“Ha! What did you say?”
“Nothing. I just smiled and held up my hand so they could get a good view of the ring.” He repeated the gesture and the ring glittered like a disco ball in the flickering fluorescent light. “The judge took them back to chambers after that, but I had a pretty good feeling about how negotiations would go.”
“I’ll bet you did. This calls for the good china.” Hez found the only two matching and unchipped mugs in the cabinet under the coffee maker. He filled them and handed one to Jimmy. “Thanks for stopping by. You always have solid advice.”
“Which you usually ignore.” Jimmy took a long sip. “I was down from Birmingham anyway, so it’s no inconvenience at all to stop by TGU. And between you and me, I’m also doing a little recruiting. You’ve bragged on your students, and I’d like to see them in action a little more.”
“Here they come now,” Hez said as voices reached them from the hall. The three Justice Chamber student volunteersentered together. Toni Casey, a blonde former accountant of about thirty, came in first, followed by Ed Hernandez and Dominga Steerforth. Ed was a scholarship swimmer who was using a final year of eligibility as a law student. Dominga was a senior history major who had an eye on law school—and Ed. They’d been dating for the past month, and things seemed to be getting serious.
Ed helped himself to a mug of coffee. “Hello, Mr. Little. Are you here to help us brainstorm our next case?”
Jimmy nodded. “Though I’m not sure you need my help. Y’all managed to take down a major smuggling operation.”
The students beamed. “Well, we helped some,” Toni said. “But that was mostly a law enforcement operation, and the kingpin is still—”
Running steps sounded in the hall. A breathless Simon appeared, followed by a boy and a girl Hez didn’t recognize. Both appeared to be around Simon’s age of ten. “Sorry I’m late,” Simon panted. “One of my teachers wanted to talk to me after class.”
Hez had reluctantly allowed Simon to join the Justice Chamber to keep him out of trouble. But he hadn’t said anything about Simon bringing classmates. “We’re just getting started. Who are your friends?”
“They’re my cousins.” Simon glanced toward the girl, a brunette with large solemn brown eyes. “That’s Olivia.” He nodded toward the boy, a stocky youth with shaggy blond hair and hard blue eyes. “And that’s Jack.”
Hez eyed the children. “Pleased to meet you both.” He turned back to Simon. “I didn’t know you had cousins.”
“Neither did I, but Pawpaw Willard introduced me to themwhen he took me to get a root beer float.” Simon’s blue eyes shone. “We go to the same school too. Isn’t that great?”
So these were Willard kids, handpicked by Michael to befriend Simon. Was Michael just helping his grandson get to know family members his own age? Or did he have other motives? “Yes, that’s great. Why did you bring them to the Justice Chamber?”
Jack shuffled his feet. “My sister Tammy brought us. We met Simon out front and came up together. Tammy works in the police department with Aunt Nora. They say we’re too young for police stuff, but Simon told us about the Justice Chamber, so we thought maybe we could help too.” He licked his lips. “If that’s okay with you, Mr. Hez.”
Hez hesitated. Jack’s words rang true, but he was a Willard and several Willards had been involved in the artifact smuggling. On the other hand, Nora was also a Willard and Savannah completely trusted her. It wasn’t fair to assume everyone connected with the sprawling Willard clan was a criminal, especially young children like Olivia and Jack. And it was good to see Simon happy and connecting with other kids again. That tipped the scales. “It’s okay with me. Just make sure your parents know what you’re doing.”
Olivia nodded. “We texted them and they said it’s fine.”
“Okay.” Hez turned to Toni as the children settled into chairs. “You were saying something about the smuggling ring?”
Toni shot an uneasy glance at the newcomers, but she apparently decided not to question their presence. “Well, there are some loose ends left from that case.”
Hez sipped his coffee. “You mean the New York angle?”
She nodded. “Police raids nailed every link in the supply chain from the illegal digs in Mexico to just outside the Big Apple.”
“But the worm in the core escaped,” Jimmy said.
Toni leaned forward. “Exactly! The money trail led to James Hornbrook, but he somehow escaped the raid and got out of the country before the DA could indict him.”
Hez shifted his weight, drawing a creak from the desk. The police raid in New York had caught Jess—but the police had assumed she was innocent and let her go. Hez didn’t want to discuss that in front of Simon, of course. “Isn’t that an issue for the DA and the New York authorities? The university already settled with Hornbrook and his company.”
Jimmy arched a brow. “But this isn’t really settled, is it? Hornbrook sent guys after you and your computer expert, right? And he threatened to kill you.”
Hez’s heart rate ticked up at the memory. “True.”
“Then he’s an issue for you too.” Jimmy gestured at Hez with his mug.
Ed’s jaw muscles flexed. “If he’s an issue for you, he’s an issue for all of us.”
Nods and murmurs of agreement came from around the room.
Warmth glowed in Hez’s chest. “I appreciate the loyalty, but this is a police matter.”
