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“Anything that might explain why he went to that deputy’s house last night?” North asked.
“Not really. That’s what’s so strange, I guess. Neither campus is located in Wahredua, and Jem and Tean said they didn’t see anything inside Ezell’s house that suggested a connection between him and the Epiphany of Light.”
“Wait,” Shaw said, “they went inside the deputy’s house?”
“We’re talking about Jem,” Theo said with a half-smile.
Auggie glanced at each of them. “But the connection to the Cottonmouth Club, that’s something, right?”
“And it’s a connection that Emery and John-Henry are going to handle,” Theo said.
“I know, I know,” Auggie said. “But North and Shaw needed to hear about it, don’t you think?”
Theo nodded, but the look on his face sent a mixed message.
“I guess you did your due diligence,” North said, “although you could have put this in the group chat instead of playing peeping Tom. We’ll see if we can run down—”
“That’s not why we came over,” Theo said. “Tell them, Auggie.”
“I got us an appointment with Eric Brey.”
“What?” And then, “Who?”
“Brey. He was one of Welch’s visitors. Well, his only visitor, I guess.” Auggie grinned. “And he’s a state representative.”
North honestly didn’t know what to say for a moment. He finally said again, “You’re shitting me.”
“Nope. One guess where he’s from.”
“Auburn,” Shaw said.
Auggie nodded.
“Jesus,” North said. “What are we mucking around in?”
“Good question,” Theo said.
North tried to run through what the connection meant, but the best he could come up with was the cold, hard reality: Welch’s trail had gone cold at the Epiphany of Light, but Theo and Auggie had handed them a fresh trail to follow. Auggie was still grinning, obviously pleased with himself and just as obviously waiting for recognition.
“Good work, super squirt,” North said.
Auggie rolled his eyes, but his grin got bigger.
“All right, if that’s it, I’m going to get dressed. We’ve got work to do—”
“No, no, no,” Auggie said.“I got the appointment for us. All of us.”
North stared at him. Then he looked at Theo.
Theo held up both hands. “Oh no. I learned my lesson the hard way.”
“Look,” North said, “you did a good job—”
“I tracked him down,” Auggie said. “I created the fake PAC. I built the damn website at three in the morning. And I’m the one who talked my way past his assistant and convinced Brey that he needed to see us today.”
It was a long fifteen seconds before North gritted out, “Fine.”
“And you should make him say sorry,” Shaw said.
