Page 37 of Exposed

She pauses as her lips press into a thin line. “Why does it matter?”

For what I want from her, it doesn’t. But I still want to know. “Because I want to know what I’m dealing with as I move forward in my case.”

She lowers her voice to match mine, but hers is delivered with a bite of anger and tension. “Drugs moving through The Pink isn’t enough? You showed me the accounts that were opened in my name, so you already know about the money. What more do you want me to add to the list? Prostitutes. Private high-stakes gambling rings. Buying and distributing illegal drugs?”

I lean back in my chair and stare at the woman across the table. “With organizations as big as Carter’s, none of that is surprising. But that doesn’t answer my question.”

She stares back but doesn’t utter a word.

“Goldie.” My voice comes out low and guttural. “Did Dex do something to you?”

She rolls her lips in, like a bad memory glides over her tongue begging to be set free, but she won’t allow it.

The air in the interrogation room is silent and stagnant.

Finally, she speaks. “Are you done? My day is shot. There’s no way I’ll get out of town before tomorrow morning. I need a good night’s sleep.”

“You’re just going to walk away from your share of The Pink?”

She leans forward and delivers her words with a punch. “I already did, Agent Jennings. There’s nothing more for me in Miami.”

“What do you meanyou already did?”

“How did you become a federal narcotics agent while being this dense?”

It’s everything I can do not to smile. The woman doesn’t curse, but she’ll call me dense.

My ghost of a smile doesn’t bother her. She’s on a roll and becomes animated with her sarcastic words. “Let me explain how my brother and his associates operate. When a drug dealer knows that you know their business, they’ll do anything and everything to keep you tight in their circle no matter how miserable your life is. Once you know things, youknow… if you know what I mean. When I found out that a wedding here and there were covering for the real business going down in the shadows of that place, I wanted nothing to do with it.”

“So you left.”

She shakes her head. “I wanted to. Trust me, I did everything I could. I tried to leave. He made my life miserable, to the point I was scared to leave my apartment, but he dragged me back. He told me if I wanted my share of The Pink, that was my new life. There was no way I was having any part of that, but I wasn’t stupid. I saw what went on there when people didn’t fall in line. I was alone and scared. Dex had someone follow me day and night.”

My jaw goes hard as I clench my teeth.

I know Carter from the outside. I might know him better than anyone who isn’t in the fucking organization.

I know how he operates.

Goldie was right to be scared. Hell, I’m not even going to ask her why she didn’t go straight to the police. Dex is no dumbass drug dealer.

He’s smart.

Smart, cunning, and sadistic.

If she tried to rat him out while she was on her own, that would have been the end of it.

Of her.

“Don’t you have anything else to say?” she bites.

I pull in a calming breath. I need one right now.

“No. I’m here to listen. How did you get Dex to finally leave you alone before I dragged you back in there yesterday?”

Of all the things she’s been through, this is what upsets her the most. Her eyes drop to the table sitting between us as she randomly fingers a wrapper. She lets out a deep breath. “I signed everything over to him.”

“Wait.” I lean forward. “You signed over your share of The Pink to Dex Carter?”

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