Read Online The Fire Still Burns by Crystal-Rain Love - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Crystal-Rain Love
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shoes, but I don't do anything I couldn't live with myself for. The last time I did a teenager, I was one myself.”
“You're saying Zeke slept with an under-aged girl?” Brynn leaned forward, excitement hummed through her body. If Zeke had been sleeping with under-aged girls, it could be the lead she was looking for.
“Slept is too gentle a word. He had an affair with her for two years, starting when she was just seventeen. He took pictures of her and used them against her.” Chuck took a swig of beer, his nose scrunched in disgust.
Brynn's stomach did a somersault as she struggled to keep her face blank, repressing the anger threatening to rise to the surface. She was all too familiar with Zeke's talent for deception and blackmail. “What did he make her do?”
Chuck began ticking off tasks on his fingers. “Be available at his beck and call. Sleep with his friends. Deal his drugs—”
“Zeke was dealing drugs?” Her words came out louder than intended and she glanced around, relieved to see no one had overheard.
“Zeke always dealt drugs,” Chuck answered with a laugh. “The guy was slick, I'll give him that. He used to get weed for us back in school, yet he was still the golden boy as far as the teachers were concerned.”
“What was he dealing before he was murdered?”
“Hell if I know.” Chuck shrugged his shoulders. “I'm not as much of a lowlife as you think I am. I get drunk, I sleep with lots of women and I get into the occasional bar fight, but other than that, I stay pretty clean. Yet, I have the bad rap and even with that bastard being found the way he was, nobody would believe he'd ever done a bad thing.”
“I believe you,” Brynn said, a bit too passionately judging by the subtle narrowing of Chuck's eyes. “So…what do you think happened?”
“Did good ole' Zeke do something to you, Brynn?” He peered closer at her, suspicion in his narrowed eyes.
“I'm the one asking the questions, Davis.”
“Yes, ma'am,” Chuck said, once again raising his hands in surrender. “What do I think happened? I think ole' Zekie screwed with the wrong person and got his smug ass killed, that's what I think.”
“Who do you think could be violent enough to do it?”
“Hell, Brynn, if I knew that, I'd be out getting answers too. All I know is he dealt drugs and screwed around with young girls, married women, you name it. He could have been killed by a scorned woman, a jealous husband, or the whole thing could boil down to a drug deal gone bad.”
He ran a large, stubby-fingered hand through his hair. “I just don't know. You're the P.I.”
“That's right, I am, but I've been out of the loop for a good decade. I could use your help.” She watched Chuck raise an eyebrow curiously before continuing. “I need you to be my one-man research team. Do you think you could get me a list of people Zeke had bad dealings with?”
“Shit, Brynn, I don't think I could find a pen with enough ink in it to write that list,” he answered with a hearty laugh before sobering. “ B ut yeah, I’ll do it. I have to clear my name somehow and right now you seem to be the only person I have in my corner.”
“I know that feeling, Davis. Get that list to me as soon as possible.” She slid a business card toward him and stood from the table. “In the meantime, I’ll do what I can to keep Adam from killing you.”
~~~
Adam leaned against the hood of his truck and stared at the night sky, but saw only memories replaying through his mind. Brynn lying beside him in the bed of his old truck, Brynn smiling as he tucked a daisy behind her ear, Brynn skipping down her parents' porch steps with an eagerness in her eyes that melted his heart each time he saw it, knowing the look was for him alone. Brynn nodding her head, tears streaming down her face, after he asked her if the rumor was true…Brynn telling him he was better than
“You're saying Zeke slept with an under-aged girl?” Brynn leaned forward, excitement hummed through her body. If Zeke had been sleeping with under-aged girls, it could be the lead she was looking for.
“Slept is too gentle a word. He had an affair with her for two years, starting when she was just seventeen. He took pictures of her and used them against her.” Chuck took a swig of beer, his nose scrunched in disgust.
Brynn's stomach did a somersault as she struggled to keep her face blank, repressing the anger threatening to rise to the surface. She was all too familiar with Zeke's talent for deception and blackmail. “What did he make her do?”
Chuck began ticking off tasks on his fingers. “Be available at his beck and call. Sleep with his friends. Deal his drugs—”
“Zeke was dealing drugs?” Her words came out louder than intended and she glanced around, relieved to see no one had overheard.
“Zeke always dealt drugs,” Chuck answered with a laugh. “The guy was slick, I'll give him that. He used to get weed for us back in school, yet he was still the golden boy as far as the teachers were concerned.”
“What was he dealing before he was murdered?”
“Hell if I know.” Chuck shrugged his shoulders. “I'm not as much of a lowlife as you think I am. I get drunk, I sleep with lots of women and I get into the occasional bar fight, but other than that, I stay pretty clean. Yet, I have the bad rap and even with that bastard being found the way he was, nobody would believe he'd ever done a bad thing.”
“I believe you,” Brynn said, a bit too passionately judging by the subtle narrowing of Chuck's eyes. “So…what do you think happened?”
“Did good ole' Zeke do something to you, Brynn?” He peered closer at her, suspicion in his narrowed eyes.
“I'm the one asking the questions, Davis.”
“Yes, ma'am,” Chuck said, once again raising his hands in surrender. “What do I think happened? I think ole' Zekie screwed with the wrong person and got his smug ass killed, that's what I think.”
“Who do you think could be violent enough to do it?”
“Hell, Brynn, if I knew that, I'd be out getting answers too. All I know is he dealt drugs and screwed around with young girls, married women, you name it. He could have been killed by a scorned woman, a jealous husband, or the whole thing could boil down to a drug deal gone bad.”
He ran a large, stubby-fingered hand through his hair. “I just don't know. You're the P.I.”
“That's right, I am, but I've been out of the loop for a good decade. I could use your help.” She watched Chuck raise an eyebrow curiously before continuing. “I need you to be my one-man research team. Do you think you could get me a list of people Zeke had bad dealings with?”
“Shit, Brynn, I don't think I could find a pen with enough ink in it to write that list,” he answered with a hearty laugh before sobering. “ B ut yeah, I’ll do it. I have to clear my name somehow and right now you seem to be the only person I have in my corner.”
“I know that feeling, Davis. Get that list to me as soon as possible.” She slid a business card toward him and stood from the table. “In the meantime, I’ll do what I can to keep Adam from killing you.”
~~~
Adam leaned against the hood of his truck and stared at the night sky, but saw only memories replaying through his mind. Brynn lying beside him in the bed of his old truck, Brynn smiling as he tucked a daisy behind her ear, Brynn skipping down her parents' porch steps with an eagerness in her eyes that melted his heart each time he saw it, knowing the look was for him alone. Brynn nodding her head, tears streaming down her face, after he asked her if the rumor was true…Brynn telling him he was better than
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