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“What?” Jake snapped at him, hitting his arm down that was extended toward him. “Fuck off. Both of you. I cannot believe—”
“Your cousin is doing something.”
“Fucking hell, Ashton!” Trace whirled on me. “Just tell him everything. Let him run right to Nicolai with it.”
My gut had never been wrong with this Worthing. I stepped around Trace, saying to Jake, “We killed three of his men. He never told you about that. We also took you.”
“Because I told him.”
“He didn’t seem that upset about it.”
Jake’s glare turned to a whole new level of hostility. “Fuck off, Walden. Just seriously fuck off already.”
“I took you. I killed three of his men, and in the middle of our meeting, one of my men took out your cousin’s sniper. The only thing he cared about was the ceasefire. He’s keeping you in the dark. You were my man before he shoved in, and then Justin was killed. You switched when that happened, but your cousin didn’t blink an eye about Justin in our meeting. You said it yourself just now. That side of your family was in Maine. It wasn’t anything for you to worry about being a cop down here. Your cousin’s keeping things from you. He cares about the ceasefire, not about Justin’s killer. Don’t believe me? Push him. Read him. Make up your own mind.”
Now was the time to pray. If I still knew the man he was when he worked for me, or if I was wrong the whole time.
A whole minute passed before Worthing started to leave. “I’ll do what I can to get Montell and Molly out.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t—” He turned, one last dark look from him. “Just don’t anymore. I’ll get them out, and I’m gone, from both you and my cousin. I’ll do my own investigation into Justin’s murder. Seems I’m the only one who gives a shit anyways.”
Trace waited thirty seconds for him to get out of hearing distance. “What the fuck are you thinking?!”
“He was my man.”
“What?”
“The night we got raided. He was my man. He was the one who told Jess about the raids. He was the one giving her the test, for me. I knew the raids were going down, and we got our shit together in time because of him. Him.” I pointed in his direction. “I’m gambling, I know, but I think I’m right. I think he’s the one who’ll help us pull the rug out from under his cousin.”
“If you’re wrong . . .”
If I was wrong, we were screwed.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
MOLLY
I was taking stock of my life. It felt appropriate to do that while I was in the slammer.
Except I wasn’t. I didn’t think.
We were in a building with cement walls, uncomfortable benches, and metal chairs. No windows. I didn’t think we were at a police station, but there were police here. Across from me at a metal table in the front lounge area was my new pen pal. Ritalicious was fabulous. Her pink nails, eyelashes, and feathers were on point. I now had a new obsession with feathers, faux feathers though. Not real feathers. But also, she gave me the name of a gay bar that she promised had the best shows.
I was basking in the future excitement of attending Gary’s Hairy Heels and waiting for Jess to stop fighting with whatever cop came through the door. It’d not been easy when the first cops showed up at Glen’s apartment. Once they knew who Jess was, their attitude went south.
It was like that with each one who approached us, and now we were somewhere I didn’t know where, and I was hoping for that one phone call you always get promised.
Detective Worthing walked through the door.
The lady who was arguing with Jess shut up, and Jess groaned.
Not me. I perked up. Jake wasn’t that bad—or hadn’t been in the past. He went to a back office. There was a heated argument, and he came out three minutes later. He walked past the female detective, picked up Jess’s handcuffed wrists, and took the cuffs off.
He glanced at me, but I showed him they never put handcuffs on me.
He said something to the female before motioning to Jess and me. “Come on.”
Jess was unnaturally quiet and stiff. “What are you—”
He gave her a look. “I wouldn’t question my kindness right now.”
She shut up.
I jumped up, said goodbye to Ritalicious, and followed him. My insides were feeling like I was at a disco. I had a whole new purpose in life. I didn’t know when it happened, if it was when the gun was pointed at my head, when I was fighting him for it, when Jess helped, or after we kicked his ass? Or maybe it was a combination of everything and all, but we’d gone to Easter Lanes to bowl with Kelly and Justin, and somehow I came out of this recent scare with a new outlook.
