No One Knows

by J. T. Ellison

  Josh.

  Oh, God, Josh.

  How would she ever be able to face him again? Josh was good. Josh was hope.

  And now Aubrey was dirt, just a scraping off a shoe.

  She didn’t deserve him. She was spoiled, tainted, like an apple left in the refrigerator too long, soft and mushy and rotten inside. She didn’t deserve him, the golden boy, the one who always believed in her. Going to jail would be easier than facing him.

  So she lied to the police.

  “He was . . . bothering me, so I hit him. Tyler came home and saw me and tried to stop me. That’s what happened. Just send me away.”

  And with that, she shut her mouth firmly against the world and let them do with her what they would.

  They didn’t believe her, of course. How could a small girl, barely five feet tall, with long legs and skinny arms, a colt, knock a full-grown man twice her size unconscious?

  On the other side of the police station, Tyler was telling a different story. The truth, for once in his life. How he came home to find his foster sister being attacked by his foster mother’s boyfriend. How they had words, how Roger punched Tyler in the mouth and told him to fuck off. How Tyler was forced to hit him in self-defense.

  “What would you do?” Tyler asked the detective. “What would you do if you walked in on a man trying to hurt your twelve-year-old sister?”

  Roger spent a month in the hospital, healing. He was arrested for attacking Aubrey, but Aubrey refused to testify, so he got away with probation. Tyler, on the other hand, pled down to aggravated assault. He and Aubrey were taken from Sandy’s home—that was inevitable, of course—and while Tyler went in for his first stint behind bars, Aubrey’s fate was much worse.

  She was sent to therapy at the rape and abuse crisis center, and became the newest resident of an independent group home on Division Street. One for troubled teens. She was the youngest girl there, the smallest, the quietest.

  And Monday morning, she would have to face Josh and explain why she’d moved.

  She decided to lie. He mustn’t ever know.

  No one could ever know.

  CHAPTER 51

  Aubrey

  Today

  Aubrey went to her small office and looked up the number to the district attorney’s office. Arlo had gone into criminal prosecution after Josh’s disappearance, eschewing his previous path of contract law. She liked that about him, that he’d decided to try to make a difference.

  And she really liked that he was always on her side. He never treated her like she was crazy, or breakable. Even when she was.

  The secretary put her through, and she heard Arlo’s deep voice answer, “Tonturian.”

  “Arlo? It’s Aubrey.”

  “Aubs!” He sounded genuinely pleased to hear from her. “How are you? I was just thinking about you. Janie and Sulman were talking about a beach trip next month. You up for it?”

  “Maybe. I need to talk to you, Arlo. It’s important. Can you come to the house? Now?”

  “Now? Can it wait until tonight? I’ve got a meeting in twenty minutes.”

  “Cancel it, Arlo. It’s about Josh. And a man named Derek Allen.”

  She heard flipping papers, a muttered curse. “All right. Give me fifteen minutes. I’ll be right there.”

  “Before you come, I need you to find out everything you can on Allen. He should be in the system.”

  He started typing; she heard a low whistle. “He is no good. Aubrey, what’s this about?”

  “Not on the phone, Arlo. Just pull everything and get here as soon as you can.”

  • • •

  Arlo arrived twenty minutes later. His dark hair and beaked nose were so familiar, so comforting, Aubrey nearly threw herself in his arms.

  “What the hell happened to the front of your house?”

  “Daisy. She got hammered and drove into it. She’s in bad shape at Midtown.”

  “I hadn’t heard.” The reproach was clear: Because you don’t ever get in touch anymore.

  “Listen, you better come in and sit down. I’ve made some lunch. You’re going to want a full stomach. And Tyler’s here.”

  Arlo tensed. “Is he straight?”

  “Yeah. He’s helping. So be cool, all right?”

  Arlo followed her into the house. Tyler was sitting at the dining room table. They didn’t shake hands, but Tyler nodded to Arlo.

  She put a plate of grilled cheese sandwiches down, passed out glasses of tea.

