Page 53 of Trick of Light
“I can try, but…” He shrugged.
“What do you want? You’re threatening me, so you must be here to make some kind of deal.”
Yup, he’d judged Carson correctly. Everything was a negotiation to him, until he wasn’t able to get what he wanted. Then he just took it.
“I want an honest answer.”
“To what? Whether I killed that old dude?”
“No. I know the answer to that. Are you still paying people on the island to do shit for you?”
A lightning flash of astonishment crossed Carson’s face. Was that because he wasn’t, or was, and was surprised Barnaby knew? “Like what?”
“Like anything. Eyes and ears, that sort of thing.”
Carson sat back and folded his arms across his chest. “That’s all you want to know?”
“Yes. If you are paying someone, I want to know exactly what they’re doing for you. A full accounting. Anything less, you get the junior associate instead of Garcia representing you.”
Carson’s mouth twisted this way and that, a nervous habit he’d had forever. The sight gave Barnaby a pang. He’d been born into so much wealth and opportunity. Was it his fear of losing all that, losing status, losing control over the Carmichael millions, that had brought him to this jail? And if Barnaby hadn’t found a grounding influence in Tamara, would he have headed down that very same road?
“There’s someone at the inn,” he finally admitted. “He gets me updates. That’s it.”
Barnaby held his tongue; he could tell there was more.
“I’m also still in contact with Amy Lou Westbrook,” Carson continued in a lower voice. Amy Lou was facing arson charges, and was planning to testify against Carson as a way to improve her own situation. Any lawyer would warn him to avoid her.
“Is that a good idea?”
“Hey, she reached out to me. She’s worried about me, wants to make sure I’m okay in jail. She feels bad for me, as she should. I might not be in here without her.”
“Incorrect, and you know it.”
Why he felt the need to come to Amy Lou’s defense, he had no idea. She’d made her own bed by conspiring with Carson. “What does Amy Lou tell you? She’s out on bail, right?”
“She keeps her ear to the ground,” Carson said vaguely. “All the gossip comes her way sooner or later.”
“Gossip about what?”
“Look, forget Amy Lou. She’s not important.”
“Gossip about what?” he repeated.
“The Sea Smoke Fund, okay?” Carson spat out. “That’s all I care about. She knows what those idiots are finding, the ones looking for descendants. I need to know what’s happening because that affects my future net worth. Yours too, but you’re too full of yourself to care about that.”
Barnaby let the insult fly past him without comment. “So that’s it? She relays whatever she hears about the Fund? Are you insane?”
Carson blinked, a flash of deep blue against his pale skin. “What do you mean?”
“If anything happens to anyone they locate, it could get traced back to you. There you go, hot tip to keep you out of even more trouble.” He pushed back his chair.
“So you’ll fix the situation with the lawyers?”
Barnaby scrutinized his brother. “Did you tell me everything? If I check with the guards, will they mention someone else who came to see you, or called?”
“That’s everything. Except Dad came, I forgot about that. Judy Griffin brought him. Interrogate her if you think she told me anything besides what a fuckup I am.”
“How about Annabeth? Has she come to see you?”
