Slaughter (The Agency: Young Guns Book 5), page 6
“No idea why he was up. I never heard a thing.”
“Sure,” said Blaine. “I understand.”
The first officers on the scene had taken down all the information about Walter Wicks from his friend, John, and a pair of them had gone to do the notification at the home of Walter Wicks in Killeen.
Casey went to the campground office and got a list of all the campers that had paid for a spot the night before. When the crew showed up, he sent them to question all the campers.
It turned out after hours of questioning, that the only camper that was no longer there was the one that had occupied the spot next to the two fishermen.
“That spot was rented to a young man named Malcolm Smith,” said Liam.
“Bingo,” said Blaine to Casey. “The kid is using his own first name. Get a BOLO out on the camper.” To Tommy: “Only three stores have sold axes in the past week according to Lily’s phone survey. I’m sending the stores to your phone. You and Montana go to each store and find out who bought the axes and how they paid.”
“Copy,” said Tommy. “Tracking the axes.”
“If you hit the right store,” said Blaine, “get a copy of the cam tape for that day.”
“Copy on the surveillance tape.”
On the drive to Marble Falls Home Depot, Montana got a call from Neil. “Hi, Neil. I’m working the axe murder case with Tommy.”
Tommy pointed for her to put the call on speaker so he could hear his cousin, Neil.
“Did you talk to Blacky yet? I want you to do that, Montana. Get this sorted out for us, please.”
“Yeah, I’m going to. For sure I’ll do it before the end of the day.”
“Are you coming up for tomorrow night’s game?”
“Do I have a ticket?”
“I’ll get you a ticket.”
“Can I come?” hollered Tommy.
“Sure. Come with Tommy, Montana. I want you here for the game and afterwards we can show Tommy our house.”
“Okay, I’ll try to make it.”
“How much did they give you, cuz?” Tommy yelled towards the phone.
“One seventy-five for five years, plus bonuses.”
“Fuck me blind.”
Neil laughed.
Coulter-Ross Ranch. La Grange.
Annie was busy in her office going through wedding packages one after the other trying to find the perfect one for Farrell and Laine. They hadn’t discussed how many people would be attending from Laine’s side of the family, or how many guests the kids wanted in total.
Annie wondered to herself if Farrell had called Neil and told him. She didn’t want to be the one to do it and steal Farrell’s thunder if he wanted to tell Neil himself.
Her brain was cluttered thinking of so many things at once, she was feeling a little overwhelmed when Jackson came bursting into the office.
“Mommy, there’s a guy in the front hall to see you.”
“Who is it?”
“Dunno, Mommy. Said his name was Shane.”
“Shane Quantrall,” said Annie. “He’s Jesse’s cousin.”
Jackson ran on ahead and Annie hurried down the hall towards the front door. “Come in, Shane. We can talk in the kitchen. Can I get you a coffee?”
“Sure, thanks.”
“What can I help you with?”
“Tyler fired me and I wondered if he could do that on his own or if he had to run it by you to make it official.”
Annie filled two mugs with coffee and set them on the center island. “Was there a problem?”
“Only for Tyler. He told me to stop talking to Scarlett. Told me a couple of times, but I was only talking to her while we were working. Not like I was doing her in the men’s room or some damned thing. I never laid a hand on her. Nada.”
“Tyler loves Scarlett and he’s a jealous person.”
Not as jealous as Jesse.
“Yeah, I get that. Him and Scarlett live together and they’re a couple. I get that, too. I was only talking to her at the roadhouse while we were working.”
“Nothing else happened?”
“Not until he fired me for no reason. Then we got into it a bit in the pool hall and I took a swing at him.”
“I’ll talk to him, Shane. For now, stay away from the roadhouse until I sort it out.”
“Okay, thanks. I wanted you to know what was going on in case Tyler told you.” Shane finished his coffee and she saw him out.
Annie was putting Shane’s mug in the dishwasher when Tyler came charging in the front door and ran into the kitchen.
