CHAPTER FIFTEEN #2
“Kid, most of the time, I didn't even know when he was seeing her, and then you guys moved, and I thought … well, I thought it was over.”
I sighed, releasing a breath of old, pent-up hurt and resentment. Levi hadn't been responsible for Seth's actions. As bad as he had been in his own right, he'd never aided Seth in what he did to Mom or me, and I had no choice but to believe what he'd said.
He hadn’t known it'd continued for all those years.
There were other arguments to be made, of course.
Levi could've called the cops on Seth. Could've turned him in.
But I also understood his own need for self-preservation.
If he'd turned Seth in, Levi would've also tipped the cops off to the illegal activities he was involved in, the ones he relied on to keep himself afloat.
Was it worth it? I wanted to ask, but didn't.
None of it mattered now. None of it but the pieces of the puzzle that kept me up at night.
“You said it wasn't you she should've been afraid of,” I said, grasping on to something I thought might be a clue. “Were you talking about someone Seth had worked with? Someone he had … worked for maybe?”
Levi studied me, and I held my breath. He tipped his head, narrowed his eyes, and asked, “What are you really asking me?”
“Seth brought me on a job,” I told him, making Levi Stratton the second person to ever hear the confession I'd sworn to never tell. “Someone was … hurt.”
His brows rose to his receding hairline. “He brought you?” He wiped a hand over his lips and shook his head, looking away to stare at the wall. “What the fuck were you thinking, Seth?”
“Did he ever talk about someone named Tommy?”
Levi pressed his lips together as he grabbed the candy bar, tearing it open and taking a bite. “You're gonna have to be more specific than that,” he said, mouth full.
“Uh …” I sighed heavily, scratching a spot at the back of my neck. “I dunno, uh … he was short-ish, I guess. Shorter than Seth. Lived in a gross little shack somewhere. I don't know where. It was far away though. I remember driving for a long, long time to get there.”
Levi chewed through caramel and chocolate as he nodded. “We did some business up north. Massachusetts.”
My eyes widened as I nodded, taking out a pen and paper from my jacket pocket to quickly jot it down. Levi rumbled with a low chuckle.
“Soldier said you wanna be a detective,” he commented, surprising me with an air of pride. “Good for you, kiddo. Staying on the straight and narrow. It's that woman, huh?”
“What?” I asked, looking up from my scribbling.
“What's her name again? Meg?”
Defensively, I asked, “What about her?”
“Nothin'. I'm just sayin', that'll do it, right? Finding a nice girl you wanna build your world around? That's what worked for Soldier anyway. He was all turned upside down before his little ray of sunshine pulled him right side up.” He nudged his chin toward me. “You were an added bonus.”
“Yeah,” I said, my voice hoarse. “I guess you're right.”
“When's the wedding?”
I cleared my throat, tapping the tip of my pen against the paper. “A few months. October.”
“Nice,” he said, his thin, dry lips smiling. “Good for you.”
“Thanks,” I replied, accepting the compliment.
He exhaled, leaning back and taking another bite. “Anyway, my guess is, you're talking about Tommy Nolan. He had a kid, I think.”
“Tommy Nolan,” I repeated, scribbling the name down.
“Yeah. He was another sad son of a bitch, down on his luck and trying to make ends meet. Got mixed up with the wrong, wrong, wrong people. Just like us.”
“What people?”
Levi poked at his cheek with his tongue, eyeing me studiously, like he was weighing out the options laid out before him. Then, to my chagrin, he shook his head, leaning forward and folding his arms on the table.
“Nah. I'm not gonna do that, kid. You got a name. That's all you're getting out of me.”
My face fell. “What? No, come on, man. What do you need? You want … you want me to put money on your books? You want—”
“Noah,” he interjected, raising a palm. “You're not gonna bribe it outta me, all right? I've already given you more than I should've, and if I were outside these walls, that big fucker you call Dad would have my neck for it.”
I narrowed my eyes, my nerves jumping into high gear. “Dad? He knew Tommy?”
“Doubt it,” Levi said. “But he would've heard things when he was here. I guarantee that.”
“What things?” I asked, sitting at the edge of my seat, my chest puffing.
God, I was close to something. I could feel it. I just had to give him a push. I just had to figure out what could make him talk.
“Don't look at me like that,” he scolded, pointing the half-eaten candy bar in my direction.
“Stop asking questions. Leave it the hell alone.
Go home to your girlfriend, get married, live your fucking life.
I won't tell Soldier about this conversation, but you gotta promise you're gonna drop this shit.
You got lucky once, kid. Now, listen to me, and don't blow it.”