Slaughter (The Agency: Young Guns Book 5), page 12
The last time the feds had brought a profiler to Texas to muck about in one of their cases, a young girl had lost her life. Blaine wasn’t about to forget about that. He’d never forgive them. Ever.
He sat down at the table already on the defensive. He mentally probed his body looking for one cooperative bone and he couldn’t feel one. Not even one.
Calhoun tried his best to moderate the briefing and Blaine realized he was making it more difficult for the Chief, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. He couldn’t hide his resentment of the feds muscling in. Their superior attitudes and their arrogance rubbed him the wrong way.
“Y’all have the files and copies of all my reports,” said Blaine. “I have nothing more to give y’all.”
Oldham glared at him.
The guy in charge was close to fifty. Going a bit gray. Cheap suit. Glasses. “I’ve read all of it.” Oldham snapped at him. “Tell me why you think the two juvenile offenders who escaped from the hospital are together.”
“Just a hunch.”
“No proof? I work with facts and evidence, Ranger Blackmore. I don’t proceed willy-nilly on hunches.”
“Only the map to freedom that was taped to the closet wall in the second boy’s room,” said Blaine. “That made me think they might be together.”
“Just because the second boy got out of the facility doesn’t mean he met up with the first boy who escaped.”
“No it doesn’t.”
Forest saw them together and that’s good enough for me.
“I suggest we presume the boys are not together and we concentrate only on Malcolm Lewis for now.” Oldham glanced at his notes. “Tim Pinard might be somewhere else entirely and have nothing to do with the murders.”
“I think Pinard is driving the stolen squad,” said Blaine. “He’s a bit older than Malcolm Lewis and might have influence over the younger boy.”
“What kind of influence?” asked Labanovich.
Her first words came out in a high-pitched sneer and Blaine refused to answer her. He shrugged and went silent.
“We’ll be starting this morning at Brookdale,” said Oldham. “Reinterviewing the staff and security team and working our way outward from the hospital.”
“Sure,” said Blaine. “I hope you catch them before Malcolm swings the fourth axe.”
“We will,” said Labanovich.
Blaine gave the Chief a farewell glance and left.
Violent Crime Squad HQ. Airport Road. Austin.
Farrell and Laine met Annie at the station on Airport Road. She was already in the office when they arrived, going once more over the resumes.
“Are there any applicants out there in the squad room yet?” she asked.
“Nope. Nobody out front,” said Farrell.
“There’s fresh coffee in the break room,” said Annie. “I made two pots when I got here.”
“How do the applicants look on paper?” asked Laine.
“I’ve read over the four resumes,” said Annie, “and they all seem about equal in their qualifications. All the boys are in their late twenties and all of them have served their country. I asked Lil specifically for young vets because they would come with disciplined training already ingrained.”
“Just like me,” Laine smiled.
“Yes,” said Annie. “Just like you. Their reasons for opting out of signing up for another round don’t concern me much. It’s the basic training I’m looking for.”
9:30 a.m. Lenny Serrano.
Lenny Serrano arrived right on time. Medium height, dark hair, facial scruff, and a couple of visible army tats.
Annie reached a hand across the desk. “I’m Annie Powell, Lenny. This is Ranger Donovan, and Ranger Laine Tavestock.”
He smiled and shook hands all around. “Nice to meet y’all.”
“Did you drive up from San Antonio this morning?”
“Yes. I was up early. Couldn’t sleep anyways. After getting the call from Miss Duke at the Agency, I’ve been pretty wired.”
“You were near the top of our list from the last round of hiring, Lenny. We kept all the best qualified people on file in case of openings. Have you worked since the last time you applied?”
“Yes, ma’am. Working two jobs. I’m an electronics specialist—army trained—so I’ve been working in an automotive audio shop during the day and tending bar and bouncing at Cowboys at night.”
“You’re a busy guy.”
“I am. Don’t like too much down time.”
“Everybody who interviews today won’t be hired until they pass a series of tests on my range,” said Annie.
