Page 171 of Five Mountain Daddies

“Thanks,” I say,surprised.

She nods and quickly walksaway.

Wyatt and I sit next to each other in silence. I sip my coffee, mind running in circles. Wyatt doesn’t really move, he’s just staring at the wall, clearly thinking aboutsomething.

“I don’t believe her,” he says finally, turning tome.

I look at him, surprised. “What?”

“I don’t believe her,” he says again. “I mean, I believe what she said, but I think there’s more she’s notsaying.”

I nod slowly. “Thebuyer.”

“She has to know who it is,” he says. “You saw how afraid she was when she finally blurted that out, right? And she left without putting up much of a fight, which isn’t really like a fucking junkie.” He sighs, shaking hishead.

“We’re far from done,” I saysoftly.

“Yeah, we are.” He looks at me then suddenly wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me against him. I lean up against his chest and for a second, I let my façadeslip.

I let the weakness, the anger, the sorrow that I’ve been hiding slowly leak out. Tears fill my eyes, but I don’t sob and I don’t make a noise. This man knew my brother way back when, and now we know why Atticus died. Maybe we don’t know who, but at least we knowwhy.

I blink and the tears drop. I pull away from Wyatt and wipe my face with a napkin. “God, I need to go home,” Isay.

He nods. “Okay. We’ll getgoing.”

I slide out of the booth and he doesn’t say anything about my crying. He puts some money on the table and we head out, back toward Mason and the mystery that’s driving usforward.

16

Wyatt

You should be back by now.” Captain Lattimer’s voice is steady and soft, which may be a badthing.

“I know, sir,” I say. “I got caught up in an investigationhere.”

“Investigation?” His voice tightens. “You’re not authorized to conduct any investigations out there,son.”

“I know that, sir,” I say. “It was a friend of mine from school, murdered in an apparent drug deal. The cops here aren’t too interested in finding the killer of a junkie, but he was myfriend.”

Captain Lattimer goes silent for a second. If there’s anything the captain will respond to, it’s friendship. He’s an old-school guy, the sort of cop that believes building relationships is paramount to communitysafety.

“You’re off the clock,” he says finally. “If you want to do this, you’re doing it on your own dime.Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” I say,relieved.

“And I’m docking your pay fortoday.”

I grimace. “Yes,sir.”

“Good. Check in soon. You have aweek.”

He hangs up the phone and I sigh. I glance down at the time before slipping my phone back into my pocket. It’s night and getting a little chilly, but I don’t really feel it. My mind is still on Cora and this damncase.

I feel like I’m missing something. I don’t understand this place anymore, and I definitely don’t have a relationship with the community anymore. Cora is the only connection I have left, now that Atticus is gone. Sure, I have old friends from school, but I barely knowthem.

Which is why I’m here. The Great American is starting to get crowded, though I’m still lingering in the parking lot. Mitch went inside a few minutes ago, and I know he’ll be drinking and waiting for me toshow.

I don’t feel like going in. I’d rather go to Cora’s place right now and kiss those lips again. I keep thinking about our night together, how fucking good it felt, sunk deep between her legs. She ground herself against my cock, not holding anything back, and the way she came… it was like goddamn magic. It drove me insane. It’s still driving meinsane.

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