“Better than I would like.” She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs.
She looked so painfully young when she did that. Made him want to protect her—the way he hadn’t protected Shelley. He couldn’t imagine living the way she and her sister had as children. His childhood had been pretty much ideal. Loving, doting parents. He’d never had to worry about what he would eat or wear ... or if it was safe to go to sleep at night.
His protective instincts surged with the need to show her that it was possible to depend upon another human being and not be disappointed. Would she ever really trust anyone? Well, he supposed she trusted Edward Abbott.
But would her past allow her to trust anyone enough to make a deep, unconditional commitment? The memory of sinking inside her abruptly took his breath. He’d wanted to make love to her practically since the day he’d laid eyes on her. But not like that.
He’d wanted to do it right.
“Earth to Braddock.”
He snapped back to attention. “I ... I was thinking.”Focus. “There was one thing Shelley knew for certain.” He settled on the arm of the couch, opposite CJ. “Nash wants me as bad as I want him. In order to keep him off guard, Shelley went along with his idea of luring me into a compromising position. Whenever she was around, he wouldget so preoccupied talking about planning my fall that he would let things slip, allow her to see things he wouldn’t have under any other circumstances.”
“For example?”
“Nash has six men, five now that Banks is dead, who oversee his prostitution business. The city is divided into territories. Banks had the village and a number of streets beyond. One of those men is on the verge of talking. Cooper and I have him primed to spill the beans on everything he knows about that aspect of Nash’s business.”
“What’s keeping him from talking now?”
“He wants to keep breathing. He won’t talk unless Nash is already on his way down. No one wants to take the risk unless we have something big enough on Nash to start the ball rolling. Besides, I want that bastard to go away for the rest of his life. I need more than the prostitution.”
“You have no evidence tying him to any of the disappearances or the murders,” she reminded.
Braddock hated that feeling of helplessness. To know a man is guilty of so much and to be unable to prove one damned thing. “Not yet. But if we bring charges of any kind that will stick, our man will talk. To be honest, I have a feeling lots of witnesses will be coming forward. I’ve made a number of contacts in the village. There are plenty who would like to see Nash brought to justice, but they’re afraid.”
“What about his bodyguards and the others who protect him? Won’t those same witnesses fear repercussions from his chain of command?”
“That’s true,” Braddock agreed. “Some will still be afraid to talk, but it only takes two or three to get the job done.”
She dropped one foot to the floor, pulled the other beneath her as she shifted to face him. “So, what exactly is it I’m to offer Tyrone?”
Braddock’s attention stalled for a moment on her breasts. The blouse she wore was one of her conservative ones, but she hadn’t buttoned it to the throat today.
She was staring at him, waiting for him to go on. He blinked, cleared his mind yet again. What the hell was wrong with him? This was far too important for him to get distracted. “Nash has had his way with law enforcement for a long time. Those who try to levy justice can’t get anything on him.”
“He’s too slippery for them,” she suggested. “He doesn’t do the dirty work himself. His underlings take the risks. And the falls.”
“Exactly. He pays them well for the gamble.” Disgust consumed him when he considered what he had to say next. “There are those on the force who look the other way because it’s more lucrative to do that than to do their jobs.”
She exhaled a big breath, drawing his attention to her chest once more. He had to stop that.
“This is Huntsville, Alabama,” CJ complained. “How can a man like Nash have gotten away with this crap for so long? It’s not like this is Baltimore or Atlanta. There can’t be that many dirty cops around here.”
“It only takes a few. Evidence can disappear. Information leaked. Two or three sellouts can do a lot of damage. Nash always seems to be one step ahead of us. This might not be Baltimore, but you’d be surprised at how much of what goes on in towns just like Huntsville feeds what happens in the bigger cities and vice versa.”
“You mean like a network?”
“Nash has suppliers in Mobile, Memphis, Atlanta, even as far away as Mexico. What he does here fuels the business in those places.”
She shook her head, chewed on her lower lip. “Explain to me how this ties in to why Nash will want to negotiate for you.”
“Because of what he did to my niece, he knows I won’t stop until I nail him. He can’t buy me off. Or scare me off. He tried that. I don’t get frustrated and walk away. I keep pounding at his people. I was so close with Shelley.”
CJ looked away.
Yeah. So close. Close enough to get her killed.
“Nash wants me off his back,” Braddock went on. “He made big promises to Shelley if she could make it happen. But she didn’t care about his promises. She just wanted to be free of him.”
