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That’s my guy.
I leisurely get out of my car and cross the street, keeping him in my peripheral as I head toward the front doors. I’m not even a foot away when the guy makes me. He bounds out of the chair and he’s off.
Dammit. I really didn’t feel like chasing him down. I pick up my pace and then break into a run once I round the corner of the building. He just reaches the middle of the alley when I catch up to him.
“Stop! Police!” I go to reach for my badge and curse as I feel inside my empty pocket. No gun, either. Why the fuck did I even strap on my holster? With a growl, I push forward, legs pumping, and snatch the collar of his shirt, taking him down to the pavement.
“I said police, dipshit.” My breath is ragged as I pull his arms behind his back and secure a pair of cuffs to his wrists. At least I have those.
“Where’s your badge?” he fires back.
Looks like he’s no first-time offender; he knows the deal. I roll him over and stare down. “It’s in my other pants.”
“Fuck,” he hisses. “You a nark?”
Catching my breath, I rest my hands on my thighs. My age is showing. Hell. “Why the fuck would a nark try to make a collar?” He obviously isn’t that smart. “What’s in the bag?”
He clams up, refusing to answer any questions.
All right. I yank his pack to the side of his shoulder and unzip the top. I pull out a baggie of pot and shake it in front of his face. “What’s this?” Then I tug out a large foil-wrapped rock. I assume that’s Avery’s package. “And looks like you got a rock here, too.”
“Hey, man. That’s not the kind of rock you’re thinking.”
I peel back a section of the foil and give it a whiff. “Actually, it’s exactly what I think. Ambergris.”
He squints at me, a deep furrow between his dark brows. “You FDA?”
“I’m your worst fucking nightmare if you don’t tell me everything.” I yank him up by his shirt into a sitting position. “Talk.”
Shit-for-brains can’t possibly be in collusion with Maddox and the masked men who took Avery. Those men are career criminals, and this guy looks like he’d piss himself if they so much as whistled his way for a dime bag. “This the biggest score you got?” I ask.
His embarrassment is evident on his youthful face. “Yeah, man. The dope’s mine. Personal use. I got a prescription for my migraines.”
“Sure. All right. I’ll let you off the hook with that.” I kneel down and push the ambergris in his face and tug out the photo of Avery. “Now tell me everything about this shit here and this woman.”
“I just got the hookup for that chick, is all. My cousin’s in the Navy.” He shrugs, wincing at the movement. “He sends me the rocks, and I get them to her. I saw her posting on a forum trying to score some. And I actually knew what she was looking for.” He gr
ins wide. “I remembered my cousin talking about how that shit could go for a lot to the right person.” He shrugs again. “It was fate.”
I let him talk. Most people will tell you what you want to know without even asking if you let them talk long enough. And he’s a talker.
“Anyone else on that forum trying to locate it?” I ask.
“Naw, man. Just the hot chick.” His smile stretches, revealing gold dental plates. “I was actually going to try to hook up with her today. Bitch has a fine fucking ass.”
My jaw sets. I thump the back of his head. “Focus, shithead. Anyone else ever approach you, inquiring about ambergris or this woman?”
“Damn, man. That’s police brutality.” He shakes his head. “I said no. Just her.”
I mutter a curse and move behind him to unlock the cuffs. If I was on duty, I’d bring him in, put him in the hotbox for proper questioning. Sweat all the details out. But I have a feeling he’d only waste time and resources. Time and resources we don’t have.
The kind of scores he gets through his cousin doesn’t seem big enough to tempt the real players in this game. According to Avery, the men who took her had a whole lab set up—with enough illegal pure drugs to dope the entire city.
They have their own connections—but they still needed a talented scientist.
“Oh, wait though,” he says, rubbing his wrist. “There was this one dude, kind of sketchy. He asked her a question on the forum. Something about the compounds and aphrodisiacs. It got all technical between them.”
I toss his backpack to him once I’m done searching it. “You’re just now remembering this?” He scratches at his head, shrugs. “And what stood out about that to you?”
