“If Penny’s in there and sees you waiting out here in the car after I get out, it might spook her and make her run. I’d rather approach her slowly and ask her to come home.”
“Good thinkin’,” Alex said, pulling into a space at the end of the building. “Jeff, you can go in with her if you want. I’ll wait.”
“No,” I said, giving James a pointed look. “I need to do this alone.”
James looked like he wanted to argue, but he sat back in the seat. “Okay, but text or call me if you need me.”
I started to open the door, then turned back to him and pressed a quick kiss to his lips in gratitude. “Thank you for trusting me.”
When I pulled back, he cupped the back of my neck and held me in place several inches from his face. “Always.”
My heart fluttered, and I reminded myself that this was not the time or place to swoon over a man. I climbed out of the car and hurried toward the entrance, resisting the urge to glance back at him.
I needed to get a handle on myself.
When I stepped into the store, I was instantly hit with the smell of pot and BO. I wasn’t surprised. It always smelled like that in here. The woman I was looking for stood behind the counter, selling a pack of cigarettes to a boy of questionable age. Not that I would have busted Cassandra for selling to a minor, even when I’d been on the force. She’d been too valuable to risk losing her trust.
She handed the kid back his change, and her gaze lifted to mine, surprise flashing in her deep brown eyes.
I walked to the cooler, grabbed two bottles of water and a bag of chips, then set them on the counter.
“Been a hot minute since I last seen you,” she said in a cool tone as she rang up my items.
“I moved down to Lone County.”
“I bet you did,” she said derisively. “I’m surprised you didn’t leave the country.”
“So you believe I shot that boy in cold blood?” I asked, trying to keep the disappointment out of my voice.
“Fuck, no,” she sneered. “That boy was white. Ain’t no way you would have shot an unarmed white boy.” I started to protest, and she laughed, waving her hand, her braids bouncing against her shoulder. “I’m just playin’ with you. You wouldn’t shoot no one unarmed—white, Black, or purple.”
“Thanks for believing me.”
“Hell, anyone who knows you knows you wouldn’t do such a thing. And even if you did, you would have owned up to it.”
“Cassandra, you have more faith in me than just about anyone else in my life.”
“Then, honey,” she said with a piercing gaze, “you need to get yourself some new friends.”
“Yeah,” I said with a bitter chuckle. “I learned that the hard way.”
“So what are you doin’ out this way?” she asked. “Because I know you don’t live out in these parts.”
“I’m not a cop anymore?—”
She waved me off. “That’s old news.”
“I’m a PI. I’m working a case up here in Little Rock and wondered if you knew anything that could help.”
She started to bag up my items. “I’ll be happy to tell you anything I know.”
“I’m working a human trafficking case. Have you heard anything?”
“Sure, I hear about men pulling teens off the streets and pimpin’ ’em out.” She made a face of disgust. “It happens more often than you’d think.”
“I’m looking for something larger and more organized. I’ve heard that a big crime family may have used a warehouse in the industrial area.”
She froze for a second, then resumed bagging, her movements slower. “What kind of crime family?”
