Page 56 of Devil and the Deep Blue Fish

She rummaged under the sink by the window and came back with cleaning supplies and paper towels. Jacksoncontinued to follow her around the small space, wondering when Cody was going to get there.

“Did you ever stand up to them?” he asked. He was curious what happened to rebels. He got peer pressure—hell, he even got secret societies.

But he’d been a whistleblower, and his fellow boys in blue had almost killed him.

Multiple times.

What happened to a girl in med school trying to pay her way?

“I… not at first,” she said, scrubbing at the blood Retty had shed until her paper towel shredded. “I-I might not have, but when my favorite professor….” She let out a sigh, her shoulders sagging as she pitched the savaged paper towel mass into Jackson’s bag. “My favorite professor—hell, everybody’s favorite professor—he didn’t do anything,” she said, giving a twisted smile. “One of Twitty’s crowd accused him of getting a girl pregnant. The school nurse—remember,myemployer—called him in to see if there was truth in the matter.” She shook her head, and the expression on her face was so heartsick Jackson wanted to hug her. But he needed to hear the story, and Cody had already texted that he was on his way.

“What was the truth in the matter?” he asked softly.

“The truth was they made up the rumor when he wouldn’t sleep with the girl. He was gay!” Cora said bitterly. “And I overheard him say it—my receptionist desk shared a vent with my boss, and usually this wasn’t a problem, because I didn’ttell peopleother people’s secrets. But this time Retty was in there, in the bathroom, borrowing a pad—for real—and the next thing you know, it’s all around campus and….” She shook her head. “It was thirty years ago,” she whispered. “Thirty years ago, when people didn’t understand. Not in the South. They were going to fire him, but he… he hung himself instead.”

“Oh God,” Jackson said, his stomach knotting just hearing something like that. “That’s… that’s terrible—”

“The day I heard, I lost my shit in the nurse’s office. I told her about Twitty’s ‘sisters,’ coming in for blackmail. About how I hadn’t realized that’s what they were doing at first, and how Retty had been in the bathroom that day. She must have heard.” Cora shrugged. “I lost my job. Lost my scholarship. My parents managed just enough money to move me as far away as possible, and I got a degree in social work instead of medicine.” She glanced around the now pristine medical room, her face twisted again. “I thought I was doing some good,” she said hollowly, “and then… oh goddammit. Retty walked into the room and told me Twitty hoped I enjoyed my break. And the next day, my funding was under threat.”

Long-suppressed tears began to fall from the woman’s exhausted, hollowed eyes. “That’s me. Just one more weakness to exploit. Nothing more.”

“That’s not true,” Jackson told her, his own rage seeking to explode in his chest. “Don’t give up—”

“But maybe save the pep talk,” Cody muttered, slipping into the room. “Honey’s calling the cops, and I don’t know how you want to play this.”

Jackson grunted. “Shit. We can’t be found here,” he muttered. “Cody, they came in and took Shitbag Retty—”

“The guys in masks and Kevlar? Well, that was nice. Did you get a chance to talk to her?”

“No,” Jackson told him. “But this nice womandidgive us some good information. The thing is, they’re taking Retty somewhere—the guy saidshewas the package now, and I told you about that kid, Caleb, and—”

“And you’re worried Retty’s people are making kids disappear,” Cody said grimly. “Yeah, I get it. If Retty’s thepackage, we need to find the package. Why aren’t we telling the cops, again?”

“Because what happens to our witness if they know he’s a witness?” Jackson demanded. “What almost happened toyou?”

Cody’s eyes got big. “Not a cop anymore,” he muttered. “Things to remember when you’re not a cop anymore.”

“I’ve got some cops who won’t push us on the wit,” Jackson told him, and outside he heard the unmistakable squawk and rumble of a radio. He could almost see the flash of the strobe light coming through the wall.

“But we don’t know if they’re outside,” Cody said. “Got it. What do we do now?”

Jackson grimaced. “Cora?”

Cora, social worker and font of information, turned her tearstained face to him. “You’ve got to go?”

Jackson pulled out his card. “You only get this if you promise not to give it to anybody coming through that door.”

“Are you going to bring Twitty down?” Cora asked, her eyes and jaw hard.

“Like the giant on the beanstalk,” Jackson promised grimly. “You’ll hear her hit four states away.”

Cora’s smile was unpleasant, but Jackson figured she got to be bitter at this point. “Let me know what I can do to hack that thing down.”

“I promise,” Jackson said. “Nowpleasetell me there’s a trellis outside the storeroom window.”

“Watch out for spiders,” she said, without the slightest bit of play. “Black widows love that shit.”

“I fucking hate spiders,” Gabriel muttered. “And I hate you, Jackson, for making me do this.”

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