aka Serpent. They were all snakes in the grass in Slade’s mind. Next up, Gunther Lamont—the Businessman—allegedly the second in command, now dead. Shot by Ski Mask Man. And last but certainly not least, dirty cop Jim Wheaton—who’d been on the syndicate’s payroll—had been taken down by the cops during a hostage crisis.
They were getting closer and closer to The Boss. Slade should thank the man for culling his own criminals to the point of having no one to trust. That made a man desperate and dangerous. The Boss would slip up and when he did, Slade planned to be there to catch him. Trying to kidnap Kaitlin in the training yard and sending a thug to his house last night made this even more personal for Slade. The Boss kept toying with all of them, but he would slip up soon and Slade would be ready and waiting.
As he stood there going over everything in his head, he realized this had always been personal. They’d taken Rio out of his yard and tried to kill his father. And come to think of it, each of his team members had come dangerously close to getting killed, too. But all roads always came back to Slade and his family. Starting with Angie dying in that car bomb two years ago.
As the entire Special Operations K-9 Unit filed in, one by one, Slade nodded and spoke to each. Austin Black and Lee Calloway talked to each other as they headed to the coffeepot.
Valerie Salgado, a rookie who’d more than earned her stripes, laughed at something Jackson Worth said. And one of Slade’s best friends, Parker Adams, nodded to Slade.
“What’s up?” Slade asked when Parker came up to him.
“Can we talk later?” Parker asked. “I need to run something by you.”
“Sure,” Slade replied, curious. “Lunch after the meeting?”
“That’ll work,” Parker said. “Melody might be able to make lunch.” He nodded and took a seat.
Wondering what that was all about, Slade started the meeting. “I know you’ve all been briefed on what transpired yesterday behind the training yard. Trainer Kaitlin Mathers’s attempted kidnapping is now considered part of this case. Ski Mask Man has struck again.”
Everyone started mumbling and talking. Slade held up a hand. “We’re gonna go over every inch of evidence we have and we’re going to pursue every lead. We want Rio back, but more than that, we want our town back. So let’s start at the beginning.”
The team had interviewed a low-level snitch named Pauly Keevers and all he’d told them was that there was something buried in the Lost Woods, a heavily wooded forest on the edge of town that hid a multitude of crime and evil. Pauly was dead now, too, taken out by the syndicate. Then informant Ned Adams was found buried in the woods.
“It looks like The Boss is killing people so they won’t talk.”
Jackson Worth spoke up. “Not to mention the infamous code we’ve tried to break and Daniel Jones’s grave being dug up. And we did find that brick of cocaine. But two or so pounds of cocaine wouldn’t bring about this much crime.”
Not long after setting up surveillance in the Lost Woods, Parker Adams and his K-9 partner Sherlock had helped Slade find a small amount of cocaine, heavily scented to disguise it, in the woods.
Slade went back over that find. “You’re right about that, Worth. It wasn’t enough to cause this amount of secrecy and criminal intent. I believe there must be something else buried out in those woods.”
“A body, maybe?” someone suggested.
Slade nodded. “That...or something worth much more than that small amount of cocaine we found.”
Jackson spoke again. “Makes sense that we need to keep searching. They dug up that kid’s grave, but they’re still looking, too.”
“Agreed, but we have to be careful,” Slade replied. “The chief has given us special permission to stay on top of this, but let’s keep in mind we have to continue to follow procedure and the chain of command.”
Everyone nodded on that.
Parker again reported on how Detective Melody Zachary had solved part of a cold case that involved her sister Sierra and her nephew Daniel Jones. She’d found evidence that proved Jim Wheaton had killed Daniel and that her sister had not committed suicide. She’d been murdered. Did it all tie back to this case?
“No answers there. Dead men—and women—tell no tales,” Parker said.
The body count kept rising. And so did Slade’s blood pressure.
“Let’s go back to that cocaine find,” Slade said, a nagging feeling centered in his gut. “It wasn’t enough to create this kind of violence.”
“More like a smoke screen,” Jackson said. “There has to be something else, something bigger out there.”
“We’ll have to find a reason to have another look,” Slade replied, jotting notes on the board. “We’ll set up more surveillance, too.”
He believed the answers to this case were buried somewhere in those woods. He also believed that one of their highly trained K-9 officers would help him find whatever or whoever was out there. Now Kaitlin was training Warrior as just such a K-9.
“This brings us to Kaitlin Mathers. We’re pretty sure they have Rio, but why try to kidnap a trainer?”
Valerie Salgado raised her hand. “Because they know she’s smart and capable of handling a dog and they know she’s been involved with you and your son. Hit us where it’ll hurt.”
Slade nodded. “I’m afraid that’s it. Which means we have to put a tail on Kaitlin 24/7, for her own protection. And hopefully to find a pattern—someone following her, watching her. She’ll go about her business and continue to train Warrior.”
“I’ll be glad to help with surveillance,” Valerie offered. “And I don’t mind hanging with Kaitlin.”
They talked some more about recent events.
Then Slade stated the obvious. “I think Ski Mask Man might be more than your basic low-level thug.” He glanced around the room then wrote on the board. “The Boss? Is he Ski Mask Man?”
While everyone chewed on that, Slade took one more sweeping look at the pictures and notes on the board.
“I’m pretty sure this whole setup has been aimed at me.” He went back over the facts again, starting with the car bomb. “The Boss wants something that’s buried in those woods, but he wants to make me suffer until he finds it. He’s getting desperate, and that means we’re all in jeopardy. So be on the alert at all times. We can’t rest right now. It’s too dangerous.”
After everyone filed out, Slade turned to stare at the board again. Who was The Boss? And when would he make his next move?
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