Rain pelted the barred window of the prison where Scott stood staring out at the dark sky. He needed to get his head straight before he talked to the man he hoped to enlist as an informant. Sleep, which he’d been getting very little of lately, might help. After Maddie had left last night, he hadn’t been able to shut his eyes.
All the resolutions he’d made to keep her at a distance had dissipated. A huge weight had lifted when he’d found out she and Tom were just friends. He’d flirted with her, made suggestive comments, and invited her to stay for dinner. He’d let go and had fun with her.
A big mistake. He’d been a selfish son of a bitch to drop his guard and allow himself to feel again. To laugh. To get a rise out of Maddie and enjoy her reaction. Her passion was addictive, but she had no place in the dark abyss of his world.
Life had thrown him a hard curveball and caused him to change paths because of it. He wasn’t working in Mexico anymore. His enemy had set up camp in Maddie’s freaking town. Mole, a brutal man, did unthinkable things to those who incurred his wrath, and Scott intended to do that.
Time to compartmentalize. Maddie belonged in the past. For her safety, that’s where he needed to keep her. He couldn’t risk losing his focus. His job was to put away the drug dealers, for Justin and all the others like him.
An image of his brother’s lifeless body flashed in his mind. A bolt of lightning sizzled across the sky, jerking him from his thoughts. Angry thunder rumbled and reverberated the rain-drenched glass. Time to get to work.
He shook off the ghosts with a roll of his shoulders and crossed the stark room to a scratched metal table with two hardback chairs. He took a seat in front of his open computer. A mug shot of twenty-four-year-old Zachary Gordon filled the screen. Collar-length dark hair with some small scars on his cheek and a slightly crooked nose. He bore no resemblance to his pink-haired sister, Nikki, the waitress from the coffee shop.
The records showed that until he’d been incarcerated four years ago for possession of drugs and illegal weapons, he only had a short list of minor juvenile offenses followed by a clean record from ages sixteen to twenty. The kid had managed to pay off all the medical bills from his mother’s cancer treatments and keep him and his sister afloat until his arrest.
Scott’s chest tightened. He knew how hard it was to have no father around, bury a mom, and take care of a sibling.
Apparently, getting custody of Nikki hadn’t been easy for Zachary, who was nineteen and Nikki only fourteen then. He had to know he would lose her if he got into trouble. Not worth the risk. Something didn’t click.
Metal on metal squeaked, and Scott glanced up. A guard escorted Zachary into the room. He wore an orange jumpsuit. Not an ounce of fat on the guy, and the bulging veins in his arms meant he worked out. He slid into the wooden chair across the table. Honest brown eyes, the same shape and color as Justin’s, met Scott’s gaze straight on.
His stomach churned. He hadn’t caught the similarity on the computer screen shot.
The guard uncuffed Zachary and glanced at Scott. “I’ll be waiting outside.”
Scott nodded and willed his gut to calm down. “Thanks. I’ll let you know when we’re done.”
The guard left, the thick metal door slamming behind him.
Zachary rubbed his wrists and then stared at Scott, unmoving.
Patience. A good trait. “I’m the new detective in Tuckerton.” Scott tapped his badge. “I’ve been looking over your record. You took the high road for a while, kept your nose clean. What happened?”
“I made a big mistake. It cost me everything.”
“If I told you there might be a way out of here, would you be interested?”
Zachary blinked. Hope lit his eyes before they narrowed. “I’d need to know more.”
Scott nodded. Hard time made a person cynical. “I might be able to work a deal to get you out. Depends on this conversation. I want to hear your story.” He clicked the computer to bring up a mug shot and then angled the screen so Zachary could see it. “What was your relationship with this punk? He has a rap sheet a mile long.”
“Gerry Roberts?”
“Yeah. Roberts.”
“I knew him from high school. Lost track of him when he started doing hard drugs. Couple years later, he got a job at the auto parts store where I worked.” Zachary glanced at the computer image. “He told me he wasn’t using anymore and needed a place to crash for a couple of nights. He begged and promised he was clean, so I agreed to help him out.”
“But he brought weapons and drugs to your apartment?”
“Yeah, because I forgot the number one rule.”
“What’s that?”
