behind the deaths of Jacob and the other Westman’s workers?”
The detective raised his eyebrows curiously. “That’s a definite possibility. But at this point, things have gotten way too baffling to assume anything. That’s why we’re going to Mayor Elliot. Maybe he’ll be the one to pull the truth out of Chief Wentworth.”
“I hope so.”
Gregory turned down the mayor’s block and eased up on the accelerator. As he approached the house, all the lights appeared to be out.
“I wonder if he’s home,” Detective Harris said before pulling up to the curb and parking the car.
“There’s only one way to find out.” Samantha ignored the jitters flitting throughout her entire body. She closed her eyes, said a quick prayer, then grabbed the door handle. “Come on. Let’s do this.”
The pair climbed out of the car and approached Mayor Elliot’s grand, pillared white porch. Gregory searched the street, checking to see whether anyone was in the vicinity.
“Looks like the coast is clear,” he said.
Samantha reached up to ring the doorbell. Right before her finger hit the button, a bloodcurdling shout came from the back of the house.
She jerked her hand away and grabbed the detective’s arm. “What the hell was that?”
Gregory reached back and pulled his gun out of his waistband. “Go back to the car. Lock the doors.”
“No way.”
He muttered a curse and heaved a sigh. “Let’s go check around back. Stay behind me.”
Samantha didn’t release her grip on the detective’s arm as he led her along the side of the house. They approached a tall wooden gate. Just as he slowly opened it, another ear-piercing shriek ripped through the air, drowning out the sound of the gate’s creaking wood.
“Help! Please, somebody help me!”
Gregory turned to Samantha. “Wait, that sounds like Chief Wentworth!”
He led her into the dark, vast backyard. They slunk up the stairs leading to the deck. Samantha held Gregory tighter as they crept alongside the brick wall, then paused at the edge of sliding glass doors. A set of semisheer white curtains partially covered them.
“Can you see anything?” she whispered.
Gregory turned to her and held his finger to his lips, signaling her silence. She nodded her head, then cringed at the sound of more yelling.
“Just sign the damn papers, Wentworth!”
“What is going on in there?” she mouthed.
Gregory took a slight step to the side and peered through the glass. She peeked past him and peered through the curtain.
“What the...”
In the dim light, she saw Mayor Elliot standing over Chief Wentworth with a knife to his throat. The chief was tied to a chair, his distorted expression twisted in terror.
“Sign them! Now!” the mayor shouted as he shoved a stack of papers in the chief’s face.
Samantha quickly stepped away from the door. Every one of her limbs trembled as she processed what they were witnessing.
“I’m not signing a damn thing!” Chief Wentworth shot back. “You killed my son, and you think I’m gonna take the blame for it? You’re out of your mind!”
“What is happening right now?” Samantha whimpered, shaking her head in utter confusion.
“Your son was a loose cannon, Walter!” the mayor spewed. “He was getting out of control. Killing the townspeople with his deadly drug experiments. But after he savagely beat Hudson, who just so happens to be the district attorney’s stepson? That was the last straw.”
Samantha and Gregory turned to one another, gasping in unison after hearing the information about Hudson.
“Collin would never—” Chief Wentworth began. He was abruptly silenced when Mayor Elliot pressed the knife into his throat.
“That’s your problem!” the mayor yelled. “You raised your son to be a punk! Thanks to you, he never paid for any of his wrongdoings. And now? He’s right where he belongs, and you’re going to take the blame for him almost taking my entire drug operation down.”
Samantha and Gregory both froze. Mayor Elliot was involved in Gattenburg’s drug ring.
When Chief Wentworth cried out in pain, Samantha turned to Gregory.
“You have got to do something! Now!”
Without saying a word, the detective used the butt of his gun to break the lock on the door. He threw it
open and aimed the weapon at Mayor Elliot.
“Drop the knife!” he yelled.
Chief Wentworth let out a sigh of relief when he laid eyes on Gregory and Samantha. The mayor, however, appeared stunned. But his mouth quickly twisted into a shrewd smirk.
“So how much did you two hear?” he asked condescendingly.
“Enough to know that you’re running a drug ring and killed Collin,” Gregory shot back. “Now drop the knife and step away from Chief Wentworth.”
