“But you do have it?”
Pauly Keevers wasted no time getting to the point of the clandestine meeting. His eyes gleamed in the darkness, his face taut and tense with nerves or excitement. Austin couldn’t decide which the snitch was feeling. He wasn’t sure it even mattered. One way or another, he planned to get what he’d come for.
“Only if you have the information we agreed to exchange it for.”
“Let me see the cash. Then we’ll talk.”
“You don’t hold all the cards here, Pauly, and we’re going to do things my way,” Austin responded.
“Hey, I’m willing to play it your way. I just want to make sure this is worth my time.”
“It is.” Austin flipped open the narrow briefcase he and Slade had filled with cash just an hour ago. Twelve thousand dollars was a lot of money to pay for information that might lead nowhere, but it wasn’t much at all if it led to Don Frist or Rio.
“Wow-wee, Detective. That sure is a pretty pile of cash. I’m glad you came prepared to deal.” Pauly whistled under his breath.
The Lost Woods rustled behind him, dozens of animal eyes staring out from the shadowy underbellies of the trees. Pauly didn’t seem to notice. He was too busy eyeing the money in the case. Probably trying to count it.
“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t. Now, how about you give me the information, so that we can make our exchange, and we can both be on our way?” Austin snapped the briefcase closed, and Pauly flinched.
“Okay, but remember, you didn’t hear this from me. As a matter of fact, you never even spoke to me.”
“Isn’t that the way it always works?”
“Yeah, but this time it has to work even better. I don’t want anyone knowing. Not cops. Not friends. No one.”
“No problem.”
“Okay, then. Here’s the deal. There’s a crime syndicate working under the radar in Sagebrush. Been there for years, pulling jobs like that big bank heist a few years back. You remember the one? A hundred thousand dollars stolen?”
“I remember.” Austin hadn’t worked the case, but he’d known about it. A teller had been murdered during the robbery, and the local news had run the story for weeks.
“I don’t know much about the syndicate, but the guy who runs it is called The Boss. Rinehart worked for him. So does Frist.”
“You know an awful lot about an organization you’re not involved in,” Austin said as he ran through the details in his mind. So far, everything Keevers said coincided with what they knew.
“I know what I hear, and I’ve been hearing things for years. I hear about a drug deal and The Boss is mentioned. Bank robberies are mentioned, and The Boss’s name is whispered. The guy has been throwing money around and using it to grab more money.”
“Be more specific, Pauly. I can’t go anywhere with hints and vague references.”
“You got a pen?” Pauly didn’t wait for Austin to pull out his notebook. He started listing several major crimes that had never been solved. Bank heists, murders, pharmaceutical thefts.
“Are you sure this is all related to The Boss?”
“As sure as I am that you’re standing in front of me with a boatload of cash.”
“If he’s got so much money to throw around, why aren’t you working for him?” Austin eyed Pauly, wondering if the information was something fabricated to throw Sagebrush P.D. off Frist’s tail.
“No way would I get involved in a scheme with a guy like The Boss. Not even if he paid me a hundred times what you’ve got in that case.”
“I thought you’d do anything for cash.”
“Not deal with a guy like him. He has a reputation for making sure people don’t talk. The way I hear things, he’d kill his own mother if she got in the way of something he wanted.”
“I’m guessing you know a few people who got in his way,” Austin prodded.
“Ernie Billows for one,” Pauly confirmed with a nod. “Look what happened to him and that pretty wife of his.”
“You’re saying The Boss killed them?”
“Had them killed. I don’t think The Boss likes to get his hands dirty.”
“Why kill Ernie?”
“Guy was threatening to go to the police with some syndicate names if he didn’t get paid more for a job he’d done. The Boss made sure that he didn’t get the chance.”
“Any idea who the hit man was?”
“I have an idea, but it’ll cost you more.”
“Then how about you just tell me about Rio. Where is he?”
“That, I can’t tell you. I do know this. The Boss hired Frist and Rinehart to take the captain’s dog. I heard that straight from the horse’s mouth.”
“Which horse?”
“Rinehart. A couple hours after the dog was taken, I was behind Arianna’s Café finishing up a deal. You know the place?”
“Yeah.” Austin didn’t ask what kind of deal it was. Knowing Pauly it could have been anything from exchanging information to exchanging drugs for money.
“So, I’m back there and I hear someone coming. Thought it might be one of your guys, so I hid behind the Dumpster. That’s when I realize it’s Rinehart and Frist. Both are steaming mad and arguing over finishing some job they’ve been paid to do. Frist says he wants nothing to do with it. He’s done. Rinehart says that he’d better not cross The Boss or he’ll wake up on the wrong side of eternity. Frist says that he got the dog, and that’s all he was paid to do.”
“And?”
“That’s it. I didn’t hear anything else, and I didn’t put two and two together until I heard the story about the missing dog and the missing kid. That’s when I figured that they must have been talking about nabbing Rio and finishing off the job by getting rid of the boy.”
“You should have been a police detective, Pauly.”
“Funny. Now, how about my money?”
“Not yet. Why does The Boss want Rio?”
