by Carolina Mac
Kamps help out his hand. “How interesting was it?”
Farrell pulled out his wallet and gave Kamps two Benjie’s.
The Blackmore Agency. Austin.
BLAINE’S cell lay beside him on the desk in his office. He liked to check the screen before answering. “Farrell, did Kamps show up?”
“Get an address for this guy, bro. Romeo Gaza. See if we can match him to the asshole Mom clocked.”
“Doing it now. Where are you?”
“On my way to pick you up.”
Ten minutes later they were on their way to a rowhouse six blocks away from the Agency. “This asshole is almost our neighbor,” said Farrell.
“And he’s icing people for five hundred bucks?”
“Kamps said there was talk about his prices.”
Blaine chuckled. “There would be. He’s having a fuckin sale on murder for hire.”
Farrell parked at the curb and they stood on the sagging porch and knocked. “Mr. Gaza, this is the police. Open the door.”
A dog barked on the other side of the door.
“Sounds like a Pitbull,” said Farrell. “The sound they make before they rip your fuckin leg off.”
“Got any biscuits?”
Farrell felt in his pocket. “Two.”
“Hope two is enough.”
The door opened and surprised them. “Police.” Blaine held up his creds and the lady looked straight past him. “Romeo Gaza live here?”
“He does, but he didn’t come home last night, and I don’t know where he is.”
“Are you his mother?” asked Blaine.
“Yes.” She hung onto the harness of her guide dog.
“Would you mind if we took a look at Romeo’s room? It won’t take long.”
“What are you looking for?”
“Umm… health insurance information. Your son is in the hospital.”
“No. What happened to Romeo?”
“He was wounded, but he’ll be fine.”
“I need him to come home. I can’t go out on my own.”
“Could you tell me which room is his?”
“The back room off the kitchen. I hope you find what you need.”
Farrell opened the door and the room was a mess. Dirty clothes all over and racing forms piled high on the dresser. The sheets on the bed looked like they’d been there since Romeo moved out of his crib into a single bed. The room reeked of weed and body odor.
Blaine checked under the pillow and found a cell phone. “This could be it. Looks like a burner.”
“Want anything else?” Farrell glanced around at the mess.
“Don’t think I can stay that long,” Blaine whispered.
“I’m with you.”
As they made their way to the door, Blaine said, “Mrs. Gaza, I’m going to send someone from Social Services to help you until your son gets home. A lady will help you get groceries and anything you need.”
“Would she?”
“Uh huh. I’ll take care of it.”
“Thank you, sir.”
AT QUITTING TIME, the boys came in for a beer and gave their reports.
Travis told Blaine about finding the guns and money in Roberto Santos’ basement. “Robbery detail is contacting his unit. The investigation will probably come from the military.”
“Good work. I could feel there was something about him.”
Farrell gave details on finding the burner phone. “Now all we need is for the lab to link the phones together and Maria Rivera is toast.”
“Along with the shooter,” said Blaine.
Farrell grinned. “Yeah, along with the shooter.”
The crew went home for the day and Farrell got a Lone Star for himself and a Corona for Blaine.
“As soon as Annie brings Avery home, we’ll all go out for dinner,” said Blaine. “I told her to bring Neil too.”
“Aces,” said Farrell. “Don’t know when I’ve been this happy.”
I sincerely hope you enjoyed Hole in the Heart, book thirteen in the Blackmore Agency Series. If you would like to continue to book fourteen in the series, Dead Eye, I’ve included some pages to get you started.
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Author Notes from Carolina:
The Blackmore Series is continuing and as of this date, no end is in sight. New characters come and go, but the familiar ones remain. I enjoy hearing your suggestions and your criticisms of the characters you love and the ones you don’t love so much.
A special thank you to the fans who take the time to reach out and share their ideas, support, and opinions. You know who you are, Holly, Lynn, June, Dorothy, Shelley, Diane, Wendy, Shirley and Freda, Jerry, Dawn, Alice, Billy and Melinda, Jim and Gayle, Ava, Terry, Renee, Dolly, Tammy, and Celestia to name a few.
Any mistakes in any of my books are mine and mine alone.
