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“Longstocking, I got no fucking idea.” I pause, frowning. “You’ve never met him before?”
She shoves her hands on her hips. “Did it sound like we’d met?”
I could tell her how people do all sorts of shit to make it sound or not sound like something, but I don’t because she’s not that person.
“Besides, I think I’d have told you if I’d met the new owner of RoadSide, especially if he was that good-looking.”
Her words pull a smile from me. “Trying to rile me?”
“Is it working?”
“Maybe.”
She comes up, and I wrap my arms around her. Nadia rests her head on my chest. “Diego, all of this . . . it’s just not right.”
“Yeah, fuckin’ tell me about it. There’s a slew of new people coming through, settling in beneath the surface and . . . what? Your boyfriend was worried about a bunch of kids? The principal? There are some bad people hanging about. Dangerous ones like O’Grady.”
She bites the corner of her mouth as she looks up at me. “Do you think he’s going to cause trouble?”
“Nadie, I’m dangerous too. But I don’t know. It depends if he’s here only to open a bar or not.” I smooth back her hair. “I’m just curious as to the why of it all. Perhaps not him, but all the unsavories, the big gun gang members. The worst that was here is the 86s and even they seem harder than before, made harder by other influences. We saw it.”
Nadia shudders. “And Jay got mixed up in it all.”
“A smaller gang,” I say, “one that’s not as bad.
“He was threatened, Diego, they beat him, someone gave him a gun.”
“And I’m betting the gun, all the bad shit came from the unsavories. I’m not saying his gang’s sweet, they’re a fuckin’ gang, but I’m saying there are worse ones. We got him out.”
“How?”
“We just did, Longstocking.” I ease her from my arms because I’m just riffing, trying to read into this, see what truths there are.
Like is this some kind of off the beaten path post where trade and contraband come through. It’s close enough to the bigger places and just far enough from the border to be both convenient and not on any radars.
It makes sense. I text the thoughts to Tizio and Nicolo, aware Nadia’s watching. I also ask about Jay.
Nicolo gets back to me.
Nicolo:Putting that on the board, def. Kid’s good, of course, we left earlier.
Me:O’Grady bought a bar.
They know this, but I can’t help bringing it up again. When it comes to O’Grady, I get a bad taste in my mouth.
Nicolo:Yeah, we knew this, D. We’ll look into where he goes and the criminal activities there.
Me:Let’s hope we can catch him before shit really goes down and someone gets dead.
It’s about as much as I can hope for. But I still think my theory makes sense. It’s the who behind it if I’m right that I’m interested in.
I give Nadia a glance. She’s sitting on the sofa now, waiting, and watching me. No one can do that watch and wait and make you want to give up all your secrets like Nadia.
The thing is, Nicolo doesn’t have to say it, Tizio neither. This girl thing, if it’s a thing and not just a bunch of kids taking off because they can or after a fight with their parents or any number of reasons, isn’t our job.
It’s taking on a lot of trouble if it’s really something that’s not connected to the trouble I can practically taste that’s heading to Dallas.
But there’s this thing. And it’s big.
