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I shifted my attention to Phoenix, my brows raised. “He kind of has a point there.”
“And that’s where you’re going to run into a fuck-ton of problems. There are hundreds of dealers involved with the other clubs, and don’t even get me started on the length of their client lists. It’ll be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. It’s a long shot, but I’d suggest reaching out to someone from Narcotics, someone who’s a little more familiar with the bullshit going down on this side of the Pines. I doubt they’ll tell you much but given that one of your cases is Rohypnol related, it’s possible they may be able to help steer you in the right direction.”
Crow let out a tired sigh and lifted his glass, finishing his drink and dropping it down on the bar.
“Now if that’s all, there’s the door. I have shit to do and my business isn’t going to run itself.”
He was off without another word, and as Phoenix spun on his heel, beelining for the exit, I grabbed the free drink I was offered and guzzled it down, cringing at the unkindly burn spreading down my throat.
“Phoenix,” I called out, sprinting after him. “You want to tell me what the fuck that whole thing was about? What the hell happened between you two?”
Phoenix shook his head, refusing to speak until we made it to the car. “I don’t want to talk about it. It was a long time ago and I just want to put the shit behind me and forget about it.”
“At least tell me why the hell he hates you so much,” I pressed.
“That scar… The one on his face, across his eye. You noticed it, yeah?”
I nodded. “Yeah, what about it?”
Phoenix ground his teeth as he heaved in one long, trembling breath and tenderly expelled it, his eyes locked on mine.
“I’m the one that gave it to him.”
twenty-two
Charlotte
Hours passed and I still hadn’t heard from Phoenix about the lab results. There were no new messages and absolutely nothing had been delivered to my email, which wasn’t unusual, but I did find it to be quite annoying. I know these things take time and that it was unprofessional to call and rush the lab techs at the risk of cross contaminating the evidence, but I was quite an eager beaver today and my brain just wouldn’t settle the hell down unless I had some damn answers.
So, I picked up my cell phone and reluctantly called the lab.
“Crime lab. This is Kendall Wilson speaking.”
“Hi, Kendall. It’s Charlotte Greene, the CDA working with Hutch and Rhodes.”
“Oh, yes, that’s right. What can I do for you, Charlotte?”
“I was hoping to maybe get an ETA on the hair follicles. I’m sorry to be a pain but Rhodes told me they would be ready today.”
“We’re not quite there yet,” Kendall answered, which had me scowling as I leaned back in my seat, struggling not to get further agitated. “Some of the results are back but not all of them are ready.”
“Okay, so lay on me what you do have.”
“So far, it’s basically the same. Most of the follicles we collected belong to Amber and Daniel Strickland.”
I sighed.
Damnit.
This was not good news.
“However,” Kendall continued, “we did find some follicles on Amber that don’t belong to her or Daniel.”
My heart jolted. “Really?”
But it would be just my fucking luck for her to tell me it was animal hair.
“Yes, and after further investigation, I discovered they’re from two different males.”
