Free Deeper (The Deeper Chronicles #1) by Allyn Lesley Page A

him. Noah glazed over words like ‘overdose’ and ‘danger’ with disinterest.
    “Ever hear of a drug called Higher?” Harry asked once Noah’s gaze lifted to his.
    Noah sat back in the couch, his stare fixed right over Harry’s shoulder.
    At Noah’s blank features, Harry picked up a mid-sized brown paper bag and dug through it. “I’m about to show you something.” His aim was perfect, landing with a soft thwack on the table.
    Noah raised a brow at the rectangle of waxy paper in front of him.
    Harry thumbed the front, where a miniature Statue of Liberty was printed, and right before Noah’s eyes, a symbol that looked like an umbrella with two sticks appeared. “An informant came to me with this information.” At Noah’s folded arms and stiff shoulders, Harry continued, “I was told this one is super potent. Like the good shit, Noah, whatever the hell that means. But people are dying. All over the city, they’re dropping like flies when they shoot up.”
    Noah blew out a breath as the other man fiddled with the envelope and made a lot of noise putting it back in the evidence bag.
    “It’s got to be laced with something fatal.”
    “Is this why I’m here? For conjectures, Harry?” Fucking unbelievable. “Remember two years ago when you washed your hands?” Noah stood up. “You said those words for a reason. Remember them.” He fished out the phone from his pocket, throwing it on the low table.
    Harry looked down then imitated his stance. “You have to help me. Whoever they are, they’re bad people.”
    Noah’s laugh was harsh. “I’m one of those bad people.”
    Harry grimaced. Noah guessed the man didn’t like to be reminded of the truth.
    Noah headed back the way he’d come. This was a waste of time. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but it wasn’t this. When things were good between them, Harry used to always maintain a professional distance, never coming to Noah for information about or from his contacts. Their relationship was strictly about a friendship that spanned more than a decade. Harry was an officer of the law, and outside of the two times he’d willfully broken the law in Noah’s favor, they’d never crossed those lines again.
    I guess shit has changed.
    “You’re just going to leave?” He heard the censure in Harry’s tone. The man’s heavy feet patterned his on the wood floor. “You won’t do anything?”
    “Anything like what, Harry? Why should I give two fucks what these mysterious people are doing to make their buck? Nobody is a saint in this thing,” Noah said with a hand on the door.
    “But they’re using—”
    Noah’s fingers gripped the gold knob.
    Neither of them moved for a while.
    With his back to the only person he considered the father he never knew, Noah’s shoulders sagged. “Harry...”
    The floors groaned when Harry stepped away from Noah. “What happened to the boy I knew? What happened to the man who went to serve for his country overseas? I know you, Noah, and this isn’t you.”
    Noah unlocked the door. “That’s where you’re wrong. You see what you want to. Always have. I told you when I came back who I was, who I am. This is me, Harry.” He sighed. “I’ll do some poking around.” He’d regret the decision. Noah could feel it already. “But once I do, I’m washing my hands.”
    Repeating the same callous words that had been tossed at his ears two years ago didn’t bring Noah any vindication. Suddenly, he was tired and ready to leave the place he’d once called home for a brief time.
    Noah stepped over the threshold without another glance.
    Here he’d thought his old friend wanted back into his life.
    “Noe,” Harry called out.
    The September night’s temperature had significantly dropped. The wind howled in Noah’s ears. The man’s silhouette greeted him when he spun around. Harry held the door open.
    “I told you then and I’m telling you now. I know you. I know your heart.”
    Noah’s lips tightened.
    When