Monday, December 17, 2018

It was when they'd shown me the picture, that I'd given into Constantine and asked for a lawyer.

The photo had to be at least five years old. At first glance, I barely recognized the people in it. But I knew it was us. We were all smiling and laughing. It had been taken at the summer camp we'd all attended as children. There was nothing like the friendships that we'd formed over those years.

Christee and I stood with our arms wrapped around each other, smiles wide and matching ponytails high. We both wore matching yellow shirts with the words Camp Blackfoot sprawled across it. William stood behind us laughing as he pointed to the purple shirt he'd had on. His hair had been box cut and like me, he'd still had his braces on.

Then, there was Bailey.

He stood next to William with a smile so contagious that I couldn't help but to smile when looking at it. His hand rested on my shoulder as he used his free hand to point at the orange shirt he had on. It was the first summer that the four of us hadn't been a part of the same cabin. He and William had matching haircuts; the only difference was the curl pattern. We'd all joke that he was a black kid that looked Mexican just to piss him off. Nothing pissed Bailey off more than being called Mexican when he was Puerto Rican.

Constantine always told me that boys with brown eyes were dangerous.

Until I'd met Bailey, I didn't know how right Mama was.

The police station I had been dragged to was stuffed in between City Hall and the Fire Station. It even had the pleasure of coming with a fully equipped jail in its rear. If that wasn't enough, a daycare and a playground sat slightly next door. Constantine managed to get the Officer to not place handcuffs on me in respect of Liberty. He agreed, but that didn't stop them from grilling me about Bailey.

A knock came at the door followed by the sounds of heels and an all too familiar face.

Kara smiled at me as she walked over to the camera and turned it off. "Well, I'm glad I got to you before the public defender did."

"What are you doing here?" I raised an eyebrow. Kara shook her head as she locked the door behind her. She didn't even look surprised that I was there. "Isn't this a conflict of interest?"

"When your mother is the mayor and your stepfather is the District Attorney, is there ever a time when something isn't a conflict of interest?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Good point."

"Now," she pulled the chair out from next to me. "Are you comfortable answering their questions now that I'm here?"

I nodded my head as she walked over and turned the camera back on.

"My client and I are ready." Kara stuck her head out of the door before sitting down again.

"Aleigha Emerson?"

A new detective stood in front of us making me more irritated than I knew I was capable of being. His nameplate read Montgomery. You could tell from the way he walked in the room that he'd been in the field long enough to know what he was doing but not long enough for the job to have turned all his hair grey from the lies and the deceit he was about to get himself into. The only thing that was grey, were his eyes. Somehow, his eyes seemed full of hope and happiness. I scoffed. It was obvious he still believed in making a difference.

People in Grayson knew the saying making a difference was just that; a saying.

"I'm her lawyer," Kara stood up and offered him her hand. He shook it as he sat down across from us. "Please excuse our appearances. This was short notice. Your people pulled us from a funeral."

"For the record," he began. "This is an off the books conversation. I'm sure the two of you know who managed to get it to be that way."

"She's the Mayor's daughter," Kara smiled. "My client likes to take precautions when it comes to her children."

Officer Montgomery nodded as he slid the case file across the table. On the side of the manila folder, rested Bailey's last name, Ramirez. Kara opened the file and began to flip through the pages as the officer pulled out a pen and a notepad. She placed her hand on top of the folder, making sure that I couldn't see into it while she was trying to read whatever it held.

"Please state your full name, age, date and place of birth for the unofficial statement. We will be doing this again for the official one," Montgomery looked up at me. "Consider this practice."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes as I faced the camera, "Aleigha Kathleen Emerson, age twenty-two, date of birth July 14th, 1996, place of birth Greyson, Georgia."

"Thank you," Officer Montgomery nodded as he jotted down what I said. "Now, Aleigha, we just want to know where you were the night of October 31, 2016"

Kara nodded at me to answer the question.

"I was in Atlanta," I whispered as I glanced over at the camera. Cameras made me nervous. "I was staying with a family friend and two of my younger siblings."

"Names and ages as of present day?"

"Nicolette Wyatt age twenty-three," I looked into his eyes. Constantine always said that the eyes were the key to the soul. If you knew what you were looking for, just one glance could tell you everything you needed to know about a person. "Ryan and Riley Taylor-Emerson whom are both twenty."

