Bad Idea (Stonewall Investigations Miami 1)

They stood up, smiling and hugging as they greeted us. They were sporting dark tans, and since they were wearing white shorts, the tan jumped out even more. Lucien was shirtless, probably about to head to the beach before the rain came in, judging by the sandals and towel he had abandoned on the couch.

“Can I get you two anything to drink?”

Fox and I declined, moving to the dining table where Pierre was sitting with a laptop in front of him. Dylan and Lucien joined, pulling out chairs and all of us taking our seats. For some reason, even with the hugs and the niceties, I couldn’t help but feel a tension in the air. Maybe it was simple paranoia, but maybe it was something else. Paranoia wasn’t always something to brush off.

“Sorry about the club,” Fox started. I echoed his statement, seeing all three faces drop in unison.

“It’s okay,” Dylan said first, steeling himself. “We’re working with the DEA and should be landing on a mutual agreement soon. I’d rather shut down than see any more lives taken at this point. Fuck the money.”

Lucien bristled slightly, and it didn’t go unnoticed by me. It was an interesting sentiment considering I had talked to an overdose patient who seemed to think otherwise. “Have any of you reached out to the victims?” I asked.

Dylan straightened in his chair. “No, I want to, though. I do. Lawyer says we need to keep distant. At least for now. The only way we’re getting involved is through Stonewall Investigations and whatever PIs our lawyers have.”

Good, so the lawyer hasn’t told them to keep quiet around us.

“Have you two made any contact?” Pierre asked, concern in his tone.

“We have,” Fox said, being truthful. “It’s a fucked-up drug. When kids don’t OD they become addicted off the first pill, then it’s only a matter of time before they end up in a hospital bed or dead on the floor.” I could see the anger rising inside of Fox like a foreboding wave, warning of a coming tsunami. “We need to get whoever is behind this off the street.”

Lucien sucked air between his teeth. “Well, maybe these kids shouldn’t be taking random pills, huh? Now we stand to lose everything because of some shitty kids.” He was angry, but it wasn’t the kind of anger I had felt coming from Fox. Lucien’s anger was raw; something about the way his dark eyes almost seemed to expand, getting rid of the whites around his pupils, made his anger more visceral.

Something about him was setting off all my warning bells. I had trouble seeing him as a drug kingpin figure, but then again, Dragon was still in its early stages. Maybe with time…

“That’s a little bit of a close-minded take on things, Lucien,” Pierre jumped in, keeping his tone light even though everyone was clearly on edge.

“No, fuck that. Our club is closed, Pierre. It’s how we live, how we keep this all up. And how long can we survive without it, huh?”

“If you paid more attention to the numbers,” Pierre snapped, crossing his arms, “you’d see we’re fine. And we’ll be fine. But you don’t pay attention to anything except what drink you’re having next, so I understand you not knowing.”

Lucien pushed his chair back. For a moment, I thought he was going to get up and get into a fistfight with Pierre, who also made a move to stand. But Dylan rose before both of them, his chair sounding loud as it slid back against the floor. “Stop! The two of you. Stress is high, I get it, but we’re a family. Going at each other’s throats isn’t going to help anything.”

That seemed to have dumped a bucket of ice water on these two hissing cats.

“Sorry, you two are here to help and we’re putting on a show.” Dylan sat back down, shooting looks at the two men.

“We want to help,” I said, still feeling on edge. “I was hoping I could ask some questions before we watch the security footage?” I needed to make sure I kept us on track. I didn’t like Lucien’s flare-up, nor did I like the sharp-looking knife that had been left on the table by his side, sitting on a block of wood that still held some crusty cheese squares. I didn’t expect him to use it, but the sight still had me nervous.

After being shot in the head, I was always a little extra cautious about my surroundings.

“If anyone can help, it’s you two,” Dylan said. Lucien rubbed at his temples, wincing. “So what do you need to know?”

At least things were still on the rails, as shaky as the rails felt right now. Fox and I had discussed a ton of different ways this meeting could go, and the current way was the moderately pleasant one.