Tommy's Fear

Tommy Whitfield's POV

Tommy jolted awake when the jail cell door slammed shut. Another prisoner had been thrown in with him. The kid looked about his age, maybe sixteen, with scared eyes and torn clothes.

"Great," Tommy grumbled. "More company."

The new boy sat on the metal seat across from Tommy and held his head in his hands. "This isn't happening. This can't be real."

Tommy recognized the voice. Spanish mixed with English. "You're Danny Santos, aren't you? The kid they nabbed for the factory fire?"

Danny looked up with surprised eyes. "How do you know my name?"

"Same way you probably know mine. Tommy Whitfield. The rich boy who apparently killed his girlfriend."

Danny's eyes widened. "You're the one they say murdered Sarah Martinez."

"I didn't do it." Tommy's voice cracked. "I loved Sarah. I would never hurt her."

"And I didn't burn down that factory either," Danny said quickly. "But nobody believes us."

Tommy laughed bitterly. "Welcome to Millbrook justice. If you're young and they need someone to blame, you're guilty until proven dead."

The boys sat in silence for a while. The jail was cold and smelled like fear and cleaning materials. Tommy had been here for three days, and every hour felt like a year.

"Can I ask you something?" Danny said finally.

"Sure. We're going to be here a while."

"Do you think they planned this? Like, do you think someone wanted us both to get arrested?"

Tommy had been thinking the same thing. "Yeah. I do. My dad's the mayor, right? And your family... no harm..."

"We're poor immigrants," Danny ended. "I get it."

"But that's the weird part. Usually, rich kids like me get away with everything. And usually, kids like you get blamed for everything. But this time feels different."

Danny nodded slowly. "Like someone needed both of us out of the way."

"Exactly." Tommy leaned forward. "Danny, what did you really see the night of the factory fire?"

Danny looked around uncomfortably, even though they were alone. "You won't believe me."

"Try me. I'm facing life in jail for something I didn't do. I'll believe anything right now."

Danny took a deep breath. "I saw cars. Big trucks dumping barrels behind the plant. The barrels had skull and crossbones symbols on them."

Tommy's heart started beating faster. "Poison?"

"That's what I thought. So I took pictures with my phone. But when I tried to leave, this man in an expensive suit saw me."

"What did he look like?"

"Older guy. Silver hair. Really scary smile. He walked up to me like he knew exactly who I was."

Tommy felt sick. That sounded like Judge Brennan. "What did he say?" "He said, 'Danny Santos, son of Maria Santos who works at the hospital.' He knew my whole family. Then he said if I told anyone about the cars, my little sisters would disappear."

"He threatened your family?"

"Yeah. But here's the weird part. He also said, 'Don't worry, Danny. Soon everyone will think you're a hero. But first, you have to be the evil.'"

Tommy stared at Danny. "What did that mean?"

"I don't know. But two days later, the plant burned down and they found my baseball cap at the scene. A cap I lost weeks ago."

Tommy's mind raced. Someone had planned this. They'd threatened Danny to keep him quiet, then framed him anyway.

"Danny, I need to tell you something too. Something I haven't told anyone."

Danny waited.

Tommy's voice dropped to a whisper. "Someone was blackmailing me before Sarah died."

"Blackmailing you? For what?"

"Three months ago, I made a stupid mistake. I was at a party and I got drunk. Really drunk. Someone took shots of me doing embarrassing stuff. Nothing illegal, just... stupid teenager stuff that would ruin my image."

"So?"

"So this guy called me a week before Sarah died. They said they had the photos and they'd send them to everyone at school unless I did what they said."

Danny leaned closer. "What did they want?"

"They wanted me to break up with Sarah. They said I had to make it look like I was angry and jealous. They wanted everyone to see us fighting."

"Did you do it?"

Tommy felt tears in his eyes. "I loved Sarah so much. But they said if I didn't break up with her, they'd hurt my little sister Emma. She's only nine years old, Danny. I couldn't risk it."

"So you broke up with Sarah to protect your sister."

"Yeah. And Sarah didn't understand. She thought I was being mean for no reason. The last thing I said to her was that I never wanted to see her again." Tommy's voice broke. "She died thinking I hated her."

Danny put his hand on Tommy's shoulder. "But you were trying to protect your family."

"It doesn't matter. Because two days after I broke up with Sarah, she was found dead. And everyone remembered our fight. Everyone thinks I killed her because she tried to leave me."

"But you were being blackmailed. That proves someone else was involved."

"How can I prove it? The blackmailer never showed their face. They always called from blocked lines. And if I tell anyone about the threats against Emma, they might actually hurt her."

Danny was quiet for a long time. Then he said, "Tommy, I think we're both here for the same reason."

"What do you mean?"

"We both saw something we weren't allowed to see. I saw the poison trucks. And you... you were being controlled by someone who knew they were going to kill Sarah."

Tommy felt cold all over. "You think the same people who threatened your family threatened mine?"

"I think someone needed Sarah dead. And they needed both of us to take the blame. You for the murder, me for something to distract everyone from the real crime."

Before Tommy could reply, footsteps echoed in the hallway. Heavy boots. Multiple people heading toward their cell.

A guard appeared at the bars. He was big and mean-looking, with cold eyes.

"Whitfield," the guard said.

"Yeah?"

"Your lawyer quit."

Tommy's heart sank. His family had hired the best lawyer in the state. Why would he quit?

"What do you mean he quit?"

"Said the case was too dangerous. Something about threats against his family." The guard smiled nastily. "Don't worry though. The court assigned you a new lawyer."

"Who?"

"Jake Morrison. Just got back to town. Used to be some big shot in Atlanta until he screwed up and killed his career."

Tommy had heard of Jake Morrison. The lawyer who sent an innocent man to jail and then disappeared in shame.

"When do I meet him?"

"Right now. He's waiting in the interview room."

The guard opened the cell. "Let's go, rich boy."

As Tommy stood up, Danny grabbed his arm.

"Tommy, be careful. What if the new lawyer is working for them too?"

Tommy hadn't thought of that. What if Jake Morrison wasn't here to help? What if he was here to make sure Tommy stayed quiet forever?

The guard pulled Tommy toward the door. "Move it!"

But just before they left the cell, Danny mumbled something that made Tommy's blood freeze: "Tommy, there's something else I didn't tell you. The night I saw those trucks? I also saw your girlfriend Sarah. She was there taking pictures too. I think that's why they killed her."

The guard dragged Tommy away before he could reply.

As they walked down the hallway, Tommy's mind spun with horrible scenarios. Sarah hadn't been killed because of their fake breakup. She'd been killed because she'd found the same poison dumping that Danny had seen.

Which meant Sarah had died trying to expose the truth.

And now Tommy was about to meet with a lawyer who might be working for her killers.

The guard stopped at a door marked "INTERVIEW ROOM" and knocked.

A sound from inside called, "Come in."

The guard opened the door, and Tommy saw a man sitting at a metal table. The man looked tired and sad, with worried eyes.

"Tommy Whitfield?" the man said. "I'm Jake Morrison. I'm here to help you."

But as Tommy stepped into the room, he noticed something that made his stomach drop.

On the table next to Jake's court papers was a blue folder.

The same blue box Tommy had seen in the blackmailer's photos.