Officer Montgomery was looking for the truth.

"Were you aware of the party that was happening an hour away, here in Grayson?"

I looked over at Kara who nodded again. Whatever was in that folder managed to capture her attention in ways that my interrogation didn't. "Yes."

"Were you the author of the threats found at the car of Giovanni Lee?" Officer Montgomery asked as Kara began to flip through the pages in the folder. "Or how about the ones at the rented house of Peyton Richardson, the bedroom of William Harper or the locker of Christee Reynaldo?"

"What threats?" Kara placed the folder back on the table. "This folder doesn't mention a threat. Only videos, sticky notes and text messages. No one listed them as threats."

"Detectives believe Bailey left the party that night to look for you," Montgomery looked over at me, completely ignoring Kara in the process.

"Why would he leave the party to look for me?" I frowned. My heart was racing. Of course, they knew about the party. Everyone knew about that damn party. "We were there together."

Officer Montgomery took out a pen and began to jot notes as we spoke. "You just said you were over an hour away in Atlanta. How did you get to the party?"

"I drove," I frowned as I folded my arms across my chest. From the way he gripped the pen and wrote, I could tell he thought I was lying to him. This was not going as well as I'd hoped. "I arrived a little after Bailey and our friends."

"And what are the names of those friends?"

"Those names are listed in the file," Kara forcefully placed her hand on the table. "Are you trying to get something out of my client?"

"My apologies, Ms. Emerson," Officer Montgomery nodded. "I will rephrase it. The last people to see Bailey Ramirez, are listed as your sisters, Luna and Stella Emerson."

"Why are we really here?" Kara interrupted. "If Stella and Luna are the last people to see him, why are we here?"

"This is public knowledge as you may know but if you don't, I will tell you," Officer Montgomery replied as if Kara hadn't asked a question. "Bailey Ramirez has been missing for three weeks. No one has heard from him. Of course, we thought it was a vacation or a last-minute trip until we found his car on the side of the highway in a ditch with his wallet still there. If Aleigha knows anything about his whereabouts, now would be the time for her to open her mouth and tell us so we can do our jobs properly."

Before I could respond, Kara stood up. "May I have a moment alone with my client?"

"Of course," Montgomery replied as he stood up and walked over to the door. "You have ten minutes."

"What the hell was all of that about?" My stomach dropped as I sat with my mouth opened. Tears pooled in my eyes as Kara ran a hand across her face in frustration. She had every right to be frustrated but for some reason, I didn't want to hear it. There was nothing my sister could do.

"It's complicated, Ally," Kara muttered as she began to pace the floor.

Pacing was Kara's way of saying things were out of control. When things were out of control, my family had a way of thinking that pacing or cleaning could fix all your problems. When you couldn't clean, you paced. When you couldn't pace, you cleaned. It was that simple.

"Complicated?" I stared at her. As much as I loved Kara, she had it the easiest out of all of us. She wouldn't know complicated if it hit her in the face. "Three weeks go by and no one bothers to tell me he's missing. When were you going to tell me what happened, Kara?"

"The timing, Aleigha," Kara bit her lip and sighed. "It's the timing."

"No..." I shook my head in disbelief. She was lying. There was no way in hell. "No. Nope. Not Bailey."

"Aleigha, we just buried our sister. Can you honestly tell me that isn't a coincidence?"

"I can," I responded. My eyes danced across her face as I tried to not look in her eyes. "People die every day."

"Oh really?" Kara raised an eyebrow as I wiped the tears from my face. "What about that accident Giovanni got into a year ago, or that time Christee's Uber dropped her off at the wrong location?"

"Coincidences," I interrupted at her as the tears continued to fall. "Bailey isn't a target."

"Open your eyes, Aleigha," Kara opened the folder and placed it in front of me. "Everyone who was there that night is being targeted. Every single person."

I ran a hand over the stack of paper clipped pages. Each stack held a photo of someone that I'd either gone to school with or someone that Luna and Stella were friends with. I bit my lip as I flipped through the pages. This was bad. This was not the plan.

Kara leaned against the table. "Aleigha, what happened that night?"

I opened my mouth, but Kara shook her head. "The truth. I can't help you unless you tell me the truth."

"Well," I sighed, folding my arms across my chest. "It started with Kasey."