The confrontation in the woods lit a fire under our investigation that burned with renewed intensity. While Danny and Emily turned up leads among classmates, I scoured the depths of the lumber yard after hours for any overlooked clue.
One moonlit night, shadows dancing at every small sound, movement in a distant equipment barn caught my attention. Gripping my rusty flashlight like a cudgel, I inched toward the open doorway and peered around the jamb.
A hooded figure within slipped vials from a duffel into their pocket, barely visible in the wedge of moonlight. Their exit revealed a gaunt, familiar face - Danny's older brother Lucas. Ice flooded my veins at the betrayal as he froze, eyes locking with mine in panic.
Run! I wheezed, already turning to flee back to town and the safety of others. Pounding footsteps gained with terrifying speed, a vice-like grip closing on my arm to swing me violently into cracking wood and biting metal.
Stars burst behind my eyes on impact as Lucas hissed in my face. You had to play detective, huh? Now you'll never rat me out! His fist drew back but was suddenly yanked away by an enraged bark.
Get your hands off her, Luke! Danny grabbed his brother's wrist in an iron hold, sheer venom pouring from normally kind eyes. Emily flanked him with a jagged board, fierce as any lioness protecting her pride.
They forced Lucas away at staff-point while I slumped dazedly against a tool chest, cheek and temple throbbing in time with my frantic heartbeat. You traitor, Danny seethed, betrayal saturating each word. Did you kill Tyler too?
Lucas sneered through the madness engulfing his features. Don't know nothin' 'bout that. Just tryin' to help the family by any means. Daddy's stash was dwindlin' and Porter promised good pay if I looked the other way sometimes.
He lunged but Emily swung her board with a yell, catching his shoulder with a meaty thwack. Danny wrestled Lucas' flailing limbs into cuffs as sirens suddenly split the night, red and blue strobing through the open barn door.
Chief Briggs brandished his weapon upon entering, taking in the scene. Someone want to explain what the hell's going on here? His tone said the patience for games had long since run dry.
Shakily, ignoring protests from the chief, I recounted the night's terrifying events with Emily and Danny chiming corroborating details. Lucas writhed against restraints, spewing vile insults until Briggs gagged him impatiently.
So your own brother was in league with Porter this whole time, the chief mused grimly, shaking his head. These layers just keep unfolding like a rotten onion. Well, let's bring him in and see what other secrets start spilling under interrogation.
And with that, Lucas Reynolds was dragged flailing into the back of a cruiser, destined for the cells of the local station at long last. A bitter relief swept through me seeing the traitor removed from our lives like an excised tumor, yet questions only multiplied in his wake.
Just how deep did Joe Porter's web of deceit and coercion truly run through our small town? And would his grip of fear and manipulation finally loosen enough to expose the darkest truths lying at the core of all that had transpired? Only time would tell, but I vowed not to rest until each last spider strand had been severed...,
ČTEŠ
Camper's Diary
Mystery / ThrillerIt's been one week since Tyler's death and I still can't believe he's gone. Ever since the police found him in the woods with my soap clutched in his hand, rumors have been swirling around town about me. Tyler was always so nice to me, even when the...
