Snake in the Grass

. . . Kelley stooped to pick up the items. It took all of his self-control to not explode with a round of expletives at the sight of the sticker affixed to the back of the phone: a Pepe the Frog sticker with the number eighty-eight on it. The average person didn’t realize that the adorable frog was a commonly used symbol to identify supporters of white supremacy.

He looked at Jeff and caught a smirk on the young man’s face before Jeff dropped his head. Very interesting, Kelley thought. He wondered if Jeffery Bradshaw Sr., upstanding community member, knew and approved of his son’s beliefs. Kelley sighed deeply and turned away from the officers and budding criminals. His gaze lingered on the pool. A dark spot on the bottom of the now brightly lit pool caught his eye. With his hands on his hips and knees bent, he leaned over for a closer look just as an ambulance, without flashing lights or sirens blaring, pulled into the parking lot.

Kelley stood up, glanced at the ambulance and then at the officers and boys. With his eyes fixed on the four boys, he calmly announced, “There’s a body at the bottom of the pool.”

“Oh, shit!” whispered one of the boys. “Andrew, you were in the pool. Didn’t you see it?”

With his face devoid of color and voice shaking, Andrew said, “No, I didn’t see anything. Do you think I would have gone in the water if I had known?”

“Shut up,” a scared looking Jeff admonished.

An officer mumbled, “This could be big.”

Kelley looked at one of his officers. “Get him out of there.”

The officer nodded, quickly removing his heavy vest, weapon, and shoes. He then shrugged and removed his pants. Kelley took the pile of equipment and clothing and placed it on the counter of the snack bar. He continued to watch the kids while the officer was in the pool. Their shocked expressions told him they might have been as surprised as he was by seeing a body in the pool, and that they were realizing it had been there while they were having their idea of a good time. He watched Trevor and Marty help Andrew hop to the edge of the pool.

The young men sensed his gaze and turned to him. Tears were streaming down Andrew’s face. Trevor frowned. “Sir, we didn’t know he was there.”
. . . The officer in the pool struggled to lift the waterlogged, fully clothed body up onto the side of the pool. Another officer grasped the arms and hoisted the man up out of the water. Water splashed out of the man’s clothes, which consisted of jeans, a green long-sleeved work shirt, and heavy black leather construction work boots. He had a full head of black hair. Kelley took out a pen and carefully lifted the torn fabric that was covering the man’s left shoulder blade. He closed his eyes. This wasn’t an accident. The cut was close to the spine. It looked like a knife wound.

“Turn him over,” Kelley said softly. The officer gently rolled the drowned man onto his back.

“Oh, no! That’s Mr. Costa!” Trevor cried.