Chapter 12 Helena #3
This dealer must be one of those people.
I just wasn’t sure how that helped me. There wasn’t any paperwork for these loans that I could look through.
I could contact Valerie’s former friends on Instagram, but that was too dangerous.
Even if they knew who he was, they certainly wouldn’t keep quiet about the fact that I’d asked about him.
No—I had to find another way to get to the guy. Or his handler.
“You’re not thinking of going looking for him on your own, are you?” Simon seemed to guess was I was planning to do with the intel. “That’s a really terrible idea.”
I didn’t answer his question but got up to leave instead.
“Thank you for your help, Simon. I really appreciate your speaking to me about this.” I was one step closer, and even though I didn’t yet know how to find the dealer, at least I had a new goal.
“I’m sorry I lied about my name. I really didn’t have bad intentions. ”
“That’s okay.”
“Have a good evening.” I gave him a smile and made to leave.
“Helena?” Simon spoke again. “Wait.”
“Yes?” I turned back.
“Promise me you won’t do anything stupid if I tell you how you might be able to get ahold of the guy’s name?”
“Of course,” I said, far too quickly. I cleared my throat. “I won’t do anything stupid. I want to get to the truth, but I have a cop helping me, so it’s all safe. I promise.”
“Okay.” Mentioning Malia seemed to convince him. “There was a book, like a little notebook, with a gold ribbon that Adam always had on him.”
I remembered—I’d seen it a few times when Adam had taken it out of his bag to write something down. I just hadn’t known what it was.
“And? Do you think his poetry collection is going to help me?” I grinned half-heartedly.
“Probably not.” Simon grinned back. “But the book might. He made a note of his borrowers in it.”
My eyes widened. “How do you know that?”
“Because he gave me a loan six months before he died. We had some water damage in the club that winter—a pipe burst, and the bank wouldn’t help.
But Adam did. He took down my name and the sum in his little notebook.
I guess his mother knew nothing about any of it, so he didn’t want to store any details on his phone or laptop. ”
So the dealer’s name would be in there. Adrenaline shot into my veins. Now I just had to find the notebook; then I’d have the name and could go from there.
“Thank you,” I said again, really stressing it this time, before I opened the door and turned back to him. “You’ve been a real help.”
Simon looked serious. “Please come back for training, okay? Whatever you have planned, I’ll feel better if you can defend yourself. Even if we have to keep your name a secret.”
I gave him a sincere smile. “Definitely.” I didn’t want to say thank you yet again, so I simply nodded, shouldered my backpack, and left—first his office, and then the club.
The air outside was ice-cold, and I zipped up my jacket before I pulled out my phone to call Malia.
“You’re alive!” she yelled, sounding genuinely relieved.
“Of course,” I replied. “And I think I have something for us.” I gave her a quick briefing on what Simon had told me about Adam and the dealer.
Malia seemed impressed. “Sounds like it could be a lead, even if I doubt this guy is really going to get Valerie off the hook.”
“I don’t care, as long as I can find out who sent him.
Because whoever it was, they might have sent someone else, or maybe they turned up later themselves and brought the drugs with them.
” I took a breath. “Hey, can you find out who picked up Adam’s personal items?
You know… after he died?” I remembered the plastic bag my brother had brought home from the forensics unit.
It contained everything that Valerie had on her—her phone, her jewelry, a clutch full of makeup.
I didn’t know what happened to it, but I knew Adam must have had a similar bag of personal effects.
And that the person who’d collected it was now the owner of that little notebook.
“Hang on, I’ll take a look…” I heard the tap of a keyboard, then the faint click of a mouse. “The signature on the slip is hard to make out, but… ah, here’s the form. It says here—Jessiah Coldwell. His brother took them.”
I said nothing, closing my eyes in resignation.
Of course it had been Jessiah who had collected Adam’s things.
I never wanted to talk to that man again in my life—and I was sure it was mutual after our meeting today—but he, of all people, was in possession of the one thing that would bring me closer to the truth about my sister.
“Len? Are you still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here. Thanks for the info. I’ll call you.”
I hung up before she could press me any further, my elation of a few minutes ago freezing over in the cold.
I’d gotten a lead, and it was a useful one.
Now I just had to find a way to get that damn notebook from Jessiah.
Without his noticing, obviously. A hysterical laugh tickled my throat, but I didn’t let it rise to the surface.
Instead, I steeled myself. I had a goal, and I was going to go after it.
No matter what I had to do to get there.