She was lying and using useless information to try to distract me. When you were a part of the underworld like I was, with strategic training in detecting deception from the military, you could spot a lie a mile away. It was too fucking bad I couldn’t tell when Megan’s ass was lying, though.
Although I didn’t probe Miss Hudson for answers, I fully intended to keep an eye on her.
My next stop was to the other address D had given me. After a group of kids pointed out Laura Parker to me, I didn’t approach her immediately. I took a moment to snoop around the center a bit.
Laura, unlike Beverly, didn’t hide her disdain for me. Once she spotted me roaming inside her building, she stepped away from the group of kids she’d been talking to and approached me. She folded her arms over her small curvy frame and stepped in front of me.
“Can I help you?” she asked after rolling her eyes so smoothly, I’d almost missed it.
I fed Laura the same story I’d given Beverly Hudson, and Laura didn’t even bother glancing at my badge when I flashed it.
“I don’t know who donates the money and even if I did, lawfully, I don’t have to tell you jack.”
No amount of charm I thought I had would ever work on this woman. Laura was trouble, I could see it on her pursed lips, raised eyebrow, and on that I’ll-fuck-up-your-world-white-boy expression she showed me.
Laura Parker and Beverly Hudson weren’t going to voluntarily tell me a damn thing. They were getting a substantial amount of donated money to keep the doors of their centers open, but neither woman claimed to know who the funds came from directly.
After encountering the women, I intended to stick around Texas. My gut was telling me that Megan was somehow connected to these women or this area, and I was going to find out how.