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The Regulators, Quantrall, and Blackmore series’ are best enjoyed if read in order.
Regulator Series:
Lily
Bad Beat
Panama Annie
Coulter
Searching for Billy
End of an Era
Wingman
Triple Homicide
The Foundation
Hotline
Powell
Quantrall Series:
Quantrall
Ink Minx
Ray Jay
Blacky
The Coven
You Forgot to say Goodbye
Payback
Rags to Rage
The Corner Office
Race
Coma
No Defense
Full Circle
The Blackmore Agency Series:
Double Down
Splitting Aces
Dead Man’s Hand
Drawing Dead
Under the Gun
Rivered
The Turn
Final Table
Cat
Dog
Vigilance
Mystere
Hole in the Heart
Dead Eye
Paradise Park Series:
Paradise Park
Return to Paradise
Paradise Sparks
Alone in Paradise
Together in Paradise
Prisoner in Paradise
CHAPTER ONE
Monday, May 25th.
Memorial Day.
JESSE pulled back the curtain and stared out the bedroom window at the gray day and the unending rain. The depression that had been dogging him since the end of his marriage bloomed anew. “Don’t rain today. Today is Ace’s Memorial Day picnic. It can’t rain.”
Walking down the long upstairs hallway in the Quantrall mansion, Tyler heard his brother talking to himself in his room and joined him at the window. “What are you mumbling about?”
“It’s pissing rain on Ace’s picnic.”
“It never rains in Texas on Memorial Day,” said Tyler. “Never.”
Jesse tapped a finger on the window. “What do you call that?”
“Temporary,” said Tyler. “By three o’clock the sun will be out.” Tyler turned away from the window and headed for the door. “I hear Charity. I’ll get her up.”
“I hope you’re right about the rain, bro. If you’re wrong, there’s gonna be a lot of disappo
inted people.”
And I’m gonna be at the head of the line.
The Blackmore Agency. Austin.
BLAINE poured himself a coffee, picked up his cell and called the ranch. “Mom, it’s raining like a bitch here in the city. What’s it like there?”
“Same. Rosie and I are cooking our asses off and Riley is busy getting the meat ready for the barbeque, but it doesn’t look promising. The weather guy said it was going to rain for the next three days straight.”
“Shit, I hope not. People kill each other when it rains.”
Annie giggled. “But not when the sun is shining?”
“Not so much.”
“I’m going ahead with the food anyway. If it comes down to it, I’ll set the band up in the great room and serve the food in the dining room. Instead of outdoor stuff, we’ll have a big poker game and stay inside.”
“As long as you’re not cancelling.”
“I can’t cancel, sugar pop. A ton of food is already made and in the fridge, and all the boys are hyped for the holiday. We have to have a party even if it’s indoors.”
“Farrell’s freaking because he wanted everybody to meet Avery. I’m surprised how hard he’s going down on that score.”
“I could tell he’s in deep, but I’m happy for him just the same,” said Annie, “I’ve had her here working in the barn the past two weeks and she’s a hard worker and excellent with the horses. Wayne and Monroe both like her a lot and that’s the hard part to get past. They’re picky about who touches their horses.”
Old West Austin.
LAURA MAY stood in front of the bay window watching the rain come down. “Not a nice Memorial Day Weekend,” she said to Plato. A lot of picnics will be cancelled. She stroked the head of the huge Rag Doll reclining on the arm of the sofa and listened to him purr. “I’d better water these plants before I forget.”
It took four trips back and forth from the lush garden in the bay window to the kitchen sink to fill the green watering can. The last drops were quenching the thirst of a huge Oleander when the doorbell rang. “One moment,” Laura called as she wiped her hands on her apron. She replaced the empty watering can and hurried to the foyer to answer the door. “Oh, it’s you, dear. Did you forget your key?”
He nodded and tracked wet boots onto the spotless front hall floor.
Laura stared down at the mess and tried her best not to scold him. “How did it go?”
“No problems, Aunt Laura. I knew there wouldn’t be.”
She leaned down and gave the boy a hug. “Take off those wet boots and come into the kitchen. I’ll make you a sandwich.”
