Page 121 of Trouble Comes in Threes

Texas fit the name on the paper. It also fit the Hardshaw Group. I swallowed my fear and continued. “And you’re sure you don’t know his name? Maybe a snippet of something?”

He shook his head. “No. Nothing. They were huddled in the back corner, ignorin’ the rest of us. And he was only in there one time.”

“Did Harvey or any of the other guys mention his name after that?”

“Nope.”

“Did they try to sell you any of their drugs?”

He released a bitter laugh. “No. They knew I wasn’t into the hard stuff, so they wouldn’t have wasted their time.”

“Do you know anyone they might have tried to sell to?”

He stared at me, his lips pressed together. “Who are you gonna tell?”

“I told you I’m not gonna tell the sheriff.”

“It ain’t the sheriff I’m scared of.”

“So who are you scared of?”

He remained silent.

I leaned closer and lowered my voice. “If you want me to protect you, I need to know who I’m protecting you from.”

He swallowed again, looking like he was about to bolt. “How can you protect me?” he asked with a half-hearted sneer.

“I have powerful friends who can keep you safe. And I won’t tell anyone of importance where I got this information.” I leveled my gaze. “How many people go to this garage bar?”

“Maybe thirty or forty over the course of the weekend.”

“That’s a lot of people who could talk. How’s the bar still a secret?”

“Because Derby would cut anyone who told down at the knees. Which is why he’ll cut me down too.”

“So far, what you’ve told me is too broad for anyone to trace it back to you, and I found out about the bar from Darlene.” When he didn’t respond, I said, “Do you think Harvey deserved to die?”

“What?” he practically shouted, then cringed. “No. Of course not. He was an idiot, but stupidity shouldn’t get you killed.”

“Then tell me anything that can help me find out who killed them.”

“What if it was Derby?” he whispered. “The garage’ll get shut down, and then where will we go?”

It took effort to stifle a groan of frustration. Funny, I remembered having more patience when Neely Kate and I had done this before. Maybe my impatience was because I needed to pick up my kids in fifteen minutes. “Let me get this straight. If Derby murdered those two men, you don’t want him to get arrested because you’re not sure where you’ll get your pot,” I said in an icy tone as I held his gaze.

His face flushed, and he had the good sense to look embarrassed. “Well, when you put it that way…”

Did Dermot sell pot? I supposed I should know what he did in the county. Then again, it was safer for all of us if I didn’t. “I’m sure there are plenty of other pot sources if you look hard enough, and if worse comes to worst, you make a trip every other month or so to Missouri. It’s legal there.”

“But I don’t have a reliable car,” he whined, then gestured to the front counter. “Have you seen where I work?”

I forced a smile. “Someone will take his place. Nature abhors a vacuum, and something always takes its place.” Part of me grew cold as I realized I was paraphrasing the exact same thing James Malcolm had told me years ago. Again, I had to wonder what role Dermot played in all of this.

Scott’s face brightened. “You think?”

“I know.” Sometimes for better. Sometimes for worse.

“I know they approached a few people, but no one bought anything from them.”

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