Page 36 of Diamonds in the Mud

They were the stereotypical small-town family. With one exception. Aria was adopted. Both of her parents were black and had chosen to adopt Aria, a very pale white girl with flyaway blonde hair, at the tender age of six.

I think it was this fact that made us so close. The fact that neither of us knew our real roots was one of the first reasons we’d become friends. After that, well, we just sort of melted together as best friends.

“Taking in the view?”

I glanced over to see Jameson leaning against the wall next to me. How had he gotten there without me noticing?

“Sure.” I took a sip of my second beer as Jameson glanced over to watch Aria and Tobias for a second. “It appears as if you were enjoying the game downstairs,” I said, turning around to look over the crowd below.

“Pool isn’t my sport,” he replied, leaning next to me.

“Oh?” I asked, bumping his shoulder with mine. “What is your sport?”

Instead of answering, he smiled quickly and my knees wobbled. If I hadn’t been leaning on the wall, I wondered if I would have fallen.

“Looks like Izzy is signed up to play on your team.” I motioned with my head to where the woman had been below.

He leaned closer to me and lowered his voice.

“I’ve already picked my team,” he whispered. “We need to talk.” He ran his hand down my arm and squeezed my hand, placing a piece of paper in it before turning and walking away.

I waited until I was locked in a bathroom stall before reading his message.

“They found out about us. Meet me at the cabin at one.”

Totally sober now, I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths.

Shit. Just how big of trouble was he in thanks to me?

Chapter Nine

“There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know oneself.”

–Benjamin Franklin

Jameson

In all my years on the job, I had never been put in a tight spot like I was in now. Waiting for Rayne to show up, I paced the cabin and tried to think of my next move.

Of course, I had to warn her of Felix’s plans.

When he and Ben confronted me about seeing us last week, I’d easily blown them off with the whole “I was trying to get laid and didn’t know she was a cop” bit.

Then, they’d somehow heard that Rayne had walked me out of the cell and driven me home. That news had seemed to force Felix and Ben into plotting.

During the weekend party at his house the night before, he’d pulled me aside.

“You see, Jameson, we need someone to keep us posted on a few things. You could use this flirtatious relationship you have with the pretty detective”—Felix wiggled his eyebrows at me at that point and slapped my shoulder a little too hard—“to our benefit.”

“Like I said, I didn’t even get to first base,” I had countered, hoping the matter would be dropped. I did not want to bring Rayne into the spotlight of the Reapers.

“Yeah, yet.” Felix laughed. “What if you could get the pretty detective to trust you?”

“Meaning?” I asked.

“You see, there’s a… gray spot we need to shed some light on in this town,” Felix added.

“A gray spot?” I had asked, instantly wondering what he meant, but then he sprung his and Ben’s plans to have me use Rayne to get information about the mayor’s murder. Why in the hell were they concerned about that?