Will enters his truck and drives over to the mayor’s house. He notices the car with the two undercover police officers who are sitting in the dark. He hates counting on the local force for protection, but he hates the thought of Ray Walker escaping justice even more.
There are more cars across the sidewalk—rich people’s cars. He climbs out and walks to stand in front of the tall wooden door, hearing jazz music from inside. He tries to keep his composure, but he’s all raw nerves tonight. This could be the last time he’ll ever face this humiliation, and achieving that while taking down the mayor feels too monumental to comprehend.
The door opens before he can knock. Veronica gives him a once-over, managing to look condescending in her dark maid uniform without needing to open her mouth. She tilts her head for Will to enter.
The music is louder inside, and the air is a bit chilly, but he can see the dancing shadows of the living roomfireplace down the hall. He usually leaves his bag in the bedroom on the second floor, but a worrying thought crosses his mind. Does Veronica go through his things? He never cared enough to give it a thought, but the possibility of that happening turns his blood cold.
She clears her throat impatiently, her presence feeling intrusive in the empty hallway.
“I’ll put my bag upstairs,” he says and hurries up the stairs before she can suggest otherwise. He exhales when he reaches the second floor. He steps into the familiar bedroom and decides to put his bag inside the closet instead of at the corner of the room. He starts to put the bag inside when he has a change of heart. Wouldn’t this make Veronica more suspicious if she decides to snoop? Unless… he pulls out the two recording devices from his backpack. Both are working; he can hear a faint humming when he holds them next to his ear. He whispers, “I’m on the second floor. I’ll hide these in the closet in case anyone goes through my bag.”
Once the two devices are safe behind a pile of sheets, he closes the closet and leaves his bag on the other side of the room, where he would usually put it.
He takes a breath and steps outside, then walks down the dim hallway and the curving flight of stairs.
Veronica is waiting by the living room with her stoic expression. He walks past her and steps into the warm room where music is playing and the mayor’s four guests are deep in conversation. He was hoping thattonight would be one of the rare occasions Hal had other engagements, but he’s here, as well as Doctor Levi and two older men whose names he can’t remember. He thinks one of them is a lawyer.
“About fucking time,” Hal growls. He’s sitting by the fire, his legs crossed. His gray horseshoe mustache still looks ridiculous. Will hasn’t stopped thinking of Nate’s warning about Hal’s agreement with the mayor. He’s known for years how much Ray hated him, but arranging for Will to be taken away is on another level.
“You should teach him to arrive on time,” Hal tells the mayor, who sits in his favorite armchair, smoking his pipe.
“Go bring more wine, boy,” the mayor says. “Something from Italy.”
“Yes, sir.” Will walks through the side door that leads to the kitchen, then down to the wine cellar, where the air is heavy and thick. He checks out the bottles, looking for something from Italy. Before he can find it, someone walks down the stairs. Will tenses at the sight of the mayor.
“There’s a bump on your forehead.”
“A branch hit me at work.”
The mayor takes a step closer, making the room feel even smaller. “I heard that your boyfriend found himself in a bit of a mess.”
Will tries to keep his surprise from his face. He never mentioned Owen to the mayor. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Don’t lie to me, boy.”
“We broke up. He couldn’t stand the shit he got around town, and after he was almost killed, he decided to go back home.”
The mayor watches him closely, as if peering through his skull to examine his brain. “Is that so? How come he was involved with drug dealers in the first place?”
Will narrows his eyes as if he’s angry. “The fucking sheriff got him doing undercover work. I only found out about it once he was kidnapped by two drug dealers from Eminence.”
“Hmm. And are those two in custody?”
As if you don’t know.“No, they were killed during the police raid. The sheriff wanted Owen to help him get names from them, but that’s not going to happen.”
“Mitch will be wise not to get any more innocent people involved in his mess.”
Will counts on the mayor knowing how much bad blood runs between him and the sheriff to make the thought of them working together seem preposterous.
“He’s already gotten one innocent man almost killed. I doubt he’ll try again anytime soon.”
The mayor nods. “That we can agree on.” He pulls out two bottles of wine. “These will do.”
In the living room, Will asks each of the guests which wine they would like, and once their glasses are filled, Hal snaps his fingers at Will. “Hurry up and take those clothes off. No use for you dressed.”
“Itisrather rude of him to still be wearing clothes,” Doctor Levi says before taking a sip of his wine.
Facing the flames in the fireplace, Will pulls off his shirt, then removes his shoes, socks, and pants. They’re usually fine with him staying in his underwear before he goes upstairs with one of them, but this time Hal signals him to take it off as well.
