Free Drift Away (Noah Braddock Mysteries) by Jeff Shelby Page B

pain still throbbing in my temples. Bella’s bedroom was small, with light blue walls and white furnishings. Small photos of Jackson in silver frames lined the top of the dresser. A short pile of books was stacked neatly on the nightstand. The faint aroma of lavender permeated the bedding and I breathed it in.
     
    Bella returned with a plastic bottle of water. She unscrewed the cap and handed it to me. The frigid water hurt my teeth, but tasted as good as any water I’d ever had.
     
    I handed it back to her, half-empty. “Thanks.”
     
    She set it down on the night stand, next to the books. “Welcome. You should sleep some more.”
     
    “I think I’ve slept all day.”
     
    “You have. But you got the crap beat out of you.”
     
    I wondered what happened with the chairs and umbrellas on the beach. It was the first time since I’d arrived in Florida that I hadn’t finished the day. I needed to apologize to Ike as soon as I could get up and move.
     
    “Tell me,” I said.
     
    “Tell you what?”
     
    “Who they are.”
     
    Anxiety settled on her face. “We don’t need to do that now.”
     
    “I’ve slept all day,” I said. “I need to stay awake so I can get my bearings. And you said you’d tell me.”
     
    She sighed, clearly torn between whether or not she was going to tell me. I was prepared to leverage my injury, if necessary. I was now in this far. I needed to know exactly what I was into.
     
    She sat down on the foot of the bed, her legs folded up Indian-style. She played with her fingers for a moment, studying them, avoiding my eyes.
     
    “They’re friends of Evan’s,” she said.   “David’s last name is Hanson.  I don’t know Colin’s.”
     
    It took me a moment to remember that Evan was Jackson’s father. “Friends?”
     
    She shrugged, rolled her eyes. “Friends. Colleagues. Assholes. Whatever. They all worked together.”
     
    “Together?  Or they worked for Evan?”
     
    An irritated smile turned into a smirk. “Truthfully, I have no idea. Evan was great at keeping secrets and those two are no different. When he was killed, David took over. I don’t know if that’s because he was next in line, or they were partners, or what. Colin , he’s just a dickhead who thinks he’s the enforcer. Wants to be bigger than he is.”
     
    “But that was in Tampa, right?”
     
    She shifted on the bed, pulling her knees to her chest. “David decided to expand the business.”
     
    “To here.”
     
    She hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah. To here.”
     
    I had yet to meet a dealer who wasn’t ambitious. It was inherent in their business. Once they got a taste of the money involved, they wanted more. But the problem with expansion was that they were always infringing on someone else’s territory. And that usually led to bloody problems.
     
    “So what?” I asked. “Did Evan die owing them money?  They want it from you?”
     
    She shook her head slowly. “No. At least not that I know of.”
     
    “So why are they bothering you?”
     
    She ran a hand through her hair and rubbed at the back of her neck. “Because I’m stupid.”
     

TWENTY-ONE
     
     
     
     
     
    I reached for the bottle of water and moved around a bit under the covers, trying to shake the stiffness from my joints and limbs, waiting for Bella to explain.
     
    “Before Jackson was born,” she said. “I thought Evan was … fantastic. Like, could do no wrong. Even though I knew everything he was doing was wrong.”
     
    I drained the rest of the bottle and replaced it on the nightstand.
     
    “So when he wanted me to do something, I did it,” she continued. “Without thinking very much. If he smiled at me, whispered in my ear, I was his.”  She smiled, shook her head. “I was incredibly dumb.”
     
    “Doesn’t sound dumb. Sounds like you loved him.”
     
    She shrugged. “Maybe. But I was dumb. I promise.”
     
    “How?”
     
    She squeezed her knees tighter to her body. “You should