“Annie, Shane’s gonna call you and say I fired him for nothing but it’s not true. He’s been hitting on Scarlett since the day we hired him and he won’t let up. I told him he was done and he hauled off and hit me.”
Tyler rubbed his jaw as he sat on a stool at the island. “He knocked me into one of the pool tables and I hit my head. He’s finished at the roadhouse.”
“How hard did you hit your head, sugar?”
“Umm… I was out for a few seconds.”
“Okay, that sounds like you hit pretty hard. You should call Doctor Kaplan and go get an x-ray.”
“I’m fine today, Annie. Just a little headache. I drove over here to make sure we’re on the same page with Shane.”
“I told him to stay away from the roadhouse until I talked to you.”
“Okay, that’s good. Thanks.”
Annie watched him take a sip of his coffee. “You look shaky. What else is wrong, sweetheart?”
“Scarlett was mad about the Shane thing. She packed up and left me. Said she couldn’t live with me anymore because I was too jealous.”
“I can see why you’re upset with Shane and now Scarlett too.”
“I didn’t see it coming, Annie. Scarlett never said anything about me being too jealous. Not even once, and now I’m too jealous to live with? I don’t get it.”
Maybe she does have a thing for Shane.
“I’m sorry, sugar, but I’m not getting in the middle of a problem between you and Scarlett. You’ll have to work it out on your own.”
“Yeah, I’ll take a drive up to Bryan and talk to her.”
Annie refilled his coffee and sat down on the stool beside him.
Tyler had calmed down a lot when there was a knock on the door and Beau Quantrall was standing on the porch.
“I’m ready to practice, Annie. Do you have time?”
Tyler wandered into the foyer and asked, “What are you two practicing?”
“A couple of duets we’re going to sing with the band on the weekend.”
“When were y’all going to tell me?”
“When the songs were ready,” said Annie.
Tyler shook his head. “I’m out of here.” He pushed past Beau and made for his truck.
“What’s wrong with Tyler?” asked Beau.
“Bad morning.”
Ross Harley-Davidson. East Austin.
After practicing for an hour with Beau in the music studio, Beau went back to work and Annie drove into East Austin to Farrell’s apartment.
Laine was there with Adam. Farrell was at work. Using Laine’s laptop, Annie showed her the best three packages she’d found and let Laine choose the one she liked the best.
“I like Caesars,” said Laine, “but I’ll ask Farrell.”
Annie had a list of other things they needed to know before booking the package and they went over it.
“This is exciting stuff,” said Adam, “but I’m not happy I’m going to be left living here alone.”
“Aw.” Annie stroked his hair. “I feel bad for you, Adam. Maybe one of the other guys on the squad will move in with you. I’m hiring two new people right away.”
He seemed to brighten a little. “Okay, keep me in mind.”
“I always keep you in mind.” Annie winked at him.
Home Depot. Marble Falls.
Tommy showed his creds to the hardware manager and asked about the axe inventory.
“Sure, Ranger Donovan, I can pull up that information. Let’s see how many axes we’ve sold lately.” He typed a few keystrokes and stared at his screen. “This isn’t the biggest time of the year for moving a lot of axes, but a few days ago we sold four.”
“Four at once,” asked Montana, “or four to four different people?”
“Let me pull up those transactions for you.”
The clerk typed a few keystrokes and stared at the screen. “Nope. That was one transaction. A customer bought four axes and paid cash for them.”
“I need the video on that transaction,” said Tommy. “The boss asked for it specifically.”
“Let me page the store manager and we’ll get that for you, Ranger Donovan.”
“Yeah, thanks,” said Tommy. “Boss ain’t gonna be happy the kid bought four more fuckin axes.”
Marriott Hotel. Arlington.
Neil had a long practice session in the morning and he was feeling pretty good about the physical shape he was in. His ribs weren’t giving him much trouble and his overall mobility was good.
He’d passed the physical with the team doctor with no problems although the doctor put him on vitamins and a couple of other supplements to give him more energy.
