Vice (Tortured Heroes Book 1) (14 page)

J
ase

The meeting with Kinney’s supplier was set. It would take place an hour after closing. I connected with Gates. He had the time and the location and he’d be my ears if anything went wrong. It wouldn’t. It couldn’t. This was my last chance to try and lock something down on this case before the feds came in and trampled over everything Stan and I tried to build.

Then there was Devin. The bar stayed crazy busy for a Tuesday night and she kept her distance. I couldn’t blame her. I knew it bothered her that the rest of the employees knew something was up with us. God, if I could only tell her. Once this was over, I would. I just prayed she’d understand and that it wouldn’t make a difference.

For now though, I couldn’t lose focus. Whether Devin forgave me or not, blowing this investigation could hurt her more than anyone. If she hated me, let it be from a position of safety with the shit cleaned out of her place of business for good. With any luck, her uncle would also be behind bars.

“I’ll call you later, all right?” I whispered against her neck as she passed me on the way to her office. “I’ve got something I need to take care of tonight. But tomorrow morning, what do you say we go on that first date? I’ll take you out to breakfast.”

She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. Devin looked behind her to make sure we were alone. Then she lifted her hand and touched my cheek. “Sure, Jase. I’d like that.”

“You okay? You’ve been acting strange all night.”

She darted her eyes to the left and down. I’d spent enough time in interview rooms to know when someone was about to lie to me. “Everything’s fine,” she said. “I just have a lot on my mind business-wise. And I haven’t been sleeping well the last couple of nights.”

She faked another smile, playing off my concern with her joke. I had a strong urge to pull her against me and kiss away her worries. I just hoped I wasn’t the cause of them. I knew I would be soon. Tonight though, I had to keep my eyes on the prize.

“I’ll call you in the morning,” I whispered. Leslie and Georgia came out of the break room. I gave Devin a quick squeeze on the upper arm before she turned to go.

Kinney left before me. I’d have just enough time to drive and meet him across town. He’d picked a parking lot behind a local dollar store. Public, but private enough too. I waved goodbye to Roy and the girls and headed out.

My phone buzzed as soon as I got in the car. Gates was right on time. He was waiting for me at a gas station off the nearest exit from the drop location.

“Good morning,” I said, though it was just past midnight.

“Everything still set?” he asked.

“We’re good.”

“Excellent. Let’s work out a signal. You run into trouble I’ll be right on your ass.”

“Uh … something simple. You hear me say ‘what the fuck’s this about’, that means things are going south.”

“That’ll work. You sure you’re good? I mean it. I know what Stan told you. I know how important this thing is to him. But it’s not worth your safety. There are other ways for you to earn a badge again, Jase. I swear to God I’ll do everything in my power to help you.”

I wasn’t expecting him to say that. I hadn’t known Mitch Gates for long but so far he’d been stand up. It meant a lot to know I had at least one other person in my corner, so I said so.

“I feel good, Mitch. Swear to God. I’ve got my priorities straight. There are some things worth dying for but this isn’t one of them. If anything so much as smells funny, I’m out of there.”

“Good. Check your watch.”

I tapped the face of the watch Stan gave me and counted into it. “Got me?”

“Loud and clear,” Gates said. “Let’s get this fucker over with. I’ve got your six.”

“Appreciate it. I hope to be able to return the favor.”

I waved out the window as I passed the gas station where Mitch parked. He flashed his brights. Rounding one more corner, the
Dolly’s Dollar Store
looked kind of bleak from the highway. I saw two cars parked out front and a single cashier inside. I turned in and let out a hard breath. I recognized Kinney’s beat-up Dodge Charger parked next to the dumpster but he wasn’t in it.

“Fucking fabulous,” I muttered. I was hoping to do this whole deal from the relative safety of my car. I saw Kinney leaning against the brick wall, smoking a cigarette. He hailed me with a wave and motioned me over.

“Hang tight,” I coughed into my wrist. Gates could hear me talking, but I couldn’t hear him. From my end, all I got was a single vibration against my skin to let me know he was there. I walked up to Kinney.

“You’re late,” he said, grinding his cigarette out on the ground.

“I’m here,” I answered. “I don’t like this. Too open. Let’s do this inside.”

