He shook his head again, too fast this time. “Nah, nothing like that. Just… stuff happens around here, you know? People talk.”
“Sure,” I said. “People talk. But sometimes, the people who talk know more than they’re letting on.”
He bit his lip. “Is it true you can’t make someone testify if they don’t want to?”
I grinned, just a little. “Depends who’s asking.”
He looked down at his hands, then back at me. “Never mind,” he said. “It was a dumb question.”
Ransom shifted his weight, and for a second I thought he was going to intervene, but he stayed silent.
“Listen, Levi,” I said, dropping the pretense. “You don’t have to be afraid of me. If you want to talk, I’ll keep it off the record. Unless you tell me someone’s about to get hurt. That’s my only rule.”
He stared at the floor. “It’s not about me.”
“Okay,” I said, “but you can tell me anyway.”
He didn’t move. He just sat there, a statue made of shame and stubbornness.
I tried a different tack. “You know who broke into Ransom’s shop last month?”
That got him. His whole body went still, and for a heartbeat he looked like he might bolt. He said, “No. I mean, I heard about it, but...”
I waited.
He looked at the desk, then at Ransom, then back at me. “It wasn’t me, if that’s what you’re thinking. I was grounded that night. Ask Viv.”
I nodded. “I will. But that’s not what I was thinking.”
He let out a breath, shaky and loud. “Good, because she’s been on my case about every little thing since I got suspended. Like I’d even care enough to break into a stupid tattoo shop.”
Ransom bristled at that, but said nothing. I shot him a warning glance.
Levi hunched again. “Is it true the guy who did it tried to kill someone?”
I said, “There was a scuffle. Someone got hurt. That’s why we take these things seriously.”
He looked up, and for a second his mask slipped. “He’s okay, though, right?”
“I spent a few days in the hospital, but I’m okay now.”
Levi’s eyes rounded. “You’re the one that got hurt?”
I pointed to the healing scar on my forehead. “Got a bit scraped up when the perp attacked me.”
Levi blinked. “Did you see who did it?”
I shook shook his head. “Did you?”
There was a long, ugly pause. Then, in a voice barely audible, Levi said, “No.”
I leaned back in my chair. “How about this. You write it down. Whatever you heard. I’ll take a look, and if it’s nothing, it’s nothing. But if it’s something, you’ll have done the right thing.”
He shrugged, but didn’t say no.
I slid a notepad across the desk, along with a pen.
He stared at it, then at me. “What do I even say?”
