“You can’t show my wife this. It’s in your agreement.”
So, he did read it. “True. But I can show her this one that didn’t come from our establishment.”
In the next video, I turn the volume up full blast. His eyes widen, and I get a sick pleasure knowing I have him by the balls. “Where did you—”
“Doesn’t matter. Now, how would your fellow officers feel if they saw this video? Or your wife? I mean, I have no issues with you exploring your sexuality with our girls. Or willing men. Honestly, you do you, man. But I’m not sure your boss would be too happy that your exploration was with a man in custody.”
Grabbing my phone, he stops it and shakes his hand. “What do you want?”
“I want a real investigation into Johnny’s death. I want to nail the Venom to the fucking wall!”
“I did!” he shouts and catches himself. He hands me back the phone and lets out a long breath. “There is nothing to suggest it’s anything other than a hit and run. We have nothing to connect the accident to anyone. All we know is that the paint scrapes are from a black Ford. It was a special paint color called Agate Black Metallic. Likely from an Explorer.”
“Not good enough.”
He shakes his head. “I wish I could give you what you’re looking for, but I have nothing else to offer.”
“I want the case file. Everything you’ve got.”
“Fine. It’ll take a bit. Where do you want me to bring it?”
“Seven Crows. Give it to Nancy. You have a week. And I want all of it, not just what you want me to see. If I don’t have it in my hand by then, I’m going to ruin you.”
I walk away knowing there’s something in the notes they’re overlooking. Or concealing.
Either way, I’m finding it. I’m going to get to the bottom of this one way or another, and if the cops won’t make Butch pay for this, I will.
Chapter Five
Zeppelin
Noon rolls around, and I have nothing else to do. I head to the Seven Crows for a drink. Or twelve. We’ll see how the day turns out.
“Zeppelin Molloy,” Nancy Charney calls out to me.
The forty-five-year-old woman with short salt-and-pepper hair sets a beer down in front of me. She’s curvy and short, and she looks like she’s seen some shit in her life. If I was into older women… I’d still steer clear of her.
Because she honestly scares me a little bit.
Nancy’s nice and attractive, but she’s terrifying when she needs to be. Besides the fact she’s related to one of the toughest gangs in the state, and she can hold her own against the roughest of guys, she has cats. Three of them. She has the means to hide the smell of a dead body until she can dispose of it.Ifshe disposes of it. Might just let her cats have at you.
I know I’ve thought about it having only one. Chonk may hate my guts, but his litter may come in handy one day.
“Hey, Nan. Thanks,” I say, taking a drink from the beer.
The Seven Crows bar has been in Gravelton for as long as I can remember, and it’s one of the few neutral places around townbetween us and the Venom. With her family ties, we know it’s best not to piss her off too badly, so we do our best to follow her only rule: No fighting in the bar.
“There was a guy who came in looking for you this morning. A cop, I think. He said to tell you he needs more than a week. Something about his boss monitoring him, and he said you’d know what he meant.”
Fuck. I guess I have to give him more than a week. It won’t do me good to have my contact getting busted getting me the case file.
“Thanks.”
“You involved with the cops, Zep?”
“No, just trying to get information on Johnny’saccident.”
Wylie Ballard walks into the bar, waggles his eyebrows at me, and kisses the air in my direction. I fucking hate that man. Almost as much as I hate his father.
