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Three more kids.
A detective’s shield.
A house with a big backyard.
Gray hair and grandkids.
I could see it all, and it was fucking incredible.
Epilogue
Jameson
“Hey man, what’s with all the cloak and dagger shit?” I’d driven two hours into the goddamn desert after receiving a cryptic message from Beau, just to sit inside his car with the sun beating down on us. “I left a warm, naked fiancée in bed for this.”
Beau smirked. “Congratulations.”
“Beau,” I growled, growling. “Thanks.”
“Have a seat. This is some cloak and dagger type of shit for real, and what I’m about to tell you is beyond illegal.”
I held up a hand. “Don’t fuck up your career on my account, Beau. This investigation isn’t worth it.”
Beau gave me a look that said are-you-fucking-kidding-me, raking one hand through his hair.
“Let me rephrase this. What I’m about to share with you doesn’t exist. If you find it useful for your investigation, you’ll have to find another way to prove it. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it. Now you’ve piqued my interest.”
He laughed. “Just wait until you hear it. The individuals speaking. You’ll hear two voices. They’re in a public place, an Italian restaurant, so some of the audio is muffled.”
Beau fiddled with some levels and shit on a small box, and then the sounds of a busy restaurant echoed inside his big black sedan.
“All I’m saying is that we could come to a mutually beneficial arrangement, if you’re up to the task.”
That voice was surely Sadie Ashby. I’d met the woman enough times to recognize it instantly.
“Mutually beneficial, how? Exactly?” This voice belonged to a man. It was deep and commanding but unfamiliar.
“Who is that?”
“Richie Mueller,” Beau said with a satisfied smile.
“Sadie met with Mueller? When?”
“While you were at the academy. Homeland Security was looking into him as part of a human trafficking ring.” Beau shook his head in disgust.
I scoffed. “This guy was deep undercover, if DHS didn’t know.”
“Stupid bureaucratic bullshit is what it is,” Beau growled and restarted the audio.
“Easy,” Sadie purred, “you take care of this one thing for me, and I’ll back off you and Rhymer. Or I’ll owe you a favor at a later date.”
“What’s the favor?”
The audio dipped in and out in some spots, but the gist of it was clear. Sadie speaking again. “A man named Burns has a relative that I need taken care of, sooner rather than later. You take care of him, and I’ll owe you one.”
Beau and I shared a shocked look. “That’s a tough ask,” I said with a low whistle.
“Even tougher to reject if she’s offering to get off his ass. Makes his case a little easier to make.” Beau shrugged it off with a sigh. “Plus, it’s not so bad having Sadie Ashby owe you a favor.”
“Shit.” That would be the hardest thing to turn down. I held my breath as the audio started up again.
“How am I supposed to find this person’s relative? What was the name again?”
You’d almost think Mueller knew he was being recorded. He was so smooth, trying to get more details.
The sound of a plate crashing in the background kicked up just as Sadie spoke.
“With that name you should figure it out pretty quickly, Father. The same way you guys manage to find the perfect place to put your pervert priests.”
The name was muffled all to hell which only made my job harder.
“We’re not all perverts, as you say.”
Sadie let out a soft, feminine laugh. From the sound of it, I’d say she was almost flirting.
“A priest who works as a human trafficker on the side isn’t a pervert? I haven’t been that naïve and foolish in a long time.”
Her second laugh was darker, bitter and filled with something akin to hate.
“Yes, well, we all do what we have to in these trying times. Don’t we?”
“Yes, we do. So, what do you say, Father? Are you in or what?”
There was a long silence, Mueller obviously thinking about Sadie’s offer. It was damn near irresistible as far as I could see. He would either be owed a favor by the dirtiest criminal in Nevada, or he would end her feud with the Rhymer family, which would make his life a hell of a lot easier.
“Look the other way at Emerald Isle and I’ll do it.”
“That’s my business, Father. One of my most lucrative. That’s worth at least two favors.”
The way she spit out Father, meant Sadie was all business now.
“Maybe so, but as far as you or your daughter are concerned, I’m just a man offering safe haven to victims of trafficking. Got it?”
“Fine. You’re still the good priest all of Vegas thinks you are.”
She let out a bitter laugh, and I held my breath to hear the end of the audio.
“Now, what do you say we get out of here?”
The audio ended before I could hear Mueller’s response.