Laura gazed across the table at her nephew. He was the image of her sister and such a sweet boy. He was in high school now, a teenager and not a speck of trouble. It seemed like only yesterday, her sister had decided not to live any longer and had given little Todd to her to raise.
Too bad he watched his mother do it. Too bad.
I closed my bedroom door and wanted to lock it but thought better of it. Aunt Laura would ask too many questions if she found it locked. The bottoms of my jeans were soaked where they’d dragged through the wet grass on Sarah Walsh’s lawn.
While my computer booted up I crossed Sarah’s name off the list pinned to my bulletin board and counted how many were left. Thirteen.
Why didn’t people return their library books?
Coulter-Ross Ranch. La Grange.
THE RAIN came down in torrents as the guests arrived at Coulter-Ross at three o’clock. Annie had the granite island covered in trays of hot and cold snacks and Neil was ready with coolers filled with beer on ice.
“They’re gonna make a mess of the clean tiles,” said Neil. “I’d better get a mop ready.”
Annie smiled at her son and knew she’d lucked out in the son department. All of her boys were winners. “I thought you were thinking of inviting someone to the picnic, sugar pop.”
“I was,” said Neil. “She’s nice and she lives in Austin, but I thought it might be a bit much to bring her to a picnic this big when she didn’t know anybody.”
“Farrell’s bringing Avery.”
“I like her,” said Neil.”
Annie raised an eyebrow. “You said that a little fast, sweetheart. Do you have a concern?”
“Don’t want Farrell’s heart to get broke, Mom. You know what he’s like. He’ll hold on to it forever if it happens. Do not want to see it.”
“Me neither,” said Annie. “Your brother is as sensitive as they come.”
“And he brought a girl he hardly knows home to live with him,” said Neil. “Is that the way you’re supposed to do it?”
“You have to be pretty sure she’s the one before you do something like that,” said Annie. “Your brother must have been sure. He doesn’t take many chances.”
“No, you’re right, Mom. He must be sure.”
Dressed in a white cotton dress and wearing only a small part of her turquoise jewelry collection, Annie zipped into the foyer to greet the guests.
All of the Quantrall brothers had arrived together, her ex-husband, Jesse, her ex-boyfriend, Tyler, and even Brian, the doctor, who hadn’t been speaking to her for a long while. Annie greeted them with love and affection and took the baby from Jesse—her baby. The baby girl she’d wanted to raise when Jesse walked out of their marriage.
Some wounds never heal.
BLAINE drove through the gate in the downpour and wondered about parking close enough to the house, so Misty wouldn’t get soaked. She was making progress with her walking, but the rain was coming down in sheets and she definitely couldn’t run.
“I don’t want you to get soaked, sweetheart.”
“I can hold an umbrella over her,” said Avery.
“I’ll carry her,” said Farrell. “Be quicker.”
Misty shook her blonde curls and said nothing. She’d suffered damage to her larynx during an abduction and she hadn’t spoken since.
“Let’s wait until it lets up a little,” said Blaine. “Carm will get drenched too.”
A minute later, Neil stood grinning beside Blaine’s truck with a huge blue and white golf umbrella. He helped the ladies out of the truck and walked them to the covered porch. Problem solved.
Annie rushed into the foyer to hug the new round of arrivals. She welcomed the women into the kitchen and watched Neil charm them. He made them laugh and plied them all with glasses of their favorite wines.
Blaine hadn’t even made it to the kitchen door when his cell rang. He pulled it off his belt and glanced at the screen. “Nope, I’m not answering it. This is my Mom’s picnic and crime can go to hell.” He strode into the kitchen and helped himself to a Corona out of the Sub-Zero.
The Chief will call back if it’s serious. Give me a goddam minute.
His partner, Jesse Quantrall, strode down the hall from the family room with a look on his face and his phone in his hand. “Chief said you weren’t answering, partner. We got a call.”
“Yeah? Who’s dead or mutilated beyond recognition?”
Jesse smirked. “A corpse is reclining on the front lawn of the Governor’s mansion.”
“Let homicide have it. Lopez needs it more than me.”
Jesse chuckled. “Catherine wants you.”
Blaine raised his boot to kick the Sub-Zero and thought better of it. “Of course, she does.”
