“Imagine the classified details.”
“You got men on your back?”
“Yeah, they all seem solid. Well trained, into justice and safety—that sort of thing. If and when we bring this to a head, I doubt I’ll even be in the mix. At some point, I think they’ll shove me back in a box and take the lead. DEA is being read in.”
“They’d be stupid to cut you out.”
“We’ll see. It won’t surprise me if we get to the core of the drug operation and the AG brings in his task force.”
“Like I said, they’d be stupid.”
“Thanks. Now that we got that out of the way, want to fill me in on why you showed up at my door this morning with a flimsy excuse about wanting coffee and then send snippets of an orgy to me?”
“I was hoping you’d look into something for me. Thought the pieces of the video would be the best way to pique your interest.”
“Marcus, orgies aren’t my thing.”
“Remember the two clients that fell in my lap a few weeks ago? The irrefutable evidence… the videos… the infidelity?”
“I take it those were the husbands in the video?”
“Yes.”
“Why’d you show me? Doesn’t that break the lawyer-client code?”
“I have permission from my clients.”
“Again, why?”
“I need you to find the source behind the video.”
“You employ an entire firm of people and have a PI on your staff. I asked you before if this shit is credible. You said it was. What the hell is going on?”
“Call it professional curiosity. It got me to thinking, do you know how exactly Maren found out Carlton was cheating on her?” The way he says it makes my hair stand on end. I study him closely, getting an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“That’s why you were there this morning. You were going to question Emi.”
“No, I’d never do that.” He has the decency to look guilty. “It truly is curiosity. The other night at the bar, when you were lip-locked with Emi, Nina mentioned something about Maren having an anonymous source when she broke things off with Carlton.”
“So, you want me to find out from Emi about this source?”
“My clients are staying tight lipped. They say the video came to them anonymously.”
The word anonymous rattles in my brain, and I understand his sudden interest.
“You think there’s a link?”
“Maybe, it doesn’t matter for my case, but it almost looks like we have a vagina vigilante running around our city. After Jean Wills famously and publicly threw her husband out of the house, men have been scrambling. John says his office is slammed with requests to review prenups.”
“For the love of God, do we have that many adulterers in this small town? How can anyone get away with it? The gossip runs rampant. I take my ass to church and the whole town knows. How can anyone get away with slipping their dick into anything other than their hand or their wife?”
“Now you’re seeing things from my perspective.” He grins triumphantly, knowing he’s got my attention.
“Leave my girlfriend out of this, Marcus. Emi doesn’t know shit.”
“Okay.” He raises his hands in a defeated motion.
“What are you going to do if you find out who was behind the video?”