Golden Trail (The 'Burg #3)(80)

“Jasper’s gotta cook and you gotta grab a pop and take a load off after all your cleaning activity. Rocky and me got somethin’ important to talk to you about,” Layne said.

Tripp’s eyes grew both bright and wary as they looked between Layne and Rocky and he asked, “Really?”

“Really,” Layne answered. “Get your pop, Pal.”

Tripp nodded, he got his pop and sat his ass down as Devin appeared to sip his beer casually but Layne knew he’d been alerted by Layne’s serious tone. Through this, Rocky stood noticeably silent in front of him.

Jasper walked in and Layne stayed close to Rocky even as he turned to Jas.

“You can do the Calais before you go to pick up Keira, Bud, I want you to hear this and you need to get your pasta bake show on the road. You wait to cook that shit until after she gets here, she’ll miss her curfew, Cal will lose his mind and I’ll have to make sure my gun is loaded.”

Jasper grinned and walked into the room asking, “Hear what?” then he put Rocky’s keys on the counter by her hand.

When he did, Rocky quietly said, “Thanks Jasper,” and Jasper turned his grin to her.

Layne kept her body pinned in just as his son had pinned in her car as he said to Jas, “Just listen, yeah?” and then he turned to Tripp and started to lay it out.

“Got a head’s up from a friend on the Force and a little while later Rocky shared her concerns about stuff she’s hearin’ at school. She’s got a bad vibe and I’ve got a bad vibe and, Tripp, I need you to help us to do something about it.”

Tripp’s eyes were glued to him and he didn’t hesitate in nodding.

“What’s the bad vibe?” Jasper asked from behind them.

“It’s about the Youth Group at the Christian Church,” Layne answered which he saw made Tripp nod even more enthusiastically.

“Oh yeah, I can see that,” Tripp said and Layne felt Rocky’s body stiffen against him as his did the same.

“Me too,” Jasper added.

“What can you see?” Layne asked.

“Cult city,” Jasper noted. “It’s freakin’ creepy.”

“Totally creepy,” Tripp agreed. “Like that pied piper story, except he skipped the mice and went straight to the kids.”

Rocky forced him back by turning at the same time twisting her neck and looking up at him.

Layne looked down at her to see she looked even paler and that concern he saw earlier that day was flooding her eyes.

He took his palm from the counter and forced her back to his front with his arms around her, one at her chest, one at her ribs and he gave her a reassuring squeeze then left his arms where they were.

Then he looked at Tripp. “We need you to go in.”

Tripp’s brows knitted and his head tipped to the side. “Go in?”

“Undercover, Pal, I need you to work this case for Rocky and me.”

Tripp’s brows slowly separated, his face went blank then he smiled huge and bounced once on his stool. “Oh yeah!” he shouted. “I can do that.”

“Tripp,” Layne said low, “You gotta be cool about this. This is not a gung ho mission. This requires finesse, Pal.”

Tripp nodded and his voice was quieter when he repeated, “I can do that.”

Jasper came to the island stating, “I can too and Keira would be all over it.”

Layne looked at Jasper. “I’d be open to you doin’ it, Bud, but Keira, absolutely not.”

“Why not?” Jasper returned. “She’s up for anything and she’s a girl, that guy at the Youth Group, he likes girls.”

At this, Rocky’s hand came up, her fingers curling around Layne’s forearm so tight they almost hurt.

“No to Keira, Jas,” Layne replied.

“She’s a nut but she’s smart,” Jasper returned, defending his girl.

Layne gave him the honesty. “You wanna keep her safe you keep her far away from this guy. Do you get what I’m sayin’ to you?”

Jasper stared at him, the blood running from his face, a muscle ticked in his cheek and he nodded.

Layne looked to Tripp. “Do you get it, Tripp?”

“He’s a bad guy,” Tripp whispered, the excitement now out of his eyes and those eyes were wide.

“I don’t know but I’ve learned to listen to my gut and, on this, my gut is tellin’ me whatever is happening there is not good. And I don’t know what he’s doin’ but my gut tells me he likes doin’ it, he’s got a sweet gig goin’ and he’s not gonna want anyone to make him stop, not anyone, not a cop and not a high school kid. That means you gotta go in there and be smart. You feel somethin’s not right for you, you get the f**k out. You feel safe, you listen, you watch and you got two missions to start with. One, you get close to the girl Rocky tells you to get close to, you make friends with her and you do it in a way that, when this is done, you’re still friends with her. You get her to talk to you and you do that smart too. You wanna know about Youth Group, you wanna get involved, you wanna be a part of it all, you wanna be her friend but you find out everything you can about what they do and where they’re doin’ it, what you see, what they’ll let you get involved in but, mostly, what they won’t. The other part is you get me something he’s touched. A can of pop, a pen, I don’t give a f**k what it is. You do your best not to touch it too much and I’ll give you a bag to put it in. I want to pull his prints off it and run them. We gotta know who this guy is and who we’re goin’ up against. He’s in the system, this goes quick. He’s not, we gotta find another way. You think you can you do that?”