Killing Red

The wall above the work area was covered with newspaper and magazine stories. Time had yellowed many of them, others appeared to have been photocopied. The oldest and most brittle was Chapa’s original piece that ran the morning after Grubb’s capture. Annie’s name had been circled in black pencil and the newspaper story was neatly taped in place, next to a page out of
TV Guide
that listed a cable documentary on Kenny Lee Grubb.

There were several other photos on the wall, including one of a man he recognized, Officer Pete Rudman mowing the lawn of a simple ranch home. Two additional photos of an unsuspecting Rudman showed him coming out of a grocery store with his wife and casually getting in a few holes of golf.

Chapa now realized, maybe for the first time, that staying with the Kenny Lee Grubb story all those years had probably saved his life. Two of the people who were connected to Grubb’s capture had been murdered. He didn’t want to think about Annie already being dead, too, but he knew it was more than a possibility. So there it was, like a circle formed by connecting the dots, and, as the reporter who broke the story of that capture, he had to place himself in that group. Chapa was still alive only because Grubb wanted him to finish telling his story.

What had Grubb said to him a few days ago?
The circle will be complete.