On his way home from the ballpark, he had stopped by the real estate office and given the agent a check for the property. She was meeting him at the house on Thursday at noon to give him the keys.
He had two rooms of furniture coming at one o’clock and he’d wait at the house for the delivery. Without Montana being there, Neil had picked out what he liked. Had to if he wanted a bed to sleep in.
A lot going on in his life and it would have been a helluva lot more fun if Montana was on board with it all, but she wasn’t. He was going to lose her. He could feel it coming.
His cell rang and he grabbed it thinking she had made up her mind and was coming to Arlington. His heart pounded. Nope, it was Farrell. “Hey, bro.”
“I’ve got news.”
“Shoot. Hope it’s good news.”
“For me it is. Me and Laine are wrapping things up. We’re getting married in Vegas.”
“What? That is not what I expected you to say. When?”
“The ‘when’ depends totally on you and when you can be there to be best man. What does your schedule say?”
“Jesus, Farrell, let me look.”
Neil’s hand was shaking as he grabbed the schedule out of his equipment bag. It was a little crumpled and he had to straighten it out to read the dates of the home and away games.
“I’ve got it. How soon are you talking, Farrell? I can’t believe you’re saying this shit to me. Are you sure?”
“Yep. Hundred percent sure and we want it to happen as soon as we can pull it all together in the next couple of weeks.”
“Okay, the very earliest I have two days off in a row is eleventh and twelfth. After that, you’re looking at July.”
“Okay, let’s go for Sunday the eleventh of June. As soon as I have details, I’ll call.”
“You floored me, Farrell. I can’t believe you’re doing this. How long have you known Laine?”
“Few weeks, but I know. I’m sure. I bought the ring.”
“Okay. I’m pretty sure about Montana too, but I don’t think she’s going to give up the squad for me. She can’t be as sure as I am.”
“Give her a couple days, bro. The contract n’all came on her pretty fast.”
“Yeah, I’ll call her and tell her about the wedding and that might put her in a better frame of mind,” said Neil. “Anyway, congrats, and I mean that. You need cash to make it happen—I’m your man.” Neil laughed.
“Congrats to you too. I knew the fuckers couldn’t survive without you.”
“Oh, yeah, they could,” said Neil. He ended the call to Farrell feeling excited for his brother but a little envious too. “I wish it was me getting married, but there’s lots of time for that later when I’m not playing ball. It would be too much to handle right now.”
He settled back on his bed and called Montana.
“Hi, Neil. Did you have a good practice today?”
“Yep, went well and I bought us some furniture and a coffee maker. I wish you were here doing the shopping with me, Montana. You could have so much fun picking out all the stuff you want for our house.”
“We’ll talk about it tomorrow night when Tommy and I come for your game.”
“Sure. Did you talk to Blaine today?”
“Only to say I needed to talk to him, but with the second axe murder, he didn’t have time. He was at the campsite where the guy got dead.”
“Shit, an axe murder. I’m glad it didn’t happen on my watch. I’m not good with blood.”
Boots and Saddles Roadhouse. Giddings.
Jesse came in for a beer and Annie was happy to see him. She left Declan alone in the bar and sat with Jesse in an empty booth. “I’m glad we have a minute alone, cowboy.”
“Something wrong, Ace?”
“Yeah, some stuff happened. Tyler and Scarlett broke up and it was over your cousin Shane.”
Jesse frowned. “What did Shane do? He’s a big talker and a bit aggressive.”
“Says he only talked to Scarlett and Tyler took exception. Then Tyler fired Shane and Shane took exception and smacked Tyler.”
“Shit,” said Jesse.”
“I don’t care about any of that.” Annie waved her hand like she was pushing it away. “Shane and Scarlett can go cut grass. That’s not where I’m going with this, sugar.”
Jesse smiled. “What else?”
“When Shane smacked Tyler, he fell and hit his head on the leg of one of the pool tables. He said he was out for a few seconds, but he wouldn’t know how long it was if he was knocked out.”
