“You tell me,” she pressed on, “who killed my sister. And I’ll give you what my sister made for you.”
Those evil eyes narrowed. “What the hell you talking ’bout?”
“You had a deal with Shelley. There was something you wanted her tomakefor you.”
Anticipation flickered in his eyes, but he held it at bay, kept the suspicion firmly rooted. “You gonna have to be more specific before this goes any further.”
“It’s like a movie,” she offered. “You know, a videotape.”
He shook his head. “Uh-uh. You ain’t got no shit like that.”
“I found the video equipment in the attic,” she argued. “The tape was missing from the VCR, but there were lots of boxes up there. I just started looking, and what do you know. My worst nightmares all on one vile tape.”
Still suspicious, he ventured, “What kind of nightmares?”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out.” She lifted her chin and called upon every ounce of fury she could dredge up. “Suffice it to say that Braddock is going down for this. He will not get away with what he did to my sister. He used her.” She leaned toward Tyrone. “That bastard did things to her ...” She shuddered. “There were other girls too. It’s sick. He’s just like all the other cops around here. And I’m going to see that he goes to jail.”
“No. No. No, chickee.” Tyrone held his hands palms out and waved them back and forth. “You don’t want to do that. You know they’ll just cover that shit up. You let me take care of Braddock.” He pushed back his shoulders and puffed out his chest. “Why you think I had Shelley working on him? I knew what he was; I just needed evidence.”
“I don’t think so.” She shook her head. “I want him to go to jail. What could you do with the tape?”
Tyrone smirked. “I could make him pay in ways you can’t even imagine.”
“Whatever.” Anticipation had her nerves jangling. “You tell me who killed my sister and we’ll make a trade. I give you the tape and then you can do whatever you want to Braddock.”
“Doesn’t work that way.” He walked over to the coffee table, got a cigarette from the pack lying there, and lit it. “You show me a preview of what you got, I’ll give you the name. No negotiations.” He blew out a plume of nasty smoke.
Don’t let him see any hesitation. Counter him! Think!“Fine. But I have to warn you, those girls spent a lot of time talking about you while they were doing Braddock.”
His eyes narrowed again as he moved back to where she stood. “What kind of talk?”
CJ shrugged. “Oh, nothing that would interest anyone but the police.”
He shoved his face in hers. “What damned kind of talk?”
“The names of people you’ve had murdered. The reasons you had them murdered.”What else? What else?“Dates, locations. You know, stuff like that.”
He searched her eyes, looking for the lie. Didn’t say a word.
“So, do we have a deal or what?”
“How ’bout you show me the tape right now?” He reached for her.
She stepped back.Shit!“Do you think I’m stupid? I didn’t bring the tape with me. I pick the place where the trade goes down.”
He still wasn’t completely convinced. “As long as it’s neutral territory.”
Relief burned in her chest. “Fine.” She moistened her lips, needed water badly. Her throat was utterly parched and full of coal dust. “How about—”
“I pick the time,” he countered.
“All right, all right. My house.”
He made that annoying sound that indicated a wrong answer on game shows. “Neutral territory. That ain’t neutral.”
Well, she’d tried. “The village clinic, then. It won’t be open again until Wednesday, but I have a key.” Not exactly the truth, since she hadn’t anticipated needing the damned thing since she wouldn’t help Juanita or Carter again if her life depended upon it. But, for this, she would get the key back, no matter that it meant interacting with Juanita and lying about her intentions.
Then again, she hadn’t been helping them. She’d been helping herself and the people of this village.