“Aww, how sweet,” Mayor Elliot said. “Look, everybody, it’s the new kid on the block, trying to be a hero. Listen, you and your little fake journalist friend here need to get the hell out of my house. Trust me, you don’t wanna get involved in this.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Chief Wentworth pleaded. “Help me. The mayor’s trying to force me to sign a statement confessing that I’m involved in his drug operation and responsible for the murders of Jacob and Collin—”
“Shut up!” Mayor Elliot yelled, slicing the chief’s jaw with the knife.
“Ahh!” Chief Wentworth hollered in agony. “Shoot him, Harris. Shoot him!”
“Drop the weapon, Elliot!” Gregory once again insisted. “I’m not going to ask you again.”
Smirking, the mayor tossed the knife across the room. When Gregory turned to retrieve it, Mayor Elliot fled the room.
“Untie him,” Gregory yelled to Samantha, nodding toward the chief before running after the mayor.
Samantha swooped in and began tugging at the knots restraining Chief Wentworth.
“Are you okay?” she asked him.
“My boy is dead,” the chief whimpered. “He’s dead!”
“I’m so sorry,” she replied while frantically untying him. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here and call for backup.”
Samantha bent down and wrapped Chief Wentworth’s arm around her shoulders, helping him out of the chair. He leaned into her, his hefty frame causing her to stumble. She swiftly regained her footing and led him out the door toward the front of the house. On the way there, she managed to grab hold of her cell phone and dial 9-1-1, spitting out the information about what was going on and telling the dispatcher she didn’t need to stay on the line.
“I can’t believe my boy is gone,” Wentworth mumbled. He fell against the side of the house, sobbing into the palms of his hands.
Samantha bent down and wrapped her arm around the chief.
“I mean—I knew Collin was trouble,” he continued. “But I had no idea he was into all this. It’s my fault. I should’ve disciplined him more. I shouldn’t have let him get away with all that I did over the years.”
Samantha grabbed a tissue from her coat pocket and held it to the chief’s jaw. She couldn’t ignore his pain, despite his connection to the harm that’d been done to so many.
“Collin chose this life,” Chief Wentworth declared. “But he just didn’t have it in him to walk the straight and narrow. I hope you know I had nothing to do with any of this.”
“Collin kept a drug ledger that implicated you.”
The chief nodded his head solemnly, the corners of his damp eyes crinkling with sadness. “I know. I just found out about all this from Officer Barris. He confided in me while we were down at city hall this afternoon.”
“Wait, Officer Barris knew about the drug ring?”
“Yes. He did. He’d just recently found out about it after Officers Baxter and Miller tried to recruit him into Guzman’s crime syndicate. Guzman and Mayor Elliot are behind all this. And they’ve been paying off several Gattenburg police officers to turn a blind eye and keep quiet.”
“I knew those two were somehow involved. That’s why they blew off the vandalism investigation at my house. They’ve been working against my cause to get justice for Jacob Jennings all along.”
“Barris also found out that Guzman is the anonymous owner of Westman’s Automotive Factory. He registered the ownership under a different name so that it wouldn’t be affiliated with him.”
“And so he could use it produce illegal drugs,” Samantha added. “Without it being traced to him.”
“Exactly. Those drugs that Collin was formulating were so potent. And deadly. Some concoction he was trying to perfect called TKO is what killed the three Westman’s workers. They were testing it out one night inside the factory. After they OD’d, Guzman ordered my son to dump their bodies in the woods somewhere outside Gattenburg. And Collin did it.”
He paused, his voice cracking as he began to sob uncontrollably. Samantha wrapped her arm around him, patting his back until he gathered himself.
“And poor Jacob,” the chief continued, his distorted words practically inaudible. “He was just trying to find out what happened to his coworkers when he went to talk to Collin. But Collin made the mistake of telling Guzman, who turned around and killed Jacob with a deadly overdose in order to silence him.”
Samantha blinked back tears, thinking of how Ava would take the news.
