Under the Gun, page 14
part #5 of The Blackmore Agency Series
“Think so, boss. If I can count that high, looks like three to me.”
Are there survivors? Who called for paramedics?
Blaine sucked in a couple of deep breaths, nodded to a couple of uniforms he knew and crossed the threshold. The metallic odor hanging in the air almost finished him. Used to the smell of blood when he surveyed a crime scene, the concentration of coagulation in this house almost overpowered him.
How did they get in here with the patrol assigned to the property?
A lot of activity seemed to be in the kitchen, so Blaine stuck his head in there first. Body on the kitchen table with throat cut. Head hacked almost off. Butcher knife and meat cleaver beside the body. Bloody lake around the table.
Similar to the other scene, but sloppier.
Six paramedics formed a knot in the kitchen. They stopped chatting as Blaine limped over to them. “No survivors, am I right?”
“Correct Mr. B. All dead when we got here.”
“You guys go ahead. I don’t know who called y’all, but I’ll find out.”
Waste of time for those boys.
Dining room was next. Almost the same as the kitchen. A young Latino victim. Blaine thought he recognized this one as one of the Prince’s crew they had rounded up.
Did they kill one of their own?
One of the techs pointed him towards the stairs. “Up there in one of the ensuites, Mr. B., the third kid.”
Blaine nodded. “Thanks.” He trudged upstairs, his leg throbbing on every fuckin step, and entered the bedroom where the activity seemed to be centered. The bathroom attached to the master suite was opulent and spacious and free of the tinny blood scent. A roman tub in one corner, double vanity sinks with a wall to wall mirror above. Before reaching the third victim he stopped dead in front of the mirror and read the message.
‘Tres por tres.’
“Three for three.” He nodded in understanding. “The Punos did this. Payback.”
How did they get the address? It was at Aldana’s apartment. A snitch on the inside?
Travis had caught up with him upstairs. “Yep, that’s what we thought too.” He pointed at the oversize shower stall. “See the third guy?”
“Not yet.” Blaine crossed the bathroom and took a look. Blue and white striped clothesline rope circled the kid’s neck and attached him to the shower fixture. Naked but no marks on his body. “They hung him?”
One of the techs taking pictures shrugged and said, “This one doesn’t match the other killings or the other scene, Mr. B. A puzzle for you to solve.”
Blaine took a second look at all the victims and made a few notes. When he exited the house, Chief Calhoun had just arrived. “Any thoughts, Blacky, before I go in?”
“The victims should prove to be Latin Princes. There’s a note in blood on the bathroom mirror that says, ‘three for three.”
“Revenge killing,” said the Chief.
“We need to contact the property owners,” said Blaine.
“One of the girls in the office is working on that. She’s getting the information from the real estate agent.”
The Chief headed inside and passed Travis on his way out. Blaine had almost reached his truck when Travis caught up. “Talk to you a minute, boss?”
Blaine stared at the mess of Travis’ face. Both his eyes were reduced to slits and the swelling around his mouth made his speech garbled and almost indiscernible. “Now’s not a good time, Travis. I’m in no mood to listen to a line of bullshit from you.”
“Nothing like that, boss. No bullshit. I wanted to say I’m sorry about Farrell, but I didn’t start it. Did not. He jumped out of bed and pounded the shit out of me.”
“You’re fired, Travis. Pick up your severance from Lily.”
“No. I don’t want to be fired.” He viciously kicked the back tire on Blaine’s truck.
Blaine struggled up the step into the truck and didn’t give Travis another glance. “Get us out of here, Jack.”
ANNIE LANDED at McCarran refreshed. The plane was cool and quiet, and she’d slept most of the way stretched out alone in first class. When she flew by herself, she paid for the seats next to her. She preferred them to be empty. A luxury she deserved and could well afford.
Was Vegas heat worse than Texas heat?
