Triple Diamonds (Mystic Nights #2)(53)

“I don’t see your brothers’ truck,” he commented.

She reached inside her purse for her cell phone to call them. “Oh, I have a text from the now.” Her eyes scanned her phone. “It seems Justin showed up to help them unload and he brought them lunch. They are going to eat with him and then finish moving the rest of the stuff.”

She looked up to him. Justin. Who was Justin? He had just been about to ask her about the man they had seen when they left the Mohegan’s. Was it the same guy? If he asked now, it might set a red flag up. He would need to wait.

By the time lunch was served and he hadn’t thought of a way to bring up those topics, he felt lost and like he was running out of time. His nerves were wreaking havoc on him. He thought about the two investigators, the Marinos, sitting in a truck outside getting nothing. He made his choice. He was going to point blank ask her. He was tired of playing cat and mouse. He wasn’t a detective either. “Hey, I wanted to ask you about that guy we saw on our way out of The Mohegan’s the other night. I’ve seen that man before with your brothers at the youth center, but I don’t know his name.”

He saw her tiny fist clutch her napkin and she quickly moved it under the table. “Oh. Him. That’s Justin Sock. The friend I don’t much like.” Her brow was creased.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up. I just didn’t want to say hi to the boys and not include him, you know. And they never seem to get around to making introductions.” He tried to pass it off as manners.

“I didn’t think they hung out with him as much anymore. He got the boys into some trouble last year. Drinking. They bought some booze from a bootlegger.”

He reached for his own napkin. “Not good.” He wondered what other kind of trouble Justin had gotten the boys into. But at least Gio and Nikko had a name now. He hoped they get that off of the pen wire he still had in his pocket.

“Yeah, I know. They . . .,” she paused before finishing her statement, “got arrested.” She was clearly embarrassed by this admission.

Arrested? “I hate to break it to you, but I’ve seen them together a lot lately.” He watched her reaction.

Jewel shook her head in derision. “Justin’s mom lives in Lantern Hill, but his dad is Western Pequot, so he comes to the reserve a lot. They lived here for a while when the boys were younger. But Justin, they say has cleaned up his act. Still, I don’t like the influence he has over them.”

“I can understand why.” He cleared his throat, he was about to go in for the kill. “Drinking is one thing, and bootlegging can be serious, but . . .,” he paused to make sure he had her full attention, “I also kind of wanted to know because, after I drove you home, I was called to the Casino. Something happened last night.”

There was confusion on her face. He surged ahead. “We had some more break-ins at The Mystic. The Mohegan’s security called earlier too, they had a few that night, too. And, well, Justin was spotted on tape at both places.” He didn’t tell her that her brothers were at Mystic Nights. He wanted to see her reaction to that first.

Jewel’s hand flew to her mouth. She could not hide her gasp, “You don’t think?”

He interrupted her. “The tapes don’t show who it is. But after you told me what you did about his character, and I recognized him from both places, I don’t know, I’m just trying to put two and two together.” Her reaction was one of complete shock. And that soothed him somewhat. He was reluctant to admit that her brothers were there too, at Mystic Nights, but felt in his heart she deserved the truth. He also hoped that the two PIs listening in didn’t think that he was giving too much away.

“The tapes we have show or indicate it is some kind of ring doing the thefts. And Jewel, I hate to say it, but after your brothers left us, they went to Mystic Nights. They were on the tapes too.”

Her voice was shrill when she spoke. She was shaking her head in denial. “No. No way! Joseph, whatever you are thinking, it isn’t true. They had nothing to do with the break-ins. They wouldn’t dare.” Her anger and fury were swift. She blanched, threw her crumpled napkin on the table, and stood abruptly. “I’ll be in the car.” And with that she stormed out.

Joseph knew the morning was a bust. If she knew about it she wasn’t giving anything away. But her answers and her reactions hadn’t given him much more to go on. He didn’t know if her anger was righteous, or put on. But he did know that Justin was someone they needed to look into. He quickly paid the bill, and after leaving a generous tip on the table, he followed Jewel’s same path to the car.

At the car, he saw her sad expression. “Jewel, I’m just trying to be honest with you. You know my feelings, and good or bad, I just thought you had the right to know.” He saw her nod, but she remained quiet.

Joseph drove her home in silence, but after fifteen minutes he had to speak again. “Jewel, I know you are upset right now. But if you know or suspect anything, you need to tell me.” She remained stonily quiet for another minute. “Jewel, are you sure they were studying last night.”

She snapped then. “You tell me. You seem to know a lot more than your saying.”

He didn’t respond. He wanted her to talk. And he didn’t want to voice his concerns about her possibly being involved. It would destroy them if she wasn’t. And he wasn’t prepared for that yet, wasn’t sure he’d ever be.