Page 83 of Rio's Release

Bandit opens it, and the DA walks in.

The sheriff’s face goes slack, shock in his eyes, but he doesn’t say a word.

The DA glances at the file. “That it?”

I pass it over. “There are eight reports,” I tell him, leaving out Shelby’s. Then nod to the sheriff. “Says he’s still got the rape kits. They were never processed.”

The DA scans them, shakes his head, then pins Sheriff Torres with a disgusted look. “And you sat on these?”

Torres doesn’t reply, but tightens his jaw.

“I’ll need the kits,” the DA instructs him, then looks at me. “I’ll need to interview all these victims, but if he has the kits and if the lab finds Carson’s DNA, then we’ve got a case.”

“Do you have enough to arrest him?”

“Give me a week.”

“I’ll give you a day. You’ve got plenty of probable cause.”

He scowls and huffs, but tosses the reports in his own briefcase. “Fine.”

“And you’ll want to get a search warrant for his place. He’s got some interesting photos on his computer. May have some of the victims.”

He glares at Torres. “You’re a fucking scumbag, letting this shit go on under your watch.”

“Fuck you,” Torres snaps. “You’re no fucking boy scout.”

The DA snaps his briefcase shut and flicks his gaze toward me. “We done here?”

“I expect something tomorrow.”

He jerks the door open and stalks out.

The sheriff’s face is mottled red when he turns his rage on me. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me he was showing up?”

“Where the hell did you think this was going, dumbass?” I growl in his face, grabbing his shirt and jerking him forward. When he makes no reply, I shove him away. “Keep your head down, and maybe the DA will do what he promised and cover your ass, otherwise you’ll go down with your slimy deputy. Get the fuck out of my face.”

He grabs his briefcase and leaves.

Zig closes the door behind me and crosses his arms. “You think the DA will get it done?”

“He’s too afraid to go down with all the corruption he was involved in. He’ll appease us, if not just to make all the attention go away.”

“You think that motherfucker’s still at it?”

“You mean the assaults?”

“Yeah.”

“If he is, it ends tomorrow. Come on. I want to see how many of these victims we can track down.”

“What for?”

“I want to make sure they know how important it is they talk to the DA.”

Zig follows me out, and we visit every address. Some don’t live at the locations on the files anymore, but we’re able to find five and convince them their case will finally be prosecuted if they agree to talk to the DA and testify against Carson.

Some are reluctant, but when told there is an entire group, it seems to give them the courage to stand together.

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