CHAPTER FOUR

"Sterling Moore, sixty-eight years old. He's a former college and semi-pro baseball player. No wife, no kids. The Garden District Community Athletic Society was started about fifteen years ago under his direction and his money. He got the kids involved in football, baseball, and soccer, spending most of his own money on the equipment and getting a grant from the city for the land and facilities.

"He controls who coaches the kids, putting them through a pretty intensive background check and criminal check. The night of the murder, he called 911, which, of course, the cops say is because he went too far with the woman and panicked. They arrived to find him knocked out, and, in their infinite wisdom, they can't explain that part of all this.

"Tracy Bingham was twenty-one years old, a senior at UNO studying psychology. She was found draped over his body, her leg flung over his. She was bleeding from multiple stab wounds, and no, there was no weapon found at the scene. She'd been raped, beaten, and abused."

"Other than the blood on his body, was there any other DNA evidence?" asked Nine.

"No. None."

"Code sent us everything," said Katrina, walking into the room. "Kari and I are headed down there now to get him released into our custody on bail. We may need some backup."

"I'll go," said Ghost.

"So will I," said Razor. "Gotta earn my keep on the new island."

With Ghost, Razor, Kari, and Katrina headed to the hospital to speak with Sterling, the others began digging into his background and the background of Tracy Bingham.

"Tracy was a dean's list student, hoping to graduate in December, a whole semester early. She wasn't dating anyone, had a solid group of friends, didn't have a driver's license, only one credit card that was controlled by her father, but it looks as though she was responsible in her spending with it."

"This doesn't make sense. From what I'm seeing, it looks as though she got away from her attackers. Did anyone check the woods behind the park?" asked Gaspar.

"That's your job," smirked Code. "I'll keep checking things here." Gaspar looked at Nine, Miller, Ian, and Trak.

"You heard the man. Let's take a walk in the woods."

Kari held up her ID, and the officer allowed her to enter the room.

"You gonna represent that killer?" he snarled.

"Funny, last time I checked a man is innocent until proven guilty. A man with as many years on the force as you should recognize he couldn't have beaten himself in the back of the head with a baseball bat." The officer blushed and stood to the side while Ghost glared at him.

"Mr. Moore? My name is Katrina Redhawk, and I'm an attorney. This is my colleague, Kari Robicheaux."

He stared at the group of people, frowning.

"You didn't need to bring bodyguards. I won't hurt you. I wouldn't hurt anyone. Didn't hurt that sweet girl either."

"We know," said Ghost. Sterling stared at him, confused. "You've got some good friends. Warren, Harry, and Edith."

"Damn. Them kids never listen when I tell them to go home," he said, shaking his head. "What if the men who did this saw them?"

"We'll make sure the kids are okay," said Katrina, "but I need for you to tell us exactly what happened."

"I can't afford fancy lawyers," he said, looking at them.

"We're not worried about that," smirked Ghost. "The kids paid us." Sterling stared at the big, tattooed man and then at the others.

"We had just finished practice. Harry, Warren, and Edith are always the last three. The three musketeers, I call them. I like the kids to be headed home while it's still light out. I sent them on their way and turned the park lights off but left the security lights on for a while. I was picking up all the equipment when I heard someone behind me.

"I turned, and that poor child was walking toward me," he said, shaking his head. "I raised my hands up so she would know I wouldn't hurt her. She said, ‘help me' and fell forward. I got to my phone, called 911, and then set my phone down. She kept saying she was sorry. I think she must have seen who was behind me. I felt something hit my head, and that's all I remember."

"What did she look like?" asked Katrina.

"A mess. Poor child was practically naked, cut up, bleeding everywhere. Her blonde hair was pink there was so much blood. She was bleeding all over me."

"Had you ever seen her before?" asked Kari.

"Never. Then again, I see a lot of folks at the park. Sometimes parents, siblings, I could have seen her and not remembered. What I do remember is that I didn't hurt that girl. I was with the kids all afternoon. Heck, them three that called you were just with me. I didn't even have the time to hurt her if I'd had an inclination to do so."

"Mr. Moore, we're going to get you out of here, and we'll be handling this case. It's very clear that you didn't hurt that young woman," said Kari.

While Katrina continued to speak to Sterling, Ghost stood guard, and Razor went with Kari to the courthouse to get Sterling released.

"I heard what he said," said the officer, looking down. "Y'all are right. It doesn't make sense at all. He seems an easy target to blame it on."

"Too easy," growled Ghost. "But now the damage is done."

"What do you mean? Y'all will prove he's innocent," said the officer.

"You've been around long enough to know that he will forever have a black mark on his record because of this. People will be hesitant to trust their children with him, even after he is cleared of everything."

The officer's face told Ghost that he understood the magnitude of all of this. An innocent man, even after innocence is proven, will always be thought of as possibly guilty.

Two hours later, Kari and Razor walked in with an order to release Sterling into their custody. Although the judge wanted a preliminary document submitted claiming Sterling's innocence and the evidence that they had thus far, he knew enough to know that Kari and that team wouldn't let him leave the state.

"Let's go, Mr. Moore," said Kari.

"Where am I going?" he asked, looking at the strangers with confusion.

"Home."