He nodded. “All right, but it’s gonna be over pancakes. I have been promising you breakfast.”
I nodded, keeping my composure. He meant that as a working breakfast. Right?
Chapter 24
When you wanted milkshakes in Timber City, you went to Pete’s. When you wanted burgers, you went to Ralph’s Burgers. And when you wanted pancakes, you went to Smiley’s Diner. I’d like to say that my sister wasn’t delighted to see me accompanied by Nick as we seated ourselves at a booth near the windows, but I’d be lying. She all but danced our way with menus.
I started to introduce them when I remembered they probably knew each other from high school, even though Nick was Donna’s age, which was two years older than Tess.
“How’s it hangin’, Basanelli?” She grinned and handed over a menu.
“Pretty good since I’m finally home.” His return smile held a boatload of charm.
She pushed her reddish-blonde hair away from her stunning face. “My sister tells me you might have contacts good enough to find Jareth Davey. That true?”
Of course, she’d go right there. Family. I mean. Just…family. I sighed.
“I’m sure going to try.” He sobered, handing back the menus. “I’ve already reached out but haven’t heard anything.”
“Good enough. I take it you both want pancakes?” She reclaimed the menu.
“What else?” he asked.
Giving me a wink, she turned and headed back to the kitchen, her jean-clad butt swaying. I rolled my eyes. “She’s single, you know.”
“No kidding.” He shrugged out of his blazer, revealing a nice white button-down shirt. When he rolled up the sleeves to reveal strong forearms, my hardly dormant libido flared awake.
I shoved it away. Between Aiden and Nick, I just needed to stay single. “Tell me about the drugs,” I said.
Nick waited until Tess had delivered cups of coffee and sweating water glasses before he cleared his throat. “Okay. You know how opioids and prescription drugs are the new problem on the streets?”
I nodded. “Yep.” Everyone who watched the news was aware of the epidemic.
“Well, apparently somebody finally figured out how to cheaply mass produce opioids that are twice as strong as hydrocodone. It hasn’t been a problem up to now because of the difficulty in doing so.” He took a big drink of his coffee. “It’s called Beast as kind of a joke. Baking and yeast.”
I frowned. “I don’t get it.”
“There’s a new drug on the street called Beast. A lab in Portland was able to synthesize opioids from yeast cultures grown in a lab instead of using poppy flowers. It’s like when all of a sudden everyone could cook meth in baby bottles in microwaves. It’s a disaster.” He shook his head. “The yeast had to be engineered as well. They have a hell of a lab somewhere.”
I blinked. “Portland?” Why was that significant? Something hinted at my consciousness.
“Yeah. Where the Diablo Riders were located before being patched over by the Lordes,” Nick said.
Ah, crap. Aiden again. “Okay?”
Nick sighed. “The DEA shut down the Portland lab and arrested two scientists, but a lot of product had already been produced, and we believe there’s a brand-new lab somewhere around here. The Riders, and now the Lordes, are the key component in the distribution, we think, along with Scot Peterson, your former boss.”
“Melvin Whitaker is a chemist,” I said slowly. “You think he’s making more of the drug?”
Frustration drew down Nick’s brows. “Whitaker has the pedigree to do so, but the only reason we’re even looking at him is because of his location—that the Lordes are here. And we’ve been through his entire lab on the border, while the cops have been keeping an eye on him. He might just be dealing pot to the Lordes as a side job. I’m not sure.”
I took a drink of my coffee. “You think Cheryl was killed with this Beast drug.”
Nick nodded. “The DEA and the state police are working together, and I was brought in from Boise to coordinate trial strategy—pending arrests. The DEA can take down the manufacturers, and we get the distributors and dealers, so everybody has a piece of the pie.”
That made for a good election strategy, now didn’t it? “You were working on this case in Boise?”
“No.” He took another drink of coffee. “I’ve had a couple high-profile drug convictions and was brought in the loop right before the DEA arrested Scot Peterson. It didn’t hurt that I have connections in the area, as do you.”
