The Stranger
Jake's POV
My radio crackled to life just as I was about to take my first sip of coffee.
"Sheriff Morrison, we got shots fired on Main Street. Someone's shooting at the shop!"
I dropped my mug and it broke on the floor. Coffee spilled everywhere, but I didn't care. I grabbed my gun and badge, running for the door. My heart was racing. Nothing like this ever happened in Millbrook Bay. Ever.
I jumped in my police car and hit the sirens. The sound bounced off the empty buildings as I raced through town. It was past midnight, so the streets were dark and quiet. Too quiet.
When I got to Main Street, I saw broken glass sparkling under the lamps. The rear window of a beat-up Honda was totally destroyed. But no shooter. No victim. Just an eerie silence that made my skin crawl.
I called out, "This is Sheriff Morrison! Is anyone hurt?"
A voice came from above the kitchen. A woman's voice, weak but strong. "Up here! I'm okay, but someone just tried to shoot me!"
I looked up and saw a figure in the window. The new person everyone had been talking about today. The one who rented Mrs. Patterson's room and hung up a detective sign.
"Stay where you are," I called. "I'm coming up."
But as I walked toward the shop door, something crunched under my feet. I shined my lamp down and saw a cell phone, cracked and broken. Next to it was a piece of paper with writing on it.
I picked up the paper and read it. My blood turned cold.
"Tell Jake Morrison his father's secret isn't buried as deep as he thinks."
My hands started shaking. My father died when I was twelve. Everyone said it was a heart attack. But this note... what secret? What did my dad have to do with someone shooting at the new detective?
I folded the paper quickly and put it in my pocket. I couldn't let anyone else see this. Not yet.
I climbed the stairs to the flat, my mind racing. The woman opened the door before I could knock. She had dark hair and smart eyes that reminded me of someone I couldn't place. She was holding a baseball bat like she knew how to use it.
"Are you hurt?" I asked.
"No, but it was close. Someone loaded a gun right below my window, then started shooting. I saw the gun flash."
I looked around her room. Everything seemed normal except for the glass on the floor from her broken window. "Did you see who it was?"
"Too dark. But Sheriff..." She paused, like she was deciding whether to trust me. "This wasn't chance. Someone called me earlier and told me to leave town. They mentioned my sister."
"Your sister?"
" She died two years ago in San Francisco. Car crash. But the caller said she tried to warn people about something. What could my sister have told people about here? I never even told her I was coming to Millbrook Bay."
I felt sick to my stomach. Two years ago. That's when Lisa Chen died. Lisa Chen, who came to town asking questions about her daughter. The daughter she gave up for adoption sixteen years ago. The daughter who lived right here in Millbrook Bay.
But this woman didn't know about Riley. She didn't know her sister had been here. She didn't know anything.
And if Eleanor Blackwood found out who she really was...
"What's your name?" I asked, even though I was afraid of the answer.
"Maya Chen."
There it was. The name I was dreading. Maya Chen. Lisa Chen's sister. Riley's aunt. The woman Eleanor Blackwood would kill to keep quiet.
I had to think fast. "Ms. Chen, I think you should stay somewhere else tonight. Maybe the motel outside town."
"Why? Do you know something about this?"
I couldn't tell her the truth. Not yet. If Eleanor found out that Lisa Chen's sister was here, Maya would end up like Lisa. Dead in a fake car crash.
"It's just safer," I said. "Until I figure out who's behind this."
But Maya stepped closer to me, and I could see the purpose in her eyes. The same look her sister had before she died.
"Sheriff Morrison, I used to be a cop in Los Angeles. I know when someone's hiding something. You know why someone shot at me tonight, don't you?"
I wanted to tell her everything. About her sister's real death. About Riley being her sister. About Eleanor's work and why people who asked questions disappeared. But if I told her now, she'd go after Eleanor herself. And Eleanor would kill her just like she killed Lisa.
"I don't know anything for sure," I lied. "But I promise I'll investigate."
Maya studied my face. "You're a bad liar, Sheriff. But fine. I'll play along for now."
She walked to her window and looked down at the street. "Whoever did this left their phone behind. Maybe there are clues on it."
My heart stopped. I had forgotten about the broken phone downstairs. If Maya found it and saw the text messages...
"I already bagged it as evidence," I said quickly. "I'll check it tomorrow."
That was another lie. I was going to destroy that phone and the note about my father. I couldn't let Maya see either one.
"Good," Maya said. "Because I have a feeling this is just the beginning."
She was right, but she had no idea how right.
My radio crackled again. It was my deputy, Pete.
"Sheriff, you need to get back to the station. Now. Eleanor Blackwood is here, and she's asking a lot of questions about the new woman in town. She says it's important."
I looked at Maya and saw her watching me carefully. She caught the fear in my eyes.
"Who's Eleanor Blackwood?" she asked.
"Just a local business owner," I said. Another lie.
"Sheriff Morrison," Maya said quietly, "I think someone's trying very hard to scare me away from this town. But I've never backed down from a fight. If someone killed my sister, I'm going to find out who."
I felt stuck between protecting her and protecting the town. Eleanor was waiting for me at the station, probably with orders to make Maya disappear. Maya was determined to explore her sister's death, which would get her killed.
And somewhere in between, a sixteen-year-old girl called Riley had no idea her aunt had just arrived in town.
I started toward the door, then stopped. "Ms. Chen, whatever you do, don't trust anyone in this town. Not completely. Not yet."
"Does that include you, Sheriff?"
I met her eyes and saw the same bravery that got her sister killed.
"Yeah," I said honestly. "Especially me."
I left her standing in her broken apartment and walked back to my police car. Eleanor was waiting, and I knew exactly what she was going to ask me to do.
The question was whether I'd have the guts to say no.
As I drove toward the station, I saw a person watching Maya's window from across the street. Someone Eleanor had sent to keep an eye on the Chen woman who asked too many questions.
Just like her sister before her.
I pressed harder on the gas pedal, knowing I was about to make the most important choice of my life.
And hoping Maya Chen would live long enough for it to matter.