Page 36 of Xavier

What does Uncle Zach have to do with the killers? And how do I fit into all of this?

Voices drift inside to us a few moments before the Lieutenant walks through the broken front door.

The shattered glass crunches under his boots as he walks toward Xavier, Uncle Zach, and me.

Several other officers immediately get to work photographing the crime scene.

“Did you do this?” the Lieutenant asks with a hint of a smile as he points to Everett.

I roll my eyes. Leave it to him to make a joke to make me feel better.

“No! But on a serious note, I’ve never seen the men before today. They aren’t locals, so whatever business they have here in town is temporary.”

Sergeant Smith walks through the front door and glances around at everything that’s happening. His gaze stays on Xavier longer than anyone else.

With his focus solely on Xavier, he stalks over to the four of us.

Ignoring the rest of us, he addresses Xavier. “I know you’re new in town, but being visited by the police twice in one day is never a good thing. I thought I told you to go home and prepare for the storm.”

“I was heading home to fish from my dock, but I needed bait, seeing as I’m new to town and don’t have a stockpile of fishing accessories.”

We know Sergeant Smith as the town's hard ass, but he does have a point. Even if Xavier was in the wrong place at the wrong time, twice in one day is alarming.

He was in the right place at the right time this time, though. He helped keep me calm and kept me from freaking out. Even if it was by arguing with me.

Sergeant Smith ignores his sarcastic remark and moves on to the situation at hand. “Were you here the entire time the break in and homicide were happening?”

Xavier clenches his jaw. “No, I was enjoying the view of the beach when I heard the gunshot. Before I knew what was happening, I was racing toward the sound.”

Sergeant Smith writes Xavier’s statement down. “And did you see the suspect flee from the scene?”

“No, but I did see a white Jeep pull out of the parking lot and drive away.”

Was that the killer’s vehicle? It wasn’t the same car that was tailing me, but that one is probably in impound.

“Did you happen to see a license plate?”

Xavier glances toward the front door before returning his gaze to the officer. “No, sorry.”

He’s lying. Why would he lie about seeing the killer’s license plate?

A thought crosses my mind, and I let out a loud gasp.

Does he know the men? Is he in on whatever they have going on? Is that why he came to town?

All four men look my way with raised eyebrows.

I need to come up with an excuse for my gasp before they start asking questions.

Changing my expression to sadness and fear, I say, “I’m sorry. I think reality is crashing down on me, and the severity of what’s happening now seems all too real.”

Lieutenant gestures to a table. “Come sit down. We can get your statement after you get some water.”

Uncle Zach immediately springs into action. He grabs a to go cup and fills it with ice water before bringing it and a straw over to me.

“Thank you.” I whisper.

Sergeant Smith sits down on the opposite side of the table. “Alright, I’m going to get you to run through the events from today. Start at the beginning.”

---