Bo couldn’t fault him for making his informant feel at home by getting his own burgers and fries, right?
“What you wanna know?” the kid asked, stuffing more fries into his mouth. He pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and checked the face. “Make it fast, I have to be at work in thirty minutes.” Kenny, the kid who normally rang up Lucky’s groceries, slurped his soda.
“You attend Clifton High School, don’t you?”
The kid nodded, but didn’t stop chewing long enough to answer with words.
“Tell me, do you know of anyone supplying ADHD drugs to students on campus?” Lucky didn’t really expect an answer, but it didn’t hurt to ask.
Kenny placed his drink on the table, suddenly aging a good five years. “I don’t have anything to do with that shit.” He lifted his nose in the air. “I study and get good grades. I don’t need to cheat.”
Oh, Kenny likely gave away more than he meant to. “Do you have any names?”
Kenny narrowed his eyes. “Who wants to know?”
Lucky sighed and pulled his badge from his wallet. “Agent Simon Harrison, Southeastern Narcotics Bureau—”
“You’re a cop? I knew it!” The kid slammed his hand down on the picnic table.
Kenny’s answer didn’t indicate if he thought Lucky’s job a good thing or bad thing. “I’m not a cop, I’m a narcotics agent. There’s a difference.”
“I knew you were some kind of bad-ass.” Kenny slurped his drink again.
Bad-ass? Lucky? Oh, hell yes! “We’ve found a student in possession of counterfeit drugs. We’re tracking down where they’re coming from.”
Kenny’s eyes grew impossibly wide. “I told you. I don’t do that shit.” He slapped a hand over his mouth. “I mean, I don’t do drugs, sir.”
“‘I don’t do that shit’ is fine by me.” Lucky regarded his newest informant. “I’m not suspecting you of anything, I just thought you might go to that school and might know something.”
Ignoring the remainders of Lucky’s fast food bribe, Kenny paused a few moments, face an unreadable mask. Finally, he nodded. “Mostly jocks take ‘em. They worry about grades and staying on the team. Then there’s a few of the rich kids, trying to get accepted into the right colleges.”
“Do you know anyone personally?”
“No, but it’s hard not to hear talk around school.”
How Lucky wished Ty brought him this information. Kenny would do in a pinch. “Think you can find out names for me?”
“Maybe.” Kenny narrowed his eyes. “What’s in it for me?”
“What do you want?” How much would Walter allow him to pay the kid?
Kenny grinned. “I want to go on a raid.”
“Nope. Too dangerous.” And would also make him Lucky’s problem, however temporary. “How about a ride along in a police car?”
“Sure, that’d work.”
Lucky wouldn’t tell him that officers let citizens ride along all the time as part of the local Citizens Police Academy. “Done. Anything else?”
“Yeah. Give me a ride to work so I won’t be late.”
Okay, teenaged informant in place.
What would he do if Ty was involved in an on-campus drug ring?
***
Why hadn’t Lucky researched Ty’s school before? This wouldn’t be the first situation to put Clifton High under the microscope.
