Page 43 of Silencing Stolen Whispers
“Who is that he’s meeting with?” Lydia asked with interest as she continued to stare while reaching for another nacho. “I’ve got to say, Kin. I’ve never seen either man at The Plow before.”
“Elliot Goff.”
“No!” It was Lydia’s turn to protest in response. “The forensics tech who was fired from the department?”
“One and the same,” Kin murmured as she wrapped her hand around the chilled bottle of beer.“He accepted a bribe from a reporter who wanted inside Gantz’s home after his arrest.”
Elliot Goff was of average height with a lean build. He also carried a nervous energy that caused him to constantly shift hisweight from foot to foot. He was the reason all the evidence had been dismissed from the trial. Technically, Kinsley was to blame because her father had overheard her private conversation with Alex.
“Doesn’t Goff work for some private lab now?”
“Last I heard,” Kinsley murmured in agreement as she began to pick away at the label on her beer bottle.
Beck had shaken Goff’s hand, but the interaction didn’t seem overly friendly. If anything, Goff appeared uneasy, his gaze drifting around the bar while listening to Beck. The lights above them highlighted the man’s discomfort, too. It wasn’t long before he locked gazes with Kinsley.
She didn’t bother to hide her disgust at his presence.
Suddenly, Goff was shaking his head and arguing with Beck. He hadn’t quite caused a scene, but those nearby had begun to take notice. It was apparent that Beck tried to reason with the man, but the battle was lost.Elliot Goff left Beck standing alone at the bar, eventually exiting the establishment without once glancing her way again.
“Do you think that Beck Serra is still trying to locate Calvin Gantz?” Lydia asked as she finally pushed the half-empty plate of nachos away from them. “He hounded you last October about it, remember?”
“Hard to forget,” Kinsley muttered in disdain as she continued to monitor Beck. He raised a hand to signal the bartender for a drink. While waiting for Chuck to approach, he started scanning the faces of the patrons. She didn’t avert her stare when he froze in place upon realizing why Elliot Goff had left in such a rush. “And yes, I think that’s exactly why he decided to meet Elliot Goff out here. Goff knows better than to step foot in The Bucket.”
The pieces began falling into place with sickening clarity.
Kinsley wasn’t sure why she hadn’t considered that Beck might have been the one sending her notes in the first place. While he had already been known as a respected investigative journalist prior to the Gantz trial, landing that interview had cemented his status among his peers in journalism.
Gantz’s disappearance had left Beck with no follow-up story, though. The missing persons report was enough to spark his curiosity, and he had tried very hard last year to get an interview with her. She believed at the time that she had shut it down.
But what if Beck had never stopped investigating?
What if he had been quietly digging into Gantz's disappearance, following leads and chasing shadows in hopes of landing another career-defining article? Just how far was he willing to go to get a story?
As quickly as her suspicion had formed, it began to shift into something else entirely. If Beckwasresponsible for the notes, then he didn't truly have knowledge of anything concrete. He was just guessing, throwing out bait in hopes of making her slip up or reveal information he could exploit.
The notes weren't proof of his knowledge—they were proof of his desperation.
The weight pressing down on her chest for the past eight months began to lift, like fog clearing under morning sunlight. If Beck was her tormentor, then she wasn't dealing with someone who had damning evidence. She was facing someone bluffing with an empty hand.
Kinsley stopped peeling the label on the bottle.
Instead, she picked up her beer and tilted the bottle toward her best friend.
“What is this about?” Lydia asked in confusion, lifting her own drink in automatic response to Kinsley’s gesture.
She wanted to reply with the truth. That her oldest brother’s life, his family, and his daughter were safe from harm. Kinsleywould have protected all three had she been arrested for murdering Gantz, but she was confident now that it wouldn’t come to that.
“To getting back to normal.”
17
Beck Serra
July
Saturday — 6:24 pm
The heavy wooden door of The Local Plow swung open on its hinges, instantly eliminating some of the evening heat as Beck Serra stepped inside. Unfortunately, the humidity clung to his clothes like a second damp layer.