“I’m good with that, ma’am. I can hold my own with any firearms. I’m familiar with most ordnance. Have won a few marksmanship awards.”
“Uh huh. I read that in your resume,” said Annie. She asked him questions for another fifteen minutes to get to know him a little better. Lenny Serrano was a winner.
“We’re finished for now, but don’t go too far, Lenny. I’ll have the interviews completed by noon and then you and the three other candidates will drive out to my range and complete the next step.” Annie smiled. “You are mine for the whole day.”
“Sure. Happy to wait. I’ll go grab breakfast and be back at noon.”
10:00 a.m. Robbie Andreas.
“Welcome, Robbie,” said Annie. “Have a seat. I don’t have too many questions for you.”
Annie waited until he looked comfortable before she started. “I see that you served with the Marines for four years and you were discharged with a stellar record.”
“Yes, ma’am. I chose not to reenlist because of family issues. No other reason. My mother has ongoing problems and I wanted to be in Texas. I enjoyed the Marines.”
Robbie was about six feet tall, thick brown hair cut short. Nice brown eyes. Big bulging biceps.
Annie told him the same thing she told Lenny about the testing at the range, and Robbie said he’d return at noon to go with the others.
10:30 a.m. Georgie Allen.
“Hey, Georgie. Nice to meet you. I’m Annie Powell and I’ll be the one with the final say on whether you’re added to the squad or not.”
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Powell.”
Annie introduced Laine and Farrell. “Would you like coffee?”
“No thanks, I’m a bit nervous.”
Georgie was a big husky guy with a round face, sandy hair, and blue eyes. He had a few Harley tats visible on his solid-looking arms.
“You’re from Lexington,” said Annie. “Not too far away from our little headquarters here.”
“I didn’t realize the Violent Crime Squad had more than one location. I went to the Agency on the other side of the city last time I came in for a talk.”
“This squad is fairly new,” said Annie. “There has been an increase in violent crime in Texas, and we felt it was time to expand to see if we could help out a little more with the gangs.”
“Yep, the gangs are a problem,” said Georgie. “The gangs only get bigger. Never smaller.”
Annie turned to Farrell. “Ranger Donovan specializes in gangs and he knows more about them than I do.”
“I applied once for the Night Vipers,” said Georgie. “I wanted to be on that squad so I could ride my Harley. I like working nights. Prefer it, actually.”
“Okay,” said Farrell. “If that’s where you’d rather be, Annie can test your bike skills. We have a facility where we do that. I could use another rider on the night squad.”
Georgie’s face lit up. “There’s a spot open? I didn’t see it on the website. I look on there most every day.”
“Haven’t put it on there yet,” said Farrell. “I just found out that Sandos needed knee surgery and he’s going to be off the squad. It was on my list for today to tell Patti to put the call on there for me.”
“Okay,” said Annie. “News to me too. I’ll test you today at the range, Georgie and then I’ll have to schedule you for a week of bike training. If you pass, you can join the Night Vipers.”
“Fantastic.” He beamed a wide smile. “Riding with the Night Vipers is my dream job.”
“Hang around or come back at twelve and we’ll move on to the range for testing. I have one more interview to do.”
“I might as well wait,” said Georgie.
“There’s coffee in the break room,” said Laine. “I’ll show you.”
11:00 a.m. Danny Reyes.
Danny Reyes was the last interview. He’d been sitting in the squad room for a while because he’d come a little early from Lufkin. A fair drive. Almost four hours.
Annie made the introductions and smiled at Danny. Nice looking Hispanic guy with black hair. Recently discharged, he’d been a Seal for several years.
“You must have been up early to drive all the way from Lufkin this morning.”
“I thought about it, then changed my mind and drove down last night. I wasn’t sure how much testing there would be and I didn’t want to be tired.”
“Good planning,” said Annie. “There will be testing in a couple of hours at my ranch. We’ll leave as soon as your interview is over and the other candidates get here. Lunch will be served at my ranch and then we’ll spend the rest of the afternoon at the range.”
