“Can you imagine the promotion I’d get if I took down the Gallos?”

“Yeah,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Can’t believe nobody’s tried before.”

Schultz ignores my sarcasm. “The key to Enzo Gallo is his sons. Not Dante—he’s too careful. Not Sebastian—he’s not even a gangster. It’s Nero. That reckless, vengeful little shit. He’s the weak point of the family.”

Schultz has forgotten about Aida. Or he figures she’s too well-protected by the Griffins these days.

“I don’t know if I’d call Nero a ‘weak point,’ ” I say.

“Why?”

“He’s smarter than you think. He got one of the highest scores in the school on the ACTs. His grades were shit because he never handed in any assignments.”

“See,” Schultz says softly. “You do know him.”

“I know he’s a total psychopath. Asking me to get close to him is like asking me to cozy up with a rattlesnake. He gets one hint that something’s up, and he’ll stab me in a heartbeat.”

“Better not fuck it up, then,” Schultz says coldly.

He doesn’t give a shit what happens to me. I’m a tool. And not even a very valuable one. Not an air compressor or a fancy impact wrench—I’m just a cheap plastic funnel. Easily replaced.

“Now,” Schultz says, sitting back against the fence enclosing the little outdoor dining area. “Tell me more about Levi.”

I take a deep breath, almost relieved to be off the subject of Nero.

“I went to his place today to get some more product. What do you want me to do with that, by the way?”

“Let’s see it,” Schultz says.

I hand him the paper bag. He looks inside, pulling out one of the pills. It’s small and yellow, shaped like a school bus, just like the ones he took out of Vic’s backpack.

Schultz smiles. Apparently, he’s pleased that Levi’s supply is so uniform.

“I’ll take these,” Schultz says. He counts out a dozen, slips them into a plastic Ziploc, and hands it back to me. “Keep a few, so you can sell them at parties when Levi’s watching.”

I stare at him. “Isn’t that illegal?”

“Obviously.”

“But you don’t give a shit about people taking Molly. Not really.”

Schultz snorts. “I don’t give a shit about minnows when I’m hunting for sharks.”

I stuff the baggie in my pocket. “I need cash for the others,” I tell him. “Levi expects me to bring back ten bucks a pill.”

“He’s ripping you off,” Schultz laughs.

“Yeah, no shit. He’s got me over a barrel, thanks to you.”

“That sounds fun,” Schultz smirks. “Having you over a barrel.”

God, he makes me want to puke.

“I don’t have the money to cover it,” I insist.

“Fine.” Schultz pulls out a bill clip and counts out the money. “Pay him with this. But make sure you wait long enough that he’ll think you really sold the Molly.”

I take the folded bills. It’s weird that a cop is carrying around that much cash.

Schultz is wearing street clothes again. I’ve only seen him in uniform that one time, when he pulled me over. I’m guessing this is how he usually dresses, and he was just wearing the uniform for effect that night. To intimidate me.

He’s obviously been watching Levi for a while. I don’t think it was a coincidence that he pulled me over.

“Did you follow me from Levi’s house?” I ask him.

Schultz cocks his head to the side, smiling.

“What do you mean?” he says.

“Were you waiting for me, after the party?”

“I was waiting for someone,” he says. “Someone I could use.”

Just my shitty luck that it happened to be me.

“You probably know as much as I do about the people in Levi’s house,” I say.

“Tell me anyway.”

I take a breath, trying to remember it all exactly. “There’s a big Samoan dude who acts like his bodyguard or something. He’s the one that went and got the drugs.”

Schultz nods. “Sione,” he says.

“Then there were five or six other people in the living room.”

“Which was it? Five? Or six?”

I close my eyes, trying to picture the room again.

“Five,” I say. “A girl named Ali Brown—she went to school with me. I don’t think she works for Levi or anything. It looked like she was just there to get high. Or maybe they’re dating.”

Schultz nods. He might have seen her already.

“Then there was Levi. And three other dudes. One was named Pauly.”

That was the asshole who was talking about my mom. My face colors again, remembering it. I used to get so much shit about her when I was in school. Then she disappeared five years ago. It took me a while to notice—seeing as she never called me much anyway.

“What was the other guy’s name?” Schultz says.

“I don’t know.”

“Anything else?”

I try to remember.

“Levi must keep the drugs somewhere on the main level. Sione went out of the room to get them, but I didn’t hear him climbing the stairs. I don’t know who makes the Molly, though. I asked Levi where it comes from, and he didn’t tell me anything. Basically said to mind my own business.”

“Well, don’t be so obvious,” Schultz says. “Figure it out another way.”

He expects me to do his job for him. Except that I have zero training and no desire to do any of this. I feel sleazy just for mentioning Ali’s name. I don’t want to get her in trouble. She didn’t do anything to me.

“I think Ali was just stopping by,” I say again. “She didn’t do anything wrong.”

Schultz shakes his head at me.

“These people are criminals and lowlifes,” he says. “Don’t try to protect them.”

That pisses me off. What makes him think he’s better than them? I bet he’s done all kinds of shady shit in the line of duty. It’s not “moral” vs “immoral.” It’s just a bunch of people on two opposing teams.

I’ve been drafted for Schultz’s team. But I don’t like being there. I don’t want to play the game at all, for either side.

“I better go,” I say, getting ready to leave.

“Keep in touch,” Schultz reminds me.

As we both stand, he grabs my arm, saying, “Hold on.”

He brushes his thumb over my cheekbone, under my right eye. I have to force myself not to flinch away.

“You had an eyelash there,” he says, smirking.

Right. I just bet there was.

When I get back to the apartment, I see my dad’s door still firmly shut. It’s almost two o’clock in the afternoon, and it doesn’t look like he’s left the room. The only mug on the table is the one I used this morning.

I can hear him moving around, at least. But he’s coughing again.

“Dad?” I call out. “I’m home.”

No answer.

I grab my mug and set it in the sink, running water to rinse out the coffee dregs.