White Space Season 2

don’t know him; I know you. I trust you.”
    “So how do you know Roger?”
    “I didn’t know him in person. He found me on an online forum where I was posting stuff about missing people. He messaged me, saying he was onto something, but was vague. He kept trying to meet me, but I was suspicious, thinking maybe he was trying to flush me into the open, since people on the forum didn’t know who I was. The night before he shot up the school, he reached out and told me about a flash drive he had. He wouldn’t tell me how he got it, or what was on it, other than it ‘would blow my mind.’”
    “Shit,” Milo said, barely able to believe it. “Do you think it was legit? I mean, Mr. Heller did snap and shoot up his class. Maybe … ” Milo trailed off as Don’s expression soured into anger.
    “Even with all that’s happened, you still think Roger Heller meant to shoot those poor kids?”
    Milo felt awkward, as if voicing doubts would crush the man’s spirits. He believed Don was onto something, and there were definitely weird things happening on Hamilton, with more probably brewing. But Milo wasn’t sure if it was some complex conspiracy like Don was suggesting in his vague e-mails and documents, or something else. Maybe something simpler.
    Rather than try to articulate his doubts, he said what Don wanted to hear, “No, I don’t think he meant to shoot the kids. And yes, something’s definitely going on. I was just wondering if Roger would have really known anything worth knowing. I mean, he was a teacher. How would he even have come across anything?”
    “Well, let’s see, Milo,” Don said, pacing, his voice rising in pitch, inching toward frantic. “Roger killed himself and then someone shot his son and wife before killing themselves. That doesn’t seem a bit convenient to you? Like maybe he was onto something big that someone else didn’t want out there?”
    “You’re right,” Milo said, more to calm Don than truly agreeing.
    “Good,” Don swallowed and lowered his voice. “I need you to break into his house and see if you can find it. I would do it myself, but if people see me sniffing around the house, Paladin will be there in minutes. If they bust me, I’m dead, Milo. They’ll realize I’m Cody, along with the other dozen aliases I use online.”
    “And if they bust me, you don’t think I’ll get in trouble?” Milo shot back. “If you think they, whoever they are, killed the Heller family, what’s to stop them from killing me? I’m just one person, pretty easy to silence.”
    “If you get caught, you can make up something, say you went to get a game you lent Alex or some shit, I don’t know. You were friends, we weren’t. You have an easy excuse to be in there that I never will. I wouldn’t ask you otherwise. Here, I have something to help you break in.”
    Don reached into his coat and handed Milo a black pouch. He looked inside. It was a thin black strip, about the size and shape of a stick of gum. It’s a skeleton key I had made. It should open the door.”
    “And what if it doesn’t?” Milo said, slipping the pouch into his pants pocket, wanting to get it out of sight immediately, as if Don handed him a loaded gun.
    “Then find a way in,” Don said, his stone-cold eyes settling into Milo’s and filling his body with chills.

    * * * *

CHAPTER 5 — Chief Kevin Brady

    Chief Kevin Brady was nursing the thought of hitting Earl’s for a hot lunch when his cell buzzed with a call that turned daydreams of Earl’s “World Famous Chili” from a rumble in his tummy to a thick and sudden sour in his stomach.
    It was Shaw Jackson, a former deputy who retired from the department to work as a tugboat operator. “Hey, Brady, I think you ought to get down to the marina.”
    “What is it?” Brady said. The knife in his gut knew why Jackson was calling, and the tone in his voice twisted the blade. Jackson sounded scared, his voice near trembling with a current of sorrow running right through it. He sounded nothing like the jovial Paul Bunyan Brady once worked with.
    “Is it … ?” Brady asked, not needing to finish the question. They both knew he meant Christina. If Jackson found her while out on his boat, it was bad news. Brady wanted to ask, wanted confirmation, but didn’t dare speak his daughter’s name. As long as he didn’t know for certain, Brady could pretend his little girl was still alive — that she’d not been found the same way she always was in his