Kinney gave me a wide smile. “Come on. You already passed the test, Jase. This is all downhill from here on out.”

“Enough conversation, Kinney. I don’t like this shit.”

He put his arm around my shoulder and slapped me on the back. It took everything in me not to drop him right then and there. A sleek gray Audi pulled up alongside the dumpster. Every muscle in my body clenched as the tinted window rolled down. I grabbed Kinney, readying myself to throw his ass in front of me if I saw metal flash through that window.

“Come on, Jase. We’re going to take a little trip.”

“Like hell we are. We do this right here or not at all.”

The car door opened. Two muscle heads got out. Bald. ’Roided up. Wearing tee shirts too tight, black jeans, and cowboy boots. Both of them packing, but they were casual so far, arms crossed. A third muscle head stayed behind the wheel and the driver’s side back door opened.

“Everyone getting along out here?” My mouth dropped as Floyd got out of the car. He’d changed from his usual dirty white tee shirt and apron to an expensive Italian suit.

Two things went through my mind. One, our case would be solid if we made it. I had every reason to think Floyd had to be Cy’s right-hand man at
The Dive
. A clear chain of command. The second thing … I was about to become well and truly fucked.

The blow came from the right. Hard metal smashed against my ear. Hot blood flowed down and stars swam in front of my eyes. I staggered to the left then dropped to my knees. Floyd’s gray crocodile-skin boots entered my field of vision as my ears rang.

“Now that I’ve got your attention, I think it’s time we went for a ride.”

“Fuck that,” I said, spitting blood. “What the fuck’s this about?” My watch vibrated once.

“This is about me knowing who the fuck you are, Officer Reddick,” he said.

Shit.

“Relax. If we wanted you dead, you already would be.”

“Yeah? You got something to say then? You say it right here. I’m not getting in that fucking car as long as I’ve still got a pulse.”

Floyd straightened and leaned against the passenger side door. His muscle heads moved off to the side. Neither of them reached for their weapons and I took that as a good sign. I had time.

“I’ll make this quick,” Floyd said. “The reason you’re not dead is that my boss thinks we might be in a position to work together. He thinks he knows just how to properly motivate you.”

“Motivate me to do what?”

“Tomorrow you’re going to take a meeting. Something about a federal task force? Ring any bells?”

My pulse thundered in my ears. It was hard to make out every word Floyd said. I said nothing.

“We have something you want.”

“Yeah?” I staggered to my feet half expecting another blow to the head.

“Yeah. You want to keep breathing, we come to an understanding. We know there’s no love lost between you and the police. You’re dirty, Jase. Your connection to the Great Wolves MC wasn’t hard to figure out.”

Jesus. These assholes thought I was a dirty cop. At the moment, that was one of the only things keeping me alive, I figured. I said nothing.

“And we know you’re trying to worm your way into the Northpointe PD. We can help you with that. But you work for us. How’s that sound?”

“What the hell do you want?”

“It should be easy. You just keep doing what you’re doing.”

Floyd turned to the muscle head on his right. He tapped the car window behind him. It rolled down and a hand came out holding a brick of white powder wrapped in plastic and electrical tape.

“Five Gs,” Floyd said. “Isn’t that what you and Kinney worked out?”

I nodded. “There’s an envelope in my jacket. I’m going to reach for it. Real slow like. You okay with that?”

Floyd smiled and fingered his handlebar mustache. I reached inside my jacket, pulling out the wad of cash. I tossed it to Floyd. He paused to open it and thumb through the bills.

“Marked?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

Floyd nodded. “Fine. What’s next?”

“Just like you said. Meeting with the feds tomorrow.” And just like that, I was a fucking double agent. Someone Stan trusted was on Cy Marsh’s payroll. Unless it was Stan himself. Every instinct in my body told me it couldn’t be. The only other person I knew on the force was Mitch Gates. Dammit. I didn’t want to think it. He had access to every shred of evidence we’d gathered. He had Kinney’s phone dump. And he was currently the only thing standing between me and Floyd or one of the muscle heads putting a bullet in me where I stood.

My wrist vibrated again. Mitch was on his way.