“I hear that he lost something really valuable out here in the wilderness, and the captain’s dog is the only one who can find it. Now, how about that cash?”
“One more thing before I hand it over to you, Pauly... Where’s Frist?”
“That I can’t help you with. He’s still in town. I know that, but he’s lying low. Don’t know if he’s more afraid of The Boss or the police. Probably The Boss. If I were him, I would be.” He shuffled his feet impatiently. “Now, the money, Detective? We did have a deal, after all.”
Austin knew Pauly well enough to know they were finished. He wouldn’t get any more information out of the snitch, and that suited Austin just fine. Slade and the rest of the K-9 Unit were back at the station waiting for Austin to return with the information, and he was anxious to bat the stuff around a little. See what they could make of it.
“It’s yours.” He thrust the briefcase into Pauly’s waiting hands.
“And there may be more if you get Rio back, right? You find the dog because of something I told you, I get the 25K reward. That’s what you said on the phone, and I’m holding you to it.”
“See you, Pauly.”
“Now, wait a minute, Detective,” Pauly sputtered.
Austin ignored him.
He had bigger fish to fry.
He climbed into his SUV, mulling over Pauly’s words.
A crime syndicate made sense and meshed with what the K-9 Unit had already begun to suspect. Like every other city, there’d been crime in Sagebrush over the years. No one had ever connected any of it to an organized effort, though.
But there was something bigger going on.
The bank heists alone had netted someone close to a million dollars.
Austin wanted to know who that someone was, and he wanted to see him taken down.
He would see him taken down.
Now that they knew what they were dealing with, the Special Operations K-9 Unit would respond the way they always had. They’d come together, work toward the common goal, and eventually, they’d put The Boss behind bars where h
e belonged.
The first step to doing that was finding Frist.
They had to track him down and keep Brady safe while they were doing it. From the sound of things, The Boss wasn’t eager for them to succeed. He’d sent Frist and Rinehart to silence Brady, and that hadn’t worked.
Would he come after Brady himself if Frist were taken into custody?
Based on everything Austin knew, he didn’t think so. The kingpin of a crime syndicate didn’t get where he was by being stupid. Brady was the sole witness to Rio’s theft. The only people at the scene had been Rinehart and Frist. Once both men were out of the picture, there would be no need to dispose of the boy, because he wasn’t an inherent threat to The Boss.
He was still a threat to Frist, though.
The guy must be in panic mode, trying to find the quickest way out of the trouble he was in.
Austin frowned, glancing at the clock on the dashboard. It was late. Just past two, but he knew Eva would be up studying. He shouldn’t call.
But knew he would, anyway.
He waited until he reached the police station, then dialed her number.
She picked up on the first ring.
“Hello?” she said, her voice breathless.
“Did I wake you?”
“No. I was studying.”
“I thought you would be,” he said softly.
“Just like I thought you’d be the only one who’d call my cell phone at this time of the night.”
“You mean aside from your crank caller?”
“I haven’t gotten one call from him since yesterday.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. We were able to track the cell signal to a prepaid phone that someone threw in a trash can downtown.”
“Any fingerprints on it?” she asked eagerly.
“You’re getting pretty good at this detective stuff, Eva.”
“Hardly.” She laughed, but he could hear the tension in her voice. “What are you really calling about, Austin?”
“I’m worried about you and Brady.”
“Haven’t you always been?”
“Yes, but things feel different tonight.”
She released a sharp breath. “Because you met with the snitch?”
“Yes.”
“I guess you’re not going to tell me anything that he said?”
“I can’t. Just be careful, okay? Stay inside. Don’t make yourself or Brady an easy target.”
“I’m going to take that to mean that you’re no closer to finding Frist?”
“We’re not, but he’s not the only one I’m worried about,” Austin admitted. “There may be something bigger going on than we first thought, and there may be some very dangerous people who are willing to play for keeps.”
“You mean Rinehart and Frist aren’t?”
“I mean they weren’t the ones calling the shots.”
“Be careful, then, Austin. I’d hate for anything to happen to you.”
“The feeling is mutual.”
“And keep me posted about Frist, okay? Brady is going stir-crazy being locked up inside all the time.”
“What about you? Are you going stir-crazy, too?”
“With my crazy schedule? Hardly.”
“Too bad,” he murmured.
“Why do you say that?”
“I was going to offer to come over after my meeting and take you for a walk in your backyard.”
She snickered softly. “That sounds...dangerous.”
“You and me and a moonlit night? It definitely would be.”
“What moon? It’s about to rain.” She laughed, the sound husky and warm. He felt it to his core, imagined her hair sliding through his fingers, the feel of her lips against his.
Soft.
That’s how she’d felt in his arms, and he wanted more of it. More of her.
“If it rains, we’ll just sit inside and have some coffee. I can even help you study.”
“That sounds even more dangerous.”
“Then maybe we’d better wait until the sun comes up,” Austin suggested, and Eva wasn’t sure if she was more relieved or disappointed.
“Tomorrow, then? I have the day off.” And Brady would be awake and a welcome distraction. Definitely a good thing when it came to being around Austin.
“Sure. I’ll be there around ten. See you then.”