  Arlo put a stack of papers on the table, grabbed a sandwich, took a huge bite, scattering crumbs. Winston came and sat beneath his feet, lapping up the crumbly bits, happy to be of service. Arlo swallowed and asked, “So what’s this all about, Aubrey?”

  With a glance at Tyler, she filled him in: Derek Allen approaching her. Daniel Cutter claiming Josh was working for Allen, which made Arlo’s face pale. And the email with the photo, which made the paleness turn to vibrant red.

  “You’re telling me this guy is claiming Josh was running drugs out of Vandy?”

  Aubrey nodded. “Tyler? You want to tell him what you heard?”

  “I was in holding downtown, there was a guy in there telling tales. We’ve figured out now it was Derek Allen. He said he’d run a pharmacy scam five years ago with a med student from Vandy. I don’t believe in coincidences.”

  Aubrey said, “I think Allen knew who Tyler was. I think he let him overhear the conversation on purpose so he’d say something to me. And I do have a bunch of money coming to me tomorrow. He’s probably gearing up to kill me and steal the money.”

  Arlo set his sandwich down, took a huge breath, ran his hand over his shadowy chin.

  “Christ.”

  Aubrey nodded. “That about sums it up.”

  “Fucking Josh. If he weren’t already dead, I’d kill him.”

  “What if he weren’t dead?”

  Arlo shook his head. “He’s gone, Aubs. You know it, I know it.”

  “We never found a body, Arlo. If he was into something with these people, who knows what happened.”

  “The cops would have found something. They dug like mad.”

  Aubrey just shrugged. “Maybe they didn’t dig in the right spot.”

  “This is insane. If that’s the case, if Allen is coming for you . . . Aubrey, we’ll need to get you somewhere safe.”

  “We can talk about that once you tell me what you found out.”

  Arlo opened the file in front of him. “Okay. Here’s everything I could pull on short notice about Derek Allen. He made his bones in New York, on Long Island, with the Guiducci crime family. He had a reputation for being ruthless. They used him for the jobs the sane guys didn’t want, and Allen took them all. It got to the point that they started to distrust him, to be scared of him, because he was off the rails, and they probably tried to take him out, but Allen was too smart for that. He floated around for a while, no one really knows where.

  “Then he shows up down here, heading up a branch of the Dixie Mafia. They were doing a brisk business in hillbilly heroin, meth, all the nasty stuff, until he got sideways with one of his partners, who turned on him, tried to detach Allen from the business. He had no idea who he was dealing with. Allen cut him to pieces, left the parts at each of his crew’s houses, as a message. He’s a scary dude. And then he ended up gut-shot down on Lischey Avenue, opposite the body of another drug dealer, a Mexican working out of Memphis. The gun that shot him was found at the scene. It looked cut-and-dried, a deal gone bad—they shot each other. The Mexican died, Allen nearly did. But he pulled through, and because he’d violated his parole, having a gun on him, they sent him back to prison to finish out his sentence. The world was blessed with the removal of two more bad guys.”

  “You don’t find it odd that all this just happened to go down the same night Josh di
sappeared?” Aubrey said.

  Arlo took a large bite of his sandwich. Chewed and swallowed. She could tell he was thinking, processing. Finally, he said, “I can’t believe this. How in the world would Josh even get matched up with a guy like Derek Allen?”

  She slid two more grilled cheese sandwiches onto their plates, took the third for herself, and sat at the table across from Arlo. Raised her eyebrow at Tyler, who took a deep breath and said, “It was my fault.”

  Arlo tensed. “What did you say?”

  “I mentioned what Josh did to a dude I knew. I think he told Allen, or told one of Allen’s crew. Allen had lost his source and needed a new one, fast. Product is key for him. Josh was in a position to provide. And if someone took a picture of Josh behaving badly and threatened to show the school and Aubrey, I imagine he’d do most anything to keep that from happening.”

  “Blackmail,” Aubrey said.

