Page 78 of Hard Knock Hero

“I don’t see why I should do anything,” I said. “Where’s Sheriff Douglas?”

The deputy didn’t answer my question. “We got an anonymous tip,” he repeated, “and we want to search your dumpster.”

“Excuseme?”

“Do you consent?”

Aiden wrapped his arm around me, nudging me aside so he could push in front. “Absolutely not. She’s not agreeing to anything.”

I followed Aiden out, ignoring the icy cold that immediately seeped into my bare feet and legs. There was a small crowd of people emerging from the bar a few doors down, drawn by the presence of the sheriff’s department cruiser. Its lights were flashing. I hadn’t seen because my building didn’t have windows on the alley side.

Then my blood turned to ice.

Jeremy and Chester Rigsby were out there among the crowd. No way was that a coincidence. Somethingvery badwas about to happen. I felt it in my gut.

“If you won’t consent,” the deputy said, “I’m proceeding anyway. Your trash is abandoned property.” Raising his flashlight, he flipped the latch and opened the lid of the dumpster. Then he reared back. “Oh,shit.”

Aiden grabbed my arm. “Jessi, go back inside the diner.”

“No.” I pushed forward to see, dread flooding me. I spotted a snow boot in the dumpster. It was attached to a leg. I saw a blue-tinged face.

Mitch Rigsby’s body was in my dumpster.

I screamed.

Aiden pulled me back. Another deputy had just arrived, Deputy Marsh, and she was trying to hold back the onlookers. Shock spread like a wave through the gathering crowd. Gasps and cries. Murmurs as the news passed from one person to the next. Chester and Jeremy weren’t surprised. They lookedsmug.

They’d done this.

“Jessi Novo, you’re under arrest,” the first deputy barked at me.

“Whoa, hold on.” Aiden stepped in front of me. “You have no probable cause. Jessi had nothing to do with any of this.”

“This is her property! And we have witnesses who’ve reported that Mitch was last seen with Jessi, and that she had motive to kill him. She’s coming to the station.”

Witnesses? Chester’s friends, I had no doubt. They were setting me up.

“She’s staying here,” Aiden said calmly. And then he did the dumbest thing possible. The very thing I’d already realized he was about to do. “I’m the one who killed Mitch. Arrest me. Leave Jessi out of it.”

“Aiden,” I cried.

A sheriff’s department truck roared into the alley. Owen’s official vehicle. He jumped out. “What the hell is going on?” He had his coat over pajamas, his hat askew. He glanced at the deputy, then at me.

“It’s Mitch Rigsby,” his deputy said. “The tip said there was a body in Jessi’s dumpster, that she’d killed him, and it was right.”

“And who do you think called in that tip! Who are the witnesses!” I cried. Aiden was talking too, but everything was turning to chaos. People jostling to get closer. Staring and pointing. Shouts.

Owen stalked over to the dumpster and swore.

“I confessed,” Aiden said. “You can take me into custody, but Jessi has nothing to do with it.”

Owen stared hard at him. Then nodded. The deputy slapped cuffs onto Aiden’s wrists.

“No!” I yelled.

I started to rush after them, my bare feet going numb, but Owen grabbed both my arms and held me back.

Aiden looked over at me, shaking his head. “Call your brother,” he shouted at me. “You shouldn’t be alone.” The deputy pushed his head down and shoved him into the backseat of the cruiser.

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