I nodded. “Yeah. I’ll ask Uncle Darren if I can bring him to work with me, and keep him in his office.”
He snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure that’ll go over well.”***Later that night
“No. No dogs in the station,” Uncle Darren declared loudly through the phone.
I laughed. “Downy has a dog.”
“Downy’s dog is a trained police dog. Yours still doesn’t have control of his bladder. No. Not happening,” he confirmed.
“He’s coming with me. I’ll buy him a crate and everything,” I declared firmly.
It was my uncle’s turn to laugh. “You’re not special. I don’t allow anybody else’s dogs there. Why should I allow yours?”
I grinned, knowing I had him. “Because I’m your only niece and you love me?”
He sighed. “The first complaint I have about him, he’s gone. Understand?”
I hung up a happy woman.
“You’re so bad,” Foster said from the bed.
He was lying on his back, both hands propping his head up as he watched the ten o’clock news on the TV in front of him.
I took a freshly bathed Molder to the bathroom, and closed him in.
He laid right down on the bathmat, practically flopping down with a sigh.
“Yes, yes I am,” I agreed as I crawled onto the bed.
I didn’t stop on what I’d come to call ‘my side’ though. Instead crawling to Foster’s side, and depositing myself on his lap. Legs settling on either side of his legs.
“Tell me what’s going on,” I ordered, knowing I’d waited long enough.
He sighed and flipped off the TV with the TV changer before tossing it on the bedside table next him.
His hands settled on either side of my hips as he looked into my eyes.
God, he was so handsome.
His normally curly blonde hair was less curly, most likely because he’d spent a lot of time running his fingers through it. Something he did when he got worried or mad.
“We think we found the man responsible for shooting up your house,” he said finally.
I blinked. “How?”
He squeezed my hips slightly as he replayed something in his head.
His eyes went hard, but his voice went softer.
“There was a note on my truck door,” he finally said. “We pulled the camera’s feed from outside, and found him. He was a brother of one of the men with The Dixie Wardens. A new member that had transferred down here form the Alabama chapter,” he explained.
“Okay,” I said. “So did you find him yet?”
He shook his head. “No. But I have someone on it. As soon as he finds him, he’ll let us know.”
I studied his face. Noting the slight crookedness of his nose, and the way he clenched and unclenched his teeth as he waited for what I had to say next.
“Should I be worried?” I asked.
He closed his eyes. “I’d like to say no. However, I’m not going to give you false hope. You need to be vigilant and make sure you’re never alone. But that’s also not saying that I can’t keep you safe. Which I’ll do. Okay?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
I knew he would, too. With his life.Chapter 21Daddies are protectors for life. Down to the very end.
-Words of wisdom
Foster
“What do you mean you haven’t found him yet?” I asked.
I was probably crazy as fuck for yelling at Lou “The Shank” Rhodes, but I couldn’t fucking help it.
“He’s hiding. He hasn’t been at his house in four days, and he hasn’t been to work in the same,” Lou growled.
I knew it wasn’t any easier for him, but there was only so much patience to be had.
“Silas is running his name through whatever database he uses. Gabe hasn’t found a damn thing on him other than his exemplary service record,” I growled.
Apparently Quentin Ortiz was lucky as fuck. He’d managed to slip out of every single place we’d been able to locate the last four days.
His brother was willing to help, and had given all the known addresses he could find to us, practically throwing his brother under the bus.
Apparently, Manny and Quentin didn’t get along all that well, and it showed.
Beep.
“Ahh, hold on, Lou. Manny’s calling me,” I said.
“Just call me back,” he said before hanging up.
I rolled my eyes and switched the line over.
“Hello?” I answered.
“He has a woman…or had a woman,” he said. “I remembered her last night. He used to talk about visiting her all the time before he got hurt and stuck in evidence. Her name’s like Cherry…or Mary or something.”
I winced. “Do you know where she lives?”
“From what I can remember it was off Fifth Street. I’m driving that way now.”
“Good,” I said. “I’ll meet you at the Exxon at the corner.”
“Got it. See you in twenty.”
Swinging my cruiser around, I headed to the Exxon that was less than five minutes from my location.
Manny showed in the twenty he’d said he would, pulling up to my car opposite of me so we could talk through the window.
“I’ll point it out to you if I can,” he said.
I nodded, and followed him.
It didn’t take long for him to find it.
In fact, it was the fourth house we passed.
He stopped, pulling over, and got out.
I did the same, meeting him in the middle of the sidewalk, both of us looking up at the simple yellow house.
It was nothing special, really.
Just a plain one story house in the historical district of Kilgore.
Expensive to rent and more expensive to own.
“This it?” I asked.
He nodded. “This is it.”
Nodding, I picked up my phone and placed a call.
“I need you to run a check on something for me,” I said to Gabe.
“Shoot,” he said, fingers clicking on a computer.
“Address is 623 Fifth Street. Can you tell me who used to live there? Probably moved in the last year, because the neighbors think the woman left around that time,” I explained.
The keyboard continued to click as I waited impatiently for the results.
Then I was stunned.
“Berri Aleo was the most recent tenant.”
Mother. Fucker.***Shank
“You’re telling me that that weasel dick of an ex of hers did this?” I asked carefully for clarification.
My hand clenched as Foster began to explain.
“The house where Manny used to be seen was last rented by Berri Aleo. David’s new fiancé. The same one he cheated on Blake with,” Foster clarified.