Christ, it was hot as she got into the rented Mustang convertible. The backs of her bare legs sizzled as they touched the red leather upholstery. She put the top down and let her hair blow wild and free as she cruised north to The Rule clubhouse.
The square one-storey cinderblock building sat half way down a dead-end street north of the city on the way to Indian Springs. It had been rebuilt on the same spot after Race had burned it to the ground on one of his revenge rampages.
Annie drove past and counted the bikes parked in a neat row out front. Three. Not too many in the middle of the afternoon. She turned around at the dead end and headed back to the highway.
Not a big fan of air conditioning, Annie drove back to Vegas, happy she’d chosen a convertible. She put all thoughts of Travis Bristol out of her mind and let the wind cleanse her thoughts.
In the north end of the city she parked in a small lot next to a brick store advertising guns and ammo. The shop was owned by a friend of George’s from years before that she’d kept in touch with. Always good to have friends in the business in case of an emergency.
The bell rang over the door and the proprietor trudged out of the back room. He stared at her for a second, then his lined face lit up. “Annie, my Annie. So good to see you.”
She rounded the counter and gave him a hug. “Petey, how have you been?”
After a few minutes of catching up and commiserating over George, Petey asked, “What do you need?”
“Something untraceable with a scope and a suppressor.” She winked at Petey. “I’m only here for one night.”
“Where are you staying?”
“I don’t even have a room yet. I came straight here.”
“Nice game tonight at the Piazza if you’ve got the buy-in.”
“I might have. I’ll give it a try.”
“Better call for a seat. Ask for Sid.”
“Thanks, sugar.”
“Come on in the back room and I’ll show you my special stock.”
Annie followed Petey through the doorway behind the glass showcase counter. He barely fit through the narrow opening and huffed and puffed with every step he took. “Guess I should quit smoking.” He pointed at a vertical cupboard with gray paint worn through to the wood around the handles. The double doors were padlocked. “Let’s see what I’ve got for you.”
Petey showed her what he had, and they worked out which one would be best for her purpose. The old fella wanted to loan her the gun, no charge, but she insisted on a one-day rental fee and she’d return his ordnance the following morning.
Annie tucked the weapon under the back seat of the Mustang and jumped behind the wheel. In the time she’d been in the shop, the leather under her ass had reached boiling point for the second time. She squirmed around before turning the key and realized her cell was ringing in her purse. Blaine.
“Hey, honey. How are you?”
“Having a shit day, Mom. Why has your phone been off?”
“Airplane mode. I had to come to Vegas on business.”
“What kind of business, or is it none of mine?”
“Nothing too important. I’ll be back in the morning.”
“I called to tell you about Farrell.”
“What about him? Is he worse?”
“In a way, yes, he is.”
“What happened?”
“Travis happened. He and Farrell had a fight in Farrell’s room and Farrell’s stitches came apart.”
“I’ll kill that fuckin Bristol.”
“I fired him, Mom. It’s best if he stays away from you. Farrell is upset and antsy, to say the least.”
“Have you talked to Neil?”
“I did. Neil is sitting with his brother. He’s okay now.”
“I’ll call him.”
ANNIE CHECKED into the Piazza and talked to Sid in the poker pit about the private game. “I heard it was a good one,” she said.
“Has been lucrative for some, Mrs. Powell. Come up about eight and I’ll have a reserved seat for you.”
“Thanks, Sid.” Annie entered her suite, opened a beer and sat at the bar to phone Neil.
“Hey, Mom. Where are you? Rosie said you had to go to Vegas on business. Are you there now?”
“I’m here, sugar, and I talked to Blaine about Farrell. He’s going to be okay, but I’ll be back in the morning and we’ll talk to the doctor just to be sure.”
“Thanks, Mom. I wondered if I should try to ask the doc questions, but I didn’t. I just watched Farrell sleep. He was all doped up from more anesthetic. Do you know how it happened?”
“Umm… don’t have the details, sweetheart. His back has been repaired and that’s all we care about.”
