Fugitive Justice by Rayven T. Hill

hear the officers had found the abandoned car. Jake was much too smart to keep driving it around.
    What bothered him most was that Jake had vanished. Given the overwhelming evidence, Hank knew he was duty-bound to bring Jake in, but he was finding it hard to believe his friend was a criminal. He’d known him and Annie a long time.
    There had to be another explanation.
    Hank went to the passenger side of the Toyota and opened the front door. A camera lay on the seat beside a pair of binoculars. Jake had said he’d taken pictures of the mysterious visitor to the Overstone home, and Hank was anxious to see them.
    He pulled on a pair of surgical gloves and handed another pair to King. Picking up the camera, he turned it on and fumbled his way through the controls. He raised his head a few moments later, a deep frown on his brow.
    There were no pictures on the camera.
    Not even one.
    Why had Jake lied about that?
    “Found a burner phone here,” King said, ducking out of the back door of the vehicle. “It was under the seat.” He handed the phone to Hank.
    Hank took the cell and swiped through it. He consulted his notepad and said, “This is the phone that sent the text message to Mrs. Overstone. It’s the same number.” He swiped a couple more times and held the phone up for King to see. “There’s the message.”
    “Am on my way. Bringing money,” King read.
    Why would Jake have been bringing her money? If he’d been doing a surveillance job for her, like he’d said, he wouldn’t have been taking her any money. And if he’d gone to Mrs. Overstone’s house with the purpose of killing her, he would’ve had no reason to bring her cash.
    Hank pulled out his cell phone and called a number.
    “Jameson, it’s Hank,” he said into the phone when a deep voice answered. “I need to know the contents of Jake’s pockets.”
    “Hold on a sec,” Jameson said, then returned a moment later. “There’s a business card here. Richmond Realty. It’s Niles Overstone’s card. The house address and a phone number’s on the back.” He read out the number.
    Hank glanced at his notepad. “That’s Mrs. Overstone’s cell number,” he said. “What else?”
    “There’s an envelope here stuffed with bills.” The sound of rustling paper came over the line, then Jameson continued, “All fifties. Do you want me to count it?”
    “Yup.”
    A few moments later, Jameson said, “Two thousand in fifties.”
    “Anything else? No cell phone?”
    “His wallet, his watch, a few loose coins, a photo of Niles Overstone, and a ring of keys. That’s everything.”
    “Thanks, Jameson,” Hank said and hung up. He scratched his head. The take from the bank robbery was forty-eight hundred. Two thousand was less than half, but if Merrilla Overstone had been blackmailing Jake and demanding a cut, that might’ve been the agreed-on amount.
    According to the bank manager, each bill in the stack of hundreds stolen during the robbery was marked. The fifties weren’t marked, so there seemed to be no way of tracing the envelope full of cash back to the robbery. He made a note in his pad to check with the manager again, but it seemed doubtful she’d be able to identify the cash.
    Hank wondered why Jake would have a business card from Richmond Realty, and he was anxious to talk to Niles Overstone. Had Mr. Overstone hired Jake to kill his wife? If so, where did the bank robbery fit in?
    Or perhaps Mrs. Overstone had recognized Jake at the robbery, told her husband, and the two had concocted a scheme to blackmail Jake. All the evidence appeared to fit that scenario. If so, Niles Overstone’s life might be in danger. Did Jake have a photo of Niles Overstone with him so he’d know what the man looked like when he came for him?
    And the thought that Annie might’ve known about this whole arrangement disturbed Hank deeply.
    Annie was a close friend of his, and he’d need to have a long talk with her. And unfortunately, he’d have to obtain a