Larry Spence stood stiffly in front of her, hat in hand, bundled up in his deputy sheriff’s coat. “Morning, Nest. Sorry to have to bother you again.”
“That’s all right. What can I do for you?”
He cleared his throat. “Well, it might be better if I could come in and we could talk about it there.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. We tried that yesterday, and it didn’t work out very well. You better tell me what you want right here on the porch.”
His big frame shifted. “All right. We’ll do it your way.” His tone of voice changed, taking on a slight edge. “It’s about the drug dealing in the park. It’s still going on. There was a major buy last night. Witnesses saw it going down and called it in. It’s possible that someone staying in your house was involved.”
She thought at once of Bennett Scott, missing all night. Had Bennett been involved in a drug transaction? She stared at Larry Spence, trying to read his face. How would Bennett have paid for “a major buy” of drugs? She didn’t have any money.
“Who did your witnesses think they saw?” she asked quickly.
“1 can’t tell you that.”
“Who are your witnesses?”
“I can’t tell you that, either.”
“But there are witnesses and they did see someone involved in this drug buy that they can identify, is that right?”
“Right.”
But Nest didn’t believe it. He was fishing for something. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be here asking questions of her. He would be holding a warrant for Bennett’s arrest.
“Look, Larry.” She closed the door behind her, moved out onto the porch, and stood with her arms folded across her chest. “My guests were all here last night, tucked in their beds, asleep. If you have someone who says differently, trot them out. Otherwise, go investigate someone else.”
His face began to redden. “You don’t have to be so defensive about this. I’m just doing my job. Drug dealing is a mean business, and the people involved are dangerous. You might be smart to think about that.”
“What are you talking about, Larry? I don’t know anyone involved in drug dealing, and I’m not friends with people who do. I have four guests in my house—friends I’ve known for a long time and a couple of small children. I hardly think they are the kind of people you’re talking about.”
He shook his head stubbornly. “Maybe you don’t know them as well as you think.”
“Well, maybe that’s so. But what makes you think you know them any better? This is the second time in two days you’ve been out here, ladling out large helpings of innuendo and unsubstantiated accusations.” Her anger surfaced in a rush. “If you know something I don’t, why not just tell me instead of waiting for me to break down and confess?”
“Look, Nest, I don’t—”
“No, you tell me what you know, or you get the hell off my porch!”
He took a deep breath, his face bright red. “John Ross is a dangerous man. There are people here investigating him. I’m trying to keep you out of it, girl!”
She stared at him. “John Ross? This is about John?” She realized then that this had never been about Bennett, that Larry Spence had been talking about John all along. About John Ross dealing drugs. She wanted to laugh.
Larry Spence looked confused. “Hey, you better wake up about Ross. The people investigating him…”
Something clicked in the back of her mind. “What people?” she asked quickly.
“I can’t tell you that.”
“You don’t seem to be able to tell me much of anything. It makes me wonder how much you actually know.” She took a step toward him. “Who do these people say they are, Larry? Have you checked them out? Because I have a feeling about this.”
His mouth tightened. “It’s an official investigation, Nest. I’ve already said more than I should, and I—”
“Is one of them an older man with gray eyes and a leather book, looks like an old-time preacher?”
Larry Spence stared at her, his sentence left unfinished. She sensed his uncertainty. “Listen to me, Larry,” she said slowly, carefully. “You’re in way over your head. Way over. You stay away from this man, you understand? He isn’t who you think. He’s the one who’s dangerous, not John Ross.”