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Falling into a weird parody of half kneeling, half sitting, Zed righted himself and snatched the bottle into his hands. He held it close to his body. “Hey. Thanks, dawg. I owe you.”
“Yeah, you do. And I’m here to collect.”
Sensing a problem, Zed tried to rise but Luke pushed him back. “Relax. I don’t mean you any harm. I’m just here to get some information.”
“I got nuthin’ to say.”
Luke pulled out the picture he’d printed of Wendi. “You know this girl? You sold to her.”
“Nah. Don’t know no one.”
Luke waved it closer; this time his voice sounding rough. “Look at the photo, man. This is important.”
He watched a crafty expression appear before Zed finally focused on Wendi’s image. “Yeah. I know the girl. So what?”
“So, she’s come into a lot of cash and wants me to organize a big weekend party for her new movie star friend. We’re talking a couple hundred people. Needs a lot of drugs. Says you’d know where to get them. Says to tell you to keep it clean. Pills… cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, that kind of stuff.”
“Only got the one supplier. She takes what she gets.” Zed’s sudden soberness appeared strange, but Luke had seen it before in drunks.
“Fine. How much can you promise?”
“How much you need?” Zed’s voice grew more serious as the discussion proceeded.
“As many as you can provide by tomorrow night.”
“You crazy, man?” Now Zed was spitting mad, or at least his act looked sincere. “A big shipment like that? I’d need a couple days at least.”
Luke leaned in and grabbed the other man’s leg. In the folded material near the ankle, he shoved a tiny mic inside, pushing it against the cloth so the gluey substance he’d added would attach. Shaking the leg as if to add emphasis, he gritted out angrily, “Hey, don’t fuck with me, asshole. She said you had access to a supplier who never ran dry. Where you getting from?”
As if frightened of physical abuse, Zed pulled his foot away. “Cool your jets, bro. I can get what you need. Gimme a day. Meet you here tomorrow at lunch.”
“Better not be messing with me, Zed. Plenty know where to find you.”
“Look, a shipment is due tonight. I’ll contact my man. He’ll see us right. Count on it.” Zed rose surprisingly easy.
Suddenly Luke grabbed him by the arms, pulled him closer, and shook him hard. “I am counting on you, but it’s my ass on the line. You better not let me down like that fucking Jay Nelson. Had him all lined up and the cops hit his place.”
Zed nodded. “Heard about it. Don’t worry. I told you, we’re good, man.”
Luke watched as Zed took off at a fairly quick trot, his attitude showing a man with a mission. He watched him hail a taxi, show the driver a wad of bills, and climb inside.
Luke turned on the tracker app he’d uploaded to his phone. As long as the hidden mic didn’t get dislodged, they’d be able to listen in on Zed’s interactions, and find the son of a bitch’s meeting place. Luke ran to get his truck and used his burner phone to follow the signal.
The rat had taken the bait.
Chapter Thirty-two
Tansy had no idea what to do next. She’d taken the bag of drugs from the hotel room before scurrying off and had gotten a few bucks for it. Enough to tide her over until she decided her next move.
Every minute felt like a ticking time bomb and yet the actual boringness of nothing happening upset her more. Why didn’t the cops come looking for her? She guessed she’d been better at concealing her face than she’d thought.
Had the police found Wendi’s body? They had to have by now. The housekeeper would have come to clean the room, and she’d find her dead. Tansy watched enough detective shows to figure they would have available cameras in the vicinity to identify Luke with Wendi.
Worried, scrolling online, she’d seen where the entertainer had been a news story months ago. They’d charged him with drug possession. Eyes glued to her phone, she continued to read about how his lawyers had gotten him off with a huge fine.
She went back further and saw that he’d been an agent with the FBI. Christ, he was a dirty cop which made it even more of a reason for them to ID him. And… it made sense he’d give her up… wouldn’t he?
Obviously not. Luke must have kept his promise not to divulge her identity, and somehow that made her burden more bearable. A man who hadn’t turned on her… go figure one even existed.
