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He reminded himself that Noah had also lost two friends in Chris and Paul. Anger tightened his gut. They were going to get these guys and make sure they paid for what they’d done.Chapter FourteenRowe tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he glanced around the quiet neighborhood. Gidget managed to track down a last known address for Joseph Cates, now called Brent Wilder. They’d driven by the old-fashioned Cape Cod house with two little dormer windows on the second floor earlier in the day just to scope out the location. The pale-blue paint was faded and chipping in places. Bushes were growing wild and the flowerbeds were already choked with weeds despite it still being relatively early in the season.
A long crack wove down the center of the driveway, filled with more weeds, like nature was trying to reclaim this spot of the earth. A late-model Toyota was parked at the back of the driveway in front of a detached garage. They’d managed to get the license plate number, and Gidget confirmed that the car was registered to Cates. They had the right house.
Cates might live in the house, but he clearly wasn’t interested in keeping up appearances. Rowe didn’t know whether the man was simply lazy or just rarely home. Another option was that the house was a front for Erik’s illegal activities.
He hated that they didn’t have more time to scout the area and the house, but the longer Erik and his gang of murderous goons were on the loose, the higher the chances of someone getting in a lucky shot at Noah or JB.
Noah reached across the console and placed his hand over Rowe’s fingers, stopping their tapping. Rowe looked over and could clearly see his grin in the faint light from the nearby streetlamp.
“Got a hinky feeling?” Noah asked.
“Something like that.”
“Just so long as you’re not going to say that the place looks haunted and we need to split up to investigate,” JB said.
Noah chuckled and looked over his shoulder into the back seat. “Your parents let you watch way too much Scooby-Doo as a kid.”
“Answer me this then,” Rowe started. He lifted his eyes to look in the rearview mirror, catching JB’s attention. “Which member are you?”
JB flashed Rowe the biggest grin he’d seen on the man’s handsome face yet. “I’m totally Daphne. Definitely the hot one of our group.”
“You mean danger-prone Daphne?” Rowe taunted.
JB winced, but his grin didn’t fade. “Yeah, but when she got into danger, it usually led to a good clue.”
“Ugh,” Noah groaned but there was still smile lines framing his eyes and mouth. It was good to see him smiling when Rowe knew he was hurting so much on the inside.
“Who are we?” Rowe asked.
JB pointed at Noah. “He’s totally Shaggy,” he said, causing Noah to release Rowe’s hand as he fell against the truck door laughing. “And you’re Fred. Very bossy. Plus, everyone knows that Shaggy had a secret crush on Fred.”
Rowe nodded. It made sense. “It was the ascot.”
“I was thinking the pants. Tight across the ass and flared bellbottoms,” JB murmured.
“You’ve both lost your minds,” Noah declared.
“Maybe, but he’s partially right. We do need to split up.” It was time to get down to business. “I’ll take the front door, ring the bell. See if we can get him to answer. You and JB will go around back. Take a peek in the garage windows if you can. While I’m making a racket in the front of the house, you break in from the rear.”
“Are we worried about a security system?” JB asked. He shifted to the edge of his seat and dropped his forearms over the front seats between Rowe and Noah. “I mean, the guy does work for a security company. You would expect his place to be protected.”
“That’s where you’re in luck,” Noah said with a smirk. “You just happen to be with a guy who knows a thing or two about security systems because he works for a real security company. I know how to install them, and I know how to take them out.”
“You’ve gotten scary,” JB countered.
“Scary awesome.”
“All right, you two,” Rowe said sharply.
He didn’t want to linger in this neighborhood for much longer. Something wasn’t right about this entire setup, but he couldn’t put his finger on what felt off. He couldn’t see any sign of someone watching them. The cars on the street were empty. The other homes on the street looked a little better than their target, but not by a lot. The yards were a little neater and the homes were a little better kept, as if the occupants were trying to maintain their homes between long hours at work. Several places even had tiny signs in the yard proclaiming that they had one security system or another in place.
