Cam wasn’t ready to leave Bentley.

But she felt like she didn’t have a choice.

She gripped the steering wheel a little tighter and stared at the street just in front of her. She was pulled to the side of the road, right back in front of the convenience store with the hidden taco counter. After spending the last couple of hours driving aimlessly around town, she was almost ready to give up.

She’d gotten nowhere with Necco.

That wasn’t entirely true, she reminded herself. They’d talked, obviously, and she’d begged for his help.

But he hadn’t given it.

He wouldn’t commit to doing anything.

She knew he was spooked, and she understood why. He had every right to be. It was a big ask from her, and she knew that it was unrealistic to expect him to just jump right on board with her request. Life might be hard on the streets where Necco lived, but so would ratting out his friends and upending his life.

All she’d managed to get out of him was a lukewarm promise that he’d think about it. She’d tried hard to impress upon him that time was of the essence. She appealed to what she hoped was some sort of loyalty to Alex. And she played up, over and over again, how easy it would be for him to get out of town and start a brand-new life. A life that would hold far more promise than the one he was currently living.

Once they’d parted ways, she should have gone back to Travis’s house. But she didn’t. Instead, she drove the streets of the sad little town, dismayed at the boarded-up buildings and once quaint and charming homes now in disrepair. She chafed at the group of Hispanic youth gathered at a city park, their music blaring, strutting around like they owned the place.

They probably did, she realized grimly. It was probably their territory. The metal swings moved of their own accord in the crisp fall breeze, and it was like the ghosts of children past were in those seats, pumping their feet, trying to fly away from that desolate place.

Cam didn’t know what she was looking for. She didn’t have names of anyone else to talk to, or descriptions for that matter. Even if she did, it wasn’t as though she could just march on up and introduce herself, then start lobbing questions at them. These were gang members she was dealing with. She didn’t have a full rundown on La Gente’s history, but if Alex had been embedded with them for a while, it meant one thing: they weren’t just involved in small-time drug deals. Their ties ran deep. And so did their crimes.

She was sure they’d have no problem offing a strange woman who started asking too many questions.

She glanced at the clock on her dash. It was almost two o’clock.

She’d been gone for hours.

Guilt slammed into her.

She wondered what Alex was doing. How upset he was.

She should have called him back, at least told him what she was doing. There wasn’t any harm in that, especially with him holed up at Grandma’s place. But she knew how pissed he would be, and that was the driving force behind her not answering his calls and then, later, powering down her phone.

The logical part of her knew this had been the best approach to seeking out information. Alex couldn’t come. It was too dangerous. But Cam could. Her heart reminded her—constantly, it seemed—how her leaving would affect Alex. He would be angry, yes, but he would also be hurt. Hurt that she’d left him, but mostly hurt because she’d lied to him.

Cam sighed. She would deal with that later. Right now, she needed to get back to Travis Bingman’s house and see if she could coax any more information out of him.

Especially since Necco was looking like he might be a dead end.

She pulled out onto the road and pointed the car back toward Bingman’s. He lived about fifteen minutes away, just outside of the city limits. She would stop there and then head back to Aspen Falls and deal with the fallout of leaving Alex behind.

Flashing lights in her rearview mirror caught Cam’s attention. A police cruiser was quickly gaining on her, and her first instinct was to pull to the side of the road to let it pass. But she glanced at her speedometer and noticed she was a few miles over the speed limit.

She slowed and pulled over to the shoulder, near an intersection that looked to be the last one in town. The cruiser slowed as well, and her shoulders sagged in defeat.

“Dammit,” she muttered under her breath.

Five miles. She’s been going five miles over the limit. They never pulled people over in Aspen Falls for that slight of an infraction.

The police car pulled up next to her. A lone officer was in the car, and he rolled down the passenger window. “Let’s get off the main road here. Shoulder is narrow, and cars go barreling by.” Sunglasses shielded his eyes, so Cam couldn’t see his expression, but the frown on his face suggested he thought that was exactly what she had just done.

She nodded and shifted back into Drive. She drove through the intersection and parked along the side of the road. There was a massive, single-story building across the street, clearly out of operation. The parking lot was vacant, and the building sat dark and empty.

She turned off the engine and put both hands on the wheel. She knew the drill, knew what officers wanted to see during their traffic stops. Compliance. Non-threatening behavior. She also knew that, despite being law enforcement herself and understanding how to behave, the color of her skin could work against her.

The officer approached her car. “Afternoon,” he said briskly.

“Good afternoon.” She didn’t smile, but she didn’t frown, either.

“License and registration.”

“License is in my purse, and the registration is in the glove box,” she told him. “May I get them?”

He straightened and gave a quick nod.

She found her wallet and pulled out her license, then leaned over to the glove box and dug around for the car registration.

She handed both to the officer. “Do you want proof of insurance, too?”

He didn’t answer. He barely glanced at the two items she’d given him.

“I need you to step out of the vehicle.”

This time, Cam did frown. “Why?”

“Just step out of the vehicle, ma’am.”

“What did I do wrong?” she asked. “You’re pulling me over for a moving violation, right?”

He scowled. “Get out of the car now.”

Cam glared at him. She knew her rights. “I’m not getting out until you give me a reason why. You are legally required to tell me why you are stopping me.” Red-hot anger raged through her. “And I do not give you permission to search my vehicle.”

The officer yanked her door open. His hand closed around her arm.

“What the hell are you doing?” She tried to rip out of his grasp but he held firm, his fingers digging into her bare flesh.

“Get. Out,” he gritted out.

“No!”

He hauled her out of the car, slamming her onto the pavement. Her knees screamed in protest as the asphalt scraped them raw. The impact against her chest left her gasping for breath.

“What are you doing?” she managed to rasp out. “I’m a cop, dammit. I work for the Aspen Falls po—”

Something hard smashed against her skull and everything went black.