  Arlo wiped his mouth. “Let me make sure I’m understanding you two. You’re saying Josh was being blackmailed into running prescription drugs out of the Vanderbilt pharmacy?”

  Aubrey asked, “There’s only one other scenario that plausible. Could Josh have been undercover, working with the police?”

  Arlo shook his head. “Possible, but very doubtful. First off, it would be in the records. And Allen would have known. By all accounts, Allen had a nose for cops. Could always spot one a mile away. And his crew operated in secrecy. When Allen went to jail, they scattered. No one has any idea who was involved with him. The guy was a ghost. I really don’t like this, Aubrey. We need to talk to Metro. They need to know what’s happening. This is the first solid lead in five years, they’re going to want to pursue it.”

  “No, no way. No cops. Please, Arlo. I can’t run the risk of them deciding I knew about this all along and tossing me back in jail.”

  “I can protect you, Aubrey. I’m with the DA’s office now. I promise they won’t touch you.”

  She shook her head. “No cops. Not yet, anyway. You’re an investigator, Arlo. Investigate.”

  “Aubrey, I’m an officer of the court. You’ve presented me with credible evidence of a conspiracy, blackmail, a possible murder, not to mention giving me some hope that we might, at long last, solve Josh’s case. If he was involved with Derek Allen and his people, one of them might know where Josh’s body is. I can’t sit on this.”

  “A day. That’s all I’m asking.”

  “Why do you think a day will help? What are you going to do?”

  “Go through all of Josh’s things, see if I can find a connection between him and this Allen character. I have the keys to Daisy’s house. She has all his old boxes. I never really looked before. I didn’t know exactly what to look for.”

  “Aubrey—”

  “Arlo. Please. Let me try to put things right. You have so much to look into, it’s not like you can get warrants and all that together today anyway. It’s kept for five years. Another day won’t matter.”

  Arlo glanced from her to Tyler, who nodded.

  He threw up his hands. “Okay. One day. But I’m going to look into every detail here. And tomorrow morning, Aubrey, I’m going to pick you up, and we’re going to talk to Metro homicide. You hear me?”

  “That’s a deal. Thank you, Arlo.”

  He polished off the last of his sandwich. “Don’t make me regret this, Aubrey.”

  He gave her a hug, shook Tyler’s hand, and left.

  Aubrey let out a long breath, slumped in her chair. “God. This is unreal.”

  “You said it, sister. Arlo’s a good guy. He’ll keep his word.”

  “And Chase? What am I supposed to do about him? He’s going to be here any minute. Should I call and cancel?”

  “No. I wanna meet him.”

  “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Tyler.”

  Tyler stood up from the table. His simple presence was enough to remind her she had no real recourse; he’d get what he wanted regardless. But that didn’t mean she had to let up without a fight.

  “Really, Tyler. Come on. I don’t want him to get rolled into this.”

  “That’s why I need to meet him. I’ll be able to size him up. I don’t trust anyone right now, sis. There’s too much at stake. This Chase guy appears just as all this is going down? You have to—”

  Aubrey stepped right into Tyler’s space, surprising him enough that he took a step backward.

  “Leave Chase out of this, Tyler.”

  “You’ve got feelings for this man, Aubrey. I get that.”

  “I don’t. I . . .”

  That was a lie. She did. And Tyler knew it. He smiled at her, the leer unmistakable.

  “Like I was saying, you like this man. I need to make sure he’s not playing you for all you’re worth. Literally. You come into a lot of money tomorrow. It’s possible he’s sniffing around, just like Allen. I want to protect you from getting hurt.”

  “Like you did with Josh,” she mumbled.

  “Well, maybe I didn’t do such a good job with him at the end. But whose fault was that? I told you for years he wasn’t the knight in shining armor you thought he was.” She started to snap at him, but he held up a hand to silence her. “Josh was the one person you always kept the blinders on for. What about that chick you saw him with?”

  A spike went through her heart. “She was just a classmate.”

