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Authors: Melody Carlson
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want to get the charges dropped.”
‘ He shrugs. “It's my life, and I happen to believe in my rights and that I am supposed to be innocent until someone
proves
me guilty.”
“But why go through all that when you could've gotten off like Olivia and me?”
“I'll get off,” he assures me.
“Whatever.”
“Did Olivia quit the band like she said she was going to?”
I nod as I take a pen out of my bag. “She told Cañneron why she was quitting, and he was really bummed.”
“If he's that bummed, maybe he should lose Jack McAllister.”
“Olivia said that Cameron said Jack doesn't do meth.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Seriously,” I tell him. “Cameron seemed pretty sure of it.”
Then Cameron is in deep denial.”
I study Garrett as Mr. Dynell goes to the front of the class. “How can you be so sure?” I ask, but the bell rings, and it's time for another exciting chem test. TGF. Still, I wonder what makes Garrett such an expert. I also continue to wonder if there's another reason he refused to take the drug test. Maybe sometime, when we have more time, I'll ask him specifically.
After school, Olivia drops me off at the police station. Ebony asked me to come in and discuss some things with her. As it turns out, the department is creating a task force to really focus on the growing meth problem in our community.
“Because of that dream you had,” Ebony tells me, “which I assume was meth related, I think you should be on the task force.”
“Sure. I'd like to be.”
“Naturally, this is an internal task force. No one on the outside should be aware of your involvement. The chief will be especially pleased to learn that someone from the high school will be participating.”
I consider this. “Does that make me a narc?”
She frowns. “That just comes with the department territory, Samantha. I assumed you knew that.”
I nod. “I guess I do know that. But sometimes I need a reminder.” I force a smile. “It's like I have a double life, you know? High-school student by day, secret agent by night.”
Ebony laughs. “Well, the main goal of the task force isn't to nail high-school kids who are using,” she explains. “Not that addiction issues don't concern us. They do.But what we want to do is to backtrack up the drug line until we find the ones at the top. The manufacturers and distributors. That's where we want to make some big arrests.”
“I always thought that meth came from somewhere else,” I say. “I mean, we always hear about the 1-5 Corridor, and I figured it was coming up here from California or Mexico or someplace far away.”
“A lot of people figure that same thing, and it's partially true, but we have reason to believe that a fair amount of the substance is coming from right here in Brighton.”
“Oh…”
“That's why we're taking this all very seriously.”
I nod.
“They did some more testing on the meth residue in the baggie from Olivia's car. We have reason to believe it was locally manufactured as well.”
“Really?”
“And we would love to find out who put that in Olivia's car.” She leans forward now. “Do you have any ideas?”
“To be honest, I'd kind of put it out of my mind.”
“I can understand that. But I'd like you to give it some thought.” She leans back and sighs now. “I guess I'm even hoping that God might help you out on this. It's disturbing to think that high-school kids are getting drugs from local manufacturers.”
“Why?”
“Oh, I suppose it's because it makes getting meth seem so much easier, so much more accessible.” She shakes her head.
“Well, I'll do what I can.”
Ebony gives me a notebook with some printed materialin it. “Go over this information when you can. There'll be a task-force meeting on Wednesday.”
I thank her, and she asks how Zach is doing. I smile and act like everything is okay, and she nods and seems pleased. But as I leave the police station, I feel like a liar and a hypocrite. This is
‘ He shrugs. “It's my life, and I happen to believe in my rights and that I am supposed to be innocent until someone
proves
me guilty.”
“But why go through all that when you could've gotten off like Olivia and me?”
“I'll get off,” he assures me.
“Whatever.”
“Did Olivia quit the band like she said she was going to?”
I nod as I take a pen out of my bag. “She told Cañneron why she was quitting, and he was really bummed.”
“If he's that bummed, maybe he should lose Jack McAllister.”
“Olivia said that Cameron said Jack doesn't do meth.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Seriously,” I tell him. “Cameron seemed pretty sure of it.”
Then Cameron is in deep denial.”
I study Garrett as Mr. Dynell goes to the front of the class. “How can you be so sure?” I ask, but the bell rings, and it's time for another exciting chem test. TGF. Still, I wonder what makes Garrett such an expert. I also continue to wonder if there's another reason he refused to take the drug test. Maybe sometime, when we have more time, I'll ask him specifically.
After school, Olivia drops me off at the police station. Ebony asked me to come in and discuss some things with her. As it turns out, the department is creating a task force to really focus on the growing meth problem in our community.
“Because of that dream you had,” Ebony tells me, “which I assume was meth related, I think you should be on the task force.”
“Sure. I'd like to be.”
“Naturally, this is an internal task force. No one on the outside should be aware of your involvement. The chief will be especially pleased to learn that someone from the high school will be participating.”
I consider this. “Does that make me a narc?”
She frowns. “That just comes with the department territory, Samantha. I assumed you knew that.”
I nod. “I guess I do know that. But sometimes I need a reminder.” I force a smile. “It's like I have a double life, you know? High-school student by day, secret agent by night.”
Ebony laughs. “Well, the main goal of the task force isn't to nail high-school kids who are using,” she explains. “Not that addiction issues don't concern us. They do.But what we want to do is to backtrack up the drug line until we find the ones at the top. The manufacturers and distributors. That's where we want to make some big arrests.”
“I always thought that meth came from somewhere else,” I say. “I mean, we always hear about the 1-5 Corridor, and I figured it was coming up here from California or Mexico or someplace far away.”
“A lot of people figure that same thing, and it's partially true, but we have reason to believe that a fair amount of the substance is coming from right here in Brighton.”
“Oh…”
“That's why we're taking this all very seriously.”
I nod.
“They did some more testing on the meth residue in the baggie from Olivia's car. We have reason to believe it was locally manufactured as well.”
“Really?”
“And we would love to find out who put that in Olivia's car.” She leans forward now. “Do you have any ideas?”
“To be honest, I'd kind of put it out of my mind.”
“I can understand that. But I'd like you to give it some thought.” She leans back and sighs now. “I guess I'm even hoping that God might help you out on this. It's disturbing to think that high-school kids are getting drugs from local manufacturers.”
“Why?”
“Oh, I suppose it's because it makes getting meth seem so much easier, so much more accessible.” She shakes her head.
“Well, I'll do what I can.”
Ebony gives me a notebook with some printed materialin it. “Go over this information when you can. There'll be a task-force meeting on Wednesday.”
I thank her, and she asks how Zach is doing. I smile and act like everything is okay, and she nods and seems pleased. But as I leave the police station, I feel like a liar and a hypocrite. This is
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