It was.

It was also a dead end Deck ran into weeks ago.

“Nothing led to another party being involved,” Deck reminded him.

“Seems odd this mysterious guy who’s since disappeared is takin’ a late-night meet with McFarland, don’t you think?” Chace asked.

“I do. But I also turned over a lot of stones. I don’t know who that guy was, just found nothin’ to tie him with that crew. Also found nothin’ hot on him, no record, no known associations. And last, I did find that he has a family emergency. Mom’s got multiple sclerosis and she isn’t doin’ too good. Maybe he was buyin’ fenced property, somethin’ you’d do during a clandestine meeting, and fencing that shit is likely all the mental capacity McFarland had to give that crew. Buying stolen property isn’t legal, but as it stands, you got no call to get a warrant to search this mysterious guy’s place. He’s a dead end, Chace.”

“I’m not feelin’ Danny, the dealer, as ringleader,” Chace replied, and Deck felt a moment of unease mostly because he wasn’t certain that was true either.

McFarland’s best friend, “Danny, the dealer” was a far sight smarter than McFarland. Danny had a jacket that was more than a few pages long but nothing on him the last three years since it took him time to learn how to be smart.

Danny was also good-looking in that dangerous way that might compel high school boys, who they expected were that crew’s chosen tools, to turn to the dark side.

But there was something off about him in a way that even high school boys would likely read and therefore not follow it. Danny had danger and danger could be intoxicating. He just had no charisma.

“You get anything on any kids?” Deck asked.

“Got three who are possibles, one in Carnal, two in Gnaw Bone. Other teachers say they had unusual bonds with the teacher McFarlands, Dane’s brother and sister. Also said the kids were often in their rooms when class was out, before school or after. Sat down and had chats with those kids at the school with the principals and their parents. They gave us nothing but they did it cagey so I figure they got something. Hopin’ the parents will feel the same and turn at least one to doin’ right. But days are passing, we’ve applied mild pressure, and nothing.”

“You still got enough to take that crew down,” Deck pointed out. “Direct links to the storage unit where they kept the stolen property. Fingerprints on that property. DNA in the stolen cars that were seen at the houses hit at the times the crimes were committed. Eyewitness reports of either the suspects or their cars in the vicinity of the houses when none of them lives anywhere near, indicating they were casing them prior to hit. This gets closer to trial, Chace, you know the drill. They’ll start pointing fingers and making deals.”

“Still not feelin’ good that whatever that crew did to induce high school kids to commit felonies is in the wind,” Chace replied.

“That shit feeds from a source, Chace. You cut off that source, it starves and dies.”

“Those kids still committed felonies, Deck,” Chace returned.

“Eyewitnesses saw shadowy figures who they reckoned were young. In other words, we don’t even know any kids beyond the one who got intimate with his dad’s gun was involved.”

Chace held Deck’s eyes. “I get you. I also got a feeling.”

Deck knew that feeling. He’d had it. Hell, he had it now with this case.

“You want me to keep diggin’?” Deck asked.

“You ever finish an assignment knowin’ in your gut it’s not done?” Chace asked as reply.

He hadn’t. Never.

Fuck.

Deck drew in a deep breath.

Chace kept talking but did it quietly.

“Makes me all kinds of happy you found her, man. She’s it for you, written all over her but also stated clear every time her eyes turn to you. Glad you got a woman like that, looks at you, you light her world.”

Fuck, Deck liked that.

Chace wasn’t done.

“I get why you’d focus on her. But this shit is not done, man. You know it. You feel it like me. You just got good things in your life right now, so you don’t have the time to focus on it. You put a stop to that mess as it stood, but there’s more out there that has not come to light. It’s buried deep. So deep, you didn’t even find it. And where there’s deep, there’s dark. Our work is not done.”

“Got other jobs that pay as I charge, Chace, and shit I need to see to with Emme,” Deck told him, and Chace’s brows drew together.

“She okay?” he asked.

“Seems so,” Deck answered. “Just too okay. Too adjusted. Too together for a woman who disconnected from life for years. That shit went down with McFarland, she’s cool with it. She fell in with me…” He shook his head. “She hasn’t had a lot of men, Chace, but she’s let me in, and deep. Time spent together is good. She’s funny. She’s sweet. She pisses me off in a way that I like it. The sex is f**kin’ great. It’s like we’ve been together for years and she’s had practically zero practice with this shit. We talked about what happened to her when she was a kid, she’s totally okay with it.”

Chace cut in, his tone disbelieving. “Totally okay with it?”

Deck nodded once. “Completely. Forgives the guy. Even defends him. She came back into my life, I called a friend in Denver to look into things, just checkin’ up. The man who snatched her, clean. Lives a good life and does it honest. Still, got a bad feelin’ in my gut about that too, so he’s still on him.”

“What’s your bad feelin’ about this guy?”

“It isn’t so much about him. It’s about Emme. Things she’s said, I think she’s connected with him since he got out of prison.”

Chace’s chin jerked back. “No f**kin’ shit?”

“Had eyes on him and ears on his phone for weeks. Nothin’. Just a feelin’. But I get those, they’re rarely wrong.”

“She’s doin’ that, that would not be good, man,” Chace noted.

“You’re tellin’ me somethin’ I know,” Deck replied.

“Victims of shit like that, especially kids, things can get twisted.”

This did not make him feel any better.

“Again, you’re tellin’ me somethin’ I know,” Deck said.

“You’ve spent time with her parents, you ask them?”

“Barry brought it up, what happened. He’s not over it. Not even close. I reckon Maeve’s got dark memories too. So unless it’s more than a gut feeling, I don’t want to bring that back or make them worry.”

Chace nodded. “So, what you’re sayin’ is, lookin’ into somethin’ that important, you don’t have the focus for an ongoing investigation.”

“What I’m sayin’ is, funds put aside to contract with me were not enough in the first place. It sucks, what was goin’ on. Even so, man, that kid hadn’t taken his own life, wouldn’t have even considered that job. Emme involved, that capped it. But on the face of it, jobs’ done, contract’s done. Far’s the task force is concerned, they got their man, in this case, four men and one woman. I do this, it’s my dime, my time and you know it. Neither the county nor the town have it in their budget to keep me on so I can dig deeper.”

He drew in another breath, knowing there was something off, that puzzle was not solved and equally knowing, no matter how much he needed to focus on Emme, he’d still never be able to live with that.

So he made a split-second decision and finished, “But you’re right. I know in my gut we’re missin’ something. So I’ll do it.”

Chace smiled and murmured, “Freebie.”

Deck shook his head but it wasn’t in the negative. He had no choice. Chace was concerned and Deck knew that puzzle wasn’t solved. Deck didn’t like unsolved puzzles, the money wasn’t there, so it was a freebie.

Then he said, “Need those kids’ names, man.”

“You got it,” Chace replied.

Emme’s voice came from behind them and they both turned to see just her upper body swung out the open French door, bare feet still firmly planted inside.

“Well, second priority, calling a cleaning service to clean your couch.” Her eyes moved to Chace, she smiled a sweet smile and her voice got soft. “First priority, getting Faye to the hospital since her water just broke.”

Deck’s eyes flew to Faye on couch. She looked like she was deep breathing and she had an arm wrapped around her belly.

She caught their eyes, lifted a hand and waved.

Chace was on the move and Deck watched Emme, still grinning at Chace, jump out of the way as he ran into the house.

Emme looked at Deck.

At the same time, they both smiled.

* * *

Five hours later…

“Jesus, does it take this long?” Deck growled.

“You’re a genius, honey, you know it does,” Emme replied.