“Now we’re getting somewhere. Who’she?”
“I don’t know.” The way Darcy obsessively flicked the ring told medifferently.
“Bullshit.”
“For real. I don’t know. I’ve told you everything. Can I leave?”
“You haven’t told me shit, and if you walk out now, I’ll send the police to your door.”
Darcy buried his face in his hands, hisANTI HEROtattoos upside down from my vantage. Marcy was right. They appeared amateur, faded in spots, and had jagged, uneven lines. The letters weren’t uniform.
As I considered another path to get Darcy talking, the bell on the door chimed. Tallus entered, a can of dog food in hand. He asked for a disposable bowl and spoon from the teenager working at the counter and handed both to me.
“Only kind they had.” To Echo, he said, “Sorry, girl. It’s not the gourmet stuff you’re used to.”
Echo didn’t care. By that point, she was starving, and canned food was usually a treat. I hadn’t anticipated being away from the office all day, but she was a trooper.
I set her up with some dinner, and she ate hungrily. It was gone in less than a minute, and I knew it wasn’t enough to fill her, but it would tide her over until we got home.
Tallus settled in, checking to be sure no one had eaten his cookies. As he popped a chunk into his mouth and chewed, he leaned against my side and mock-whispered, “So, do I get to break fingers yet?”
Darcy’s eyes went wide, and his already pale skin drained of color.
“Not yet. My friend Darcy here was about to tell me the name of the guy he works for.”
“I wasn’t. I don’t know his name. I swear. What do I have to say so you’ll believe me?”
I let the question rest since he’d dug his heels in. We would circle back to it in time. “How did you get roped into this mess?”
“I can’t remember.” He lowered his gaze and spun the blasted ring.
I’d known the kid for less than an hour but had already picked up on his tells. Every time he lied, he broke eye contact, and his cheeks flamed. He aggressively spun the center part of his stupid ring until I wanted to yank it off his goddamn finger and chuck it out the door.
“The thing is, Darcy. I don’t think you’re that fucking stupid, and Iknowyou don’t believe I am. Try again.”
He squirmed.
I waited.
“I… I bag groceries at Giant Tiger. Sometimes I stock shelves. It’s a part-time gig, and it pays shit, but they were the only place that would hire me. I have a… contact who introduced me to a guy who hires people for cash jobs.” He shrugged, as if that explained everything.
“You have a contact? Who?”
“It’s not important.”
“I see. He’s your drug dealer. Got it.”
“Fuck you. You don’t know me, and I thought you weren’t a cop. What do you care?”
“I don’t, but you thought I was here because of drugs, so it’s not an unreasonable assumption.”
“He’s not my drug dealer. I don’t do drugs.”
He looked away.
“Another lie. I know you better than you think, Darcy.”I was you, I wanted to say.Our stories might seem different on the surface, but deep down, I suspect we’re more similar than you realize.
“I don’t do the hard shit, okay. A bit of coke sometimes, but I can’t afford it, and I won’t suck nobody’s cock for a high. I won’t stoop that low. Mostly I buy weed, and that doesn’t count ’cause it’s legal. My landlord is okay with it. He doesn’t care what we do, and I’m not giving you my dealer’s name, so don’t fucking ask.”
