“How? Who?” Cain asked.
“That’s what the DEA sent me here to find out. So far, I’d say there’s the usual drug chains…but…there’s something else going on in town. Someone completely different.” Shadow grimaced. “In fact, if you ask me, the cartel is just watching and letting the other group weasel in. But mark my words, one of these days the weasel will get too brave and step on the cartel’s underbelly. That’s the day they’ll get squashed like a bug on a windshield.”
Cain considered the conversation he’d had with Acting Sheriff JB Bradley earlier. Looked like today’s meeting at the St. Louis bureau location meant more than just a routine briefing for local law enforcement. Maybe Cain should keep his eyes and ears open a little bit more, but he’d been trying to do the exact opposite ever since he hit town. He was tired of seeing nice places used for bad people to make a whole lot of money.
“Well, for what it’s worth, this is where I grew up. Friendly people. Close to the Lake of the Ozarks.” Cain smiled. “Only a two-to-three-hour drive to St. Louis, Kansas City or Springfield. It’s just a nice little town in the middle of Missouri.”
“Then? Or now?”
First, Betsy had told him things had changed in Crayton. Now Shadow questioned the status of the town. Maybe he had been out of touch longer than he thought.
“I better head on down the road.” Shadow walked over to his black truck and held out his hand. “Good seeing you again.”
“Let me know if you’re ever in the Jefferson City area. I’ll take a run up there and we can find an out-of-the-way place to sit and talk old times.” Cain reciprocated the handshake. “Take care of yourself out there.”
Shadow nodded and opened his truck door. Paused. Then let the door loosely close, as he stepped closer. “You’re the one who needs to watch their back.”
Cain laughed. “You always were trying to throw me off my game.”
“Not this time.” The agent shook his head as a serious expression settled on his face.
Cain tensed as another cold chill crossed his shoulders. “What are you trying to tell me without telling me?”
“For close to two years, I’ve been ingratiating myself into one of the Midwest cartels. They seem to be using me as a spotter. I get a call to be at a certain place at a certain time and let them know if a certain person is there.” Shadow sucked in a deep breath. “No kind of schedule or routine. Just whatever they’ve got going on. Could be around Crayton, or within fifty to a hundred miles of here. But it always rotates within a few specific places. A few specific people.”
What did that have to do with Cain? This was the first time he’d seen his former partner in almost four years. As for himself, he hadn’t been around town long enough to have a target on his back. “Why should I be worried?”
Shadow glanced across the street. “When the man on the phone tells me Crayton, I call ahead and order a pizza to go from Joanie’s.”
Cain’s insides tensed.
“In Crayton,” Shadow continued, “my job is to make sure a certain person is on the premises. If she’s there, I call my contact and say so. If she’s not, I pay for the pizza, take it to my truck and watch for an hour. See if she shows up. If the boss don’t hear from me within an hour, then the cartel halts whatever was in the works.” Shadow shrugged. “Either way I get my pizza.”
This wasn’t something to make light of in Cain’s opinion. “Joanie’s a nice lady. I can’t believe she’d be involved in anything illegal.”
“Not her.” Shadow pulled out his phone. Pushed a few buttons. Swiped a few items to the side. Held the phone up to face his friend. “This woman.”
Cain couldn’t pull his eyes away from the photo. Goosebumps made the hairs on his arms stand on end. His insides jerked as he fought the gag reflex.
“Betsy? Betsy Peyton?” Swiping the back of his hand across his mouth, he didn’t even recognize his own voice. “No. No! You’re wrong.”
A touch of compassion crossed the other agent’s eyes, then quickly disappeared. “I saw you and her in the parking lot. For a second, even thought you might be working a DEA assignment that had led you to her also. Your reaction tells me that’s not the case.”
“Not hardly.”
Raking his hand across his head, Cain stared into the shadows of pickups and cars and old brick buildings. This town had had its secrets even when he lived here. Families had had secrets. Probably still did. But the idea of Betsy having a secret was more than he could fathom. And the depth of the secret might be more than he wanted to imagine.
Just the thought of it all made him wish he hadn’t come back to Crayton for even a little while. Like he’d reminded himself through the years, even earlier tonight, in his mind Betsy was always his friend.
“You saved my life back in Texas years ago. As far as I’m concerned, I trust you. But I also know people change sometimes.” Shadow jumped in his truck, started the engine, and powered down the window. “If you’ve changed, I doubt there’s a chance of me leaving town alive.”
Cain figured his counterpart had already pulled his own gun and had it pointed at him from the other side of the door. Probably even had a bullet-size hole drilled in the door panel. One unseen from the outside. One that would easily pop with one shot.
Understanding the trust it had taken on Shadow’s part to give him the info, Cain showed his friend that he was still a man to be trusted. He turned his back and walked away. “You got nothing to worry about from me.”
With his brain and his heart and his gut fighting amongst themselves, he slowly stopped and continued to stare at the entrance to Joanie’s. He needed more info. “Does the cartel send you to other towns to spot different people, also?”
“Yeah. Targets are as different as night and day. Some young. Some old. Some barely able to walk and others running track at the local gym. For the most part, I get the impression they’re just normal people going about their lives with no idea anything illegal might be going on.” Shadow shook his head. “But there’s a few I’m not too sure of.”
