Beast grinned for a moment and shook his head. “Let it go, man. Not today.”
Alexandra sat down on the sofa. From the look she aimed at Beast and Tundra, I suspected I wouldn’t like what she said next.
“So, Raff basically shot this idea down already, but—”
“Then the answer’s yes,” Beast said, grinning.
She smiled and shook her head. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. The guy you’re going to see… I’m an acquaintance of his and I think—”
“Nope,” Tundra said.
Beast shook his head and held up a hand for a second. “No, let’s hear her out.”
Her lips tipped up, but she didn’t fully smile. “I think you might have better luck if I ask him what’s going on.”
The room went silent for a few seconds.
“Did you expect her to say something else?” Tundra asked, looking at Beast.
“Not really, but I had hoped for a surprise.” Beast sat on the opposite end of the sofa and faced Alexandra. “Your idea isn’t a bad one, except for one problem.”
“What’s that?”
Beast leaned forward. “The moment drugs enter the picture, everything changes, sweetheart. Everything.”
“How so?”
Tundra sat in the arm chair. “Lies, to start with. Dealers will lie and cheat to get more money. Users will lie about whether they need a score or just had a hit. Considering that this guy’s just an acquaintance, I’m not sure you’d realize when he’s lying to you.”
Alexandra nodded. “Fine, but why not go to the dealers themselves, and throw Tobias under the bus?”
Beast looked alarmed. “I thought you knew this person? Why would you want to do that to him?”
“I figure they’d be more vindictive than even you three seeing as nobody likes thieves… And it might keep you all out of trouble.”
Beast chuckled. “We live for trouble, Alexandra, and your boy has to prove that he’s down for causing trouble when the situation calls for it, too.”
She twisted her lips to hide her frown. “I was afraid you’d say that.”
Tundra cracked his neck. “Know you’ve got lots of tests this week, but have you got any beer in this place?”
I chuckled. “There’s some Blue Moon, if that works for you.”
A couple hours later, the four of us sat around Alexandra’s small dinner table eating pizza and a salad.
Tundra polished off his beer and set the bottle down with a hollow thunk. “I don’t understand how you found out about the drugs in the first place. Most people wouldn’t own up to that shit.”
I swallowed the last bite of my pizza. “Yeah, I took a calculated risk and bluffed with Brantley.”
That got Beast’s attention from his swift head twist and his furrowed brow. “You bluffed. How exactly did you do that?”
Alexandra held her beer bottle in front of her lips. I noticed the bruising at the side of her head was starting to fade.
“I’ve been wondering the same thing,” she muttered.
I twisted my hands up. “We were thrown off to find Brantley here Monday morning. He left without taking anything - we never found out what he needed. After I checked the doorbell camera footage, it was clear he didn’t have the time to take anything. Which meant he probably left something… Or he’d been looking for something, and we’d interrupted him.”
Tundra shook his head. “That’s a hell of an assumption.”