“Sounds good to me, ma’am. I’m happy to have this chance.”
Pecan Creek.
Tommy hadn’t slept too well because of the pain in his leg. His own fault for thinking he could drive for five hours and have no ill effects.
He shuffled to the kitchen table and took two of the little white pills in the vial and washed them down with hot coffee.
Lukas and Travis were up and dressed ahead of him.
Travis was reading something on his phone at the table and Lukas was fooling around with the dogs. Lukas was becoming attached to Max and Sarge, the two big Malinois dogs Travis had for protection.
“After breakfast,” said Travis, “we’re going to Fisher Lake. That’s where y’all’s brothers rent a trailer. We’ll scope them out and I’ll rent a trailer for a month so I can keep an eye on them while I’m doing my thing.”
“Sounds good,” said Tommy. “I want to see where they live. I need to find out everything about them if they’re my brothers. I can’t fuckin believe what a dirt bag Jett was. I hated him before but when I keep finding out the dirty stuff he done, I hate him more every day.”
“I guess I should be glad I never knew the prick,” said Lukas.
“He sold you, for chrissakes,” said Tommy.
Fisher Lake Trailer Park.
Travis drove around the trailer park until he found the unit the Donovan boys lived in. A run-down mess on the street near the bush. Two Harleys parked under a lean-to carport that was ready to fall down.
He slowed down so Tommy and Lukas could have a good look. “That’s where they live. Let’s see if there’s a trailer for rent on this street. That would be ideal for me.”
“I want to do this with you,” said Tommy. “I could stay in the trailer and… like help you.”
Travis rolled his eyes.
“While you’re off work you can stay with Lukas at my house and help him with the dogs. That’s a better plan. I want to look like a loner. Gives me a better image with Santana.”
Lukas nodded. “Uh huh. I can see that.”
“Nobody would need to know I was hanging out here.”
“Put a rag in it, Tommy, or I’ll send both of you to Neil’s house in Arlington.”
“Okay,” said Tommy. “I’m done talking.”
Lukas chuckled.
They drove down the street the Donovan boys lived on and there wasn’t a trailer for rent on that street. Next street over, with a view of the Donovan trailer from the back yard, they found one.
“This one will be okay,” said Travis. “I’ll go to the office and see if I can get it for a month.”
Lukas and Tommy sat in the truck while Travis went inside. “I don’t like the plan,” said Tommy. “Travis is going to get himself killed trying to help our brothers that we don’t even fuckin know.”
“Got a better plan?” asked Lukas.
“Not yet. But I’m thinking on it. I might ask Farrell what the hell we should be doing.”
“Don’t know if I trust Farrell,” said Lukas. “He looks like all cop to me.”
“Nope, he ain’t. Farrell is a ganger with a cop badge and he’s all about family. He’s the guy to trust with your life, bro. Remember that.”
“I’ll remember.”
Coulter-Ross Ranch. La Grange.
Annie, Farrell, and Laine arrived at the ranch with the applicants following them. When they were all in the kitchen and gathered around the harvest table, Riley served lunch.
He was prepared for a crowd and served steak sandwiches, potato salad, coleslaw, and coffee to the hungry candidates. They devoured his scrumptious lunch and showered him with compliments.
Riley didn’t weigh them down with a heavy dessert because of their upcoming range time. They had to be mobile to give Annie their best effort.
After a second cup of coffee and ten minutes for a smoke, Annie herded them all to the range.
Mick had the targets set up for the first round and had the headgear ready.
The weather was warm and springlike. Comfortable, no wind. Not too hot. The test would be physically challenging and spawn a lot of sweat.
Annie sat them down at the picnic table, introduced Mick and explained the test and how it was laid out.
“Handguns first. Standing, prone, running and running with interference. Then we’ll switch to rifles, same sequence, and then at the end we’ll have a little contest.” She smiled. “It will be fun.”
Lenny was grinning and nodding his head. He was up for it.
