“But Nolan knows about you. That wouldn’t work.”
“It might. Nolan wondered if I was an undercover cop, so I could just stick with that.”
“But the undercover cop knows you’re not an undercover cop.”
“Yeah, but Nolan doesn’t, and if that cop asks questions, I can tell him I was checking out a lead tonight. I am a private investigator, you know.”
His brows rose. “With a license and everything?”
“Uh… no, I kind of skipped that part. But I am a registered police consultant with my own consulting business. What I do, and how I do it, is mostly to help the police. They can’t argue with that, right?”
“I guess.” Ramos let out a breath. “I hope it’s enough for the cop to leave you alone. If he asks you about going to the bar with me, what will you tell him?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. What do you think I should say?”
He grinned. “That I offered you a drink, and you couldn’t refuse because I’m so hot.”
I smiled, glad that at least one of us wasn’t scared to death. “I can just say that I was checking out the Polynesian gangs to see if they knew anything about Tommy’s death, and you were my ticket in.”
“That might work.” Ramos thought this guy complicated things. Even worse, he’d gotten a good look at Ramos at the bar. The cop was sure to look through the police database to find information about him.
That meant he’d see Ramos’s file and his connection to Manetto. There was no evidence to tie him to anything, but enough to mark him as someone of interest. He’d have to watch his back for the next little while, and expect some kind of special attention or harassment.
“Wow… would they really do that?”
“It’s happened before.” He shrugged. “I can take it. It’s you I’m worried about. Maybe after this you should take a break from helping the police.”
“Yeah… that’s probably a good idea.” Now might be a great time to let Willow take over for me. I could finally take that break I needed and not have to choose between the police and Uncle Joey. But would I ever do that? Could I resign from helping the police?
My phone vibrated with a text, and I pulled it out. “It’s Chris. He’s worried. I should go. Is there anything else we need to talk about?”
“Is there anything else you picked up at our meeting that I need to know… about Vinny or Aaron or even that kid Nolan?”
“Uh… Nolan was thinking about buying juice from someone else, Vinny was thinking he’d have to threaten to kill anyone who did what Slasher did, and Aaron just wanted to forget about it all. I’m sure there was more, but that’s the gist of it.”
“Okay. If you get in trouble with the cops, just remember that Manetto has deep connections. When you talk to the police, don’t let them push you around, and don’t say more than you need to.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t. And… if it helps you feel better, don’t forget that I have my super-power. I’ll be fine.”
“Right.” Ramos smiled and opened the door, but turned back toward me. “There is one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Try not to sneak up on me again.”
“Oh… yeah… I’ve learned my lesson.”
“Good. And maybe next time, we can get in a game of pool.”
I grinned. “I’d like that.”
“Goodnight Shelby.”
“Goodnight… Romeo.”
He chuckled and closed the door. With a quick wave, I pulled out of the parking space and started home. I kept track of the cars around me, just in case someone was following, and wished I would have done that earlier. I didn’t see anyone following me, but keeping watch was exhausting.
Finally pulling into my garage and closing the door, I got out of the car, grateful I’d made it home in one piece. With the time past midnight, everyone had gone to bed, and most of the lights were out, but Chris had left the kitchen light on for me. After locking the door and turning the lights out, I hurried upstairs to find Chris asleep with the bedside lamp on.
As I got ready for bed, he opened his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. “Good. You’re home. How did it go?”
“Well… okay, I guess.” I finished brushing my teeth and climbed into bed. “Do you want to hear the long version or the short version?” I was hoping for the short, since I could leave most of it out.
“Is there a short one?”
“Well… I could just summarize, so you’d get the gist of it. Since it’s so late, it wouldn’t take as long.”
“Just start at the beginning… like… tell me who died.”
“Okay.” I explained how Uncle Joey was getting out of the drug business, but the person in charge of it kept selling the drugs anyway, and used Uncle Joey’s connections, along with Uncle Joey’s name and reputation. “So you can see how that would be bad for him.”
Chris shook his head, thinking that getting out of the business had left Uncle Joey open to the incompetence of others, which could get him in more trouble than he’d bargained for. “So what kind of trouble is he in?”
“Someone killed one of his former drug dealers, and the police are hoping to link it back to him. Anyway… Uncle Joey asked me to help the police with the investigation so I could keep him informed.”
Chris’s eyes widened. Didn’t I know how risky that was? If the police found out, they’d never let me work for them again. It would ruin everything I’d worked for. It could also end up with charges against me if they wanted to push it.
“Uh… yeah, I figured as much, but that’s not what I’m doing. I’m trying to find the real killer, and I think I figured it out tonight. Now I just need to help the