“How hard did Ty hit his head?” asked Jesse.
“I didn’t see it happen, but I want you to make sure he goes to Doctor Kaplan and has an x-ray and a checkup. Don’t leave it.”
“I’ll do it tomorrow.”
Annie got up to go back to the bar. She leaned down and kissed Jesse. “Love you, cowboy.”
“Same.”
Chapter Six
Wednesday, May 31st.
Fisher Lake Trailer Park.
Glen was drinking a beer at the kitchen table when Dean wandered out in his boxers. “I didn’t hear you get up.”
“Couldn’t sleep. Santana wants me to off a guy for my blood-in and I don’t think I can do it. I want out of the club.”
“I don’t want you out,” said Dean. “I’m already a member and you will be too, as soon as you do this one thing.”
“What’s it getting us?” asked Glen. “Yeah, we’re Devils, but we’ve got nothing. We live in a shit hole. We can’t afford to take any women out. We’ve got nothing but our bikes and we’re breaking the fuckin law every single day. We’re gonna get arrested and spend ten years in the slam.”
Dean smiled. “You’re in a good mood this morning.”
Ross Harley-Davidson. East Austin.
Laine cooked breakfast for Farrell and Adam and when they were finished eating, she cleared the table and got them more coffee.
“I want to talk about the wedding,” said Farrell. The wedding was all Farrell could think about and all he seemed to talk about.
Laine smiled. “Go for it, Donovan.”
“Neil can only come to Vegas on the eleventh and twelfth, so I’m voting for Sunday, June eleventh, for our wedding day in Vegas.”
“Sure,” said Laine. “I’m off work so the day or the date doesn’t matter to me.”
“What about your kin?” Adam asked Laine. “Where’s your family from?”
“Nowhere. I was raised as an army brat and we lived wherever my dad was stationed. I was born in Virginia but I don’t remember ever living there.”
This was all news to Farrell. He’d never heard Laine talk about herself. “So, is your Daddy still alive?”
“Yep. He’s in the Middle East right now—at least, he was the last time he emailed me.”
“Do you think he’d come to Vegas for our wedding?”
Laine laughed. “He might if he knew about it.”
“Then you better make sure he knows,” said Farrell. “I want him there for you and he might need time to make arrangements.”
“I’ll work on it tomorrow.”
“Or today,” said Farrell, giving her a look. “Good. One down. Next we need to pick the package so Mom can book it with the hotel and pay for it. She’ll need to book hotel rooms at the same time.”
“We went over the best packages yesterday,” said Adam. “Caesars had a good wedding rep.”
“Umm… Caesars was my pick yesterday,” said Laine, “but thinking about it a bit more, Caesars might be a little too much for me. Hangover movie n’all. I think I’ll go with the Mirage. They have better poker for Farrell and his family, and a nice wedding package.”
Farrell smiled. “Mirage. Great pick. We’re making good headway. We’re lucky all we have to do is decide and Mom will handle the rest. She volunteered to take care of the details, so I want to make her happy.”
“You’re tight with you mother,” said Laine. “Should I be concerned about that?”
“What do you mean, tight?” asked Farrell.
Laine winked at him and he knew she was teasing him. He could never tell when she was giving him the gears or when she was serious.
“Where’s the honeymoon going to be?” asked Adam.
“Our house in Vegas,” said Farrell. “Laine and I will stay there for a week. Pool n’all. Complete privacy. Our own little resort.” Farrell nodded his blond head. “Yep, it’s all coming together.”
Laine laughed at him. “You are a case, Donovan.”
Adam chuckled. “I always thought it was the bride who got all worked up about the wedding.”
Farrell gave him the finger.
The Blackmore Agency. Austin.
Blaine walked into the kitchen for more coffee. “I’m stuck, Mist. Now that I know the boy, Malcolm, bought four axes at Home Depot, I’m freaking out thinking he’s planning to use all four of them.”
“If it would help at all, I can go to the morgue this morning and talk to the latest victim.”
