“All right.” I played with my napkin. “Here it is. Say Melvin Whitaker is somehow and somewhere manufacturing more, ah, Beast.” What a stupid name for a drug. “And the Lordes are distributing it along the drug pipeline. How are they doing it?”
“Dunno.” Nick sat back. “Both the DEA and the state police are investigating, and so far, we’ve got nothing. There’s a definite puzzle piece missing.”
Tessa brought our pancakes, and I snorted at seeing a smiley face drawn with huckleberry syrup on mine. She was the best. After she’d flounced away, and after I’d taken two big bites, I mulled over the case again. “When the Lorde’s apartment building was raided, I assume you found Beast?”
“Yep. Not a lot, but enough.” Nick shuddered in pleasure at his first taste of huckleberry pancake. “God, I missed these. Serving in DC and then Boise, I really missed these.”
Yeah. To think most of the world thought a huckleberry and a blueberry were the same thing. Sad. Truly sad. “Why arrest Aiden? There have to be many members of the Lordes. Why him?”
Nick flushed and focused on his rapidly dwindling pancakes.
I chewed thoughtfully, and as the reason hit me, I choked. Nick gingerly nudged my water glass toward me, and I grabbed for it, sucking down half the liquid. Then I set it down and wiped my eyes. “No. Come on. Because of me?” How was that even possible?
Nick winced. “Did you honestly think it was a coincidence you were in court for his arraignment?”
Yes. I shook my head, pinpricks of awareness springing up along my arms. “You did that?”
He rolled his neck, not quite meeting my eyes. “Yes. I was part of the investigation before the police raided the Lorde’s complex, and I suggested they bring in Aiden.” Nick held up a hand. “Saving you on that one day is the only good thing he’s done in his entire life.”
My mouth gaped open. Aiden had said almost those exact words to me. “Nick,” I breathed. What could I say?
He met my gaze evenly now, his serious. “I need every advantage I can get in the case, and if you being a part of it throws Devlin off his game, I have to take it. In fact, I already took it.”
I lost my appetite and pushed my plate away. Heck. It was nearly cleaned off, anyway. “I haven’t talked to Aiden Devlin for twelve years. If he has been living a life of crime, it’s ridiculous to even think he’d stop for me. Or because of me.”
Nick shrugged. “Every guy wants to be a hero, and on a day in June years ago, he was yours. There’s something to manipulate there, even if I can’t articulate it.”
My stomach rolled, and I stood.
“Where are you going?” Nick asked, no give on his face.
“I don’t like you right now,” I said, turning to head for the door.
“I get that a lot,” he said quietly behind me.
Yeah. I’d just bet he did.
* * *
I’d parkedmy car and almost made it to the office when a thought hit me, and I veered right, walking across the park, past campus, and down to the water where Pauley was throwing crackers to the ducks. There were a couple of people down the beach having a picnic, but as usual in early June, the place was mostly deserted. That would change soon enough as summer roared in. For today, clouds blanketed the sky, turning the day a deep gray, but there was no wind. So, hey. Life didn’t totally suck.
Pauley sat on one of the wooden tables, and Wanda Versaccio, my new shrink, sat on the sand a short distance away, looking at the water.
I paused. “Are you guys having a session?” If so, I’d get out of there. Plus, if Pauley was gathering himself for class, he wouldn’t want a lot of people around, and to him, two could be a lot.
“No.” Pauley tossed a cracker toward a bored looking duck who ambled over and sniffed at it. “Distant cousin Wanda the shrink is just visiting.”
Wanda looked over her shoulder and gave me a nod.
I stepped on the worn bench and sat on the far end of the table from Pauley. “I think that’s how shrinks have sessions.”
Pauley thought it over, his profile steady. “Maybe. We didn’t talk about my feelings or deep childhood trauma, so I do not believe it is a session.”
Wanda stiffened and partially turned to face him from her perch on the sand. “You have deep childhood trauma?”
Pauley’s lips twitched, and he tossed another cracker. “I stand corrected.”
I glanced at him, delight bubbling through me. A joke from Pauley was one of the most precious gifts in this entire life, and even though my head was still reeling from Nick’s revelations, I took a moment to bask. “You are so funny sometimes.”
