Darkness at the Edge of Town (Iris Ballard #2)(88)

“She’ll flip,” Lucerno said. “Look at her. She’s terrified.”

I stared at the still trembling Helen. She seemed as if she’d aged five years in two days. She didn’t deserve what they’d done to her, being hauled in off the street by police and DEA. She was the member with a conscience. She believed in the cause. She loved the people. She’d been through hell all her life, and for the first time in that life she had everything she ever wanted. Respect. Love. Family. She…

Fuck, I thought.

“Does she know the DEA’s involved? I mean, did your people ID as DEA?” I asked.

“No, my guys picked her up,” Hancock said.

“Then you need to go in and ask her about an old associate,” I said. “Go read her file, pick a name, and say he or she got out of prison and was threatening her or escaped custody or something. Do not ask her a single question about the Movement or Mathias, and get her out of here ASAP.”

“What?” Carmichael asked.

“She’s not going to turn on anyone. That group is her whole fucking life. Her family. Those people are her children. And Mathias gave them to her. She has everything to lose by turning on him.”

“He’s a murderer, con artist, and drug dealer who is using those supposed children. I show her that, we got her,” Carmichael said.

“She turns, she loses them all,” I pointed out. “Don’t do this. I am begging you. You will get him. With patience and diligence. Goddamn it. Please don’t do this.”



“She’s right,” Luke said beside me. “It’s not worth the risk.”

“I agree too,” Hancock said. “She’s the forensic psychologist. She knows that woman. I wouldn’t take the chance.”

Carmichael and Lucerno studied our faces as I did theirs. Lucerno’s eyes narrowed slightly, and I thought I had him in my corner too. But Carmichael’s mouth straightened and tightened like a vise. “I get you think you’re some hotshot because of what happened with the Woodsman, but this is my case. I got twenty years on the job, and I’ve flipped people with a lot less evidence and a lot more to lose. And if you were the king shit everyone seems to think you are, then why am I having to clean up the mess your ‘instincts’ have caused? I know what I’m doing. Lucerno?” Carmichael nodded toward the door. Lucerno frowned as he passed me and followed his partner out the door.

I let out a long sigh. Hancock patted my arm. “Maybe you’ll be wrong.”

“She’s never wrong,” Luke said solemnly.

Those words made me shiver.

Since they’d forgotten to kick me out, I stayed to watch the men work. At least they didn’t pull the Good Cop/Bad Cop routine. Carmichael knew enough to keep a light touch the hour he questioned Helen about the group, even when he began revealing the real Mathias Morning to his disciple. Helen’s posture fell with each revelation. She attempted to explain away everything, making excuse after excuse for Mathias and Ken, but the agents ignored her and kept gently prodding. She examined the photographs of the drugs in Billy’s trunk and satellite shots of motorcycles entering and exiting the trailers at The Apex with shaking hands and tears in her eyes. Part of me wanted to go in there and hug her. They were breaking her heart; it was visible in her weary eyes, in her slumped shoulders, in her trembling chin. But the more mercenary part of me grew hopeful. It wasn’t just her heart breaking; she was breaking. With each fact, with each defense of Mathias calmly explained away by the agents, more and more cracks blossomed. Yet when she burst into sobs, I physically had to stop myself from getting out of my chair to go comfort her. Even the agents appeared downtrodden and sympathetic. “We’ll give you a few minutes alone, okay? Do you need anything? A soda or coffee maybe?” Carmichael asked softly.



“N-No,” she sobbed into her tenth tissue.

“Okay. We’ll be right back,” Carmichael said as the men rose. A few seconds later they rejoined us in observation.

“Good job,” I conceded as he shut the door. “Seriously. She’s at the brink.”

“We have the facts on our side. And I think she knew something shady was going on,” Carmichael said. “We’ll give her a minute to calm down, then go in for the kill. Play up that she’d be saving more kids from drugs if she becomes an informant. She has a savior complex.”

“Just tread carefully. Keep the focus on Mathias and Ken, no one else,” I advised.

“Right. I’m gonna piss, then we’ll get back in there,” Carmichael told Lucerno.

“Yes, sir,” Lucerno said.



Carmichael left and Lucerno began checking his texts. I watched Helen in that tiny room. She was calming down with deep breaths and telling herself, “It’s okay. It’ll all be okay,” on repeat. After a minute she could breathe normally. She began looking at the pictures in the file again, shaking her head and dabbing her tears. One seemed to catch her interest especially. The more she read, the more aghast she grew. Her mouth morphed almost into a snarl. The tears stopped. I turned to Lucerno. “She’s reading the files.”

“It’s okay. We figured she would. They’re sanitized for anything confidential,” he said, still texting.

Helen picked up another file and her shoulders straightened. Then another file. Her back straightened as if she’d been struck by lightning. Something wasn’t right. Luke saw it too. “I think you need to get back in there,” Luke said.