“We need to cut this short,” Floyd said. “We meet again tomorrow night. And you’re done at
The Dive Bar
. You got me?”

“What are you talking about? That’s the site of the investigation.”

“Not anymore. I take orders just like you are now. You hand in your notice tomorrow. Boss has got bigger plans for you and we don’t need you mucking shit up there. Your job is to lead them away from it. You feel me?”

“Sure.”

Floyd stepped forward and extended his hand. “Too bad. You make an excellent dishwasher. Lucky for you, the boss has you pegged for something bigger and better. That is, if you don’t screw this shit up.”

My head still ringing, I reached out a hand to shake Floyd’s. I never made contact. The second blow came and everything went black.

J
ase

“Jesus, do I look as bad as you do?” Mitch Gates’s swollen face swam above mine. Blood filled his right eye and his lip had a nasty split right down the middle.

“Hit my fucking face on the steering wheel,” he said as he bent over me. “They fucking rammed me from behind. Jesus, Jase. I thought you were dead, for sure. Thank God you’re not.”

“Thanks.” He reached down and helped me to my feet. I probed my fingers over my cheekbones and under my eye. Nothing felt broken, but my head rang like a fucking church bell.

“What the hell happened?” Either Mitch Gates was an Oscar-worthy actor, or he truly didn’t fucking know. I hoped like hell it was the latter. My life depended on it.

“Just a little test of my loyalty,” I said. We were still in the parking lot of
Dolly’s
. I staggered to my car and looked in the side mirror. My right eye was bruised and swollen. I’d be lucky if I’d be able to see out of the damn thing come morning. But there wasn’t much an ibuprofen and a bag of ice wouldn’t fix. Mitch would need stitches.

“How fucked up is your car?”

“Just the back bumper. Wasn’t much more than a love tap. I just wasn’t wearing my damn seatbelt.”

“Click it or ticket, mother fucker.”

Mitch laughed then clutched his side in agony. “I was parked, asshole. They knew where I was.”

“Yeah. No kidding. Dunno about you but my ass is feeling real prickly about hanging around here a second longer.”

“Yeah. Mine too. You okay to drive?”

I nodded. “You?”

He nodded back. “Okay. Check in with Stan before you turn in. Then he wants a full report at seven. Feds are supposed to pay him a visit at two o’clock tomorrow. Hopefully, we’ll have a game plan by then.”

“Right. Come on. I’ll follow you to the ER. Hope you weren’t planning on entering any beauty contests this week.”

Mitch flipped me off as he climbed behind the wheel of his car.

* * *

H
e took
four stitches through his bottom lip. I got a pamphlet on concussion warning signs but I waved off any further treatment than a Band-Aid for the small cut above my eye. Between that, my purple shiner, and Mitch’s train wreck of a face we drew stares. By the time they finished him up we had an hour before we met with Stan.

“Come on.” I tugged on Mitch’s sleeve. He leaned over the nurse’s station desk trying to get digits from a cute blonde. “You’re not doing yourself any favors with that mug, Gates. Try again later when you look less criminally inclined.”

He shot her a wink and grabbed his jacket. “Can’t blame a guy for trying. I was hoping to salvage something good out of our night on the town.”

“Right. Where are we meeting again?”

“Place called
Mickey Lou’s
out on Butcher Road. Another greasy spoon but they’ve got a back room. Stan didn’t want to traipse everyone through the station downtown.”

“Good call.” I pulled out my phone. Three missed calls from Devin and a text.

“Where the hell are you? We need to talk.”

“Girl trouble?” Mitch asked as he slid into the passenger seat.

I gripped the steering wheel and put my phone on the dashboard. “Sort of. I had a date for breakfast.”

“How much is that going to cost you?”

“Hopefully not much.” I hoped I was right. I texted her back and told her something came up. Jesus. Add that to my list of things she could hold against me. I wanted nothing more than to crawl into Devin’s arms and hold her close. She didn’t deserve my lies or any of this. Soon, baby, I thought. Soon. I’d find a way to make all of this right.

Mickey Lou’s
was a ten-minute drive. The ibuprofen they gave me at urgent care started to wane leaving me with a screaming headache. Black coffee was likely the best I could get for the time being.

