Page 75 of Break My Fall

“She’s worried about you.”

“She worries about everyone. You tell her I’m fine and remind her that I know what I’m doing. I’ve been in here too long to be yanked out now. It will mess up everything.”

“I’ll tell her.”

“I learned something this week that might blow the case wide open.”

“I’m listening.”

“There used to be a lot of meth in this area. Still is. But there aren’t as many cooking it as there used to be. A few of the more enterprising have teamed up with groups out of Atlanta. They bring it up here and distribute it. They also, at times, provide a safe place for individuals who are too valuable to lose but are in danger of being scooped up by the police in larger cities.”

“It’s easy to hide here.”

“It can be. Yes. But some of them, they chafe at the restrictions of small-town life.”

“Voluntary house arrest beats prison any day.” Gray shifted on the boulder.

“Sure. But these men...”

Gray wondered what this man had witnessed in Neeson that put that tone of absolute loathing in his voice.

“They’re proud. Used to having people do what they want. But the local crime lords aren’t interested in bowing and scraping. They figure it’s an equitable arrangement.”

“How many are in hiding right now?”

“Two. Brothers. These two take evil to a whole new level. I wouldn’t trust them to watch a ferret, much less let them anywhere near my wife and kids.”

“You have a wife and kids?” The question came out before Gray could stop it.

“Are you kidding? You think I’d be doing this if I had a wife and kids at home? No. But the men in Neeson do. They have wives, kids, grandkids. They dote on them. Some of them I genuinely believe adore them. Others not so much. But even the ones who aren’t obviously protective of their families won’t let them anywhere near our current guests.”

There was a long pause before he continued. “It’s messed up, man. Sometimes I can’t figure out if these men are like this because they’ve done too many drugs over the years, or maybe they drank too much moonshine at an early age? Maybe they’re just evil. I don’t know. But at least one family is in debt to our guests in a way that means they’ve been providing for them. And I don’t just mean food and water.”

Gray wanted to throw something, punch something, or maybe shoot something. What he didn’t want was to hear the details. He braced himself for what was coming.

“They’ve brought in at least three girls from out of state. One of them died the first night. The other two died last week. I didn’t know anything about it until yesterday.” Anger burned so bright from the agent behind him, Gray could imagine that he would show up as a bonfire on a heat scan. “I didn’t know.”

The last words were a whisper.

“I’ve been swimming in filth with the minnows, trying to hook the sharks, but you need to tell our mutual friend that I won’t sit by and let this happen again. If I find out about it in time, Iwilldo something. And it might get me killed.”

Gray let the weight of the words settle on his shoulders. “Respect.”

“I don’t deserve it. I’ve been beating my head against walls for months. Trying to infiltrate without rousing suspicion. Then Steven Pierce went and blew everything up. It’s good you moved him. They’ll try to kill him before it goes to court. If his mama doesn’t shut up, they might kill her too.”

“Why?” Gray didn’t understand what they would gain from taking out Pierce. “He tried to kill someone. There’s so much evidence that it’s the definition of an open-and-shut case. What’s the point?”

“They’re afraid of what he might know. And they’re angry about the attention his mom’s constant grandstanding is bringing to the drug issues in the area. They’re convinced it will make state, federal, or other law enforcement take notice.”

“It already has.”

“Yeah, but they don’t know that.”

“What do you want me to do? How can I help?” Gray would do anything he could.

“Those papers I gave you have everything I know and everything I suspect. There’s also a letter to my mama, in case I don’t make it. I wrote one before I went under. But this one’s updated.”

“Let me get you out now. We have enough to—”

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