Page 87 of Keeping Secrets

“I know you didn’t,” she assured him, trying to sound friendly. Her earnest desire to get to the bottom of this mess was something that she didn’t have to fake. “I’m just trying to find out who did.”

“What for?”

She shrugged and spread her hands. “For my own peace of mind, I guess.”

He let out a grunt and fell backward onto his sofa. She sat across from him, perching on the edge of the nearest chair. She tried not to notice the stains… or the smell.

“I guess he started running with the wrong crowd, huh?”

“I tried to tell him,” Squid slurred. “There’s criminals and then there’s criminals, you know what I mean? He started getting ideas in his head, always the next big thing, you know? Small-time dealing wasn’t enough for him anymore. But these guys he started working with, they were bad news. He was in too deep, man.”

“In too deep with who?”

He looked at her with narrowed eyes. “What are you, some kind of cop?”

“Of course not.” She made herself smile at him. “You know me, Squid. We used to hang out all the time. Just last year, right? I didn’t go and become a cop all of a sudden. I just want to know what happened to the man I cared about.”

His expression took on a maudlin quality. “He was a good guy.”

She gritted her teeth together and forced herself to nod, trying to keep her expression pleasant. But he was hardly looking at her. He was staring off into space, lost in whatever hazy memories he had of Adam.

“We had some good times, man.”

“Sure did.”

“Remember that time you-”

“We had a lot of good times here,” she said, cutting him off. “Squid, please. Do you know any of the names of the guys he was spending time with? The real criminals?”

“I’m no snitch, man.”

“Come on, Squid. You can tell me.”

“You don’t want those names.” His voice was clearer now. Fear seemed to be pushing him toward sobriety. He sat up straight and took a long gulp from the energy drink that sat open on the table.

“I need those names,” she grated.

He gave her another suspicious glance. “What for?”

“That’s my business.”

“Keep it to yourself, then. I’m not talking.”

“You are. One way or another.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m not a cop, but I’ll go to them if I have to. They already brought me in once for questioning, trying to figure out who killed Adam. I’ll point them your way if I have to.”

“I told you I didn’t have anything to do with that!”

“Maybe not, but do you really want cops sniffing around? Even if they don’t connect you to his murder, there’s a whole host of other things they could charge you with.”

Squid cursed and drained his drink.

“Help me point them to the right people,” she urged. “The ones who did hurt Adam.”

“I’m not snitching on organized criminals, man. They’re way scarier than cops.”

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