“Yes, but it will be my word against that of powerful people.”
“True, and I don’t trust the district attorney to go after them unless he has to, but he’ll have no choice if he has evidence he can’t ignore. The kind of evidence that might end up with the press and make him look bad for not acting sooner.”
Will nods. “You want to get Ray on tape talking about that.”
“That would be our strongest evidence, and any other written records we can get would help. I was thinking of forcing Nate to help with that.”
“I don’t trust him.”
“Neither do I.”
Will takes a breath. “I can do that. There’s supposed to be another event this Friday evening. I usually know about them in advance.”
“The recording device will need to be hidden while we listen from afar. Can you wear a wire?”
“No.” He doesn’t bother saying he’ll be naked, but the sheriff seems to understand.
“Then you’ll need to hide the device somewhere in the house, preferably in Ray’s office or in the dining room.”
“Can’t it be both?” He knows he’ll have one shot at this, and he’d rather cover everything. If this plan goes south and Ray finds out about Will’s involvement, he’ll retaliate, and Will isn’t sure he’ll survive that.
The sheriff nods. “It can be both, yes. Friday is two days from now. I’ll try to keep Nate here until then—I can’t risk him telling anyone about what we found out. I need him to pretend he never told us about the mayor’s involvement in Owen’s kidnapping, or we can forget about our plan.”
“That’s on you to make him play along.” At this point, Will fears he might badly hurt the man now that he knows about his past actions and how they played a key role in making his life a living hell.
The sheriff stands up. “Come on. Let’s pay the little weasel a visit.”
*
There are four cells at the back of the station, and Nate is the only one in custody at the moment. He stands up when he notices them approaching. He’s wearing plain, clean clothes, but his hair is not neatly combed to the side like usual, and there’s restlessness in his little eyes instead of that familiar cold composure.
“How’s Owen?” Nate asks.
Will should be calm and calculated, but the nerve of that man sends him over the edge. He wraps his palms around the iron bars and hisses, “Don’t say his name. Don’t fucking dare.”
“I wasn’t behind what happened!”
“You told Ray about his undercover work,” Will says, still gripping the bars. “You didn’t do it for nothing.”
“I did it to make the mayor pressure you into leaving him.”
That sounds crazy enough to be the truth. “And did he tell you that he was going to do that?”
Nate looks away. Will shakes his head in disgust. “He told you that he was going to hurt Owen, and you had a chance to do something about it.”
Nate crosses his arms. “I want out of here.”
“You kidnapped a man,” the sheriff says. “Tied him to a tree and beat him. The two eyewitnesses happened to be me and Sheryl, and our testimony will carry weight.”
Nate’s breathing grows quicker. “Are you pressing charges?” he asks Will.
He didn’t even think about that. He has lost all trust in the police, so the thought of counting on the law to do what’s right didn’t cross his mind. “I’m willing to let it go if you work with us.”
“How?”
“Speak with Ray,” Will says. “Tell him that his plan didn’t work and that we’re not aware of his involvement. I need him in the dark until Friday.”
“What’s happening on Friday?”
