Page 25 of Tough Justice

Brett and Evan stared at him, both with smirks on their faces.

“What?” Deck asked.

“Nothing.” Brett held up his hands.

“We’re just surprised,” Evan said. “Knowing how you feel about doctors and all, we never figured you’d partner with one, let alone praise her.”

Brett snickered. “But she is pretty. And smart.”

“It’s a temporary business arrangement.” Deck glared at his friends. “Nothing more.”

The vibration of his cell phone saved him from more adolescent insinuations. “Decker.”

For the next five minutes, he listened while ASAC Rivera filled him in. By the time his boss was done, Deck’s head pounded with the mother of all headaches.

“Bad news?” Brett asked.

“You could say that,” he said as they all headed back to the parking lot. “Three more suspected ODs, all in Fort Collins. Two of them DOA.”

“The third?” Evan opened the side door of his SUV while Blue hopped in.

“Alive but in a coma.” After Thor jumped into the kennel, Deck closed the door. “It’s the governor’s son.” His friends’ eyes widened. “For the last hour, the governor’s been on the phone with the DEA administrator in Washington, demanding to know what’s being done to shut down opioid trafficking.”

Brett stood by the side of his SUV with Blaze. “No pressure, huh?”

Right. No pressure at all. Christ, he needed to nail down the source of this shit, and he needed him—or her—yesterday.

His cell phone buzzed again, and he ripped it from his belt. What now? But it wasn’t his ASAC again, as he’d expected. Tori. He’d added her to his contacts earlier in the week. “This is Deck.” As he listened, his pulse thumped faster.

The break he needed might have just fallen into his lap.

Chapter Nine

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Tori said, joining Wil and Ethan at the nurses’ station. “Wil, can I speak with you for a minute? It’s about your overdose patient.”

The woman had come in an hour ago. Luckily, the hits she’d taken hadn’t been that big and she’d come around after only two doses of naloxone. The second she was alert and talking, Tori had spoken with her privately about meeting with Deck. Now, the coffee she’d just drank gurgled in her stomach. Wil wouldn’t like what she was about to say.

Better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission.

“Leslie Batista?”

“Yes. Let’s talk in the lounge.” Without waiting for a response, she started walking to the lounge. Over her shoulder, she caught Ethan’s gaze following them and looking none-to-happy. The upbeat demeanor he’d arrived here with two years ago after graduating from Temple University’s med school in Philadelphia seemed to have vanished. North Metro had already taken a toll on the young man. Not for the first time, she considered speaking with Wil about Ethan, but one issue at a time.

Once inside the lounge with the door closed, Wil raised a brow. “Why the cloak and dagger?”

“I need to discuss something with you privately.”

“Okay.” He leaned back against the kitchenette counter. “Something tells me I’m not going to like it.”

“Probably not.” Her stomach lurched again. “I spoke with your patient.”

“What about?”

“I asked her if she would be willing to speak to the DEA about where she bought her drugs.”

Wil’s forehead creased. “You shouldn’t have done that and certainly not without consulting me. It’s unethical. I thought we were a team.”

Tori shook her head. “Technically, it’s not unethical. But I agree, since she’s your patient and you and I are friends, I should have spoken with you before I did it.” She’d known Wil wouldn’t approve, but from his expression, he was royally ticked. More than she’d expected.