Free Protect and Serve by Gwyneth Bolton Page B

got nothing against cops and all. I just feel like the whole system did me dirty, you understand?”
    Jason could have gone into a discussion on the merits of the Paterson Police Department. But he knew sometimes the wrong people got locked up. Just ask Rubin “Hurricane” Carter…So he nodded to encourage the man to keep talking.
    He was beginning to think he knew who this man was—and that there might be a connection between this man’s recent release and the newest cold-case file to come across his desk. If there was, then there might be some clues to be gained that could lead him to figure out who the real murderer was.
    “Anyway, I realize all cops ain’t bad. I mean, you seem like a cool dude. Maybe with some younger cats on there, some brothers, maybe the Paterson Police Department has changed some since I been gone.” The man glanced out the window as he spoke.
    The tone of his voice and the fact that he wouldn’t look in Jason’s direction, let him know the man hardly believed what he’d just said.
    Jason could sniff out a lie a mile away. That’s why he wasn’t going to let Penny leave again until he got the truth out of her, once and for all.
    Jason cleared his throat. “My name is Jason Hightower, by the way.”
    “Yeah. I’m Gerald McEarly.”
    Bingo. Gerald McEarly was the man who’d originally been convicted in the case on his desk. He’d recently been cleared of a double murder—a married couple who had been prominent community activists on a crusade to rid the streets of drugs and crime. Now Jason knew he had to try to find out as much about the man as he could. Finding out about him might offer up some clues that would help him solve the case.
    “Well, Gerald, welcome back. I grew up with your daughter, and we dated throughout high school before we both went away to college.”
    “Oh, really?”
    Jason could feel Gerald’s eyes on him as he drove. He turned quickly and found the man studying him intently.
    Jason offered a little of his own history to make Gerald feel comfortable. “We grew up in the same church, and played together as kids. Me, her and our friend Terrill used to be inseparable.”
    “Umm…what happen?”
    “Times change. People change.” Jason had no desire to rehash the past with Penny’s dad. The point was to get Gerald to open up. It would be nice if he could gather some insight into who might have had the biggest motive to set Gerald up for murder, or who might have had an even bigger motive to commit the crime.
    Gerald probably wouldn’t offer up that information if he flat out asked him tonight. But he might offer some insight unknowingly, if Jason could get him talking. It was surprising how many cold cases were solved just by detectives talking to people, reinterviewing old witnesses, that kind of thing. Time could help the truth come out, at least in some cases.
    “So when did you get out? And what made you decide to stop by their place tonight?”
    “I just wanted to see my daughter. I’d only ever seen the baby pictures and pictures of her as a toddler. And then, for a minute when she was dancing in them videos, I saw some of them when the guys would watch them in jail. But you know, the last thing a guy wants to do is listen to a bunch of horny jailbirds commenting on the video girls and know one of them is his daughter.”
    Jason nodded. The last thing a college student wanted to do was watch music videos with his new college buddies and listen to them rave about that hottie with the body and the copper eyes. His college years had been rough thanks to Penny’s stint as a video vixen.
    He pulled up to the address on Temple Street that Gerald had given him and made a U-turn so he could drop him off right in front of the weathered gray house.
    “Thanks for the ride, young man. I appreciate it.” Gerald opened the door and slowly stepped out. “Maybe I’ll see you around.”
    Oh, you can count on that .
    Until Jason found out who had really