My pulse spiked.

“What did Deputy Parker say to you?”

“He told me I was completely mistaken,” Samuel recalled.

“He claimed the lights I saw were just routine county maintenance vehicles, and he strongly advised me not to go around making wild assumptions.”

“Was he threatening you?” I asked, terrified of the answer.

“No, he wasn’t aggressive,” Samuel clarified.

“He was actually very polite about it, but he made it very clear I should drop the whole thing.”

“Did Brandon know you had spoken directly with Austin?” I asked.