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“No problem. We’ll give you a ride.” Cath glanced at him, and he went for his car keys. “We can go now, right?”
“You guys don’t understand.” Justin wagged his head. “Les isn’t there now. I had to go out this morning, and he wasn’t there when I got back.”
Cath’s shoulders slumped, her luscious mouth flattening.
“Where did he go?” Mitch asked.
“That’s why I wanted to meet you. It’s sort of my fault Les got arrested.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was talking about buying stuff with him and some other guys. They weren’t interested, but Les tagged along with me.”
Mitch tamped down his irritation. “He might not have understood what he was getting into. You don’t sign, do you?”
Justin stared.
“Sign language?” Cath demonstrated.
“We just talked like normal.” Justin scowled. “But I know he understood. It wasn’t my fault he got arrested, but he’s making things worse now. You have to stop him.”
Justin’s jacket zipper raced back and forth again. “He was talking last night about going back to the meetup spot where we bought the drugs before.”
Cath gasped. “Why would he do that?”
“I asked him, but he wouldn’t tell me. Said I was already too involved. I told him to stay away from there, but he wouldn’t listen.”
“He went to meet your drug dealer?” She hugged herself, a habit she had when nervous, but her face showed only genuine interest.
“He’s not a dealer.” Justin stuffed his hands in his pockets. “He’s just the guy we buy from, you know?”
“Right.” The corners of Cath’s mouth tucked in. Mitch wanted to roll his eyes too. “Where do you meet the man you buy from?”
Justin glanced up and down the street. “The usual place.”
“I’d love it if you could be a little more specific.” Cath touched his sleeve and gave him a sappy smile.
“I better not tell you.” Justin wiped his sweaty face on his sleeve.
“I’m sorry I’m making you nervous,” Cath said, “but you don’t know how much it would mean to me.”
Cath pushed her hands into her pockets. “How can we stop Les if we don’t know where to look for him?”
The kid checked the street again. “It’s on the streetcar route.”
“The St. Charles car?” Mitch asked.
“No, the new one.” Justin jiggled his leg so badly, loose change clinked in his pocket. “Over on the riverfront. Governor Nicholls Street Wharf. Usually we duck in there and get out with no problem, but that night one of the other men…” He gulped as if he’d said too much.
“What other men?” Mitch straightened. Come on, Justin, tell us everything.
“They help the seller. One of them came after us, so we ran. Les stumbled over the tracks and got caught.”
“Caught?” Cath raised a hand to her mouth. “You mean arrested?”
“Yeah, I guess he was an undercover cop or something. We didn’t know, but Les wasn’t dealing drugs. It was the other guy.”
The drug dealer, natch.
