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He looked startled, then he swallowed visibly.
A thrill shot through her. Maybe her bluff was going to pay off bigger than she’d expected. The gas station had been robbed by a man loosely fitting Cecil’s description a few weeks ago. He’d managed to slip past the police by stealing a car afterward. Cora had nothing but a slim suspicion, but Cecil didn’t know that. “There are cameras everywhere, you know. Catch all sorts of things when we think no one is watching. Parking lots. Traffic stops.” She leaned forward. “ATM machines.”
Cecil’s left eye began to twitch.
“We’ve got you on camera, and witnesses who’ve identified you, Mr. Watmuff. All of it. And attacking that old man at the ATM last Saturday night?” Cora clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. “This isn’t your first offense, either. You’ve got a record for petty larceny, assault, drug charges. Add all that to the rest, and you’re looking at hard time.”
His ashen face was like a revelation. The man wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box, but he’d still been around the block enough times to make this tricky. All she had was hope and a prayer, but she went for it. Cora pierced him with a hard stare. “Lucky for you, you stepped into something larger when you tried to rob the guy at the ATM. Maybe we can work something out that would be beneficial to both of us.”
Cecil’s expression turned calculating. She had his attention now.
“Help us identify someone,” Cora said. “And we’ll put in a good word with the prosecutor about the Gas n’ Go.”
“Rat someone out?” The look of disgust on Cecil’s face was remarkable, considering his rap sheet.
“It’s no one connected to you.”
“And if I don’t help?”
She shrugged. “We can put in a word about that with the prosecutor, too. I’m guessing eight to ten behind bars isn’t what you had in mind when you threw on your T-shirt this morning. But I can promise you, that slogan will be very much appreciated where you’re headed.”
Cecil’s grimy hands balled into fists. She could practically see his gears spinning. They were creaky and rusted from lack of use, but spinning, nonetheless. “What do you want to know?” he spat.
Outwardly, Cora remained calm, but under the table, she began tapping her foot with excitement. Her father once joked that she’d never be any good at poker because it was her tell, but Cora never cared about cards. She cared about her job, and she was damned good at it. There was a fierce sense of pride and satisfaction that came with serving justice, and she was just about to serve up a double portion.
In the end, Cecil identified Liam as the man who intervened in the mugging, relaying the story exactly as Liam had described it. After that, it only took a couple of carefully placed comments to get Cecil to spill about the Gas n’ Go robbery, too.
Cora left the room with a wide smile, a spring in her step and an overwhelming sense of relief. She’d done it. Not only had she apprehended the criminal responsible for the robberies, Liam was off the hook.
“Nice job, McLeod,” Captain Thompson said. “Meet me in my office in ten minutes and we’ll recap.” His regular stoic expression cracked at the edges, and he almost smiled. It was a day for surprises.
A couple of hours later, Rob caught her leaving the kitchen and he gave her a high five. “I can’t believe you got Crack Rock Cecil to confess all that.”
“Well, I think him taking a few hits of that Wings blend might’ve helped,” Cora said. “I doubt he’d have been flying off at the mouth and singing like a bird otherwise.”
Rob chuckled as they made their way down the hall. “Captain says Liam’s in the clear, and he’ll be back soon. That’s gotta make you happy.”
“I knew Liam was telling the truth,” she said simply. Because as angry as he’d made her, she knew deep down he wasn’t a killer.
“And now you proved it. He’s lucky to have you in his corner.”
She forced a smile, but inside she felt like a scattered jigsaw puzzle. She was still annoyed with Liam for all the lies, but she was also glad his name was finally cleared. And she couldn’t help the stab of guilt every time she remembered his face when she’d kicked him out of her house. He was new to the city and he didn’t even have friends yet. The only person he’d known outside of work besides her was Margaret Brady, and Cora doubted that woman wanted to see Liam anytime soon. So, where had he gone? How was he handling the solitude?
“Liam’s going to be back at work just in time to hit Danté’s for Thursday night drink specials,” Rob said. “We should all go celebrate.”
“Oh, that reminds me.” Cora stuck her foot out and tripped him.
He caught himself against the wall, then gave her an incredulous scowl. “What the hell, McLeod?”
“That’s for Suzette,” she said, rounding on him. “It was either that or spill hot coffee in your lap. Be glad I chose to be merciful. Why’re you stringing along my best friend?”
Rob looked thunderstruck. “I’m not stringing her along. I told you, I really like her.”
“What about that booty call text from Trixie, then?”
At least he had the good sense to look remorseful. “It was bad timing. I didn’t want Suzette to see that.”
“Well, she saw it, and now she wants nothing to do with you. In fact, she’s already forgotten you exist.”
Rob swore under his breath. “Our evening was going great until I got that text, and then everything exploded into a hot mess. Trixie’s just a girl I used to date, Cora. It was a drunk text message and nothing more. I haven’t seen her in months. You have to believe me.”
“Hey, I’m not the one you need to convince. Save it for Suzette, if she’ll bother listening.”
Rob muttered something and charged down the hall—probably to call Suzette again—but Cora knew her friend had blocked his number. Suzette scorned was a force to be reckoned with, so Rob had his work cut out for him. Cora almost felt sorry for him, except that he was Rob, so it wasn’t necessary. He’d figure out a way to get back into Suzette’s good graces...after the appropriate amount of groveling, of course. Besides, Cora didn’t have time to worry about Rob’s problems. She had her own hot mess to deal with. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she sent a text to Liam before she could overthink it.
