But Not For Lust by BJ Bourg (comprehension books .txt) 📕

I shrugged. I guess it had to exchange hands somehow. “Let’s get back to Ty,” I said. “Did Jerome sell to Ty?”

She shook her head. “Ty never has money on him, so Jerome set him up with a kit and he gives him a hit every now and then.”

“What do you mean when you say kit?” I asked.

“Oh, a pipe and a hand torch,” she explained. “Jerome gave him a kit and showed him how to use it. He would charge a couple of clients double and tell them the price had gone up because of the economy. Then he’d give the extra to Ty.”

“Wait a minute…he would just give Ty free drugs?” I asked, a bit of skepticism in my tone.

“Well, it was more than that,” she acknowledged. “Jerome gave Ty a taste of it and he wanted more. Jerome would give him a little here and there, and then he decided to make a deal with Ty.”

“A deal?” I asked.

“Yeah, he said he told Ty he’d give him more candy smoke—that’s what he told Ty it was—if Ty would sit on his bench and hold a leather case. He told Ty that cars would drive up and all he had to do was hand them a little bag and he could get more candy smoke.”

“He used Ty to facilitate his drug sales?”

“He figured no one would suspect Ty,” she explained. “And even if the police showed up and arrested Ty, they wouldn’t believe anything he told them.”

“That’s just wrong.” I wanted to say a lot more regarding how I felt about J-Rock, but I didn’t want to anger her into not talking anymore.

“Jerome says he can’t go down for distribution again,” she explained. “He got lucky last time when they let him out because of something the governor did, but he knows he won’t get lucky if it happens one more time. And that’s why I got so mad at him when he started doing this stupid shit again.” In the light from a nearby lamppost, I saw a tear glisten as it fell down her dark face. “You won’t lock him up for this, right?”

“How many times did he get Ty to sell his drugs?”

“Only a few times, I think. He told me this neighbor came outside one day and was looking at him pretty hard and it spooked him. The man started yelling at him and stuff, so he left.”

I nodded thoughtfully. “When was the last time Jerome gave Ty some candy smoke?”

She brushed the tear away. “Um, Saturday was the last time they saw each other at the boat launch. That’s why Jerome freaked out when he heard that Ty’s mom was murdered. He thinks if Ty killed his mom after taking the drugs he gave Ty, then the police will try to accuse him of being involved. I guess he was right, because here you are.”

“You said Jerome was with you Saturday,” I said, testing her story. “If he was selling drugs to Ty, how could he have been with you?”

“He was with me Saturday night,” she accurately corrected. “He met with Ty during the day.”

“What time did he meet with Ty?”

She was thoughtful. “I think it was closer to lunch time, maybe a little later. I’d say he got here no later than two o’clock from his trip to the boat launch.”

“Did he leave your house at all during the night?”

She shook her head.

“Did he leave while you were sleeping?”

Again, she shook her head.

“If you were sleeping, how do you know he never left the house?”

“Because I’m a light sleeper,” she said matter-of-factly. “Every time he gets up to go to the bathroom it wakes me up.”

I couldn’t argue with that one, so I didn’t. “Did Jerome ever go to Ty’s house?” I asked.

“He told me he dropped Ty off a couple of times, but he said Ty usually walks everywhere he goes.” She scrunched up her face. “If I remember right, he said it was raining on the days he gave Ty a ride home, so that was why he did it.”

“I don’t think Jerome’s supposed to be driving,” I commented, remembering the vehicle I’d seen earlier in the space reserved for her apartment. “Did he use your car?”

“Yeah, I…he’s bringing in more money than I can make as a waitress, so the least I can do is let him use my car.” She shifted her feet and glanced nervously toward the bayou. “Did they find him yet?”

  CHAPTER 21

After interviewing Rhonda, I returned to the edge of the embankment and glanced down. Baylor and Takecia were gone. I glanced out over the water and saw the Boston Whaler approaching the bank about a hundred feet south of where I stood. Thanks to the lights on the boat, I could see that Baylor and Takecia had gone onboard with Susan and Melvin.

I pulled out my cell phone and called Susan.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “Are y’all making any progress?”

“Melvin’s been throwing the grappling hooks and he keeps snagging on something soft right where we’re stopped,” she explained. “He’s having a hard time hooking it. He said it keeps rolling under the water.”

I sighed. That was probably J-Rock. If what Rhonda had said was true, I’d only confirmed one piece to my investigative puzzle—that Jerome Carter was the one supplying Ty his meth.

As I stood there watching, I called Trinity Bledsoe and told her what I’d learned about Neal Barlow.

“I knew that little bastard was dealing again!” she said. “We’ve been watching him, but we haven’t been able to catch him in the act. Probation and Parole has a detainer on him for missing his drug screenings, but they’ve agreed to hold off on arresting him to see if we can catch him dealing.”

“Is