Page 51 of Luck of the Devil (Harper Adams Mystery #3)

I rolled the name around in my head for a few seconds. “I’ve never heard of him. It seems like I would have when I was a cop if he’s that powerful.”

“Not necessarily,” James said, leaning back in his seat. “He likes to keep a low profile. He uses shell corporations and acts as a silent partner in a lot of businesses. I guarantee you Black Claw isn’t his only secret LLC.”

“So what makes you think he’s taken over for Simmons?”

He tapped the address on the contract. “Simmons used to own this place. It’s one hell of a coincidence that Knox is selling a property Simmons once owned.”

“You think he bought it after Simmons died?”

“Or he was already a silent partner.”

“What did Simmons do with it?”

Malcolm tilted his head, his eyes distant. “Last I heard, he was using it as a drop site. No one really knew what for, and most people knew better than to ask.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Even you?”

He gave a dry laugh. “I had other issues to deal with.”

“Such as?” I prodded.

He studied me for a moment. “I quit Simmons’s years before we busted him.

By then, he was hell bent on destroyin’ me, and I was hell bent on gettin' him out of my county. I kept tabs on what he was doing in other places, but I didn’t have the bandwidth to dig into that one.

The way I saw it, if I took him out, it all fell down.

” His face hardened. “Turns out I was na?ve.”

I scoffed. “That’s not a word I’d use to describe you.”

“And yet it fits.”

I waited for him to elaborate, but instead he said, “After Simmons toppled, whoever took over has been a lot more careful to keep it all on the down low. But what’s happening now is worse than what Simmons did.”

“You’ve said that before but never elaborated why.”

His voice dropped a notch. “I suspect Simmons’s replacement is involved in human trafficking.”

I couldn’t hide my surprise. While I knew human trafficking took place in Little Rock, I’d never even heard whispers of something like that going on while I was on the force. “You think Gerald Knox is involved in trafficking people?”

“I have no proof, but he’s been on my short list. Knox is third or fourth generation in the family business. His grandfather was a bootlegger.”

“There are records of that?”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “My grandmother was a moonshiner. She knew the man, and said he was as ruthless as they come. I’ve heard his son was just as bad. Stands to reason the next in line would follow suit.”

I tried to picture Malcolm’s grandmother running moonshine and came up short. “Did she teach you how to make it?”

“Let’s just say moonshine wasn’t needed by the time I came around, but she taught me other things.”

“Like what?”

He met my gaze. “Survival.”

I wanted to ask where she’d been when his father was beating the shit out of him and his family, but the fondness in his voice stopped me. He’d told me that his grandparents didn’t give two shits about him. Was she a maternal grandmother he rarely saw?

Now didn’t seem the time to ask him about it.

“You said Gerald Knox’s father was ruthless,” I said. “Where is he now?”

“Rutherford Knox was killed about fifteen years ago, and Gerald—Gerry—took his place. I know Gerry worked with Simmons.”

I looked at the stack of papers. “So, either my mother’s been collecting evidence for years … or she found it recently. If it weren’t for the newspaper clipping, I’d assume the latter. There’s no way my father would have kept something this incriminating.”

“Even he wouldn’t be that stupid,” James muttered.

His insult stung, but I kept my mouth shut. My father didn’t deserve my loyalty.

“But where does the probable mistress fit in?” I asked.

“Good question. Maybe it’s time for you to confront your father.”

The thought of talking to him made me physically ill, but James was right. It was time to tell my father what I knew and see what he had to say for himself.

“And after you talk to him?” James asked. “What then?”

I tried to imagine what came next and drew a blank. “I don’t know. I need to talk to him first.”

His jaw hardened. “I’ll be with you when you do.”

“You don’t trust me?” I asked, discouraged. I thought we’d come further than that.

“I don’t trust him ,” he said, his eyes glittering with danger. “If he killed your mother, what’s to stop him from trying to do the same to you?”

I tried to picture a world in which my father physically harmed me and just couldn’t see it. He’d disappointed me. Betrayed me. But he’d never physically hurt me, not even spankings when we were kids. But I also knew emotions were blinding me.

I had to treat this like any other case. If the victim’s husband killed his wife, then it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that he’d hurt his daughter to protect his secrets. Or have someone else do it.

A well of despair bubbled up, but I shoved it down. We were too close to the truth for me to lose it now.

