Page 78

“No, the hospital. Someone tried to kill me this afternoon.”
Mitch ran a hand over the top of his head. “You need me to come get you?”
“No. I–I’m gonna be okay. The doctors patched me up.” Justin raised his voice. “You have to find Les before they do.”
A sick feeling churned in his gut. Mitch hunched his shoulders, phone pressed more tightly to his ear. “Can you tell me what this is all about? Who are you talking about?”
“They tried to get me to tell them where Les went.”
They. Again. Mitch wanted to bash his phone on the dash. The kid must be beyond scared. He couldn’t even answer a simple question. Unless he didn’t know who they were. “What did you do?”
“They wouldn’t believe me when I told them I didn’t know. I barely got away. I was bleeding bad.”
“Can you describe them?”
“It was dark.” Justin hesitated before lowering his voice. “They grabbed me from behind, put a gun to my head. But they had to be the guys who hang with our supplier.”
The drug dealer’s henchmen. “You told me you were quitting.” Actually, Mitch had only warned him. Justin could have ignored his advice.
“I did.”
Mitch rubbed his hand up and down his thigh. “Why would those guys pick on you?”
“I don’t know,” Justin screamed.
Mitch held the phone away from his ear. “Take it easy.”
“I guess they knew me from when Les and I made other buys together.” Justin lowered his voice again. Mitch pictured him looking around the emergency room, his knee bouncing. Faster and faster.
Mitch looked out the windshield for their location. “Do you need anything? Why are you calling?”
“The police said I need to lie low, but I wanted to warn you. Les’s sister, too, if you see her.”
“You mean Cathy?”
“Yeah. The sister.”
“I told them I didn’t know where Les was, and then they asked about her.” Justin paused. “I gotta go. I only called to warn you.”
“Thanks,” Mitch said, but Justin had already disconnected. Cath needed to know about this, but he should have plenty of time to tell her once he and Jack got home. Any minute now.
In another six blocks, Jack pulled through the gate at Aunt Edi’s. The bushes rose all around them like Taliban fighters stalking down the mountain from their hides, watching for him to make a mistake.
The sour taste in his mouth turned nasty. Suddenly chilled, Mitch zipped his jacket. The shadows crowded in, blocking his escape. Sweat beaded his face.
A male voice penetrated his fog. The ghoulish shapes faded in the light from the house. He’d been hypervigilant ever since Cath’s cemetery assault, but he needed to get a grip. New Orleans was a long way from the damned Hindu Kush.
The tires crunched to a stop. Mitch turned away to wipe his sweaty face on his sleeve. “What did you ask?”
His brother doused his headlights and glanced at the cell in Mitch’s hand. “Trouble?”
“Could be.” Mitch heaved a sigh. Justin’s warning worried him. A lot. “I promised Cath I’d take her back to her office downtown tonight. She wants to see if her brother got in touch with her there. My fugitive.”
“I know who he is, but you could go early in the morning just as easily.” Jack opened his car door. “Avoid the traffic.”
“The traffic down there is always bad.” Mitch got out and gulped in cold night air. The last of his shakes vanished. “You’re the one who’s been throwing my deadline in my face.”
“It’s there, Mitch. It needs to be met.”