“Tonight, you’re done. You wait until we look over what Brody gets. He gives you what you need, you got no reason to come back. He doesn’t, we’ll assess and plan. You down with that?”
“Totally.”
“Right,” he muttered, sliding out of the booth. “Get your ass outta here. We’ll go somewhere else and get a drink. You brief me, then I can end this day and get home.”
I followed him out, asking, “Would it be a hit to your street cred if I held your hand?”
“Pain in the ass,” he muttered as answer.
“Or hugged you?” I threw out an alternate suggestion.
“Total pain in the ass.”
I grinned.
We hit the door.
Darius pushed it open for me.
I moseyed through.
* * * * *
Two days later…
I hauled my ass up into Darius’s black Silverado and slammed the door. I didn’t put on my seatbelt. I leaned forward, put my elbows to the dash and drove my hands into my hair, yanking it away from my face and scrunching it at the back of my head.
Brody had found nothing.
But we’d just had a conversation with one of Darius’s informants, and he knew everything.
The vehicle rocked when Darius folded into the driver’s seat and closed his door. He didn’t hit the ignition and the cab stayed silent.
It was the dead of night and we’d just cracked Garden Girl’s case.
And what we learned sucked.
After some time, Darius broke the silence.
“Tomorrow,” he said gently, “you report this to her man and walk away.”
I sat back with a jerk, pulling my hands out of my hair and twisting to him.
“We have to do something,” I snapped.
“We don’t gotta do shit,” he returned, his words harsh but his tone still gentle.
“Darius—”
He leaned into me and hooked his hand behind my head, pulling me close.
“This guy works at an electronic store and is payin’ you by givin’ you a discount on a new flat screen TV. You do not wade into a mess like that for twenty-five percent off a flat screen TV, Ally.”
“That’s a good discount,” I shot back.
His lips curved up, but the humor didn’t reach his eyes. “You give him what he asked for and let him deal.”
“His woman is turning tricks to pay off her brother’s drug debt,” I told him something he already knew since he was the one who found the informant and he stood right by me when we both learned what had befallen Garden Girl.