Page 146 of Don't Say a Word

“Shit,” I said softly. “Can we prove this?”

He had laid out what was essentially a pyramid scheme where dealers bought drugs from the Cactus Stop through a ticketing system, then ran their own little mini operations. Like the Bradford operation, it compartmentalized the organization, so if one person was caught, it wouldn’t take down the entire network. It all ran around the Cactus Stop on Hatcher Street.

Cal said, “It would take a huge multi-agency task force, including the FBI, to come in and audit the books. We have more than enough to launch the investigation, but we can’t shut them down overnight.”

“Unless we can prove murder,” I said. The final piece clicked into place for me. “Manny Ramos hired Elijah’s mother last year to his janitorial staff. She got Elijah the job at the Cactus Stop. Based on Megan’s text messages to Elijah, he knew that Desi wasrunning a drug operation. Maybe he ignored it because of his mom, or because he didn’t know who to go to, but when Megan died, he couldn’t ignore it any longer.”

It fit. It fit how he was protective of his mother, how he became preoccupied, and why he was being discreet taking the pictures. He wanted to have evidence before he turned anything over to the police.

Could he have gone to the wrong person? Like John Brighton, which would explain why Elijah had his address. Maybe he went to his house to tell him his suspicions... and that was the wrong person to confide in.

Would John Brighton have done this on his own? He’d been raised by his uncle—could he have betrayed him so deeply? Or...

“Did Ramos know about this?” I asked the group.

Cal shrugged. “It’s his business. I’d think so, but not necessarily, especially if he’s hands-off.”

“I tipped him off,” I said and clenched my fists. “Dammit!”

“He owns the company, he has no record, and he’s a philanthropist,” Cal said. “He may not work day-to-day in that business. But Brighton? He’s now my target. Because he works for the company, he lives very well, and he has a connection to the Bradfords. He could have picked up where they left off. He could be the conduit to the supplier. And you show right here—” he tapped my board “—that Elijah looked up his address and photographed his vehicle.”

“I think I can help here,” Luisa said. “I broke the security on the thumb drive.” She walked over to the television in the corner and plugged the thumb drive into the side.

“I didn’t even know the TV had a USB port,” I muttered to Jack.

“Neither did I,” he admitted.

Luisa used the remote to quickly navigate to an app on the television, then launched the flash drive. “Jack, lights?”

Jack pressed a couple of buttons on the table and the lights dimmed. On the television, the first video played.

“Where is that?” Cal asked.

Lu shrugged. “A residence. Look at the angle, the camera is on the ground, I think under a couch.” She pointed to the top of the screen. “It’s tilted slightly so we can see the people when they sit down, but not when they’re standing”

Scott Jimenez was the first to come clearly into view when he sat down on a chair to the left of the camera. He looked almost directly at the camera.

“He knows it’s there,” Cal and I said at the same time.

A male voice said, “Are you in?”

“Yeah,” Scott said. “This really sucks.”

“Eric burned us.”

The voice stepped into the frame—he could be seen chest down. He reached into his pocket and took out a gun. He wore gloves. As he bent to put the gun on the table, his profile came into view.

“Brighton,” Cal said. “I’ll be damned.”

“What if I get caught?” Scott asked.

“We’ll take care of you,” John said. “Buddy, you’re a minor. You’re not going to do serious time. If you’re caught, plead down, you’ll be out by the time you’re nineteen. I suppose I can have Desi do it...”

“No, no, I’ll do it. She’s too volatile.”

“If anything goes wrong, you know who hired you.”

“Prick of a coach who didn’t realize he promoted the wrong person.”