Her Scream in the Silence (Carly Moore #2) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,60

doing, why isn’t anyone tryin’ to stop it?”

“No one’s foolish enough to attempt it. And the sheriff is stinkier than a three-day-old sock.” When he saw I wasn’t appeased, he said, “Look, even if the system weren’t rigged in Bart’s favor, he’s got all these stooges doin’ his dirty work. And without them testifyin’, there’s no proof.”

“You make it seem so hopeless,” I said. “You’re a sheriff deputy, Marco. You’re supposed to want to right wrongs and get the bad guys.”

“And I do, Carly, trust me. Don’t think Bart hasn’t tried to buy my support. It takes some fancy sidestepping on my part to stay out of his clutches, although I’m sure Max has played some part in that as well.”

Max. My heart ached knowing he was upset with me. While I didn’t want to lose my job, it hurt more to think I may have lost a friend. “I know Wyatt has broken away from his father, but I’m not sure where Max stands. I know he runs the inn for Bart, but what else is he involved in?”

Marco had told me they were amicable, but that didn’t tell me anything about their business dealings.

“Honestly, Carly, I don’t know. It’s one of those don’t ask, don’t tell situations. The less I know, the better.”

“When I knocked on the motel door last night, a woman answered. I’m pretty sure she was a…” I struggled to come up with a word that didn’t sound demeaning.

“A prostitute,” he said bluntly.

I grimaced. “Yeah.” I took a breath and steeled my back. “I know Bart owns the inn and Max manages it. Does one of them run a prostitution ring out of it?”

“Jesus, Carly,” he blurted out. “Did you ask Max that?”

My cheeks flushed. “No, but he knows I was snoopin’. Hank said he thinks Bingham operates a prostitution ring. Would he dare to run it out of Alpine Inn?”

And what did it mean if Neil Carpenter had paid a visit to one of Bingham’s working girls?

Marco cursed under his breath. “I have no idea what goes on in that motel, and I want to keep it that way.”

“Which means you’re protecting Bart.”

“No,” he said with a groan. “It means I’m stayin’ out of my best friend’s business.”

“Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of your job?” I asked with plenty of snark.

He swiveled his head to take a long look at me before turning back to the road. “It must be nice livin’ in an ivory tower.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked.

“In case you haven’t noticed, things are different here in Drum. There’s not such a clear delineation between black and white, good and bad. For fuck’s sake, you’re livin’ with a man who ran the biggest marijuana empire in East Tennessee. Who are you to judge?”

My mouth dropped open in shock.

“Come on,” he said in a gruff tone. “You had to know.”

“I knew he was a drug dealer before Bingham took over.”

“He wasn’t just a drug dealer, Carly. He was a major distributor, and he owned his own share of deputies back in the day. Bingham just took it to the next level.” He cast me a wry look. “Allegedly.”

I sighed. Marco was right. Hank wasn’t a perfect man, yet I struggled to see him as a hardened criminal. But he’d killed a man to defend me, and now Marco was telling me he used to have deputies in his pocket. He’d been more than a two-bit player.

“Hank and Bingham are beside the point,” he said, “although I still say you’re far too nonchalant about Bingham. My point is that you do not want to poke the bear known as Bart Drummond. Which is likely why Max freaked out on you. He likes you and wants to make sure you stay safe. He proved that after you found Seth in the parking lot.”

“I know.”

“So Max was probably more scared than mad, because if his father finds out you were lookin’ into his business, there’s no tellin’ what he’ll do.”

After my encounter with Carson, plus other whisperings I’d heard, I was pretty sure I knew. “Do you believe Carson was workin’ on his own, independent of Bart?”

He was silent for a moment. “I don’t know. The ground under Bart’s feet isn’t as stable as it used to be. Seein’ Bingham’s success might have made Carson a little power-hungry. Bart’s not known for bein’ boss of the year, if you know what I mean.” He snuck a glance at me. “There’s a good possibility