Page 72 of Triple the Secrets
Fury brought Howard’s attention back to him by pulling out pictures of the two men, and the grainy photo of the woman at the mall. Code had not yet figured out who she was, but Rogue knew it wouldn’t be long. Fury showed them to the detective. “You know who they are?” Fury asked him briskly.
Howard reached out to take them, and Rogue watched him carefully. He knew that the cop thought he had a good poker face, but there was no mistaking the flash of recognition in his eyes. Fury subtly looked over at Rouge, letting him know that he had seen it himself. Finally, Howard said, “Sorry, gentlemen, but I don’t recognize them. Should I?”
“You tell us,” Fury countered, pulling the photos away from him. “They’ve both got rap sheets as long as your arm.”
Rogue watched the way the detective frowned, but he noted the restless shifting of the man’s feet, and the slight movement of his fingers. He was nervous, and Rogue’s gut was telling him that the detective knew exactly who these people were and he didn’t want them to know it. Rogue wanted to rage and demand answers, but instinct told him to wait.
For all they knew, the detective was in on the whole thing, and if they showed their hand too soon, he might tip off the people they were after.
“Sorry, I don’t know every criminal,” Howard said lightly, trying at light-hearted humor. His tone changed as soon as he looked at Rogue’s hard face. “If I do hear anything, I’ll let you know,” he hastily promised.
“You do that,” Fury said coolly before he turned and headed to the door without another word. Rogue stared down the detective until he lowered his eyes and shuffled out. Rogue didn’t trust the weasel and he wanted eyes on him until he was gone.
As he drove away, Rogue pulled out his phone and called Code.
“Christ, I’m never having kids,” Code muttered as soon as he answered. “Especially not girls.”
Rogue grunted. “Now you know what I’m dealing with. Need you to tap our friend the detective’s phones. He knows something about our traffickers and it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s helping them in some way.”
“Done,” Code said seriously. “You heading back?”
“He can’t come back until he picks up our stuff,” Wren’s voice called loudly from somewhere on the other end.
Rogue huffed out a breath. “Yeah, fine. We got a few other things to check and then we’ll head back.”
“Thanks Uncle Ro-Ro,” Win called.
Rogue rolled his eyes and hung up. He looked at Fury and asked, “What do you think? Think he’s in on it, or knows who they are and trying to cover it up?”
Fury pursed his lips in thought. “Not sure yet,” he said finally. “But we’ll know soon enough if he’s in communication with them or if he’s warning someone else. I’d bet that there are more than a few dirty cops around here, and they all got their fingers in different pies.”
“Maybe we should have Code do another search on the cops and see what comes up. Been a while since we’ve done that and it could shake out a few new things for our benefit.”
Fury nodded. “We’ll bring it up at Church. Let’s do a couple of rounds to some of our people on the streets and then we’ll head to get the girls’ stuff before we head back. What did they ask you to get?”
“No fucking clue,” Rogue grunted as he straddled his bike. “Knowing them, probably something to piss me off.”
Fury smirked. “Probably. But at least you have me to make sure they don’t pull a fast one on you.”
They drove around for the next few hours and talked to a few informants, but most of them knew nothing. One had seemed promising until they figured out that the guy was higher than a kite and had no clue what he was saying. The bastard would have said anything for the drugs Rogue had offered him. They didn’t deal in hard shit, but this particular guy had an addiction to pills, and was a source of information for them in exchange for the drugs he craved.
Frustrated, Rogue pulled into the pharmacy parking lot and cut off his bike. Pulling out his phone, he pulled up the list and growled in annoyance when he saw what the girls had requested.
Rocky Road ice cream.
Pads (extra large with super wings).
Heated tampons.
Aunt Flo pills
Chocolate (any kind will do)
Heating pad.
“You good?” Fury asked him, standing by his bike. “You’re scowling so I assume whatever they sent isn’t going to be easy?”
“They’re doing this shit to get back at me,” Rogue grunted as he climbed off. “Bunch of women shit I have no clue about.”