“I guess so,” said Neil. “If he was lying in his bed, I can’t see how it could have happened. That’s all I’m thinking.”
Better if you don’t know how it happened.
“Don’t stress about it, baby. Farrell will tell us when he’s ready.”
“Love you, Mom.”
FARRELL DIDN’T know how long he’d been sleeping, but he was exhausted, weak, out of it, and couldn’t shake off the drowsy feeling. He turned his head and Mary was sitting in the chair beside the bed staring at him. “Hey, didn’t know you were here.”
Mary’s eyes were red-rimmed from crying and she had tissues bunched up in her hand. “The nurse told me you had to go back to the OR. I should have been here for you, but nobody called me.”
“Nothing you could do. I slept all day. Neil was here. I think I saw him, and the nurse told me Blacky was here.”
“What happened? I thought you were almost ready to leave and I was planning to ask if you wanted to stay in my apartment. I could take a couple days off and take care of you.”
“Nice offer, Mary, but I have to get back to work.”
“You can’t work until you have rehab therapy on your shoulder.”
Farrell glared. “How do you know that?”
“I think I remember the nurse saying that to Blaine.”
“Ain’t happening.”
“How did the stitches pull apart?” asked Mary, “I can’t see how it happened if you were lying in bed. Are you going to tell me?”
“Ain’t important. Don’t want to talk about it.”
“It is important, Farrell. You don’t want it to happen again.”
“Won’t happen again.”
“Do you know that for sure?”
“Yep.” He turned his head towards the wall and heard Mary leave the room.
I want my Mom.
JESSE ARRIVED at the door to Farrell’s room as Mary was leaving. “Is he awake?”
“He’s awake, Mr. Quantrall, but not too sociable.”
“That’s okay. I’m no social butterfly myself.”
Farrell heard Jesse’s voice and turned his head. “Hey, boss, nice of you to come.”
“Hey, one of my boys is hurt. I want to see that you’re being treated right.”
“I’m okay.”
“Blacky told me you had a setback this morning.”
“Jeeze, boss, it was my own fuckin fault. That fuckin Travis got me in such a knot, I jumped him. Shouldn’t have been out of bed and moving around and I damn well knew it.”
“I haven’t heard the details,” said Jesse, “but Blacky had to run it by me because he fired Travis and we both have to agree on hires and fires and like that.”
“Blacky fired Travis?”
“Uh huh.”
“Fuck, Trav will be upset.”
“I imagine he is.” Jesse grinned. “I’m kind of waiting for a phone call.”
Farrell nodded. “That might happen. He’ll do everything he can to get his job back. Always does.”
“Want to talk about what caused the problem?” asked Jesse.
“Can’t, boss. An off-limits topic.”
“Annie?”
“Can’t say.”
“You guys are protective of your Mom, and with me out of the picture, I bet Travis is trying to smooth things over with her. That’s my take on it, and I don’t like it one bit. Annie and I are not over—at least in my mind—and she’s never been in a worse place emotionally.”
“You have a clear picture, boss, and I warned that fucker off more than once. Did he listen? Nope. He’s only interested in number one. He doesn’t give a sweet goddam if he pushes Annie over the edge as long as Travis gets what he wants.”
“I’ll be ready in case he calls me,” said Jesse. “You get better in a hurry, so you can get back to work. Blacky needs you on the gang murders.”
Farrell reached up for Jesse’s hand. “Thanks for coming, boss. I needed to see you.”
ANNIE CHANGED from her travelling clothes into a snug black dress with a deep V in the front—her special poker dress. She brushed her hair and sprayed Light Blue liberally in a cloud around her.
I’m ready. Something to do until it’s time.
Sid recognized her when he opened the door of the suite where the private game was being held. “Mrs. Powell, come in please. I have seat seven reserved for you.”
