“I know—but I never . . . when I got involved in this, I thought it would be a one-time deal. And I never expected anyone to get hurt.”

“I don’t think hurt comes close to describing what happened to Stephanie and her boyfriend, do you?”

“No.” His response came out in a choked whisper.

“I’ll let you get home.” Zeke rose.

“It’s not much of a home these days.”

“It’s better than the one Stephanie and her boyfriend have.”

The man winced, as if he was in physical pain.

Tough.

People who covered their butts at the expense of others didn’t deserve to be cut any slack.

Fischer left the office, head bowed.

Zeke closed the door behind him, circled back around his desk, and pulled out his cell. Hesitated. He had to let Cate know about the confirmed link between their cases—but that was best done in person.

A brief student-teacher conference after Spanish class this afternoon would give him an opportunity to pass on the news.

In the meantime, a call to his handler was top priority. Now that he had pickup dates, they needed all hands on deck for the takedown. Every dealer they’d identified, the people who showed up here on Wednesday night, and Jackson Jones had to be rounded up simultaneously.

And once Jones was in custody, they’d use every available legal means to convince him to share the name of the man who called the shots for one of the largest drug rings in the St. Louis area.

“Hey . . . are you ever going to tell me what’s going on?” Cate stopped beside Kayla’s desk as the other girl stowed her book after Spanish class. “You hardly talked this morning while we were getting dressed, and you wouldn’t eat breakfast with me.”

“I wasn’t hungry.”

“Are you sick?”

“No. Upset. Trying to figure out what to do.” She looped the strap of her backpack over her shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“Forget it—but I wish you’d let me help. Maybe between the two of us, we could come up with a plan of attack for whatever the issue is.”

“No. It might be nothing more than a misunderstanding, and I don’t want to ruin a relationship over a wrong interpretation. I don’t have all that many friends as it is. I want to think it through a little more.”

“If it could be a simple misunderstanding, why don’t you talk to this person? Clear the air? Open communication can solve a host of problems.”

As the advice left her mouth, Cate curbed an eye roll.

Like she was such an expert on opening up.

Since being burned by Zeke, she hadn’t communicated with anyone other than her sisters about personal subjects—and even they weren’t privy to all her secrets.