Page 104 of Ink's Devil

“Drugs?”

Connor nods at the VP. “Yeah. He was feeding people’s habits. Worse than that, getting them hooked in the first place. One of the things he’d do was send a man into a student party, passing around free shit. Made sure they knew where to come to when they wanted more. Cheap at first, then the price increased. I came across that by accident, heard a meeting where they planned getting into one of the parties. Start them young, I heard, then you’ve got customers for life.”

“Did you confront him?” I ask, wondering if that’s why he’d gotten such a beating.

“No. I wasn’t that brave. By then I’d learned what happened to people who crossed him. I kept my head down and started making my own plans to get out. Despite everything, he wasn’t paying me much, certainly not enough to break out on my own. I couldn’t go home to Mom with my tail between my legs, so I stuck it out. I think he wanted a son he could groom to take after him, but I wasn’t made of the same stuff. But I was useful, hey, I’m big and intimidating.”

“So what fuckin’ happened, Connor? How did you end up like this?”

“I got arrested. Went to collect a debt, neighbour called the cops. They got me on a felony assault charge.”

Beef’s lips press together. “You said you hadn’t been inside. What did you do, make some kind of deal?”

Connor looks at us as if to check how we’re going to take what next comes out of his mouth. “Yes. They offered one and I accepted, it was the escape route I’d been looking for. Drugs were flooding Denver. They suspected my father was playing a part in it, and that he was branching out to other towns. Letting a violent man remain free was apparently nothing compared to the bigger picture.”

“Like Pueblo?”

He nods.

“Where does Alder come in?” Beef asks.

“You know about Alder?” Connor’s eyes widen, but he doesn’t ask how. “Well Phil runs the drug trade on the ground. Alder’s the man at the top of the food chain. He organises the buys. Phil takes it from there, moves it on down. He runs the dealers and makes sure they’re supplied.”

“Your Dad know about this?” Beef waves at Connor’s broken body.

“Yeah.” Again, Connor’s mouth twists. “He was there when Alder ordered it.”

Beef and I exchange glances. I signal I want to ask a question myself, and Beef steps back.

“Why put the drugs in your mom’s house if you didn’t want to touch that shit?” I’m still trying to work out how everything adds up.

Connor nods as though he’d expected one of us would get around to asking. “Thing is, I was getting desperate. My handler, Agent Caruso’s patience was only lasting so long. If I had nothing useful to offer, he’d take me back in, and I’d stand trial. I kept my ear to the ground, listened when I should have made myself scarce. Overheard a convo between Phil and Alder, and learned there was a load of drugs coming in. Just so happened I saw my chance and managed to intercept the delivery. Took the drugs myself.”

The hairs on the back of my neck rise with suspicion. “Why the fuck didn’t you turn the drugs in? Wasn’t that what you were supposed to do?” Connor would know the value of ten kilos of H. The answer is obvious. It was too much of a temptation.

Connor glances at me and clearly interprets what I’m thinking. He laughs, but mirthlessly. “Believe me, I was fucking shitting myself holding onto it. But it was bad fucking timing. Caruso’s off on his honeymoon for three weeks.”

“What the…?” The VP looks incredulous. “He goes off and leaves you no other contact?”

“He didn’t know anything was going to go down. I’d been looking for an opportunity for a few months, too long as I’d said. So while the timing didn’t work, I couldn’t not take the chance.”

“So how did Beth get to be involved?” I really want to move this on. Things are starting to fall into place, but there’re pieces of the puzzle that don’t fit. “Phil and this Alder, they found out what you did?”

A frown now covers his face, and he winces in real or remembered pain. “If Caruso could have taken the shit off my hands, he’d have gotten me straight out of Denver, put me in Wit Sec, just like you said. But as he’s not around, I had to wait it out. I couldn’t go to the cops with ten kilos of H, not without Caruso to back me up.” He pauses again.

“Phil was dealing drugs, and Caruso wanted him sent down. At the time, I hadn’t known Alder was involved, only found out his role when I overheard about that shit, and that’s when Caruso was out of town. The feds had been trying to catch Phil for years, but nothing would ever stick—it’s clear now why, he couldn’t be linked with the major suppliers as Alder dealt with all that.”

I look toward Beef. Beef raises his chin, then turns to Connor. “Alder was driving this train.”

Connor nods. “Yeah. I thought I’d been careful, but I’d been hiding shit from the wrong man. Alder’s got contacts I didn’t know about. And the weeks when I had to hang around, trying to carry on as normal, well, that gave him the chance to find me out. I don’t know how, but he got wind I was responsible for taking his H. He grabbed me on Saturday wanting it back.” Another one of his sly looks. “I thought, hoped, I could come up with some story that would satisfy Alder, and still have something to give to Caruso to get out of that life. I managed to convince Alder the shipment was short, that there had only been two kilos. To buy me some time, yeah?”

It’s Beef’s turn to shake his head. If Alder had done any kind of investigation, he would have easily found out the whole truth. Connor would have been a dead man, whatever he thought. Alder was only keeping him alive until he had the other eight kilos in his possession. And he’d obviously figured out where Connor had hidden them. Connor wouldn’t have split them up, they’d have been with the two kilos he’s handed over. And Beth and Patsy had had visitors as a result.

I shake my head, Connor certainly is no mental genius.

“Phil appeared at the warehouse. He was furious about the shipment that was short, so he had dealers with nothing to sell, and beyond mad that I’d taken it. I think he’d already had a verbal lashing from Alder. He was yelling and screaming about needing stock in Pueblo that night. He saw Alder had two men there and must have known the reason. But when Alder sent him away saying he was going to deal with this—with me…” Connor breaks off and takes as deep a breath as he can with his broken ribs. I guess it must be hard to know your father didn’t care how much he was hurt.

After a moment, Connor resumes, “Phil left, and that’s when Alder took the gloves off his men.” To his credit, he doesn’t look proud of himself when he continues, “I thought if I came up with a way of getting what I’d admitted I’d taken, the two kilos, to his dealer, that he might go easy on me. I made the suggestion. At first, I offered to go myself, but Alder said he didn’t trust me, and wasn’t going to let me go anywhere until the drugs were with Phil’s dealer. He said I had to get them there, any fucking way I could. The only thing I could think of was to involve Beth. I’d worked out the plan with him. He’d leave me capable of using my mouth if I made the calls to persuade her. His man needed stock that night.” Connor’s lips thin, then he adds, “I think he quite liked the twisted idea of using my sister.”

---