Colt Crawford - Chapter 14 (Friday)

Kevin’s sister lived in a dorm on the university campus. As outsiders navigating their way around the vast campus, finding the dorm was not as easy as they had hoped it would be. The attendant at the booth near the main entrance had given them directions and told them where to park, but it was still as hefty walk from the visitors’ parking lot to the building. “She’d better be here,” Colt said.

The dorm building was older, having been built in the 1970s. The square architecture and dark moldings did little to disguise its vintage, although the carpet was new and the walls were freshly painted and clean. Krissy didn’t have to knock on the door to room 225 when they arrived. It was propped open and a group of four college aged girls were inside. The mood was somber and three of them were consoling the fourth, presumably Kevin’s sister.

As Colt and Krissy appeared, they looked up and took notice. Krissy, putting on her most sympathetic demeanor, spoke gently and calmly to the hurting sister. “Are you Taylor Barnes?” Samantha began. After receiving a faint nod, she continued. “Would you mind if I asked a few questions about your brother? It will help us find out what happened.”

The room was crowded, but Krissy needed to be on the same level as Taylor. She pulled a chair from under the desk and sat down beside the bed where the girls were sitting. “Did your brother have any enemies. Anyone that was would want to hurt him?”

“I told him to stop.” Taylor wiped a tear from her cheek, her lips trembling as she spoke. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a neat pony tail, but her bloodshot eyes and puffy cheeks altered her normal appearance.

“Stop what?” Krissy prodded, although she had a pretty good idea where this was going.

“He made bets on everything. I think he got in too deep and couldn’t pay off some of his losses.”

“Did he ever ask you for money?”

“A few times.”

“When was the most recent time?”

“I saw him over the weekend and he wanted to borrow $500. I told him I didn’t have it.” She began to sob more heavily as she unnecessarily absorbed the blame for her brother’s death.

“Did you ever know this girl?” Krissy held up a picture of Jailene.

Taylor glanced upwards and said, “That’s his old girlfriend. I never liked her. There was something phony about her.”

One of Taylor’s friends spoke up. “My dad knows her dad. He said the guy spoils her.”

“Your dad knows her dad?” Krissy almost jumped out of her chair, but she managed to contain her excitement somewhat.

“He was visiting me a few months ago when Kevin and Jailene stopped by. After they left, my dad mentioned that he had seen her before years ago at a company party. Her dad runs the investment firm where my dad works.”

Krissy got the names that she needed from the friend and thanked the girls for their time.

The long walk back to the parking lot made for a much lighter mood than the room they had just left. “Let’s go have us a little talk with Jailene’s daddy,” Krissy said with a smile.

---Results---

When they meet with Jailene’s dad, does he
A) Cooperate on the surface, but later help Jailene hide - o%
B) Refuse to believe his daughter is involved at all - 40%
C) Do everything he can to help because he realizes that he created a monster who needs to be stopped. - 60%