There was no damn reason it had to come to this. But the law and Mr. Chester Pratt of Jericho didn’t leave me with no other choice. With me now is Chastity Bloodgood of Fayetteville, Arkansas. We’ve taken her on our journey in an effort to shine the light on our cause of innocence. We may be just no-count trailer trash, or that’s what y’all are saying online, but Chastity here is that blue-eyed blonde rich white girl that just might get y’all’s attention. We will stop at nothing to make sure we are heard and that Sheriff Quinn Colson of Tibbehah County arrests that lying bastard Chester Pratt for my momma’s murder. I’m not saying he killed her all by himself, but we know he sure as hell knows who did. He knows those two men who attacked my momma outside the Southern Star. What he’s been saying about me, my best friend since kindergarten Holly Harkins, and my boyfriend Ladarius McCade ain’t nothing but a damn dumpster fire of lies. My momma loved Ladarius, never wanted to see us apart. The only mistake my momma made was cuddling up to a leathery old con man like Chester with his tired-ass khaki pants and those fucking Ole Miss sweater-vests that cost more than our rent. She trusted him. Trusted that old bastard so much she looted a bank trust set up in my name, filled with twenty-five thousand dollars from a legal settlement. I hope the authorities are aware of this knot in the goddamn hose line. And if not, they better check out his lies. I want me and my kid brother John Wesley back home along with Ladarius and Holly. As far as Chastity goes, we’re offering her free and safe return once Chester Pratt is in jail. Until then, she’ll remain our prisoner, going with us wherever the road takes us. We didn’t ask for trouble. We don’t want trouble. We just want someone to cut through the thick fog of bullshit and lies and get those men who killed my momma. She may have been nothing to y’all. But she was damn sure the world to me and John Wesley.

TJ nodded to signal she’d finished and Ladarius stopped the recording, sliding the phone into his back pocket. TJ reached down and helped Chastity off her knees. Chastity not looking pleased as she dusted off the knees of her fancy jeans.

“Damn it to hell,” Chastity said. “I told you to threaten me. At least push me around, stick that pistol to my head. My free and safe return? What kind of shit was that? You need to ask for a reward. My daddy will pay. My daddy will do about anything in the world for me. Come on now, TJ Byrd. Be bold. Be brave. Show me that stone-cold criminal that I know you can be.”