Page 89 of GAF Factor

“Not much. We found a property, but it was transferred into someone else’s name years ago. Other than that, they don’t own any other property where Shawn could hide out,” IKE answered.

“But we did meet some lovely gentlemen on the way out,” IRIS retorted. “Very friendly.”

I had the feeling he was talking about the Irish, so I took another sip of the tomato juice. They came back in one piece. That’s what I had to focus on. “So, where do we go from here?”

IKE turned in the booth toward me. “What about when you were first dating?”

“He lived in an apartment. And then when we got married, we bought the house.”

“What about friends? Anyone he would turn to for help?”

“All his friends are cops. I’m not sure how much help they’ll be when you tell them what he’s done.”

“If they even know,” IRIS pointed out. “Cops have each other’s backs. They don’t want to believe one of their own could be dirty.”

“He’s on the run!” Jane gasped. “How could they possibly be on his side!”

“Because they’re not going to want to believe he’s dirty. It must be a mistake, right?” IRIS scoffed.

“It’s happened before,” IKE sighed. “It wouldn’t be the first time a cop has been set up to take the fall. There’s a reason they have each other’s backs. Can’t blame ‘em. So, we can’t trust that they’ll help us to take one of them down. Which brings us back to you,” he said, looking at me.

Me. Always back to me. Anything I could remember. “You know, this is really hard to do with a hangover.”

“That’s why we’re putting food in you,” IKE grinned.

I took another sip of the tomato juice and thought back to when I first met Shawn. All the places we used to go when he was just a rookie cop. Movies, concerts…all generic places you wouldgo on a date. Except this one time… “We went to a club once. Probably about an hour from our house. I thought it was strange because Shawn always did things on the straight and narrow, but this club was kind of sketchy.”

“In what way?”

“Just a feeling I got. I never saw it, but it seemed like the kind of club where you would find drugs. I was glad when we left.”

“What do you mean?” IKE asked.

I couldn’t put my finger on it back then, and even now, I still couldn’t. “I don’t know. The hallways were lit with these red lights and there were always these small groups of people hanging out. And they just looked suspicious. Like maybe they were handing things back and forth. It was hard to tell with the strobe lights. Everything was kind of disorienting, but that’s how it felt all throughout the club. Every corner, by every wall, it just felt like there was always someone exchanging money for something.”

I shrugged, not knowing what else to tell them. “I didn’t like it, and when we left, I told Shawn I didn’t want to go back there.”

“Why did he take you there?”

“He said a guy he knew was working there. He introduced me to the guy when we first got there.”

“Do you remember his name?”

“Nope. He worked behind the bar, though.”

“Would you recognize him?”

“I think so. I mean, it’s been a while, but yeah.”

IKE’s eyes flicked to IRIS. “It’s worth checking out.”

“After all this time? You think he’d go to him?” I asked.

“It sounds like this guy was an acquaintance. Yeah, I think he’d go to him for help. He sounds like just the type of guy who might have some connections.”

“He might not even work there anymore. That was a long time ago.”

“Then we’ll move on to the next clue and the next until we find this fucker,” IKE growled.

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