  “A classmate you saw kissing his neck. Come on, Aubrey. You know something was up there. And now, this photo shows up. I keep telling you, something was going on with him.”

  “End of subject.” Aubrey glanced at the clock. Chase would be here soon. She didn’t see any sense in fighting Tyler on this. If Chase was going to be in her life, he’d have to meet Tyler sooner or later.

  “Fine. You can meet Chase.” She grinned at him. “But take a shower, will you? You stink.”

  Her cell phone rang. Meghan.

  “Hey. Did you guys find anything?”

  “We did. We found a birth certificate from the hospital. Daisy had a boy, down in Williamson County. The birth father’s name was Michael Edwards. The kid would be thirty-three now. That’s it, that’s as far as we’ve gotten.”

  “Can you find Michael Edwards?”

  “We’re trying. The birth certificate doesn’t have his social on it, and it’s such a common name. We need more to go on. But we’ll keep looking.”

  “Thank you, Megan. Thank you so much.”

  “Sure thing. Everything okay there?”

  “I talked to Arlo. He’s pulling the threads. Everything is going to be okay.”

  She heard knocking at the front door.

  “I have to go, Chase is here. I’ll talk to you later?”

  “Count on it,” Megan said, and hung up.

  CHAPTER 52

  Josh

  Five Years Ago

  The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation headquarters was up on a lonely hill overlooking the city. Their parking lot had one of the best views in Nashville. Skyscrapers shone in the sky, their glass reflecting the sun, enhanced by the Cumberland River meandering through downtown. From the Titans’ stadium to the Batman Building to the courthouse and Shelby Street Bridge, the city’s best face was revealed.

  Josh Hamilton sat in the parking lot for a solid twenty minutes, trying to get up the courage to go inside, each one of those twenty minutes examining the gorgeous view before him, wondering if it would be the last time he could see the world as a free man.

  It was a cool fall evening. The trees were just beginning to turn—the vista before him was sprinkled with crimson and pumpkin and fiery gold, a palette fit for an artist’s brush. He loved this town. Loved his city. Loved his ties to the community—to Vanderbilt, to Aubrey. And here he was, about to toss away all that he held dear in the hopes that he could unfetter himself and spend the rest of his life in
actual freedom.

  It might not work. It was entirely possible that when he marched through those doors and announced that he had been helping provide OxyContin to Nashville’s elite, he would be signing his own death warrant. Derek Allen was an unpredictable, mercurial man with a hair-trigger temper. Josh knew without protection he’d be dead. But he had to try. He had to do something. He couldn’t live like this anymore.

  The deal they’d struck had been working well for both of them. Allen got his pills; Josh got his money for school. He was good at what he did, and Derek Allen had come to rely on him as his main supplier. But now he wanted more, and Josh saw the path to his own personal hell—jail, divorce, public humiliation, because they would get caught, they absolutely would—unfolding before him. Even if it cost him everything, he had to put an end to this. Allen was insane and unpredictable, and damn if he was going to let the man ruin him anymore.

  Allen deciding to get bigger, spread out, recruit more pharmacists to skim and doctors to write false prescriptions was one thing. But last week, the paper had done an exposé on drug abuse in the medical system, specifically targeting hospital pharmacies. In response, Vanderbilt announced that, in order to prevent these kinds of problems, they were about to change over their drug distribution to a robotic distribution method, which meant a complete audit of every pill in the system for the past three years. They would come up drastically short. There would be an investigation. Though they’d been very careful, Josh and Bob and Allen could get wrapped up in it, and then he’d be totally screwed.

  Josh had to protect himself. He had to get his life back. He had to turn them in, rat them out, and maybe, just maybe, he could save himself. He was desperate.

  And desperate men do stupid things.

  He took in one last deep breath, then climbed from the car and started toward the doors.

  Derek Allen stepped out of the vehicle next to him. Josh thought his heart might stop.

  “Well, well, well. If it isn’t my erstwhile doctor. Having second thoughts, are we?”

  “Leave me alone, man. I’m just looking at the view.”