Fatal Secrets - Desiree Holt Page 0,46

nodded. “He said if he could ever do anything for me that wouldn’t get him killed to call him. And here he is.”

Sean looked up to see a thin man of medium height heading for their booth. Nondescript was a good definition for him, and Sean figured that was how he stayed off everyone’s radar.

“Thanks for coming, Ridge.” Zoe rose and extended her hand. “I appreciate it.”

He gave Sean a suspicious look. “Who’s this? I didn’t agree to talk to anyone but you.” He took a step backward. “This isn’t some kind of trap, is it?”

“No, it isn’t. I promise.” She grabbed his hand again., “Sean is a friend of mine who’s just out of the SEALs. He’s kind of my protection while I work on my book. Please sit down.”

Zoe moved to sit next to Sean so Ridge could huddle in the corner of the other seat. Without being asked, the waitress brought another mug, set it in front of Ridge, and filled it. The man blew on the steam then took a swallow of the hot liquid.

“I can’t stay long. My girlfriend didn’t even want me to come. Said I needed to stay as far away from this shit as I could.”

“I agree.” Zoe smiled at him. “I really appreciate this, Ridge. And I’m delighted you have a girlfriend now. Thank her for letting you meet with us, and tell her I promise your name will not appear anywhere.”

”Well, you were as good as your word last time, so I’m trusting you again.”

“You weren’t followed, were you?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I was real careful and took my girlfriend’s car. What do you want to know?”

Sean was amazed at how calm Zoe was, considering the subject matter.

“Did you ever hear any rumors about Justine DeLuca at the prosecutor’s office? That would have been about the time of your trial.”

Ridge studied her for a long time. Then he spent more seconds slowly taking a drink of his coffee. Sean could see the man was conflicted. He also saw Zoe was having a hard time holding on to her patience. Finally, Ridge leaned forward.

“I ain’t naming names,” he repeated,” but I will tell you your friend had gotten her teeth into something and wouldn’t leave it alone, no matter how many times she was warned.”

Sean glanced sideways at Zoe. She gave a tiny shake of her head. She didn’t know any of this. Whatever it was, Justine had never shared it with her.

“Can you give me a hint what she’d gotten into?”

He looked all around, as if he expected someone to jump out of the store area or the restrooms and blow his head off.

“She’d found out who the head man was.” He whispered the words so softly they were barely a whisper.

They had to strain to hear him.

“The head man?” Zoe repeated.

“Uh huh. She asked if she told me his name I could confirm it. Listen. I was nothing more than a low jerk on the totem pole, and saying anything could have cut my life short right then. Every single person involved in this whole business knew you were signing your death warrant if you ever said anything except you didn’t do it and you wanted an attorney.”

Zoe nodded. “Yes, you told me you had a lawyer. Where’d you get him?”

“From the public defender’s office. I heard whoever the attorney for the head honcho was had an arrangement that any of us guys that were picked up, the defender’s office would send one of two guys to take care of us.”

“He didn’t keep you out of jail,” Sean pointed out.

“He kept me from being dead. Got my charge reduced and made sure I was eligible for parole when the time came. That was good enough for me.” He shook his head. “But that Justine, she just couldn’t leave things alone. I hear she waylaid the public defender and tried to get him to tell her who he really reported to.”

Sean slid a glance at Zoe, who was looking sicker and sicker.

“My public defender suspected I knew who the head man was, but they couldn’t afford to get rid of me after they offed the other guy.”

Sean lifted an eyebrow. “Other guy?”

“Uh huh. The one they said died of a heart attack.”

Sean looked at Zoe, and she nodded. Rod Winkler.

“I overheard a conversation just before Winkler got killed.” Ridge leaned forward. “I was picking up stuff for my truck for deliveries, and the guy who ran the warehouse