“I’m in shock right now,” Chief Wentworth muttered, staring straight ahead as if he were in a daze. “I came here thinking Mayor Elliot would help me apprehend my son’s killer. Instead he attacks me, and I find out he’s in on the whole operation. He’s the one who convinced Collin to list my name in the drug ledger so that if it were ever confiscated, I’d be implicated and forced to cover for them.”
“I’m so sorry, Chief. I, um—I actually have Collin’s drug ledger in my possession.”
“You do? How did you get ahold of it?”
“It’s complicated,” Samantha said just as she heard yelling come from inside the house.
“Drop the gun, Elliot! Now!”
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Samantha inhaled sharply, immobilized by the thought of Gregory being shot.
“Let’s go!” Chief Wentworth yelled. He pulled her up and led her toward the street. They crouched down behind Gregory’s car.
Samantha stared out at the mayor’s house. Come out, Gregory, please come out.
“I’ve gotta get in there!” she insisted, jumping up. “I need to make sure Gregory’s okay...”
“Samantha, no!” Chief Wentworth grabbed hold of her. “Detective Harris is well trained and knows how to handle himself. You might endanger him if you go in. Help is on the way.”
As soon as he spoke those words, sirens blared in the distance. Samantha spun around and saw flashing lights heading their way. She jumped up and waved her arms in the air. Officer Barris was the first one to pull up and jump out of his car.
“Detective Harris is inside the house and Mayor Elliot is trying to kill him!” she yelled.
“Got it!” the officer called out, leading a trail of officers through the front yard. They broke down the door and barreled inside.
She couldn’t wait any longer and started rushing toward the door herself.
Before she got far, Gregory came limping through the front door with policemen on either side of him, his left leg covered in blood.
Samantha ran to the detective at full speed.
“Are you okay?” she managed to say, her voice choked.
“I will be,” Gregory muttered through clenched teeth. “Mayor Elliot shot me. It just grazed me. Officer Barris stopped the bleeding.”
Samantha knew he was downplaying his injury for her sake. As he spoke, she saw him wince in pain.
“We need to get you to the hospital, Detective Harris,” Officer Barris told him. “The ambulance is waiting.”
“I’m coming with you,” Samantha insisted. “There’s no way I’m letting you out of my sight.”
“I don’t want you to...”
As the group headed toward the ambulance, they stopped to check on Chief Wentworth. He was leaning against a squad car now, holding a fresh handkerchief against his wounded jaw.
“Detective Harr
is,” the chief said, “I can’t thank you and Samantha enough for what you did tonight. You two saved my life.”
“I was just doing my job, sir,” Gregory replied. “With the help of the best criminal journalist in town. Samantha was crucial in getting to the bottom of all this.”
“Thanks,” she whispered, a smile of appreciation spreading across her face.
“Well, you two make a great team,” Chief Wentworth said. “Now get out of here. Get to the hospital and have them stitch up that leg.”
“Will do, sir. And you have my condolences. I’m really sorry about what happened to Collin.”
Chief Wentworth nodded silently, his lips tightening as he blinked back tears. “Hey, before you go, Detective, I have something I want to share with you.”
“What’s that?”
“After tonight, I’ll be retiring. And I’m going to recommend you as my replacement. I had my eye on you for this slot when I hired you.”
Gregory stared at Chief Wentworth in disbelief. “Wow. I...I don’t know what to say, sir. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. It’s well deserved. We’ll talk more about it later. For now, get to the hospital. And while you’re there, start thinking about the capital murder, aggravated kidnapping and drug trafficking charges that need to be brought against Elliot and Guzman.”
“Yes, sir.”
The group said their goodbyes, and the EMTs came over and helped Gregory inside the ambulance. Samantha climbed in behind him and took a seat next to the stretcher.
“Congratulations, Chief Harris,” she said.
“Hmm, thanks. That has a nice ring to it...”
The detective tried to shift his body but froze, wincing from the pain of the gunshot wound.
“Are you okay?” Samantha asked, moving in closer to the stretcher.
“I’ll survive.”
Samantha reached out and covered his hand with hers. “I cannot believe this night. And I really can’t believe Mayor Elliot is in cahoots with Axel Guzman and at the helm of the drug ring. I had a chance to speak with Chief Wentworth while you were inside the house. I’ve got a lot to catch you up on.”
Cold Case True Crime Page 20