When Gates and I walked in, Stan and the others had already arrived. The waitress showed us to the back room. My gut clenched. Stan sat surrounded by four agents in suits. Bulls in a china shop. This had the makings of a seriously fucked-up situation. None of them looked happy to see us.

Stan didn’t get up. He pointed to the two empty seats at the opposite end of the table. “Introduce yourselves,” he said. “I can’t be expected to remember this many names on this little caffeine.”

The agent beside him smiled. Young. Clean cut with a mop of blond hair and deep-set gray eyes. He reached across the table and shook my hand. “I’m Special Agent Cutler. Call me Tim. This is Agent Reese, Thompkins, and Dillinger.”

Reese, Thompkins, and Dillinger all leaned across the table to shake our hands. Reese took notes on his laptop, looking up only briefly to make eye contact. The blue glare of his computer screen reflected in his wire-framed glasses. Thompkins was about my age and looked former military with his straight posture and buzz cut. Dillinger looked close to Stan’s age. Sixty maybe, portly, with bits of egg still stuck to his maroon tie. I decided not to point it out.

I let Gates take the lead filling them in on what we learned last night. He stuck to the facts and what he heard on my wire. We made the drop. Floyd Bowles distributed for Marsh at
The Dive.
Then the worst part. I’d been made.

I expected Stan to swear. Or at least show some sign of disappointment at the news. Instead, he sat expressionless while Reese tapped away on his laptop and Agent Cutler—Tim—furrowed his brow and leaned back in his chair.

“You think this could be one of your people?” Cutler asked Stan.

Stan shrugged and dropped his spoon on the table with a clang. He took a sip of coffee and wrinkled his nose at the taste of it. It didn’t stop him from gulping down the rest of it. “I’ve kept this to a pretty tight circle. Only Mitch knows as much as I do.”

All eyes turned to Mitch Gates. He took it in stride, not so much as a squirm or a flicker in his eyes. My gut told me he was clean. But I’d also gotten bashed in the head pretty hard so my sensor might be off. That said, he had every opportunity to fuck me over last night. And he’d gotten off worse than I did. Still, that could have been planned as well.

“You know, this could lead to a greater opportunity,” Thompkins said. “Stan, think about it. It’s beyond the scope of our investigation, but in this position, Jase could help you ferret out some of the corruption in your own department.”

“I didn’t sign on to rat out cops,” I said. “Even dirty ones.”

Stan put a hand up to placate me. “Let’s just stick to the matter at hand, gentlemen. We have enough to arrest Floyd Bowles. This is still
my
jurisdiction. If I need your help, Cutler, I’ll ask for it. For now, we’ve got this shit handled.”

“You do
not
have this shit handled. Floyd Bowles isn’t going to be enough and you know it. Plus, we’ve known about him for weeks.”

“You what?” Stan and I said it together. He put his hand up again and turned toward Cutler.

“And just how the ever-loving fuck did you put that together?”

“We’ve had
The Dive
wired.”

“Mother fuckers,” Stan said. My blood started to sizzle. These dipshits put me at risk last night when they could have just shared information.

“Well then why the hell are we even here?” Gates said. “Jesus Christ. Reddick and I could have gotten killed last night.”

“And that’s your own fault. You boys are running a rinky-dink operation down here. It’s too big for you. You can’t control your own department, Stan. Don’t even try to pretend you can. We can help you.”

“So help!” Stan shouted, then lowered his voice when one of the waitresses poked her head around the corner. “You had an agenda when you walked in. Mind sharing it?”

A look passed among all the agents, then Cutler sat back in his chair and adjusted his tie. “We need you to flip the niece.”

I clenched my fists at my side. I was still processing the news the feds had Devin’s bar wired. I could only imagine what was on their feed. Were they watching when I spent the night with her in the basement? They wouldn’t have been able to see anything but they sure would have gotten an earful. Cutler at least had the decency to look embarrassed when I locked eyes with him.

“Son of a bitch,” I said. “And you know she has nothing to fucking do with any of this. Devin is not part of this.”

“She’s close to her uncle. She has access. He’s been cooking her books for months. We need her.”

