Page 54 of All Wrong
“Stay out of it, Callaghan. This is police business,” Torres said, glaring at Sean and Nick.
“Better go and do your job then.”
Torres walked away. Sean stared a hole in Torres’s back until he was through the doors.
“That’s the guy who busted you?” Sean asked.
“Yeah.”
“He doesn’t like you much, does he?”
Nick snorted. “Doesn’t sound like he cares much for you either.”
Sean shrugged, as if it didn’t matter. “So, about tonight, I don’t think this was a random attack.”
“No,” Nick agreed.
“Someone is sending a message.”
Yeah, and the message was,No one likes a narc.
“Did AJ tell anyone that he came to you?”
“I doubt it. He’s too smart for that.”
“Who else knew?”
“Jackie, of course. Nicki. Candace. You.”
Sean considered that. “What do you know about Jackie?”
Jackie was a good kid. Quiet, on the nerdy side, got bullied a lot. AJ was his only friend.
“He wouldn’t say anything,” Nick said firmly.
“Might be unrelated,” Sean said unconvincingly. “Something we don’t know about.”
“It’s not.” Nick shook his head and rubbed his eyes, feeling about a hundred years old. The fucking cowards who had done this should have been coming after him. He was going to be the one to bring them down, not AJ.
Nicki emerged from the corridor with a cardboard carrier and three coffees. She scanned the space. “Torres is gone?”
“Just left,” answered Nick. “Where’s Candace?”
“She’s taking a couple of minutes in the ladies’ room to pull herself together. She refuses to leave without seeing AJ.”
Nick nodded. He understood because he needed to see AJ too. He owed it to the kid. “I think I’m going to do the same.”
Nicki narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
Nicki gave him a look, the one that said he was being obtuse. “Candace is vulnerable right now. She might mistake your presence for something more than it is.”
Nick shook his head. “It isn’t, and she won’t.”
“For your sake, I hope you’re right. How are you going to get home?”
“I’ll figure something out.” He turned to Sean. “I’ll be in late, yeah?”