“Thanks, Sid, I appreciate it.” Annie bought chips, took her seat and glanced around the table not expecting to know anyone, but to her surprise she recognized a couple of faces from the big game at Caesar’s.
“Mr. Atherton, nice to see you.” Atherton was good looking attorney in his forties or fifties, but she didn’t know much about him.
“Mrs. Powell, a pleasure to see you again.” He flashed a smile. “The last time we met, I believe you took all my chips.”
“Maybe I’ll give you my chips tonight,” she said with a smile.
“Annie, dear,” said old Judge Rumford, “I’ve been longing to see your beautiful face.”
“You’re a flatterer, Pete.”
And a big drinker. An easy mark.
TRAVIS DROVE the surveillance unit to the east end of the city to do one last thing before he returned it to Blacky’s house, gathered up his gear and left the job he loved.
I never should have tried to patch things up with Annie. I want her with all my heart, but it never works out for us. Usually my fault and I admit it.
He backed into a spot near a blue dumpster in the Wal-Mart parking lot, hoping to hear something and redeem himself a little in Annie’s eyes. He locked the cab, rounded the truck and jumped into the camper.
Still early. I might have to wait awhile.
Travis drank another Coke to keep himself awake. He was dozing on his stool waiting for some kind of action in Vince Cabrelli’s motel room, when the door slammed, and he came to attention.
“Okay, the boss is on a plane and we’re stuck here until he deals with the VP and comes back tomorrow.”
“We should give up this fuckin stupid expansion idea and get back to work in Vegas.”
“We could be losing all kinds of territory while we’re gone.”
“Vince is losing it. I swear he is.”
Travis picked up his cell and called Annie.
ANNIE’S CELL rang in her purse. She folded her hand, stood up and stepped away from the poker table. Travis’ name was on the screen and she took a moment to decide whether to talk to him or not. She dreaded the crap he was going to lay on her, but pressed talk. “Hey, why are you calling?”
“I’m trying to help you with your mission to sort of make up for… you know.”
“Yeah, I know all right. What have you got?”
“Vince is on a flight. He’s coming back tonight to deal with the VP. That’s what I heard.”
“Good information, Travis, and I thank you for it. I’m leaving for that place shortly.”
“Are there people around?”
“Poker game.”
“Wish I was there.”
There are things I could say, but I’m saying nothing.
“I’ll give you a call… after. It will be late.”
“Do it. I want to make sure you’re safe when you’re finished... work.”
“Thanks, Trav.”
Before returning to her seat, Annie entered the ladies’ room and used her phone to check flights coming from Austin. Only one. Vince should be landing about twelve-twenty with a couple of his guys.
Are they giving up on Austin and all coming back?
Annie played hold-em until eleven. She won a few pots, but the game was squeaky tight and boring. Round after round of folding. Little action happening. She said her goodnights, cashed in her chips and took the elevator down to her suite on the twelfth floor.
She’d only brought an overnight bag with one change of clothes and the dress for the poker room. She whipped the dress over her head and pulled on black leather pants and a Harley t-shirt, then brushed her hair and tied a red bandana around her forehead to keep her long hair out of her face. She hated distractions when she was ready to pull the trigger.
The temperature had dropped a couple of degrees after the sun went down and the drive north to the clubhouse was pleasant. The loaner rifle lay on the passenger seat within easy reach and a new Lukas Nelson CD was cranked up high.
She made the first pass and counted the bikes. Sixteen or seventeen. Way too many.
Why so many bikes? Is there a meeting when Vince gets back? Are they going to vote mayhem on Linc? Is Linc being held here at the clubhouse?
Questions with no answers.
The best way to stop The Rule from coming to Austin would be to take out Vince. He’s the one pushing for expansion.
The best way to save dumb-ass Linc would be to take out Vince. He’s the one who wants Linc dead.
One shot with a dual purpose. She’d have to hit Vince between the vehicle that delivered him from the airport and the door of the clubhouse. There would be no time to climb down from a tree before they were on her.
