Page 41 of Hold a Candle

Pauley’s lips tightened. Cripes, the man was slick. “And ye would have been correct.”

A sullen look flashed across his face. “Ye don’t think I have what it takes, Mum? Is that it? I’m glad now he said it had to be strictly confidential, and I couldn’t talk to anyone but him,” he snapped.

Pauley was surprised. “It’s not that, son. I never knew ye were interested in law enforcement or I could have helped ye.”

“And have everyone talking about how ye got me the job like they do Natalie?” he retorted. “No thanks.”

Jamie cleared his throat. “I believe what yer mother is trying to say, lad, is that being a CI is a very dangerous proposition, and it’s not law enforcement. It might sound like a shortcut to a glamorous detective position, but it’s also a shortcut to an early grave for a lot of them,” he stated bluntly. “There are things ye don’t know about her old partner, and why he’s no longer her partner. And there are plenty of reasons not to trust him.”

“It sounds like it’s time to come clean with yer mother, lad,” Darro interjected. “Ye are in danger, and I’d also like to know why he chose to come to Neamh under his alias.”

Luca frowned. “Wait...are ye saying the man on the black motorcycle was Brodie Macalister? What was his alias name?”

Pauley nodded. “His alias name is Leonard Searcy.”

“And the motorcycle he rides is a Ducati Streetfighter V4?”

“Aye, it is.”

“That’s the guy Belton meets sometimes,” Luca exclaimed with a snap of his fingers. “I’ve never seen him myself without his helmet on, but Belton was complaining that he was always asking questions and being nosy, even though he did ah...purchase what he came for.”

“And what did he purchase?”

“Uh...well...I can’t really say without getting Belton in trouble,” he replied with a guarded look.

Pauley’s heart rate picked up. “Did ye happen to confide to Belton as to why ye were working at Hope Barks?”

Pink stole into Luca’s cheeks. “Well...I might have told him a little,” he confessed.

Pauley glanced at Jamie and he stared back, concern on their faces as puzzle pieces slipped into place. Could Belton have been influential in getting Luca targeted?

“Luca, do ye have information for Brodie that ye haven’t given him yet?”

“Aye, but I couldn’t tell him where I was because he told me to never call him on my regular phone.” He glanced over at Darro. “Which Mr. MacCandish has in his safe and turned off in case of a tracking bug in it. I have a burner phone, which I kept, but it doesn’t work out here,” he admitted. “He also told me to never send information over the burner phone, so I sent him a message that I had something for him after I got home yesterday morning, but then I got arrested and everything else happened so fast.”

“Most likely it’s the burner phone that’s bugged,” Angus interjected, “which is how he knew where to find ye. For whatever reason, he didn’t want to come here in his real identity.”

“What is the information?” Pauley asked, her pulse racing.

Luca hesitated, then he finally spoke. “Night before last, Belton and I were supposed to meet at The Waterfront for some chips and drinks, but he never showed. So, I texted him and he said he had to pull an all-nighter at the animal shelter, and that we’d meet up later at The Green Pooch and throw back a few if I was still around at 4:00 a.m. Maybe shoot some pool.”

“That’s only about six blocks from Happy Housekeepers,” Jamie observed.

“Aye,” Luca replied, his voice sounding more tense. “While I was waiting for Belton, I decided to park near Hope Barks and just take a nap or something until he was finished. The rumbling sound of a truck engine woke me up around 4:30 in the morning when it turned into the parking lot of the shelter and backed up to the back door. Then I saw Belton get out of the passenger’s side of the truck and he spotted my car. I ducked down, but I know he saw me. Ruskag came around the front of the truck to talk to Belton. As soon as they went inside, I left and went to The Green Pooch to wait for him, but not before I took a picture of the truck and the license plate of the truck on my burner,” he added. “That’s when I texted Detective Macalister.”

“That’s a strange time of night for a delivery,” Pauley said slowly, her mind racing. “Go on, Luca.”

Luca shifted uneasily in his chair. “It was a little before 6:00 a.m. when Ruskag came into The Green Pooch and stood there looking around. When he saw me, he came straight at me, and I knew I was in trouble,” he said, his voice starting to sound scared. “I ran down the hallway towards the bathrooms and out the backdoor of the pub and he came after me. I was faster than him, but he wouldn’t stop coming, so I finally slipped around a corner and saw the back parking lot of Happy Housekeepers and hoped I could get in the back door before he spotted me. I thought I had, until he came charging through the door, and then shut it behind him.”

Luca shuddered at this point and Pauley’s heart was racing as she felt his fear. “Ye don’t have to go on, Luca, we get the idea,” she croaked. “I think it goes without saying how lucky ye are.”

“I-I didn’t mean to kill him. When I grabbed the coffee pot and hit him with it, the glass broke. Then he fell on me while I still had it in my hand. I pushed him off with it...and...then there was blood everywhere,” he stammered, dropping his head in his hands.

There was silence for a moment, then Pauley spoke. “Why did ye go back to the animal shelter?” she asked, genuinely puzzled.

He looked up as if that was a crazy question. “To check on Belton, of course. Ruskag had grabbed his arm and practically dragged him in the back doorway. I was afraid he might have already hurt him or something.”

“That was a very brave thing to do, lad,” Jamie praised.

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