Page 94 of Cryptic Curse
Another sip.“Sure.”
“Is Eagle using?”
“No.”
Not a lie.Currently, Eagle’s not using.
He scratches the side of his head.“So what’s up then?”
I take a deep breath in.“You remember how we dug that hole as deep as we could?”
He sighs.“Hawk, that night is etched into my mind like a fucking copperplate.I remember everything about it.”
“Then you remember that we threw the body in first, covered it with dirt, and then threw the drugs on top of it.”
He leans in.“Yeah…”
“So we found the drugs first, obviously.”
“Which is good.”
“And then we kept digging.”
“And…?”Falcon’s tone is tight.
I look at my feet.“I think you know where I’m going with this.”
“I think I may, but I’m going to have to hear you say it.”
I draw in a deep breath.“There was no body, Falcon.Someone dug up the fucking body and then reburied the drugs.”
Falcon doesn’t reply at first.His jaw is rigid, and I can see his mind working inside his head.
Falcon’s been through hell.He served eight years for a crime he didn’t commit, and then he nearly got killed by the Bianchis and the McAllisters.He knows danger.He understands danger.
“You going to say anything?”I ask.
“Nobody fucking knew, Hawk.I never said anything, and I know damned well you didn’t.”
“That’s correct.”
He pounds a fist on the outdoor table.“Damned Eagle.”
I shake my head, swishing some bourbon around my mouth to coat it, and then I swallow.“It wasn’t Eagle.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he told me.”
Falcon scoffs.“And you believe him?”
I nod.“He was scared, Falcon.I haven’t seen him like that since the time he told us about the trouble he was in with Vega before… Before everything happened.”
“Then how…” Falcon rises, paces across his deck.“Who?”
“The dirt was hard.Whoever took that body out got it a while ago.Long before Leif, Vinnie, Raven, anyone else knew.”
“So someone has Diego Vega’s body,” he says.
