Ghost cleared his throat. “Pirate, Scar, do not make me put both of you in a time out.” Back to Keys, he said, “If Pike became his own enforcer of sorts and not just someone who kept track of the mob’s money, that would explain what he was doing in Toni’s house.”
Pike had confirmed he had been in Toni’s house when she’d shot her father. He’d run when Wayne Anderson had died, and had not been aware of the club’s involvement with either Toni or covering up her father’s death. He’d beenveryeager to tell Ranger that information, thinking that if he swore he didn’t have beef with the club it might incentivize them to let him go.
It had not.
“But it does not explain where her parents got the drugs from,” Ranger input. “When Pike went to Toni’s office impersonating her father, he impliedhegave her parents the meth on credit, which dealers are known to do to rack up debt, and when we questioned him, he also confirmed that the drugs were his. But there was no evidence of drugs in his house.”
“He clearly wasn’t cooking or weighing out from his house,” Bulldog confirmed. “Be nice if we could ask him more about the distribution.”
Ranger’s back stiffened. “The guy had a heart attack! It wasn’t my fault! Maybe if someone had told me he had a pacemaker, I wouldn’t have hooked him up to a car battery!”
Eyes then flew to Bear, who immediately put his hands up. “I’m sorry. Next time you bring someone to the cellar to torture them, I’ll make sure to double check their medical recordsbeforeyou start torturing them.”
Ghost let out a sharp whistle. “Look, it doesn’t change the fact that we have more questions than answers.”
“Most important being where Debra Anderson still is,” Ranger reminded the table. “I still have to tell Toni that the finger Pike gave her wasn’t her mother’s.”
“It’s been almost two days since I told you that,” Keys said, aghast. “What are you waiting for?”
“And how long did it take you to tell us you were hiding Rose in your fortress across the street?” Lucky rhetorically asked Keys, coming to Ranger’s defense. “We’ve found no evidence to suggest Debra Anderson is alive. No credit card trails, no signs of her car. Both Wayne and Debra were fired from their jobs months ago, so she hasn’t been to work, or to Toni’s house since the night Wayne Anderson was killed. And the one person who could possibly confirm Debra’s whereabouts is now dead.”
Ranger winced. The only thing Pike had been able to confirm about Debra was that she was the one who’d relapsed first, almost five months ago. Wayne had followed the very next day. He also had not given Toni those details.
“I’ll talk to her tonight,” Ranger resolved. “She has a right to know.”
Ghost gave him a reassuring nod before asking Keys, “Have you figured out who the fingerdoesbelong to?”
Based on comparing the finger’s blood type to Toni’s, Keys was able to determine that it had not been Debra’s. Keys shook his head. “I’d need an actual forensics lab for that. I gave the finger to Carlos, who can actually get some answers from it.”
“Where does he think it came from?” Bulldog asked, a bit amused.
“I think by now Carlos just knows better than to ask that sort of question,” Keys answered dryly.
Rose shrugged, “I tried to tell him I found it on the sidewalk, but I don’t think he believed me.”
Given that Rose could barely keep a straight face while telling theclub, Ranger had no trouble believing that she was unable to get that line past Carlos.
Ghost scratched his chin. “Until we have proof that Debra Anderson is alive or dead, we still need to work off the assumption that she’s alive. Once we have an answer to who the finger belongs to, we’ll deal with that then, too. Keys, were you able to confirm the list of clients Pike gave us before he died?”
His expression solemn, Keys nodded. “And Bulldog also found a ledger he kept in a safe at his house that had even more names on it. About seven hundred, spanning back at least a decade. One hundred and seven are still current ranging from Cottonville to Johnstown, and even down to Morgantown and as far as Ohiopyle. Here in Mount Grove, I was able to confirm eighteen residents.”
Eighteen. A year ago, that number would have seemed astronomical to Ranger. Especially after the club supposedly put a stop to dealings years ago. But Ranger had recently learned the arrogance of that assumption. The club hadn’t put a stop to drug deals or substance abuse within the town. They’d just created an environment where residents had to learn to hide their habits better.
Mount Grove had a population of roughly five thousand people. On average, sixty to two hundred of the population had some form of substance use disorders, with thirty to eighty people using illicit drugs. Having eighteen of those thirty to eighty people being active customers of a drug dealer like Pike only meant that Pike had established a decent foothold in their town.
Rumblings of unhappiness at this knowledge wove around the table. No one was happy about those numbers.
Keys then dropped a bigger bomb on them. “Two are club employees. Shawna at the diner,” he said to Pirate, “and Rickyat the construction site,” he added to Cage. He turned to Ghost, “There’s also one more name you’re not going to be happy with.”
Keys slid a tablet across the polished wood to Ghost at the head. Ghost caught the device before lifting it to see what Keys wouldn’t say out loud.
Shock was the immediate expression on Ghost’s face. “You have got to be fucking with me.”
Keys shook his head as Ghost passed the tablet to Lucky.
“Principal Rockland?” the VP gasped out, lowering the tablet.
“No way!” came down the table from the other end. Jigsaw and Pirate exchanged astonished looks. Pirate had worked for years as the high school’s security guard, and when he left to start a charity for disabled veterans, Jigsaw took his place.
