Framed Shadows: Shadows Landing #6, Kathleen Brooks [great novels of all time TXT] 📗

waited to kill him until he’d saved Tinsley. “You brought danger to Tinsley.”

“I know. I’ll accept the consequences of it, but first we have to save her.”

“Or die trying?” Cy asked.

“Without hesitation.” Cy stared at him for a moment and then nodded. “Let’s get to work,” Paxton said to the group. “I’m Agent Paxton Kendry. This is Agent in Charge Peter Castle and this is Agent Whitlock of the drug unit. Then we have Granger Fox and Kord King of the Shadows Landing Sheriff’s Department. Lastly, we have the Davies family who are related to the Faulkners.”

“Y’all are some scary-ass mother—” The teenage boy who’d ridden a bike there got cut off when the woman who had driven the minivan smacked the back of his head.

“I’m Kendis. My son was killed by a drive-by in our neighborhood a while back. We’re good people here. We work hard and try to make a better life for our kids, but then the Myriad moved in,” she told them.

A fortyish man with perfectly trimmed hair and some faded prison tats spoke next. “I’m LaVaughn. After my arrest for drugs twenty years ago, I turned my life around. I own a barbershop in town and try to help mentor the men who sit in my chair.”

“I’m Roshaun,” the boy told them. “My brother’s part of the Myriad.”

Paxton looked at the boy who couldn’t be more than fourteen. “You’re very brave to help us. You know there’s a chance your brother will be arrested today, right?”

Roshaun nodded and LaVaughn clasped his shoulder in support. “He was my hero. Then he started dealing. He sold to my best friend and he died of an overdose. I begged my brother to stop. My mom begged him to stop. He won’t. He likes the money and power. Well, I’m taking back that power. If I can get them off the street, I can save lives. I wasn’t able to save my best friend, but I’ll be damned if I let my brother kill anyone else with these drugs. I have a little sister to look out for. We’ll work our way out of the neighborhood so I don’t have to worry about sleeping next to her on the floor in case of a drive-by like the one that killed Miss Kendis’s son.”

Kendis took a deep breath and nodded. “My son wasn’t part of the gang. He was at home, watching television. But the Myriads were fighting for a corner and shot up the whole area. So you tell us what you need and we’ll help you in any way we can.”

“Thank you all. Curtis Engle, the head of the Myriad from Atlanta, has the woman I love. These are her family and friends and we’ll do anything to get her back safely. Now, here’s what we know.” Paxton filled them in on Tinsley, the Myriad, and Agent Mark Trevino. Then he turned to the map of the area. “We know they came this way, but we don’t know anything else.”

“They’re not at Robinson’s place,” Roshaun told them as he pointed to a house marked on the map. “I live down the street. He’s the second-in-command here.”

Kendis nodded. “Brown is the leader here and I passed his house on the way here. There were no cars there.”

LaVaughn’s lips pursed as he looked at the map. “They weren’t at any of their normal hangouts when I drove here. There’s here,” he said, pointing to some of the commercial areas.

“What about the Tin Can?” Roshaun asked and both Kendis and LaVaughn nodded.

“That’s where they have to be,” LaVaughn said as he pointed to an area right on the river. “It’s an old abandoned biker bar. The gang took it over and no one dares kick them out. It’s the largest building to hang out in and it’s far away from anyone. It has one long drive into the place so they can see who is coming.

“Do they watch the river?” Paxton asked as he pulled up satellite images of the property.

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Miles said as he looked over Paxton’s shoulder at the satellite images.

“If they do, it’ll only be one person. They’d be able to hear boats,” LaVaughn told them.

“There’s a long dock that goes over the marsh and up some steps to the first floor of the bar,” Wade said. “I’ve boated by there several times with the Coast Guard.”

“Can we swim up?” Paxton asked and looked to Wade for answers.

“Yeah. There’s probably some alligators in the marsh, but otherwise the grasses should help hide us, especially if we go during high tide.” Wade looked at his watch and nodded to himself. “It’s peak tide in two hours. We could go anytime and be able to swim most of it.”

“I can cause a distraction,” Cy said with grin as he looked to his brother Cade. “Want to blow some stuff up?”

“I always want to blow stuff up,” Cade said with a smirk.

“Hey, I’m ATF. I live to blow stuff up,” Dare said.

Cy turned to the three informants. “Which three locations would hurt them the most if they got blown up?”

“Won’t that hurt their neighbors?” Kendis asked.

“Don’t worry, ma’am,” Dare said with a big smile. “We’re really good at this.”

“I believe you. I think you could just look at the building and it would explode from fear,” Roshaun said to Cy who grinned in return.

“Here,” LaVaughn pointed to a house.

Kendis still looked nervous, but she pointed to a warehouse-looking place. “Here. They store their drugs here.”

“My brother always goes here,” Roshaun said, pointing to a business front. “I think they sell drugs from there. Can I come with you?”

Cy shook his head but stepped closer to Roshaun so he could talk to him. “I don’t want any of you associated with this. You’ve all been very brave and anytime you need us, we’ll come.” Cy handed Roshaun a business card that only had a phone number on it. “But I want you with LaVaughn, sitting in his chair