Page 46 of Deadly Revenge

Alleged boss.That’s what the DA had said when Jenna had not been able to tie him to any crime other than possession of twohundred grams of cocaine. A crime that should have sent him to prison for five years.

“I’m sorry to spring this on you like this,” he said. “But I didn’t want you blindsided.”

“Thank you for that.” She fought the tears that stung her eyes and wrapped her hands around the coffee mug.

Max leaned forward. “You can’t get them all, Jenna.”

“He needs to be off the streets.” She set the mug down hard. “The Scorpions—it’s the worst gang in Chattanooga. And he got away with shooting me.”

Max opened his mouth and Jenna held up her hand. “The investigation into the shooting was closed by the time I got out of the hospital, and I know the investigators concluded that the dead gang member at the scene fired the bullet that hit me, but they were wrong. Rick Sebastian was at John A. Henry that night, and he shot me.”

“Were you wearing a vest?”

“Always.” She touched her shoulder. “The bullet came in at an angle through the arm opening. Rarely ever happens.”

“I just wish you’d showed the photos you have to Billingsley.”

“He would have shot them down. He’d already warned me not to accuse Phillip of something I couldn’t prove.” She stood. “I’ll let you see them for yourself.”

She collected the jump drive and her computer and returned to the kitchen. Once the grainy images appeared, she turned the computer where Max could see them. “See? It’s impossible to tell where the photos were taken—the school isn’t evident—or when they were taken. Phillip could argue the photos had been taken months before. And Sebastian is little more than a shadowy figure. I know it’s him, but would anyone else? Probably not.”

Max turned to her. “I understand why you might be hesitant to show these to anyone. How about the kid you saved? What did he remember?”

“Not much. He was focused on his dad. He and his grandmother were new to the apartments, so neither of them recognized any of the players.” She cocked her head. “You know how sometimes everything comes together like clockwork? Well, that night was just the opposite—if anything could go wrong, it did.

“I have to focus on the good.They didn’t all walk. At least I put some of the gang members away. And Sebastian served time. But it should’ve been longer, especially after he threatened me, not once but twice.”

Max hesitated. “I hope you consider me your friend, and if I ask questions, it’s not because I don’t believe you. I just need more information. You say he threatened you. That should’ve been enough to charge him.”

Her shoulders sagged. “No one heard him but me, and no DA would touch it—it would’ve been a he-said-she-said situation.”

“Tell me what happened,” he said gently.

Sebastian’s words echoed in her head, and she swallowed down the bile that rose up in her throat. “The first time was after I came back to work ... I was working the desk Captain Billingsley assigned me, and it was just before Sebastian’s trial for the cocaine bust. He was still out on bond, and another detective in the Unit had brought him in for questioning in the death of a rival gang member, which nothing came of, by the way. I’m telling you, Sebastian is like Teflon—nothing sticks to him.

“I happened to be on the elevator when he and the detective escorting him to the lobby got on. The elevator was crowded and noisy. He managed to lean in close and say, ‘The next time you won’t survive.’”

“Too bad no one else heard him.”

“Yeah. I barely heard him.” She shrugged. “Like I said, it was noisy.”

“You said he threatened you twice?”

Jenna nodded. “The second time was in the courtroom afterhe was convicted, and he only mouthed the words ‘You’re dead.’ Evidently no one saw him do it other than me.”

Max reached for her hands and gave a gentle squeeze, stilling the frantic pace of her heart. When he’d been head of the robbery division, he’d always been there for her, for all of his detectives, unlike her boss in the gang unit.

She and Max had always connected. How she’d missed that. Jenna hadn’t connected with anyone on that level at the Russell County Sheriff’s Office except Alex ... and maybe Wayne.

She looked up at him. “Tell me something?”

“If I can.”

She probably shouldn’t even ask, but it had bugged her for over five years. “I understand why you went to the TBI—I even thought about applying—but why did you leave Chattanooga? The Bureau has an office there.”

“It was time to leave,” he said after a long pause. “And you need to call Alex and let her know about Sebastian.”

Max had never been one to lay his cards on the table, and this was no exception. “Do you think it’s possible he was the one who broke into my house this morning?”

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