I tie the blindfold back around his eyes. He’s still a wreck, sweating and shaking when Justus unties him from the chair. We keep his hands zip tied and hustle him back out to my truck.
The silence is only broken by his hard breaths as I drive out of my county and into his. I pull off the road near a deserted empty field a couple of miles from his place.
“Where are we?” he asks, as Justus pulls him out of the truck again. He walks him around to me, and I punch him, catching his jaw just right and knocking him out. Justusquickly cuts the zip ties off, stuffs them in his pocket, and we get the hell out of there.
He’ll wake up shortly with no idea what we look like, what my truck looks like, or where we took him. Even if he wanted to go to the authorities he has nothing to go on, but I doubt he will. It sounds like he has plenty of other shit to worry about.
“A prostitute with big tits and a red wig,” I grumble. “I’m really sick of hitting dead ends.”
“I’ll check out the Moonlight Hotel. See if they have any cameras I can hack.”
“They won’t be stupid enough to have her working the same area,” I point out.
“True, and even if I can get an ID on her, we know how well they hide their victims, but I’ll try anyway. Unless you have another idea?” Justus says.
All I do is shake my head. My last resort is to confront the guy they want me to kill. It’s insane and risky but it’s starting to look like the only option left.
CHAPTER 19
SILVER
Lee toldme the guy who delivered the dress was a loser paid by a prostitute, and that she’s likely one of the trafficking victims. They’re hoping to find her to discover who controls her, but in the meantime, I’m not working as much as I should be. Lee insists that Justus or Landon always watch over me, either parked out in front of the diner where they can monitor me through the windows or seated at one of the tables. It’s not that I don’t feel safe at work, but it’ll only be so long before my employees notice, and I don’t want that. There’s been enough trouble here without adding this.
As if my thoughts summoned him, trouble walks through the door. The fire marshal strides through the diner to enter the coffee bar, but he pauses at the doorway to catch my eye with a pointed look. He isn’t only here for a coffee.
My phone beeps with a text from Justus.
Justus
Everything cool?
He must’ve noticed the way I froze to watch him. I look out the window to see Justus looking at me, and text back.
Me
All good.
I’m not sure I’m all good, but it’s nothing Justus can help with. By the time I enter the coffee bar, Mr. Wilson is settled at a corner table with a cup and a donut. I grab myself a quick latte before joining him, so it’ll look like I’m just chatting with him on my break, not like a meeting. A lot of the gossip around me, about my house burning and the diner being vandalized, has finally died down. The town doesn’t need another reason to talk about me.
“Mr. Wilson, how are you?” I ask, sitting across from him.
“I’ve been worse.” He glances around at the nearly full tables. “Looks like business is good. People like those fancy coffees, don’t they?”
“They seem to.”
He sets his cup back down. “You should think about bringing back theegg in a hole. Your mama used to have them on the menu years ago but stopped serving them. Called them something different, though. I can’t remember exactly.”
I know what he’s talking about. An egg fried in a slice of bread that’s had the center removed. I’m pretty sure she stopped offering it because no one ordered them anymore. “A bird’s nest.”
“That was it!” He slaps the table. “I used to get them on my way to work in the morning.”
“I’m sure we can still make one if you request it.”
He nods and sits back. “I’ll remember that next time I’m here. Today, I just want a quick bite and to tell you a couple of things.”
Here we go. “I’m listening.”
“The investigation has concluded and I’ve ruled the fire accidental.”
