“But Sheriff Allen said-”
“Unfortunately, Sheriff Allen isn’t in on this. I’m sure you can understand the need for secrecy. We haven’t told anyone who doesn’t absolutely need to know.”
Ben shook his head with amazement. “But if you’re not the one who’s spreading this new drug around town-”
“Who is? That’s the question I’d like to have answered, too. That’s the whole point of this undercover operation.”
“But the sheriff said you had a record.”
“I’ve been maintaining this undercover identity for over two years. It hasn’t been easy, either. It takes a while before the big boys will trust you.”
“But how-”
“This drug didn’t debut in Magic Valley. I’ve been tracking it for almost three years. Started on the southern West Coast, near the border. When I wasn’t able to trace it by conventional means, I went undercover-deep undercover. No one at the DEA or the Justice Department will acknowledge that I’m working with them, so don’t bother trying. To grab the attention of the boys I wanted, I had to sever all contacts and leave no trails behind. It’s been slow work, but I’ve finally managed to infiltrate some of the highest echelons of the mob drug racket. The boys who are making the junk, shipping it around the country.”
“Why are you here?”
“Because hard as I’ve tried, I haven’t been able to discover who’s been distributing the junk throughout beautiful downtown Magic Valley. And that’s important to know. Because even if I cut off one source, a resourceful distributor will just find another one. And Magic Valley will have the same problem all over again.”
“You think it’s someone local.”
“Not necessarily. But it’s someone here or someone who comes here frequently.”
“Any leads?”
“Leads, yes. Answers, no.”
“But-” Ben’s face was the picture of confusion. “If you’re really a DEA agent, why did you attack Loving?”
“I didn’t. I knew he was following me after I left Bunyan’s, and I tried to lose him. But someone else attacked him.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. If I did, I might know who the real drug dealer is.”
“But the next night, when you found him on the bench, you tried to kill him with a baseball bat.”
“If I’d wanted to kill him, I’d’ve killed him. I had the chance; I let him get away. All I wanted was to scare him-and you-so you’d get off my case. Unfortunately, as Chessway and I have both now learned, you don’t scare easily.”
Ben leaned against the brick wall of the building. This was more than he could really take in all at once. It was as if the world was changing right before his eyes. “Then you had no connection to Dwayne Gardiner.”
“I know he was using the drug. I don’t know where he got it.”
“Still, if you know he was using it, that sets up another potential motive for his murder. It just means the suspect is the real drug dealer, not you.” Ben stepped forward. “I need you to testify.”
“Sorry, Kincaid. Not a chance.”
“I’m serious. This is important.”
“I’m serious, too. No chance in hell I’ll testify.”
“A man’s life is at stake!”
“I’m aware of that. I’m also aware that hundreds of kids are dying every month because they get suckered into using this unsafe drug. Is your man’s life more important than all of those?”
Ben fell silent.
“I’ve been building up this undercover operation for more than two years, Kincaid. Two years. If I testify for you, my cover will be blown. Back to square one. And those kids will go on dying.”
“I can subpoena you.”
“Can you? Let me give you a clue-Alberto Vincenzo isn’t my real name. And you won’t be able to get service on me. Even if you could, my contacts at the DEA would quash it.” He chuckled. “Believe me, they were pretty pissed after that scene you staged up in Seattle. Did you really tell Assistant Director Chessway you’d make her wish she’d never been born?”
Ben stared down at the pavement. “I … may have … um, said something along those lines.”
“What balls. I love it.” He grinned. “But seriously, if you start firing subpoenae and screwing up our investigation, they’ll come down on you hard. Threats, injunctions. An IRS audit. Maybe you’ll get picked up on parking tickets, or a reefer will mysteriously appear in your coat pocket. You don’t want to screw with these people. Especially since, in the long run, it won’t do you any good.”
Ben’s fists clenched. He wanted to find a way around all this, some way he could still help Zak. “If you’re not planning to help me, why are you here?”
“Two reasons. For one, I want you to stop telling people I’m a murderer. That kind of attention I don’t need. The big boys down south might not let me through the door if they think I’m too hot. I thought I could scare you into silence, but that didn’t work. So now I’m taking you into my confidence and hoping you have the sense to keep the secret to yourself.”
“And the other reason?”
“You may think I’m a coldhearted bastard who doesn’t care if your client fries, but I’m not. If your man is innocent, he should be exonerated. So I didn’t want to see you going into the courtroom telling everyone that the real murderer is Alberto Vincenzo-a man who doesn’t even exist. You’d go down in flames. So as a personal courtesy, I’m giving you this tip-think of something else.”
Easy to say, Ben thought. Not so easy to do.
“Anyway, I’ve gotta split.” He started back down the alley.
Ben held up a hand. “Wait. If I need to talk to you again-”
Vincenzo shook his head. “You’ll never see me again.” An instant later, he had disappeared.
Ben fell back against the brick wall. What a night this had turned into. One moment he’d been certain he was about to die. The next moment he saw his entire defense theory crumble into dust.
He supposed it was best that he knew the truth, that he didn’t try to convince a jury that Vincenzo was the murderer. But that left a gigantic hole in his trial notebook. He was a defense attorney with no defense.
What was he going to tell that jury Monday morning? How was he going to save Zak’s life?
After Doc was crushed and the truck came to a halt, everything seemed to blur for Maureen. She was aware that in the midst of their panic and horror, the remaining members of Green Rage managed to extricate themselves from the barricade. It wasn’t easy, but by relaxing their fists and twisting their arms, they were able to release themselves from the chains. Maureen was the first to get free, and the first to run back to see Doc.
Or what was left of Doc.
She hobbled off into the woods, where she spent at least ten minutes in dry heaves, sick as a dog. It had really happened, she kept telling herself. They had all known it was possible, had all talked about it. But no one had ever envisioned something so … horrible. No one foresaw this.
In the turmoil and confusion of the aftermath, in the rain that was now pounding down on them, only Sheriff Allen managed to keep his head together. He called for the coroner, then called for his homicide team members, who were getting more work in a week than they’d had the previous year. He tried to arrest the driver for reckless conduct homicide, but the man had disappeared.
Al finally freed himself from his chains. “They killed him!” he kept screaming, as if there was someone there who didn’t already know. “They killed him!”
Sheriff Allen tried to subdue him. “Sir, please try to remain calm.”
Al brushed the Sheriff aside. “Doc is dead!”
“Please, sir. I think it would be best for everyone if you-”
“Get away from me!” Al rushed past him, making a beeline for the remaining group of loggers, now all huddled together on the side of the road. “Murderers!” he screamed. His face flushed red. Veins stood out in his neck.
Sheriff Allen ran up behind him. “Sir, I’ll take care of this.”
“You can’t take care of anything!” Al screamed. “They destroyed our camp. They beat us up. They whipped Rick. They killed Tess. And now they’ve killed Doc. They ran him down like a dog. Like some cheap road kill!”