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“Um... yessir. He asked me about it first—when he was...” He dropped his eyes. “When he was taking photos of my bruises. But I didn’t know about no note. I didn’t even know that Rick was in the back of the van until we got here. I did know that Aaron was making meth. I told Captain Holmes that I wondered if Corey was a drug dealer, too. So maybe he is. Maybe he meant what he wrote on the note. Maybe he’ll try for Elijah again. I just don’t know. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, Jace,” Val assured him. “You’re answering our questions as best you can. Did Corey work with Dewey?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so? But...” He shrugged. “I do know that Dewey worked for Corey and them sometimes. He fixed their trucks for their construction business.”
“Didn’t you wonder why Captain Holmes had a photo of Dewey on his phone?” she asked gently.
Jace sat back, surprised. “Not last night, but I guess I do now. Why did he?”
She looked him in the eye. “Because Dewey Talley is known to the police. He’s been selling drugs for a long time, but they haven’t been able to find him for the past four years.”
So Dewey had been a drug dealer, too. “I didn’t know nothin’ about the drugs. You gotta believe me on that.”
“Would you provide a blood sample?” she asked. “They’ll want to test you, to see if you’ve been using.”
“They can take blood. I’ve never used, but I was locked in Aaron’s cabin. Will that show up? If I was where he was making meth?”
“No,” she said with a nice smile. “Are you still hungry?”
He was, but he didn’t want to be a pig on top of everything else. “No, ma’am.”
“Really?”
He didn’t think he could lie to her, ever. “Maybe a little hungry.”
She scraped what was left on the platter onto his plate. “When did you last eat?”
“Yesterday morning. We had some cereal.”
“Did Corey feed you?” Elijah asked, coming back down the stairs and sitting next to Val. “When you lived with him, I mean.”
“Most of the time. He’d go away sometimes, on a job, and we’d take care of ourselves. Except a few times lately he forgot to leave food.” That hadn’t been fun. “We had to call Dianne, but she’s not the same since Liam died. She drinks a lot. Later, once Captain Holmes finds Corey’s camp, I need to call her. If she’s sober, she’ll be worried about me.”
Val tilted her head. “Corey does construction jobs out of town?”
“Maybe? But the times he forgot to leave grocery money he must have been doing something else, at least one of the times. Rick and I went to the construction office to see if anyone had left food in the fridge there. All their tools were still there.”
She leaned forward, propping her chin on her hand. “Do you remember when that was?”
He took another bite, thinking. “Labor Day weekend and the week after. Why?”
“Corey killed Dewey,” she said. “He’s up to something, don’t you think?”
Jace remembered the people who’d arrived in Bobby’s boat, all blindfolded. “Yeah. I think you’re right.” And it wasn’t good. None of this was good.
Except maybe how nice Val and Elijah had been. That wouldn’t last forever, though, so he wasn’t planning to get used to it.
Val’s phone buzzed and she answered it, but not on speaker. “Yeah?” Her lips tilted in a smirk. “I know.” A pause. “Affirmative to both.” Then her eyes widened. “What the hell? Are you serious?” She listened a little, then nodded. “Call me when you know more. Bye.” She ended the call, looking stunned.
“What happened?” Jace asked. “Is it Corey? Is he coming?”
“I don’t know,” she murmured.
“Who was it?” Lucien asked.
“Kaj.”
“Did they find the camp?” Elijah asked.
