The other worry was how I was going to make money now. Without Violeta, I had no one to sell the prescriptions to.

I squeezed Gabe’s hand. “We’re in this together now, okay?”

Gabe snatched his hand away from mine, stricken. “It’s not like I have a choice, do I?”

“No. That’s true. Neither of us has a choice now.”

“She has a kid, you know.”

I rubbed my temples, which were thudding. “Shit. Okay. Does she have any relatives? We can call anonymously—”

“Her kid is with Ben. Your brother, Ben. Do you have any idea what he’s going to do when he finds out? Oh shit…” Gabe thrust his hands into his hair, pulling the ponytail holder out and bending over the table, his sweaty blond hair falling in front of his face as he breathed rapidly.

I gaped at him. “Are you kidding? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Gabe laughed, but not a ha-ha laugh; no, a mean laugh, his dimples creasing around a twisted mouth, somehow looking ominous and cruel. “Ben didn’t want you to know he was involved. He doesn’t want to see you, sweetheart.”

That stung. I’d spent most of my life chasing my brother’s shadow, just wanting his love, to belong in his life, but he’d always turned away from me. “Why not?”

He stood and started pacing, his boots echoing on the aging wooden floors. “I don’t know. You know he’s never been the easiest to be around.”

“Why did you go to Ben? Of all the people in the world!”

“He was the only one I knew to ask about selling drugs. I told you. I’ve been out of that game for years! He said Vi could help.”

“You should’ve told me!”

Gabe slapped both hands on the table and leaned over, glaring at me. “At which point exactly was I supposed to stop everything and tell you that the woman you wanted to sell drugs with was your brother’s girlfriend!”

“At any point!” I snapped. “Maybe when she OD’d or when we were dragging her body up to the water or—”

“I guess maybe I wasn’t thinking clearly, okay?”

I opened my mouth, then snapped it shut. This wasn’t getting us anywhere. I took a deep breath.

“I thought Ben was in jail.”

“He was. He owed some money to this gang he’d been dealing for. He got caught and went to jail. When he got out last year, he moved out this way. He met Violeta and they started up this thing buying prescriptions and taking the girls around to get them filled.”

“Who do they sell the pills to? Who distributes them?”