couldn’t help himself. “I’m sorry, Ronan.” He managed between bursts of laughter.
Kevin was snickering too.
“Protecting her family is a bigger fish than hugs, but what do I know?” Jude knew plenty, but none of it was helping soothe his friend.
“You think Everly is standing guard?” Disbelief colored Ronan’s words.
“Or she could just be moody from the effect this thing had on her. Like when you felt grumpy last week when you got sunburned.”
“How the hell can you tell the difference? Ronan’s always grumpy.” Kevin hooted from the backseat.
“Hilarious.” Ronan rolled his eyes and fidgeted in his seat. “Let’s get back to work.” Shifting the car into drive, Ronan headed off in the direction the Honda had gone.
By the look of the trailer park, there was only one road in. It circled back around to where they’d parked the car. The Honda couldn’t have left the park without them spotting it.
“There it is.” Fitzgibbon had his camera at the ready.
“Home sweet hovel.” Ronan shivered. He rolled down the window. The sound of moans filled the air. “Is that what I think it is?”
“I’m not getting out of the car to find out.” Ronan wore a sour look on his face.
“Sounds like cats in heat.” Kevin started shooting pictures through Ronan’s open window.
Jude thought the same thing. The last thing he wanted was a front row seat to the Bonnie and Clyde of the North Shore getting down in a rusted trailer.
“Help you boys?” a stranger voice asked.
Jude startled when he saw a short, skinny man leaning down toward his partially opened window. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell the nosy man to piss off, but he didn’t want to cause a scene. “I’m Jude Byrne, I’m a private investigator.” Shifting in his seat, he pulled out his P.I. license to show the man.
The man wiped his runny nose with a damp red bandana before shoving it back in his pocket. “Ralph Grady. I had a feeling the law would be poking around here sooner or later. Runs a tidy business from her trailer, that one.” Ralph’s grimace turned into a smile, revealing several missing and rotted teeth.
“Are you a customer or an observant neighbor?” Jude didn’t want to know the answer.
“Both!” Ralph rocked back on his heels, nearly overbalancing.
“What about the man who’s with her?” Jude couldn’t care less about Miranda, it was Marc he needed to learn more about.
“Pokes his head in from time to time. They eat, fuck, or fight. Right now, they’re fuckin’ so the fightin’ will happen later.” Ralph licked his lips as if he wished he were in on the action.
That was definitely more information than Jude wanted to hear.
“Are you trying to catch him cheatin’ on his missus?” Ralph hawked up something juicy and spat on the ground.
“You know he’s married?” Jude took a shallow breath through his mouth to keep from throwing up. Christ, they needed to get out of here sooner rather than later.
“Yeah, asked me one time if I knew anything about LSD or where he could score some. Said it was for the missus. To get the job done.” Ralph seemed proud of what he knew.
“Did you know anything about where to get the drugs?” Christ, Marc was looking to dose Peg with a hallucinogen? He supposed it made sense. If Marc divorced Peg, he wouldn’t have access to her money, but if she ended up in a mental hospital, her money would be his for the taking.
“Now look here. I run a respectable trailer park.” Ralph grinned, showing off his missing left front tooth. “I might have sent him off in the right direction, but I didn’t have the stuff here.” His eyes were directed at the ground.
“Thank you for your help.” He might not have had LSD handy, but Jude bet if they searched Ralph’s trailer, they’d sure as hell find a stash of meth.
Fitzgibbon clicked a few more pictures while Ronan shifted the car into drive.
“Hey, uh, don’t I get somethin’ for the information?” Ralph rubbed his thumb against the tips of his first and second fingers, in the universal gesture for cash.
Jude sighed. Nothing was for nothing, as the old saying went. He fished a twenty out of his wallet and held it toward Ralph. When the man reached for it, Jude pulled it back. “This makes you a confidential informant, which means you can’t tell anyone what we talked about.” Jude handed the money over.
“Right. My lips are sealed.” Ralph’s eyes glowed