Page 29 of Clever Deceit

Warren's hand shot out and grabbed Frank by the wrist. “And why the fuck are you telling us? If he's paying the cops, that includes you. Why should we trust you?”

Frank's gaze didn't leave mine when he answered. “Because Lily here isn't the only girl he's hit. My niece dated him for about two weeks, and he did more damage to her in that time than any man should ever do to a woman. She's still scared of the dark.” His eyes swiveled over to Warren. “I've been waiting for a chance to nail him down, and I hear he's been threatening Lily. But she's not leaving town. Instead, she's got an ex-military guy for a boyfriend and a big dog she takes everywhere with her. Rumor is she's getting ready to fight back. And if that's the truth, I want in.”

I caught my lip between my teeth and stared from Frank to Warren. There was a rumor that I was going to fight back?

That was bad.

If that was true, Tony would have heard it, and he'd be doing everything he could to keep me from doing just that. But at the same time...

If it had brought Frank to my table and he thought he could help...

“So what if I am?” I asked. “That doesn't involve you.”

Frank's lips twitched. “It does. You just don't know it yet. I think I can help.”

I snorted. “How? The police department is bought and paid for. Even if you tried to do anything, your boss would stop you.”

He leaned even closer and said, “He can't stop me from taking a report on what he did to you. He can stop me from filing it in his department, sure. But he can't stop me from passing the information to friends who don't live here. Friends who won't be so shy about filing a report like that. Friends who might have heard about Tony and his dad and are looking for a way to bring them down a few notches.”

I stared at him for several long seconds, too surprised to find an answer. Because if he was saying what I thought he was saying, it meant he was willing to put himself on the line to take Tony McCarthy down. Take my statement and pass it to someone who would file it.

“You're offering us a paper trail,” Warren said, making it a statement rather than a question.

Frank nodded. “Sure am. And one that exists outside of our little town. So it can get to people who can actually do something about it.”

“Why?”

Frank shrugged. “People like Tony McCarthy think they can do whatever they want. They don't care who gets hurt. Just means they won't notice when those little people rise up to fight back. But it takes working as a team to take them down. I'm hearing you two are already doing the work. Figure you can use some more people on your team.”

It took me less than no time to decide that this was exactly the opportunity we'd been waiting for.

“What do I need to do?” I asked.

“Come to my desk Friday night at 9. I'll take your statement. Make sure it's on paper. And then I'll have a friend file it in the next town over.”

I didn't know if it would do anything. I didn't know if it would even matter. This was just my version of what had happened, and it could lead to absolutely nothing.

But the fact that someone else believed me—that someone other than us was willing to fight against Tony McCarthy—made me feel like a huge weight had just been lifted off my chest.

“I'll do it,” I said. “And anything else you need, if it means we take Tony McCarthy down.”

Just as long as we did it before he realized what we were doing and came after us.

CHAPTER 14

Warren

––––––––

AS WE SAT IN THE CAR together, I couldn’t help but feel a pulse of hope.

It was the first time I had even allowed myself to think that way since the fire. There seemed to be no good reason to even entertain the idea that there was a way out of this. It had felt like the grip the McCarthys had on the town was just too strong to get rid of, too strong to pull away from, but we’d just seen a glimpse of something else—of people who were on our side, people who had been harmed by this man just the same way we had.

“I can’t believe it,” Lily murmured, shaking her head. “Do you think he meant it? Everything he said?”

I nodded.

“I don’t see any reason why he would have come out with all of that if he didn’t,” I replied. “He seemed pretty genuine. I know we can’t be totally sure about anyone right now, but that’s about as close as it’s going to come.”