“Never trust an addict. They’ll do or say anything to get what they want.” Zachary blew out a breath. “I was dumb, and I risked my sister’s life. I deserve to be in here.”
“Not if you’re innocent.” An inmate who didn’t accuse the system of screwing him? He’d have to check the sky for flying pigs.
Zachary shrugged. “It’s shit I’m in here. Every second of every day is shit, but what if that fucknut, Gerry, had killed my sister?” He shook his head. “I acted like a sappy pussy buying his line about how he’d cleaned up. Like I didn’t have enough crap to deal with trying to keep a roof over our heads. As if I…of all people…could help anyone.”
Scott kept his face neutral and let him talk.
“The fucking gym bag.” Zachary snorted. “I should have realized from the way he carried it, something was up. Too heavy to be clothes. He crashed on the couch, and I went to check it out.” He fisted a hand. “Gerry woke up and saw me with the duffel opened. He pulled a knife out just when Nikki came from her bedroom. She started screaming.”
Zachary’s face contorted. “He grabbed her. Held the blade to her throat. I froze. I fucking froze because if I charged him, he might kill her. That’s when the FBI pounded at the door.”
Scott tapped his thumbs together. So far, everything Zachary said tracked with the report.
“When I didn’t open the door, they kicked it in. Gerry shoved Nikki at the agents and tried to run, but there were three of them with guns. They grabbed all of us. Nikki was bleeding.” His nostrils flared. “That douchebag cut her when the FBI stormed in. She kept crying, but cuffed, I couldn’t do anything but watch. Watch her bleed because of me. I fucked up big time.”
Scott sank back in his chair. His gut said Zachary was telling the truth. “Well, you’re right about not trusting a drug addict.”
“You know what burns the worst?” Zachary’s mouth twisted. “The FBI saved Nikki’s life. I sure as hell didn’t. She went into the foster system.” His eyes filled with raw anguish. “She was…abused by a man at the last home. Then she moved in with some asshole.”
The perverts preyed on the vulnerable. It had to kill Zachary, after all he’d done to gain custody of her. “Too many times the system fails.”
Zachary’s knuckles turned white on his still-clenched fist. “Every day, I live with the fact I let my sister down. I was all she had. Do you have any idea how that eats away at me?”
Preaching to the choir. Scott dug his heels into the tile floor. This guy deserved a second chance. “I’ll bet. I might be able to work a deal for you if you’re willing to be an informant. I’m working a case and need an insider.”
“That’s how I’d get out?”
“If you cooperate.”
Zachary bobbed his head. “I’ll do it. Anything, so I can help Nikki.”
“Not so fast.” Scott held up a hand. “This is dangerous. I can’t guarantee your safety. You need to know that going in. The man I’m after has no conscience. He’s killed people. Uses children to do his dirty work. We don’t have enough evidence to convict him. That’s where you’d come in.” Scott stood and sauntered to the window, keeping Zachary in his line of sight. “Think about it if before you answer.”
After a pause, Zachary asked, “I’ll be out of jail if I do this?”
“That’s the deal I’m working.”
“Then I’ll take my chances. What would I need to do?”
Scott came back to the table and clicked the computer mouse to bring up a picture of Victor Mole. “Well, for starters, get on his team.” He gestured to the screen. “He hires meth heads. You might have to deal with them. Is that a problem?”
“No. After being in here, I can handle anything.”
“Mole doesn’t dirty his own hands.” Scott rubbed his chin. “I want to find out who his distributor is. Based on what he did in the Southwest, I think he’s setting up operations to launder money here through a resort he’s building.”
Zachary’s gaze rested on the laptop screen. He nodded slowly.
“I’ll work out the details and get back in touch.” Scott held out a hand. “Deal, Zachary?”
They shook on it. “Zach. My friends call me Zach.”
Scott’s heart pinched as he gazed into Zach’s hopeful eyes. A heavy weight settled on Scott’s shoulders. Couldn’t help but like the kid. He had spunk and cared more about his sister than about himself. If anything happened to him, Nikki would have no family. And damn it, everyone knew Maddie and Nikki were friends. Maddie would hate Scott even more than she already did.
But nowhere near as much as he’d hate himself.