Oops. I glanced at Ramos and motioned him to lower his head toward mine, so I could whisper in his ear. “Since I read his mind, he’s thinking that I know what’s going on and you don’t, so it’s confusing him.”
I started to pull away, but Ramos held onto my shoulder and began to whisper into my ear. “I got that. So what should we do about it?”
His warm breath on my neck sent shivers up my spine. With his face right next to mine, and his lips close enough to kiss, I found it hard to breathe. His scent wafted over me and I froze. “Uh… what?” I couldn’t think straight. What were we whispering about? Oh yeah. “I… I don’t know… wait… are you…” I sucked in a breath and pulled away. His brows rose, but it was hard not to miss that wicked gleam in his eyes.
“You… ugh.”
With satisfaction rolling off him, he turned back to Aaron. “I think you’d better tell us what’s going on.” Aaron glanced my way, and Ramos continued. “Pretend she doesn’t know.”
Aaron shrugged. “Fine. Whatever. Your guy came in a couple of months ago and set it up.”
When he didn’t continue, Ramos shook his head, clearly losing patience. “Set what up?”
“I can’t believe this. Why don’t you know about it? She does.”
I struggled to keep from grimacing. “Aaron. Just explain it to us. Okay? Who came in to see you?”
“The guy said his name was Slasher, and Manetto sent him. He told me Manetto wanted to set up a delivery system here at the store because it was the perfect front for getting certain drugs to the athletes at the high schools and gyms. You know… since they come in here a lot for protein shakes and whatnot.”
“Go on,” Ramos said.
Aaron shrugged. “Slasher supplies the drugs, and the kids come by and pick them up. I don’t know anything else… except that Slasher told me I didn’t have a choice, and he’d break both my legs if I told anyone about it.”
“Do the kids pay you directly?”
“Yes, of course they do.” He gestured at the mess. “Except for those kids. I’ve seen them a few times with buying customers. I guess they decided to risk Slasher’s wrath and not pay. Slasher’s gonna throw a fit.”
Unease crept over him. Could our visit be about Slasher’s deal to give him twenty percent of the profits? He wasn’t sure Manetto knew about that. Maybe that’s what this was all about, and Ramos was shaking him down and playing dumb, so he’d confess.
Ramos glared at him, and Aaron braced himself for the worst. When Ramos didn’t speak, Aaron got nervous. “What? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“That’s not it. Whoever this Slasher person is, he doesn’t work for Manetto.”
“What the…”He glanced my way, thinking I wouldn’t appreciate his foul mouth, especially if I was the boss’s niece. “What are you talking about? He set it up. It’s Manetto. Who else runs drugs around here?”
Ramos shook his head, thinking Manetto’s plan to go straight always seemed to backfire. After the fiasco with Dusty McAllister, he’d decided to get out of the illegal drug business. But he just couldn’t catch a break.
“He is?” I asked, shocked and excited. “That’s amazing. I never thought… I mean… He kept saying he’d changed but—”
“Shelby,” Ramos said, interrupting me. He nodded his head toward Aaron, thinking now was not the time to talk about Manetto’s change of heart.
“Oh… right.”
Aaron couldn’t figure out what the heck I was talking about. It didn’t make a lick of sense. Who’d changed? Manetto?
Before he could ask, Ramos spoke. “Does this Slasher person have a real name?”
“Not that I know of, but he’s one of Manetto’s guys.”
Ramos shook his head. “Like I said, Slasher doesn’t work for Manetto.”
“Son of a bitch.” A string of profanity rushed through his mind, so I tried to block him out.
Ramos leaned against the counter and folded his muscled arms. “We need to turn the tables on this guy. I have an idea. Why don’t you tell him some kids came in and stole the box? That should get his attention. You can set up a meeting to discuss it with him, and I’ll be happy to back you up. Then I can take him off your hands and figure out what’s going on.”
Aaron nodded, thinking he’d hate to be Slasher. “Okay. I’ll call him right now.”
Aaron picked up his phone and placed the call, sounding frantic about the stolen drugs. If nothing else, he was a darn good actor.
“What should I do?” He listened for a minute, then suggested that Slasher bring more drugs to replace them, since this left him short. “Those items were for tonight. Unless you bring more, I won’t be able to make the deal.”
Aaron listened to Slasher’s tirade and shook his head. “Fine, whatever man. Just be here by nine-thirty. The kids usually show up at ten. I’ll meet you behind the store.”
They disconnected, and he slipped his phone into his pocket before glancing at us. “I think he’ll come through for tonight, but he said he’s taking it out of my pay. He even said that Manetto might kill me for this.” Aaron shook his head. “I can’t believe this is happening to me.”
“I feel your pain,” I said. After the day I’d had, this was par for the course. Aaron looked at me sideways, thinking I had no idea what I was talking about. “Hey… stuff like this happens to me all the time. It’s rough.” He wasn’t convinced, but he didn’t want to argue with the boss’s niece.
“So he’s coming between nine-thirty and ten?” Ramos asked, thinking we were getting sidetracked with all our complaining.
“Yeah. The kids usually come between ten and ten-thirty.”
“Okay. I’ll be back here by nine to wait for him. Does Slasher
