“He’s a creep we can track,” Nick pointed out. He picked the tracker up off the floorboards and checked the GPS trail, the indicator flickering green as they passed Sam’s place. “He’s home now. Let’s pack it in. Odds are he’s in for the night. He had his fun.”
“I hope.”
“Yasmin’s not likely to be a prime target.” Nick was reassuring himself too, because a fire at her farm might mean Brian in the middle. If the goats were at risk, or the dogs? Brian would totally run into a burning barn to try to save them. “She’s not that rich, not a big influence. She’s chump change for them.”
“You think?”
“Yeah.” Nick put the electronics away and leaned back in his seat. Then he laid one hand on Brian’s leg, not to hint at sex, or anything really, except for a reminder that Brian was big and strong and safe and there, with him, heading home.
Chapter 19
Brian lifted his empty mug to his lips, pretending to drink. On the other end of Yasmin’s couch, Nick leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
“I’m just trying to figure things out.” Nick’s coaxing tone would’ve totally made Brian spill his guts. Of course, he was kind of a sucker for Nick. “I swear, Yasmin, I won’t tell anyone where the information came from, but there’s at least one cop involved, and several other local guys. I can’t hand it over to the sheriff and expect justice to happen.”
“The sheriff’s not crooked. I’d bet the farm on that. No matter who else is.” Yasmin had her arms crossed, which meant she was going to be hard to shift.
“I tend to agree. But at least one of her men is involved.”
“Who?” Yasmin cocked her head, eyes bright.
“I can’t tell you that. Without proof, it’s slander. And I’ve promised never to reveal a source.”
Brian wasn’t quite sure what Nick was up to. Those statements might both be true, but they’d recorded Sam and then looked up Noah Thompson, the ex-deputy who owned the house. They’d found McNaught’s job and rank as Chief Deputy on the internet. There was no “source” to be exposed. Maybe it was a line to reassure Yasmin. It made Brian feel a bit nauseous, like when Damon and Lori had run cons while he played dumb Bry. He took another pretend sip and kept his mouth shut.
Yasmin said, “It won’t be news to anyone that the damage isn’t kids getting their kicks. I’m sure Val’s on top of it. Sheriff Gannet, I mean.”
“You know her well?”
“We have a local Winrowd Working Women group. We meet every other Sunday for a strategy-and-bitch session. Someone invited Val, and she’s started coming. I like her.”
“And trust her? Even though she’s a white southern cop?”
Yasmin frowned. “You think because I’m black, I can’t tell when some white person is decent or not?”
“No!” Nick flushed. “Sorry. I spent two years on the beat hearing that no matter how cool I might seem, no black person could ever really trust a white cop, and seeing enough shit go down to understand that. I guess I figured it’d be worse here.”
“Oh, it’s bad everywhere. Don’t get that wrong. Lots of cops I wouldn’t waste spit on if they were on fire. But I’ve lived on this earth for over fifty years, and I think I’m a decent judge of people. Val is good people. White, black, or purple.”
“She has to delegate, though,” Nick said. “And we know at least one person in her department is involved. There’s a risk she might hand off the information to the wrong guy.”
Brian was tired of the dancing around between people he trusted. He said, “It’s her chief deputy, McNaught, that we think is involved. It could get real messy.”
Yasmin and Nick both stared at him. Nick’s stare had a hint of how could you be so blabbermouthed? that Brian tried not to let bother him. Telling her isn’t careless or stupid. Yasmin was special, and keeping secrets when she was involved was the stupid thing.
“Well, shit,” Yasmin said. “That does change things. She’s one of the few cops to really try to clean house when she got some power in her hands, but it could be different when it’s someone she trusts.”
Nick asked, “Did you tell her about the Watch visit?”
“Yeah.”
“Directly? Or call her department?”
“I told her face-to-face, at the meeting yesterday.”
Nick bit his lip and nodded, looking like he was thinking hard.