"Private investigator, I bet," Cessily said. "Cy saw someone sitting down the road."
"Well, you ladies have my number. You need something, call me, not dispatch. I know who's not on Paul's payroll."
I leaned across the table and looked at him. "What do you get out of this, Dan?"
He smiled, but Cessily held up a finger, making it clear our waitress was coming. Debbie set all the food down in the middle of the table, making no effort to hand it out, then walked away without a word. Dan actually turned to watch her go, an annoyed huff in the back of his throat.
"You've made enemies," he said, turning back to look at me. "Violet, my cousin was on those tapes. My sister's gay. My family has a long line of damned good cops, and I happen to like it out here, but I'm not ok with this bullshit. That's what I get out of it. Luke's a good man. You both are pretty ladies, and I'll admit that I'm a sucker for that. None of that changes what's right and wrong, and there's a few of us who are pretty pissed about this. Just tell the guys to watch their backs when they leave the property."
"What do you mean?" Cessily asked.
"A mile over the speed limit, and they'll get a ticket," Dan told her. "Tags out of date? They'll get stopped. The least cause for suspicion, and they'll be dropped and cuffed, and if they even think about resisting, some of these boys got no problem with using a heavy hand - and we don't have body cams out here."
"You have dash cams, though?" she asked.
He smiled. "Yup. I don't wanna know what you're thinking, do I?"
"You really don't," she said, turning to look at me. "Think they'd do it?"
"Darnell would."
Cessily winced. "I would rather he doesn't die, and this is the kind of place where guys like him get shot."
"The Black guy?" Dan asked. "Yeah. Been a lot of guys using the N-word since he came around. Wouldn't risk it. Guy's got a concealed permit, and that's all they need."
Cessily's eyes narrowed. "How do you know that?"
"Because they pulled him up," Dan told her. "They ran the plates of that red Mustang, and he's the only Black guy in town. Gang tats all over him, too. Half think he's a drug dealer. Only way a guy like that could afford that car, they say."
I just sighed. "He owns his own security company."
"They're racist," Dan told me. "Flat-out, no excuses type of racists, and the force is all looking at Southwind. Y'all need to be careful."
"How do I get them on my side?" I asked.
Dan reached over for his burger, then pulled it closer. "You learn how to play nice, ma'am. Going to church helps. Being with Luke doesn't. Quite a few of these ladies have been pining after him for a while. Some he's dated, even. You want to make people like you, then they need to know what's in it for them. Work's a good start, because there ain't a lot of that out here."
"I need to start pulling permits," I realized.
Dan made a face. "Paul's got leads there too."
"And I'm a very good attorney," Cessily told him. "You just let that fly around town, Dan. I've put three cases before the Supreme Court. I charge a hundred grand an hour for corporate law. I'm good, and they don't want to see what happens when the kids of Southwind get pissed."
"Wrong way to go about it," Dan told her. "I believe you, Cess. I honestly do. I also know that ain't no one else out here gonna know what half of that means. You want to open doors, then you need to smile sweet and make some friends. My suggestion is to start by talking to Bev. That woman's the heart of this town. Her son's the soul. Paul may be the wallet, but that doesn't trump everything."
"Ok," I said, reaching over for one of those pickles. "We've got a month, Cess, and I'm not going to let Faith go back to her mom's."
"Subpoena me," Dan told her. "I'll volunteer to go as a character witness if you need me to, but I'll be out of a job by the end of the year if I do. Subpoena me and they can't bitch. I can address the assault arrest. I was the first officer on the scene, and I arrested Luke. My partner arrested Ash. He'll go too if you need it, but pretty sure Ash isn't on trial. I took Bev's statement. I'm the one who watched the videos and wrote it up. Subpoena me, Cess, and I'll make it clear that it's a bad charge. That's why they haven't given it to the DA yet."
I looked over at Cessily. "Would that help?"
"Yeah," Cessily breathed. "Not as much as getting the charges dropped, but if we can't do that, then I will, Dan. Thank you."
"Just trying to be a good cop," he promised. "And it was a good excuse to say I took you both to dinner."
Chapter Twenty-Four
For the rest of the week, Faith came home grumpy. She'd been keeping a notebook and talking to Violet about it, but it only helped so much. Mostly, it seemed that Ash's plan to bribe her with a puppy was working better. Darnell had begun building a gate and additional railing to separate the porch area from the pool area, and Faith could see it every time she walked into the living room.
