“Could we talk?” Darren said. “It’s important.”

Jack widened the door and ushered the two men in. He wasn’t sure of the protocol of having Hank’s brother in his hotel room but the entreaty in his eyes was somehow enough to trust. How much Darren knew about what his brother had done to the boys on the ranch was a matter for Jack to speculate on, but the fact Darren had been the one to attempt to help Liam to leave the ranch scored him a few points.

“I’m real sorry to bother you,” Vaughn drawled. “But we have some things we’d like to talk about.”

”Is this something to do with the case?” He watched when Darren moved a little closer to Vaughn, just like he might move closer to Riley, seeking support and a connection. So that was the lay of the land, then. Darren held out his hand and Jack shook it.

“I know you have no reason to believe me,” Darren began, “but I want to help.”

Even though Jack shook Darren’s hand, he wasn’t convinced he should be doing so. “Are you sure we should be talking? The trial starts in two days.”

“This is important,” Vaughn said hurriedly. He stopped talking abruptly even though Darren sent him a look of support. Jack knew what Vaughn meant by important. Liam wasn’t just an employee but a friend and part of the D’s extended family.

Darren continued. “I’m Hank’s brother. I knew he wasn’t right in the head, have always known it. He hated the fact that I was gay, and our dad was a fucking bastard, told us both that only real men…” He stopped and all the energy appeared to leave him in a rush.

“Keep going,” Vaughn encouraged. Jack said nothing, just let the situation play out in front of him.

“I didn’t know about the others,” he said. “I only knew about Liam and you can’t understand what it was like… I…” Darren looked at Vaughn. “I was stupid, and hell, I spent as much time off the ranch as I could, at college, then working accounts anywhere else than my own family’s property…”

“What does this have to do with Liam’s case?” Jack asked. Did Darren know something that would affect Liam’s case? Something about his brother? Was he somehow guilty as well? Jack moved his gaze from Darren to Vaughn, who now had a hand possessively on Darren’s arm. Vaughn was one of the good guys, Jack was convinced of that after seeing the way he’d dealt with the attack on Liam at the D. Vaughn wouldn’t be with a man who he didn’t respect, surely.

Darren exhaled, then pulled back his shoulders and closed his eyes briefly. “I’ve been at the ranch. Most of the money has gone to Hank’s defense, what I’ve been left with is a pile of notes and promises. I’ve had to let staff go, we don’t have livestock, our horses are gone…”

Jack wished he could find sympathy. He would have normally for those not involved who were affected, but he was still in Liam’s headspace and was absolutely focused on the case.

Vaughn cleared his throat. “What Darren is trying to say is that he found a whole load of money paid out to a guy who is a private investigator.”

Jack didn’t have time to react when Darren jumped in immediately.

“Clinton Asprey, out of Laredo. He’s tracking down all this stuff… I got into the reports in the e-mails, and he says he’s got evidence saying that one of the boys was bought.” He stopped and looked at Vaughn for reassurance.

“Bought?” Jack knew what that implied. “You mean a prostitute? What does that have to do with this?”

“Reasonable doubt,” Vaughn said instantly. “I don’t understand it all, but Darren’s done some research…”

Darren took up the explanation. “And if this investigator goes on the witness stand and implies the boys were selling themselves, even if only one of them was, then there could be doubt as to the reasons why these young boys decided to stay on the ranch.”

Jack considered Darren’s words. “Or the judge and jury could dismiss it as a one-off.”

“That won’t happen,” Darren said a little desperately. “I know my brother, he’ll come over as this straight-up man who was taken advantage of and I did my research, this PI isn’t known to play by the rules. You need to tell someone and stop this. Talk to the young men that are for the prosecution, hell, I don’t know what to do, but I thought you should know.”

Jack hesitated. What could he do? If the prosecution had a witness suggesting that at least one of the boys that Hank was with was a call boy, would the jury look at the rest of them with distrust? And why was a kid even selling himself? Jack pushed back his instant hate that any young person would be in a position where they had to do that. He had to focus.

“I need all the information you have,” he said. He was all about the instinct to fight, but at this moment he needed the details to back it up.

Darren had obviously been expecting that, and he pulled a sheaf of documents from a bag he’d placed on the floor. He had copies of emails, photos, and handwritten reports.

“You need to leave this with me,” Jack said.

Darren disagreed. “I—we want to do something.”

Jack nodded, he understood the need to be active in this, but he had to be honest with Darren. “You need to stay well out of this. You’ve not been called as a character reference for your brother, nor someone to support the prosecution. You need to stay out of this completely.”

“What will you do?” Vaughn was all serious and focused and his hold on Darren had moved from a gentle touch to having his arm around Darren’s waist. Darren was leaning into Vaughn.

Jack wished he could say exactly what he was going to do, but he had no fucking idea where to start. Well, apart from one, but the state of Texas didn’t look favorably on murder.

“Let me think. Talk to the DA, I don’t know, but I promise you… I will fix this.”

Darren and Vaughn left, and as soon as Jack closed the door on them, he called Robbie who was a floor down in his own room. “I need you up here,” Jack said without introduction. Robbie said, “Yep,” and ended the call.

Together the two of them would fix this. They had to. There was no way that Hank Castille wasn’t going down for what he’d done to Liam and the other boys. No way.

When Jack answered the door, it wasn’t just Robbie, but Vaughn as well.

“I said you should go.”

Vaughn straightened. “You said Darren should go and I sent him home, and that’s a good call, but me? I’m part of whatever you’re doing here.”

Jack let the two men in. Robbie was confused, but Vaughn was focused and intent. Between them they could sort something out. They had to.

Before talking, though, he was phoning Riley and Jim, and he was gathering intel on this PI and what the hell he could have on any of the four young men hurt by Hank. Jack was nothing if not sure that you didn’t go into a situation unprepared. Fuck if Jack was letting this PI cause everything Liam had fought to face to disintegrate in a mess of doubt in the jury’s minds.

* * * * *

“Are you sure this is the address?” Robbie looked dubious. What they had pulled up in front of was a laundromat that had seen better days, and no actual note of house number. Jack glanced left and right and yes, this was the spot. After locking the car, they walked toward the laundromat, and it was Robbie that spotted the door to the side with the number they were looking for. 2234A. There was also a small sign “Clinton Asprey” but no indication of what Clinton Asprey did for a living.

“Let me do the talking,” Jack said as he tried the handle. The door was locked but the lock was so small and the door so wrecked that a judicious use of Jack’s broad shoulders had the door opening with a crack. Jack, Vaughn, and Robbie moved in quickly and pulled the door shut behind them. The area wasn’t the kind that looked to have citizens eager to call the cops, but Jack couldn’t be too careful.

They made it up the stairs and to another door. Jack hoped to hell that meant the noise of the front door wasn’t obvious. Who knew what kind of guy this Clinton Asprey was. He could be armed and they had officially just broken in.