Page 34 of Playing With Forever

“Not until Tyler’s involvement is understood.”

“Phil—”

“Please listen to me, Josie. I know it goes against the grain. I know your heart is in the right place, and I know your first thought is to help this family, including Tyler. But—and this is a big but, Josie—right now, until the police have a better understanding of how tied Tyler is to this house and the drugs that are being dealt out of it, it is not safe for you to be around him. Phoenix identified the second kid I saw Tyler with the other day. He’s bad news. Nineteen and has already seen the inside of a jail cell—kind of bad news. He’s also the nephew of the man who rents the house where Sam was killed. Not only is it not safe for you to go see Diane, but Tyler and Bella cannot come back to the center without putting everyone in danger.”

Dammit.

He was right.

I hated it, but there was no denying that allowing Tyler access to the center would put everyone at risk.

But little Bella…

“I hear you, Phil, and you’re right. But Bella’s ten, she just lost her big brother. Her mother will be deep in her grief. Her father is gone, but if this tragedy brings him back, that will be confusing for her. She needs us now more than ever.”

“Josie—”

“Please, Phil, how do we make it safe for her to be here?”

With a harassed sigh, he sat back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. Before I could continue to plead my case, Evan appeared in the doorway of my office. His face a mask of barely contained concern tinged with anger.

“Josie,” he rumbled, then looked at my guest. “Phil.”

“Thank God you’re here,” Phil returned. “Did Phoenix fill you and Echo in?”

“No, my captain did, but Phoenix filled in some blanks,” Evan said.

His captain?

I didn’t get a chance to inquire. Evan stalked into my office, his scorching gaze holding me hostage, and declared, “Tyler Havarth is to be nowhere near the center. And you are to be nowhere near that family.”

Immediately, my back snapped straight, and indignation flamed.

How dare he come into my office and speak to me like he had some sort of control over what I did. Forget the center—me. He wasn’t in charge of my time or where I went or who I spoke to.

“I don’t think you⁠—”

“No, Josie, I don’t think you understand what’s happening here. Samuel Havarth was gunned down in the front yard of the very house my team was set to raid early this morning. Obviously, due to last night’s activities, that was canceled. I had no idea Tyler Havarth was currently attending the center. Neither did I know that Greg Turner had been a previous attendee, nor that they were seen together last week in the parking lot. Had I known, I would’ve told you to boot Tyler immediately.”

None of that was good, yet I still didn’t appreciate Evan stomping into my office, behaving like a baboon with attempts to strong-arm me into doing what he wanted, resulting in him making a decision for me that was not his to make.

“Obviously, I didn’t know Tyler was keeping bad company.”

Unfortunately, my pausing to take a breath gave Evan the opportunity to jump back in. “You know now. And I’ll tell you more, in case you’re shuffling shit around in your head, trying to come up with ways to keep Tyler and his family close. Tyler’s been under my team’s surveillance for three months.”

“He’s fifteen.”

“Yeah, Josie, he’s fifteen, baby, but unfortunately, dealing drugs doesn’t come with a minimum age. Do you know who Saul Trapp is?”

It took me a moment to place the name.

“His father. Who has been absent from his life for the last seven years.”

“You got one part of that right. Saul’s his father—his drug-dealing father, who has absolutely not been absent from his life for at least the last six months. I know this family’s story, and I know it because I arrested Saul Trapp seven years ago when he was dealing out of his garage. That garage being connected to the house where his wife and kids lived. Saul was out of jail approximately eighteen months before Echo and I dragged his ass back in on another distribution charge. Good ol’ Saul’s been out a year, and instead of seeing the error of his ways or being rehabilitated, he upped his game to manufacturing. Now, instead of him being out on the streets, he’s got soldiers doing that for him. One of whom is his son, another is Greg Turner—both minors. Another is a nineteen-year-old punk, Shawn Hucklemen. His uncle, Lewis Hucklemen, rents the house we were set to raid this morning. The raid was scheduled because we know Tyler and his father made a delivery to that house two days ago, and we wanted those drugs before they hit the streets.”

Yes, a headache was now pounding. I didn’t know how to process everything Evan had shared. My first thought was getting to Diane and Bella. My second was, I couldn’t bring this danger to the center. My third was, I hated feeling helpless. And finally, my forth was, I still didn’t like Evan storming in my office like he was large and in charge and I was to bow to his demands.

I’d had enough of that crap to last me a lifetime.