Page 46 of Tough Justice

“Guess we’ve all got ghosts in our closets,” Evan said.

Given the parking lot’s dim light, neither he nor Brett could see Evan’s expression clearly, but the pain in his voice said it all. None of them needed to say it to know they were all thinking the same thing. Marianne was never coming back, but at least Deck had closure. The McGarry family never had a body to bury. Evan’s sister was just plain gone.

His phone buzzed again, this time with a text. Deck stared at the screen and his stomach went rock hard. This was the absolute last thing a federal agent ever wanted to hear.

“What’s up?” Evan asked.

“Just got a text from an old informant, one I haven’t used much in the last few years. He’s always been reliable.” He hoped this was one instance where his snitch was wrong. Deck held up his phone for his friends to read the message.

Jack didn’t show because he knew you were coming. You’ve got a leak.

From what little he could see of his friends’ faces, they were as grim as his own. He shoved the phone back onto his belt. “There were at least a dozen agents at that warrant, and I handpicked them myself.”

Brett looked at the door to Mick’s. “Hey, you don’t think—”

“No. I don’t,” Deck said with conviction.

“She is the only outlier here,” Evan countered.

Deck turned on his friend. “You’re suggesting that a doctor I also handpicked to work with us leaked logistics about a federal search warrant to a drug dealer?”

Evan held up his hands. “You’re right. Forget I said it.”

“Forget I thought it,” Brett added.

Deck headed to the door, intending to go back inside, but stopped before opening it. Somebody had dimed them out, the consequences of which could have been deadly. Were deadly.

Whoever the leak was, they’d just made themselves a prime target of his investigation, and before they executed another warrant, he’d find out who the rat was.

Chapter Fifteen

“Is anything wrong?” Tori asked, breaking the silence.

“Just thinking about the case.” A partial lie. They’d been driving for five minutes, and Deck couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t sound forced.

His gut told him there was no way Tori was the leak. If there even was one. Regardless of how reliable his informant was, a cryptic text like the one he’d received was still unsubstantiated. Concerning, but still unsubstantiated. His brain, on the other hand, told him not to make decisions with his dick. What he needed was a little distance from her. To get a grip on his professionalism.

He turned onto Alameda, taking the curved road at the base of Green Mountain. For the next quarter mile, a few houses dotted the hillside before giving way to trees and rock, with steep ravines on either side. He hit the brights to light up the road in case a deer or an elk jumped in front of him. A big rack could do a lot of damage to a vehicle.

“Why did you take me to Mick’s?”

That was a question he hadn’t expected. A few seconds went by before he answered. “I don’t know.” Yeah, he did. He’d taken her there because he’d just plain wanted to spend more time with her. And he figured if his friends were there, he wouldn’t do something stupid. Like kiss her again. “I thought you’d enjoy it.” The flash of headlights behind them had Deck looking in his rearview mirror.

She laughed. “I have to admit, I did.”

“Told ya.” He checked his rearview mirror again. The headlights were gone. Deck squinted, looking in the sideview mirror this time, still not seeing anything. He knew this road like the back of his hand. They hadn’t passed any other roads or turnoffs, so where had the other vehicle gone?

That’s when he saw it—the shadowy outline of a car keeping pace twenty feet behind them. They’d turned off the lights. Maybe he hadn’t been imagining a beat-up blue Honda following them the last few blocks before they’d turned into the Center that morning. In the darkness, he couldn’t verify it was the same car.

But it could be.

He pressed his foot on the gas to see if the other vehicle kept pace. It did.

“Deck? Please tell me you’re just doing that checking-the-rearview-mirror-for-bad-guys thing out of habit.”

“I’m not.” The car crept closer. “We’re being followed.” Another mile, and they’d be back in civilization. If these guys were going to make their move, it would have to be soon, and Deck didn’t plan to wait around for that to happen.

He gunned the Interceptor. Three loud pops came from behind them. The rearview window shattered, then the windshield cracked as one of the bullets went straight through the SUV.