The Pact (Kate Burkholder #11.5) - Linda Castillo Page 0,20

on a burst of speed, dive for him, reach out, wrap my arms around his waist. He drags me a few feet, so I jam my shoulder into the small of his back and take him down in a flying tackle.

He hits the ground with so much force he skids through gravel. My chin slams against his spine. I try to lock my arms around him, but his sweatshirt rides up. My hands slide on skin slick with sweat. He twists, raises his leg, shoves me with his foot, and I lose my grip.

“Stop resisting!” I make another grab for him, miss, my hands fisting his shirt.

Fabric tears. He writhes, cursing, and tries to dislodge me. His knee comes up, slams into the side of my face. Pain zings along my jaw.

He flops onto his backside, raises both feet to kick me. I get my first good look at his face. Jason Hodges. I see panic and rage. Lips peeled back in a snarl, teeth clenched, spittle flying.

“Jason!” I shout. “Stop!”

The next thing I know Skid comes down on top of him, flattening him, using his momentum and weight to overpower him. “Turn over, dude,” he says. “Face down. Relax. Do it now.”

The boy tries to twist away, but we scramble, get him flipped onto his stomach. Once he’s prone, Skid sets his knee against the boy’s back. I grasp one of his arms, Skid gets the other and cuffs him.

“I didn’t do anything!” the boy shouts.

“Get up.” Skid rises.

Taking the boy’s arm, I help him to his feet. The three of us stand there for a moment, the only sound coming from our labored breathing. A few yards away, a Holmes County deputy approaches us from the trestle.

“Your parents aren’t going to be happy with you,” I say to the boy. “Neither is Ashley.”

The boy hangs his head. In shame or defeat, I can’t tell. Or maybe he’s downcast simply because he got caught.

“I think I need a lawyer,” he mutters.

“Yeah, I think you do, too,” I tell him.

Skid glances at me, touches the side of his face to indicate mine. “You’re bleeding, Chief. You need an ambulance?”

“Just a few nicks.” I tell him about the railroad tie being thrown from the trestle and shattering my windshield. “I could use a ride into town, though.”

“You got it,” he says and we start toward his cruiser.

* * *

A few hours later I’m sitting at my desk at the police station finishing my arrest report, trying to ignore the headache that’s taken up residence behind my left temple. Tomasetti sits in the visitor chair adjacent to my desk, trying not to rush me, not quite succeeding. I’m not sure who called him and told him what happened on County Road 13—that a railroad tie was thrown through my windshield—but he got there in a matter of minutes. I’ll never forget the look on his face when he laid eyes on me. He’s playing it cool now, but he hasn’t let me out of his sight.

A subdued Jason Hodges was transported to the juvenile detention center in Wooster. He admitted to throwing the railroad tie off the trestle. More importantly, he admitted to running down Noah Kline. All for the simple fact that he didn’t want his sister “wasting her time on some stupid Amish boy.” He claims he didn’t mean to hurt anyone; he’d only wanted to scare him. With the exception of his parents, no one believes him, including me.

The one subject he wouldn’t discuss was the Savages. As the reality of his situation sinks in, I believe he will eventually come clean and name names. Even if he doesn’t, I’ve no doubt I’ll get to the bottom of it and bring their shady little operation to an abrupt and final end.

In the coming days, Jason will likely be charged with a multitude of serious crimes, including aggravated assault of a peace officer and failure to stop after a motor vehicle accident with serious physical harm. That he’s a minor will be taken into consideration. Still, he’s facing serious charges that will affect him for a long time to come, possibly the rest of his life.

In the good news department, Noah Kline emerged from his coma a few hours ago. According to the nurse on duty, he’s conscious and asking for food. I figure that’s a good sign.

I would have finished my reports and corresponding paperwork by now, but I’ve had a slew of visitors in the last hour, including