“Georgie, you get through this one and Mick and I will schedule you for more firearms training, but it will be more difficult. We’ll all be on our rides.”
He grinned. “Yes, ma’am. Can hardly wait for that.”
After the handgun trials, they took a break. Sitting at the picnic table drinking Cokes, Annie had the new people take apart their guns, clean them and put them back together.
“That’s it for part one,” said Annie. “Now we’ll switch to rifles and go again. I’ll offer a few suggestions now that I’ve observed each of you shoot. Y’all can make the corrections and your scores should improve accordingly in round two.”
Annie turned to Farrell for input. “Anything, sugar?”
“If Robbie widened his stance a little, he’d be a lot more solid and steady.”
“Right. You go first, Robbie, and I’ll adjust your feet before you shoot.”
After Annie’s little tree-climbing sniper game that Lenny easily won, they finished up for the day. She had a good idea of what each of the applicants were capable of. All of them were excellent shooters. Not much to complain about at all.
Lenny was the best and she wanted him for herself. It only made sense. With Georgie trying for the Night Vipers and probably making the squad with no problem, and keeping Lenny as her bodyguard, she could hire Robbie and Danny for the VCS squad. It all worked out perfectly.
“I’d like y’all to come sit on the porch with us for a few minutes. We’ll have a beer, relax with Farrell, Laine and Mick and I’ll tell y’all what I sorted out.”
They all had a cold beer in their hand as Annie leaned on the rail and smiled at them. “Okay, here it is. Y’all are high quality and I hate to waste the talents of any one of y’all, so this is what’s going to happen.”
She could feel the tension radiating from the boys.
“At this time, there is only room for two on the squad and I’ve picked Robbie and Danny for those two spots. Y’all can report to the Airport Road station tomorrow morning at eight. Let me know if you have to give notice at your current jobs and we can make other arrangements.”
Annie pointed at Georgie. “Georgie is going to take further training to see if he can make the bike squad because that’s what he wants, and Farrell has an opening coming up. We’ll set up that training for later in the week.”
She turned to Lenny who was looking a little disappointed. “Now I’m going to talk about Lenny. He has shown talents above basic qualifications and I need him in a different capacity. I’ll explain the details to him in a few minutes.”
He nodded but looked puzzled.
“Pay rate, benefits, and all that will be explained to y’all by Lily Duke who manages the Agency for Blaine and I. The risks are higher on VCS and we pay more than local law enforcement. It’s only fair.”
“We report at eight a.m. every morning at the Airport Road station and the hours are dependent on what kind of clusterfuck we’re caught up in. Lots of OT and lots of reports to type for the Chief of the Texas Rangers. Y’all will be sworn in as Rangers to give y’all the authority needed to carry out your jobs. You will report to the Chief, but only through the Agency. He is not your boss.”
Annie laughed. “Rangers are not paying y’all. I am, so keep that in mind. Y’all work for me and for Blaine and for Farrell.”
Annie turned and said, “Laine is the Sarge at VCS. Recovering from a shoulder wound, she will be doing the morning briefings and handing out your assignments for the day. Laine answers to Blaine Blackmore who y’all will see from time to time, and ultimately everybody answers to me.” Annie laughed.
“Farrell will be in and out. He has jobs of his own. He oversees the night squad and he also works separately on gangs and sex trafficking. He’ll tell y’all when he needs help.”
Annie shook hands with Georgie, Robbie and Danny and they left with happy faces. Once they were gone, she got coffee in the kitchen for herself and Lenny and they went into her office to talk.
Sitting behind her cherry desk, Annie said, “Look, Lenny, I realize you are probably disappointed you’re not going to be on the squad, but actually you are.”
“Okay, I’m listening.”
“I am the squad, Lenny. But besides helping out with the day to day, I also do other things and I need somebody like you.”
“Okay.”
“You have excellent skills, Lenny. I watched you and I knew you were the one I wanted. Not compulsory by any means, and if your heart is set on being one of the regular crew on the squad, then that’s where I’ll put you.”