She smiled as she hung up, because that’s what Austin did to her. Made her comfortable and happy in a way she hadn’t been in a very long time.
She shoved her cell phone into the pocket of her jeans, grabbed the book that she’d been studying and turned off the living-room light. Talking to Austin had been the perfect end to her day, and she was ready for some sleep.
She changed into pajamas and walked into Brady’s room, standing over his bed and touching his soft hair as she prayed for him. From the day he was born, all she’d wanted was to give him the life he deserved. It’s what she’d been working toward for years. She’d wanted her love for her son to be her focus, wanted him to always feel secure and safe in her heart. She’d worried that bringing a man into her life would change what she’d worked so hard to build.
Truth was, Austin had changed things.
He’d made them better, his presence opening the world up for Brady, giving him a taste of what it meant to have an honorable man in his life.
But what if it didn’t work out?
What if the things she and Austin felt were fleeting rather than permanent?
Could she risk Brady’s heart?
Did she even have a choice anymore?
Brady loved Austin and Justice. Eva saw that every time the two showed up to babysit and every time they left. No matter what happened between her and Austin, that bond had to be maintained.
She sighed, touching Brady’s hair one last time before leaving the room.
Maybe this was what faith meant—plunging headfirst into the water without knowing how deep it was, trusting that no matter what, things were going to be okay.
Letting go of the past to grab on to an unknown future.
She’d always thought that she couldn’t do any of those things because of Brady. Now she thought that she must do those things because of him.
She went to the living-room window, pulled back the curtains and stared out into the night, her thoughts spinning so fast that she knew she’d never fall asleep.
Since her parents’ murders, she’d had her life planned out. She’d made sure that everything went according to that plan. No veering from the course she’d set. No getting distracted or taking the chance that she’d make a mistake. She’d been sure that was the way God wanted it, had convinced herself of that.
Maybe she’d been wrong.
Maybe all this time, all this fighting to make things be the way she’d thought they should be had gotten in the way of allowing God to make things into what they were meant to be.
Her chest burned with the thought, her mind going back to the kiss she and Austin had shared mere hours ago. The heat of it had lingered long after he’d gone, but it had been the comfort he’d offered when she’d cried that Eva would never forget. The sweetness of his words, the gentleness of his hands, the comfort of his arms. She’d wanted to stay there forever. Such a foolish longing, but it hadn’t felt foolish. It had felt like finally coming home.
Rain began to fall, splashing against the window and roof, sliding into puddles on the ground. She really needed to go to bed. She really did, but she stood for a moment longer, staring out into the night, imagining a future with Austin in it.
Something shifted in the darkness, a shadow moving along the sidewalk, heading toward the police cruiser parked beneath the streetlight.
A dog?
No. A child. Very small. Maybe three or four. Out in the rain. Alone. Shocked, Eva ran to the door, turned off the alarm, was almost down the porch steps when the patrol officer got out of his car.
“Go on back inside,” he called. “I’ll check things—” He crumbled
to the ground, his body a heap of dark cloth and pale skin.
She ran toward him, heard a soft pop, fell back, breath gone. Thoughts gone.
Get up. Get in the house. Get to Brady.
She struggled to her feet, stumbled up the porch stairs. Footsteps pounding behind her. On pavement. On grass.
Go!
She fell into the house, red streaking the white door as she fumbled with the lock. Blood pounding in her ears, sliding down her arm. Head swimming as the lock finally found its home.
Something slammed into the door, the impact reverberating through the wood. Through Eva. She scrambled back, blood dripping onto hardwood, staining the receiver as she lifted the phone and dialed 911.
TWENTY-ONE
Please, God, let me get there in time. The prayer screamed through Austin’s mind, matching the screeching frenzy of sirens as he raced down Oak Street. He had to make it in time. There was no other option. No other acceptable outcome.
Please, God.
He pulled the SUV into Eva’s driveway, his blood running cold as he jumped from the vehicle, saw the door hanging open. No alarm. Eva must have turned it off at some point.
Please.
“Austin! Hold up!” Slade shouted, but he didn’t wait. Couldn’t. Not with Brady and Eva’s lives hanging in the balance.
He entered the house silently, easing in through the open door. Darkness. Silence. No sign of a struggle. Nothing but wet footprints tracking across hardwood. Drops of blood on Eva’s throw rug. His pulse raced, but he moved slowly, following the sound of rain and wind into the kitchen and the open back door. Something lay in the threshold. Brady’s little stuffed dog. Austin left it and walked into the yard. More darkness, rain splattering onto the wet grass, the sound hushed and expectant.
Someone called out, the cry cut off abruptly.
Austin pivoted, running in the direction of the sound. Around the side of the house, skidding to a stop as he caught sight of dark shadows writhing on the ground.
“Freeze!” he shouted, but he didn’t pull his firearm. Couldn’t risk a shot when he didn’t know where one person began and the other ended.
“Austin!” Brady called, and every muscle in Austin’s body tensed, every nerve jumping as he turned, saw the little boy running toward him, bare feet splashing in puddles, pajamas clinging to his skinny frame.
Tracking Justice (Texas K-9 Unit) Page 17
