Hello, Little Sparrow by Jordan Jones (ebook audio reader txt) 📗

house was where he gained his wits to outsmart the police. His breadcrumbs offered them false hope that all would be fine because they were getting closer.

Brooks knew the truth.

He was uncatchable.

He knew all about the investigation thanks to the local media. They’re so addicted to the high-ratings-drug that they’ll spill every detail the police knew about Brooks.

They’re arrogance knew no bounds and it made Brooks sick.

And, tonight was a very special night. Kay would eventually venture back into the home untethered by police restrictions, though they were very obviously against her returning to the home…

…She was unafraid. Brooks respected Kay for that.

Brooks wasn’t at the house for Kay on this particular night. A pair of headlights from a truck shined down the dimly lit trailer park corridor, it’s bulky and unnecessary tires crunched the rocks underneath, making its presence obnoxious to Brooks.

The truck stopped across the narrow road from Brooks and a gentleman stepped out of the passenger side, walked around the driver’s side, and gave the unknown occupant a secret handshake before the driver reversed back down the road, passing Brooks’ sedan on his way.

Brooks peered through his binoculars at the man as he stepped up on the front porch, and the light came on displaying the man’s face.

It wasn’t the short fellow that Brooks had seen there several times before, and it certainly wasn’t the tall thin man who made his way to the Maise residence a few times with Brooks present from the outside.

This man’s build was average…about Five-Ten and two hundred pounds. Nothing too imposing, but he wasn’t a small guy, either.

Brooks turned his dome light on and checked the still frame he took off a video online and cross-referenced it with his memory of the man on the porch.

“It’s him,” Brooks said, allowing a shattering sense of relief and catharsis flow through his body.

“It’s Philip Maise.”

***

Abraham left Eldo’s Coffee Bean and took some back streets to the trailer park on the edge of town. The streets were darker than they usually were, and Abraham was convinced there was still a power outage in the area.

He stopped at a stop sign and let out a yawn, thinking it may be best to just take the left and go home for the night. Tomorrow would be exhausting enough without missing an extra fifteen minutes of sleep. He checked his dash clock again…9:42 p.m.

If he went home, he’d have about six hours of sleep, and if he kept going to the Maise residence, he’d have five and a half hours.

He tapped the steering wheel and put the car in gear and went forward, his subconscious let out a reluctant groan starting in his throat and ended on his tongue.

His car crossed the intersection down the road towards the trailer park.

***

Kay screamed.

Brooks held his pistol to the back of Philip Maise’s head, as he was hog-tied on the living room floor. Kay was crouched behind the kitchen counter, cowering down as Brooks took charge.

“You came back here,” Brooks said in a calm voice, completely unfazed by the mounting tension around him. “This place is sacred, and yet you came back.”

Philip squirmed on his belly like a fish out of water and it amused Brooks.

“Please, let me go…I’ll give you anything,” Philip said.

Brooks saw Madison’s aura standing in the corner next to the TV. He felt her presence guiding him every step of the way.

“You already have,” he said.

Kay let out another scream and Brooks waved his gun towards her, “You are not involved in what’s happening here, Mrs. Maise. You really need to keep it down.”

Philip swung around and fell to his side, looking right at the barrel of the gun. “I have a safety deposits box filled with thousands of dollars. It’s all yours. Please take it…just let us go.”

Brooks walked over to the ashtray on the coffee table and took a drag from Philip’s cigarette and put it back.

“I don’t think you’re fully grasping what’s going on here, Mr. Maise,” Brooks said as he walked closer. “I’m here to right some wrongs. These are specific wrongs you’ve perpetrated and haven’t quite made right.”

“I want to make it right. Please let me know how to make it right.”

Kay let out another whimper from the kitchen again and it was starting to agitate Brooks. He pictured this scenario going a different way, with Kay by his side, pointing the gun down at Philip. She seemed to be taking his side and looked very scared.

“You’re time to make it right has long passed,” Brooks explained. “It looks like I have to do it for you.”

The front door crashed open and a man in a long trench coat drew his gun at Brooks, but Brooks fired a shot, catching the man in the neck and he fell in the doorway, gasping for breath.

“No!” Brooks screamed and ran at the man. He pulled him the rest of the way in the house and saw his badge in his hand. He hadn’t ID’d himself, but it was obvious he was a police officer by his suit jacket and oversized fedora.

Brooks covered the man’s throat with his hand and faced Kay, who was still screaming in the kitchen. “Get me a towel!”

She ran to Brooks and helped put pressure on his neck. She threatened to call an ambulance, but Brook slammed her phone on the ground, breaking it in several pieces.

For the first time in several weeks, Brooks felt nervous. He was supposed to have a grand homecoming, but it was quickly falling apart. He was worried another officer was outside making their way in so he scanned the door.

Nothing.

The officer was gurgling and coughing up blood and Kay was still panicking.

“You need to call him an ambulance!” Philip had