I didn't actually find. It was all very suspicious, and that leads me to one logical conclusion."
Shit. I had a feeling I knew what she was about to say.
"Someone in your organization is working for the feds, Ms. Wolff, and has been for a long time. I think I got fired to protect the mole's identity." She sounded bitter and resigned.
I drew a sharp breath. "Why are you telling me this, Dorothy?"
"Because it reeks of corruption, and I hate that. You might be a criminal, Ms. Wolff, but so are the agents on your case. They're deliberately trying to set you up for something big, I can just—" Her sentence cut off with a shriek, then the phone seemed to drop to a hard floor with a clatter.
I slammed my foot on the brake, pulling us over into the shoulder and listening as Dorothy fought off an attacker. The car filled with the sounds of a struggle, grunts, and screams, then eventually a wet gurgle, followed by the heavy sound of a body dropping lifelessly to the floor. I'd heard that sound enough to know it unquestionably.
A second later, Agent Hanson's phone was picked up and a couple of gasping breaths sounded before the call cut off.
For a moment, Lucas and I just sat there, shocked into silence, then I turned to him with wide eyes. "She just got killed for telling me that," I murmured.
Death was nothing new to me, and I held no real personal connection with Agent Hanson. So hearing her murder wasn't what held me stunned almost speechless. It was her accusation that someone in the Timberwolves was a fed. Not someone new, either. Someone who'd been with me for years, potentially. Someone I trusted.
And that person had likely just killed her to keep that secret.
35
After our brief pause to audibly witness Agent Hanson's murder, Lucas and I got to Anarchy just as a handful of cop cars were leaving the parking lot, no doubt with their PCP-carrying patrons in the backseats. Most of the other patrons had already left, and understandably so with a rude interruption like that.
When I stepped out of the car, I found one of the SGPD peons putting a police-tape barrier across the main entrance.
"Fuck," I hissed to Lucas, "they've shut us down."
Seething, I stormed across to where Gen stood with Lieutenant Jeffries some distance away from the macabre clown face that framed the entrance to Anarchy.
"Ms. Wolff," Lieutenant Jeffries greeted with a tight smile. "Good of you to join us."
I scowled. "Good of you to let me know you'd be stopping by."
"Just doing my job, ma'am," he replied, then gave a small shake of his head. "Er, I mean, sir. Anyway, orders are orders, and tonight we found a lot of your patrons carrying illicit substances. That's an offense that can't be ignored."
Nodding, I kept my expression calm and my voice cool. "It's an offense to be taken up with the Shadow Grove City Council and the liquor-licensing board. I cannot be held accountable for my patrons’ illegal activity, which you well know."
His eyes narrowed slightly in irritation. "Be that as it may, we can and have shut you down until the licensing board can review the conduct of your staff and ensure that your organization had nothing to do with the sale and distribution of drugs. As I'm sure you've already been informed, a whole lot of those patrons arrested have told us they bought their supply from Timberwolf gang members." He gave me a pointed look, but I didn't flinch.
"That's impossible, Jeffries," I replied with a small smile. "The Timberwolves are extinct. Are we done here, or did you want to chit-chat some more?"
He looked like he wanted to say more, but my phone rang and I walked away to answer the call.
"Hannah," I said on picking it up, "what have you got for me?"
"I pinged the GPS data on Alexi's phone," she told me. "He should be there at Anarchy somewhere."
I was impressed. "That was smart thinking, Hannah. I don't suppose you can do the same to Zed's phone?"
Her response was a laugh. "No, sir. There are no trackers on your phones, just on normal Copper Wolf employee-issued devices. Is there anything else I can help with?"
Rubbing at the bridge of my nose, I mentally ran through the mountain of work the Anarchy shutdown would cause. "Nothing tonight, Hannah," I replied. "Come by Zed's place in the morning, though. We can get to work sorting out this