She slid on her underwear, then her slacks. Then she went searching for her shirt. She found it underneath Liv’s pants, and lifted it up. Something small and shiny fell out of Liv’s pants.
Ryan sat the shirt down, uncertainty flooding through her. It was a small flash drive. But what caught her attention was the poker card on the side. She sat back on her heels. Was Liv involved in Cairo’s murder? Was that why she had been so interested?
No. Ryan forced herself to put her shirt and blazer on. She needed to go home to shower, but first she stood there, looking at the sleeping Liv. Liv couldn’t be involved. That was ridiculous.
But Ryan pocketed the flash drive as she left.
26
Wednesday 26th October; 7:30am
Ryan locked the small flash drive in her desk drawer, her mind still spinning.
“You okay?” Dane’s voice caught her off guard. Ryan jumped. “You’re antsy this morning.”
“Didn’t sleep much last night.” She winked, drawing his attention to something else.
Dane laughed. “Good,” he said. “You needed that.”
Ryan smiled, but her mind was miles away. She could worry about the flash drive later. One of Ashley’s friends had agreed to talk - for money, that was, but talking was talking.
“I’ll be back later.” Ryan waved to him and headed out of the department. She didn’t take her patrol car. With how nervous the kid had been on the phone, she didn’t want to freak him out any more by looking more official than she had to.
He wanted to meet at the train tracks that Ashley’s mom had mentioned, the one where Ashley had hung out with her friends. He refused to give his name, but Ryan was certain she could find it later. All it took was a license plate or something else to hunt him down.
The train tracks were creepier than she had thought they would be in the early hours of the morning. Maybe it was because they had been long since been abandoned, grass growing through the rails and slats. It gave the impression of a place that had been gorgeous once, but had slowly faded into disrepair.
She parked maybe twenty feet away, then got out of the car. She kept her gun and Taser on her, just in case. Just because the kid had agreed to meet her didn’t mean he was trustworthy.
“You’re Ryan?” The rough, masculine voice caught her off guard. A tall, late-teens boy appeared out of a brush of trees, as if he had melded out of it.
“Yeah. You are?” Ryan extended a hand to shake.
He shook his head once, the bangs that swept across his forehead shaking once. “Call me T.”
Ryan nodded, but mentally she guessed this was Tanner, one of Ashley’s friends that Mel’s mom had mentioned. “You called to say you had some information for me?”
“Ashley was involved in a drug ring,” T said bluntly. “She was a mule.”
Ryan studied him without her face changing. That matched what the ME had told her. “How do you know that?”
T shrugged. “I’m here and there,” he said. “You can only hide so much in a small town.”
Was he talking about here? Or the neighboring town that was already demonstrating a bad drug problem?
“Is she the only one?” Ryan kept her voice level.
He snorted. “Are you slow?” His words were bitter. “It’s a whole system, lady.”
Suddenly Ryan felt old. But it wasn’t important. “What can you tell me?”
“Both Ashley and Jasmine were mules,” T started. “They’ve been used before, but something’s happening.” His gaze was shifting. “They’re cleaning up shop.”
“That’s why they were killed?” If they knew something about whoever was pushing the drugs and they were mules, then that would explain why Ashley had been found dead. But where was Jasmine?
T nodded. “He used a lot of women,” he said. “Old and young.”
That caught Ryan’s attention. “Cairo was late twenties.”
“That didn’t mean she didn’t need a job.” His face was inscrutable.
“How do you know all of this?”
T shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”Ryan took out her business card and handed it over to T. “If you think of anything else let me know”.
There was a loud popping sound, and Ryan half-turned back towards her car. When she turned around, T was gone and Ryan was all alone on the tracks. The sun was shining brightly, casting a warm glow over the foliage.
Uneasy, she made her way back to the car and stopped. Someone had punctured a hole in two of her tires. That was what had made the popping noise. Chills went down her spine. There was no way T had been able to do that. Who else was out there?
She got in the car and locked it, and then radioed Dane to come get her. Her car could be towed later.
“Thanks.” Ryan got in Dane’s patrol car, her eyes still scanning the area.
“What happened?” Dane looked at her, concerned. He had radioed in Ryan’s car position and a tow truck was en route.
“I was meeting a link to my missings case and someone popped two of my tires.” Ryan grimaced.
“Was it your informant?” Dane asked. He backed out of the wooded area, turning onto the road that would take them back into town.
Ryan shook her head. “He was standing in front of me when it happened.”
Dane frowned. Ryan couldn’t blame him. It didn’t make sense, and it worried her, too.
“Dane?” Ryan turned to look at him. If there was anyone she trusted in the department, it was him. “Have you heard anything about a drug ring?”
Dane blinked, looking at her only briefly as he focused on the car. “No. Where’d you hear that?”
“The kid had stories about drug mules and a drug ring.” Ryan looked out the window, drumming her fingers on her knee. “It matches what the ME told us.”
Dane looked as surprised as she felt. “Do you think it’s tied to Cairo’s case?”
Ryan hesitated, but nodded. “I just don’t know how.” She felt so
