Page 59 of Wild Sentinel

"Look, I want to see this guy go down as much as you do. But what I don't need is you two escalating the situation, whether it's this case or another that you just happen to be working on. I promise, you'll get them back.”

“There is no situation to escalate. It’s over.”

“I’m not going to ask again.”

Against my better judgment, I surrendered my weapon, and so did JD.

Sharon hovered over Molly's grave. "So let me get this straight. You're telling me that Nick Shaw killed this girl, then called his agent to help him cover it up. His agent called this guy,” she said, pointing to Lenny, “And the two of them buried her here?”

"That’s the working theory,” I said.

“And you think Nick killed Vivian to shut her up?”

“I do.”

"I've got to hand it to you. I really didn't think you would get this far.” Sharon aimed Lenny's pistol at him and fired two shots into his back. It was a casual move. Two quick snaps. She didn’t flinch.

The report echoed off the muddy walls of the excavated pit. The suppressor dropped the sound levels by 30 dB. Nobody would have heard anything. Even if they did, they would likely dismiss it.

Blood spilled out, oozing around the body, soaking into the dirt.

Sharon aimed the pistol at me.

George aimed his weapon at Jack.

This wasn't looking good for us. At least it confirmed my suspicion about corrupt cops in West Beverly.

"Is Nick Shaw paying you to cover this up, or someone from the studio?" I asked.

34

"Start digging," George said, "We don't have all night.”

Sharon picked up the shovel and tossed it at my feet. I knelt down slowly and picked it up while George backed away, putting himself out of range.

"Somebody's gonna come around asking questions if we don't check in," I said.

George laughed. "You'll be under 20 tons of concrete by then."

"Cover her up and dig another one for the three of you," Sharon said.

I glared at her. "I was just beginning to like you.”

She smirked. "Don't lie, you liked me from the beginning.”

I glared at her and started shoveling dirt over Molly’s remains. Not in any hurry to meet my demise, I dragged it out as much as possible.

Sharon kept the gun aimed at me, and George kept watch over Jack.

"Hurry up," Sharon barked.

I sped it up for a little bit, then slowed back down.

"I told you to stop looking into this,” she said in a smug voice. “If you would have followed my advice, your stay in California would have been much more pleasant."

"Sometimes I'm too stubborn for my own good," I replied.

She chuckled. "Sometimes we learn life's lessons a little too late, don't we?"