“No way,” I said. “She doesn’t know anything. And you
know
she doesn’t. Too fucking dangerous. Her uncle has deliberately kept her in the dark. You try to involve her, you put her at risk.”

“Stan,” Cutler said. “Back me up on this.”

I stared murder at Stan. He threw his hands up. “No fucking way. Jase is right.”

“You’re too close to this,” Cutler said. “You have feelings for her. They are clouding your judgment. And we’re not asking for anything that would put her at risk. Just her cooperation.”

“Which she doesn’t have to give. She’s not a suspect. She’s not involved.”

Thompkins leaned forward. “She is whether she likes it or not. Marsh is using that bar to funnel product. And he’s using it to launder money. She’s knee deep in Uncle Cy’s shit whether she knows it or not. At
best
that place is subject to forfeiture. If she cooperates, maybe we can help her avoid that.”

Son of a bitch. No matter what, this shit would ruin Devin’s life. The only shot I had was to at least keep her out of it. She’d hate me for it. Maybe blame me for losing the bar, but if I could make it so she didn’t have to be involved, it might not matter. She’d be safe.

“What if she won’t help you?” I needed them to lay
all
their cards on the table.

Cutler leaned down and opened his briefcase. He lobbed a manila file across the table. The grim expression on his face told me nothing good would come out of me looking at that file’s contents.

“What the hell? You planning on blackmailing her?”

Cutler shook his head. A look passed between him and Stan that made my heart lurch. “You told him?” Cutler asked Stan. Stan shook his head no.

“Well somebody better fucking tell me right now.”

Cutler nodded and tapped his finger on the file. “We had him. Cyrus Marsh. We were this close to going to the grand jury.”

“I’ve heard all of this before,” I said. “Then your case fell apart. What makes you think this one will go any different?”

“It fell apart because we lost our star witness, Jase.”

He flipped the file open. I’d seen the photograph on top before. This copy was glossier, blown up to an 8 X 10. Devin and her sister Mandy standing in front of Niagara Falls. It was the same picture Devin kept on her desk. She said it was the only one she owned where Mandy was smiling.

Cutler flipped the photograph over. The one beneath it sucked the air right out of the room. Mandy Marsh’s lifeless body. Opaque eyes, once warm brown like Devin’s, stared blankly at the sky. A small caliber bullet hole marked the center of her forehead. She died staring her murderer right in the face. This was an execution.

A purple-gloved hand hovered near her chin, holding the edge of a black body bag away from her face. Oh God. She looked enough like Devin to make me retch. I reached for the water in front of me and poured some down my throat with trembling hands.

“We had her in witness protection,” Cutler said. “For almost a year. Two days before her scheduled testimony she disappeared out of her hotel room. Her uncle did this to her, Jase. You want to know how he found her?”

No. I didn’t want to know any of this. She looked too much like Devin. She could
be
Devin.

“After we dumped her phone, we figured out she’d been texting and emailing her sister.”

“Jesus. You think Devin ratted her out to their uncle?”

“No,” Cutler said. “At least, I have no reason to think she did anything knowingly. The uncle had access to her computer at the bar. Chances are he had someone pull her emails. But there’s a good chance Devin led her uncle straight to her.”

It would kill Devin to know this. I wanted to protect her from all of it, but my ability to do it grew smaller and smaller. This would land on her. It would destroy her.

“She needs to know,” Stan said. “She’s not safe with her uncle. She needs to be made aware of how dangerous a guy he is. And as much as I fucking hate to admit it, these assholes are right, Jase. We probably have enough to send Floyd Bowles away for a long time. But we don’t have enough to pull Cyrus Marsh. The girl’s got to help. She doesn’t have a choice and neither do we.”

“Make her understand,” Cutler said. “Can you do that?”

I raised my head and stared at him. I hated this. Every single bit of it.

“It’ll be better coming from you,” Cutler said. “And you’ve done great work so far. Let us help you finish it.”

“You’re planning on putting the screws to her with or without me, aren’t you?”

Cutler nodded. “This meeting was a show of good faith, Jase. But yes. Either Devin Marsh helps us, or there’s a good chance she’s going down with her uncle. Whether she knows it or not, her fingerprints are all over this. Her uncle set it up that way. Help us. Help her.”