Page 30 of Target Acquired
A shudder rippled through his slender frame. “I didn’t know. I swear.”
“I believe you,” Cole said. And he did. There was nothing but truth in the boy’s eyes and words. He’d been a pawn in a dangerous man’s game.
Micah frowned. “Why would he do that? I’m just a kid. I shouldn’t be handling stuff like that.”
No kidding. “That guy wasn’t a real cop, Micah,” Cole said. At least he prayed he wasn’t. “No real law enforcement officer would ever ask you to do something like that.”
The boy’s green eyes with lashes all women would envy widened. “Then who was he?”
“That’s what we’re going to find out.”
“Garrison?” James’ voice came through the comms.
“Yeah?”
“Micah’s mother is here.”
He held a hand out to Micah, who took it and let Cole pull him to his feet. “Your mom’s here.”
Micah flinched. “She’s going to be so mad at me.”
“Maybe not. We’ll talk to her.”
The boy shifted and bit his lip once more.
“What is it?”
“The money. Do I get it back?” Tears formed in his eyes, but he straightened his shoulders and swallowed hard. “Mom needs that money.”
Cole sighed. “I have to keep it for right now. It’s evidence. But I’ll make sure you get it back as soon as the lab is done with it, okay?”
“When will that be?”
“I don’t know. Probably a few weeks.”
“Oh.” His shoulders drooped.
“You have something to spend it on before then?”
“Yeah,” he whispered. “They’re going to turn the power off tomorrow if Mom doesn’t pay the bill. That would have paid the power and bought some groceries too.”
Two things no twelve-year-old should be worried about. He patted the kid’s shoulder. “We’ll see what we can do to make sure the power stays on. Anything else?”
“Um. I don’t know if it’s important, but something fell out of his pocket when he pulled out the money.” He dug into the front pocket of his jeans and pulled out a small label. “I only picked it up because I wanted something to remember the day by. I thought it was going to be a cool one, something to brag about to my friends. Now I don’t want it.”
Cole’s radio went off with the code for the all clear. He took the tiny piece of paper by the edge with forefinger and thumb. No way to get a print off that, but . . . “King, you got an evidence bag?”
“Heard the all clear so I’ll get one out of the car.”
She left and returned in seconds. He slipped the piece of paper into the bag, sealed it, and labeled it. Then took a good look at it. “It’s a label from a piece of fruit.”
“Guess that’s stupid, huh?” Micah asked.
“No way. This might actually be super helpful. Good job.” The boy’s eyes lit up and he offered Cole a small smile. “You ready to get out of here?” Cole asked him.
“Yeah.”
Cole led the way out with the others following him. As soon as they reached the barrier of the crime scene tape, a woman who looked to be in her midforties gasped. “Micah!”