Page 34 of Collect the Pieces

“Did the woman kill him?” Teller asks.

“No. Cops said he died of an overdose.”Neither of those things are technically lies.

Teller stares at me, unimpressed. “Okay?” His exasperated tone jabs at my annoyance button. “That’s it?”

“Yeah.” I answer in a tone that sounds more likeyeah, dumbass. “But it’s aclub business.” I draw out the words, since Teller obviously needs the reminder. “So I wanted to keepthe clubinformed.”

“No, you’re right, Jigsaw,” Rock says.

I throw a smug look Teller’s way, and he rolls his eyes.

“What’s the woman’s name?” Z asks me.

Shit. Laura? Lauren?Think, motherfucker. “Laurel Larsen, I think. Husband’s name was Patrick? I didn’t exactly pop out and introduce myself to the cops. And I didn’t want to explain to Margot that I was planning to sprint here and share with the club.”

“Good call. No reason to worry her.” Wrath arches an eyebrow. “Sounds like it’s nothing.” He glances over at Z. “Who do we know in Slater?”

“No one,” Teller says. “Whisper didn’t have a lot of pull with the local law.”

Murphy exhales sharply, his usual humor gone, and raises his hand to halt the conversation. “Wait a second. Margot’s clients are dead people. Were the cops looking for a dead person?”

“No.” I let out a long sigh and flash an apologetic look at Teller. Christ, his wife just had two babies, I don’t want to put this story in his head. “Uh, she had a miscarriage. The husband beat her up pretty bad, I guess?—”

Teller flinches like I punched him in the stomach. “Jesus Christ. Who fucking cares if he overdosed?”

“Good riddance,” Rock adds.

“Yeah,” I answer slowly, weighed down by the burden of knowing the whole truth. “My thoughts too.”And my girlfriend’s!

The room quiets as everyone lets the information sink in.

“I think they were going through the motions,” I add. “Margot’s probably one of the last people who talked to Laurel at the service. They kinda pressed her on why her dad didn’t charge the woman for?—”

“Wait, Cedarwood didn’t charge her?” Teller asks.

“No, I guess he doesn’t charge for infant cremations or whatever.”

Teller nods approvingly.

“Cops were kind of dickish about it,” I add. “But Margot set ’em straight.”

“Sounds like you overheard a lot.” Wrath jerks his chin at me. “How’d she handle talking to cops?”

I grin like a proud outlaw boyfriend. “Smooth as butter.” Then I realize, she’d have no reason to be lying to the cops and I dial it back. “She was polite but didn’t take any shit from them. Oh! The best part—” I look Wrath straight in the eye. “You’ll appreciate this. I guess they noticed my bike parked in back. They warned her how Wolf Knights run Slater County so she shouldn’t be mixing with anyone from another club.”

“Heh.” Murphy lets out a dry laugh.

Wrath shakes his head. “Dumb motherfuckers don’t even know what’s going on in their own backyard.”

“What’d the guy overdose on?” Rock asks.

My stomach clenches. I thought we’d moved past the details of Patrick Larsen’s death. “Uh, cops didn’t say. Just that he overdosed.”

Rock glances at Z and Wrath. “I’m hearing more and more about certain substances moving into the area. Stuff we used to make sure stayedoutof Empire. It starts landing in Slater it’s only a matter of time before it ends uphere.”

Z holds up his hands. “The fucking government can’t get a handle on some of this shit. We may have expanded ourterritory, but we haven’t expanded our numbers enough to be running around playing outlaw DEA agents.”

“Fucking doctors and pharmaceutical companies are responsible for a lot of what’s going on now,” Murphy adds. “Ain’t no one holding them accountable.”

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