Still, I’d have to go to this meeting as his daughter, not as an impossible-to-remain-impartial investigator.

“He won’t open up if you’re there,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “I need to talk to him alone.”

His jaw set and something fierce sparked in his eyes. “Then I’ll hide, but you’re not meeting him alone.”

My stubborn side wanted to argue, but deep down I wanted him there. And not just as backup.

We were partners in this. He deserved to be there too.

“I’m torn between setting up a meeting and surprising him,” I said.

“His potential mistress saw you at the bank,” he said. “If they’re working together, then he knows you gained access to whatever your mother left behind. If you set up a meeting, he’ll come on the offensive. But if you tell him to meet you somewhere you choose, we can be ready for him.”

“We shouldn’t give him much notice.”

“Agreed. And you need to dangle a threat. Give him a reason to show up.”

My stomach twisted into a knot. “We should do it tonight. He’ll be at the office all day, and this will give us time to prepare. Where, though?”

The door to the backroom opened, and Misti called out, “Hey, James! You plannin’ to work today or you just gonna leave me high and dry again?”

James grimaced and his voice dropped as he turned to me. “Let me think on it. In the meantime, see what you can dig up on the people in those documents.” He nodded to the laptop.

“Okay.”

As he slid out of the booth, he called out to Misti, “I’m here. Quit your complainin’.”

She laughed, obviously unfazed by his tone. “Whatever.” She saw me and her face lit up. “Harper. You’re here.”

I gave her a little wave. “James and I are working on something.”

She winked. “Yeah. Okay…”

I started to tell her she had the wrong idea, but she turned away. I decided protesting too much might make her think she was right.

After I grabbed my notebook from the office, I returned to the dining room and slid into a corner booth. I preferred to be close to James and his staff as they prepared to open, though I told myself it was for convenience, not because I liked being near him.

A few minutes after I made a list of things to research, my phone rang, and I saw Carter’s name on the screen. I stared at his name for a second, caught off guard. Why was he calling me?

I glanced at James behind the bar with Misti, then answered before I could overthink why he was calling.

“Hey, Carter,” I said keeping my voice low.

“Got a minute for some updates?”

I blinked in surprise. “You’re calling me ?”

“It’s your case,” he said matter-of-factly. “Skeeter’s just assisting. Anyway, I found out who picked up your mother’s prescription, and if you bet on her being the one to pick it up, you would have lost. It was your mystery woman.”

I sucked in a breath in shock. “But my mother’s doctor prescribed it.”

“Correct. An inside source says the doctor just sent it without her coming in. There’s a chance your mother called him personally—he is friends with your father—but we don’t know for certain.”

“I found out my mother refused antidepressants years ago, so it stands to reason she wouldn’t take them now.

” But if my father called in a favor to get them filled, then he had to have told the mystery woman, so she would’ve known to pick them up.

Which was more evidence that they were working together.

Carter continued, “Skeeter mentioned he had a suspicion your father might be in some financial trouble. But when I looked his financials up, he seems to be fine. In fact, better than fine. If you’re lookin’ for motivation to kill her, you can add his finances to the pot. He’s worth about six million.”

I was dumbfounded. “Six million dollars ?”

“Yep, and half of it would have gone to your mother in a divorce.”

I couldn’t see him having her murdered for money, but at this point, I wasn’t ruling anything out.

He hesitated, then said tentatively, “I also have more information about your mother’s head wound.”

“To the back of her head?” I asked, my chest constricting.

“Yeah. It looks like it was made with something long and cylindrical. Like a pipe.”

“So, they whacked her in the head, drugged her up with Zoloft, and then put her in the car, and pushed it into the river,” I said like I was reading a recipe.

“Perhaps the first two were reversed, but, yeah. It’s definitely possible.”

“Thanks,” I said. “This is helpful.”

“Sure,” he said with a warmth in his voice that caught me off guard. “Let me know if I can help with anything else.”

I released a chuckle. “With you and your sleuthing, I’m not sure James needs me for his own cases.”

He was quiet for a moment then said, “He needs you, all right. Whether he knows it or not yet. I hope you’ll stay on board.”

My heart skipped a beat at him saying James needed me, but I told myself that he meant something entirely different than my stupid heart took it as. “I don’t work for him,” I said. “There’s no staying on board. I’ve never been on board.”

“Okay. If you say so.” A soft laugh filled my ear. “But again, let me know if you need anything else. I’m at your disposal.”