Justus just grinned at him.“Afraid youaren’tup to the task?”
Hedidn’treply. He only unlocked the door to the condoandthey went inside. He headed to the living room whileshetook off down the hallway towardherbedroom.
She found For All curled up in his bedsoundasleep wherehe’dbeen whenthey’dleft earlier. He was too cute lying thereandshe wanted to scoop him up and hug him to her, but at the sametimeshedidn’twant to disturb himsoshe quietly turned back around and went to the living room.
“He’ssleeping,”she saidsoftlywhen she found Rafferty searching the carpet for any tell-tale signs of markings.“That is what he was doing when we left. Idon’tthinkhe’smoved from his bed. I bet getting groomed wore him out.I’veheard college friends talk about their pets sleeping soundly after getting groomed.It’slike a natural drug to be bathed and brushed and have their hair cut.”
“Maybe, but I’m still going to check,” Rafferty said.
“Suit yourself.”Justus settled on the sofa, tucking her legs underneath her, and watched him. She soon became bored and reached for the televisionremotewhere she finally found something to watch now that they had service.
Leland Warshafsky picked up his cell phone and saw thatFelty’sassociate, juniorpartner,TateLandrywas calling him. He almost dreaded answering his phone, but he swiped anyway.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Warshafsky.It’sTate Landry. I have bad news, sir. One of your associates, DrakeMinchinhasbeen arrestedfor attempted dognapping.I’llbe representinghim at arraignment if you can post the bail.”
It seemed hedidn’thave one man on his payroll these days who could keep himself from being locked up.
“What the hell? Have my men gone crazy?”Leland shouted into the phone.“Whose dog was he trying to steal?”
“Justus Killion’s.”
“Really? Did he get her address?”
“Afraid not. Other than getting fingerprinted and booked, he has little else to show for his endeavor.”
Damn.
“Call me back when you know the amountandwe’llget him released. I should let him rot in there for failing miserably.”
“Y–Yes, sir,” Landry said. “I’ll be in touch.”
Leland threw his phone across the Chieftain, cursing. He turned over the plush chairs and kicked the cushions as he saw red. Then he ran his fingers through his neatly combed hair, growling in frustration. Why was this happening? Where had things started falling apart?He’dbeen in this business for years without any trouble until recently. Who was the weak link in his operation? He needed to find that piece and pluck it out before his corner of the operation collapsed.
He’dbe damned if he was going to be known as the brother in the Four Corners of this southwest human trafficking ring where things fell apart.He’dnot let whoever was doing this makeColorado’sbranch the tenuous member while Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico thrived. If hewasn’tafraid of drawing attention to his location,he’dreach out to his brethren for assistancein ferreting outthe culprit. But what if he brought them down with him? Hecouldn’trisk that. Not until he knew for sure his inner circle was secure.
CHAPTER 9
The ringingof his phone woke Rafferty early and he rolled over to grab it before it could ring again. “This is Rafferty,” he said, forcing his eyes to open as he sat up in bed.
“I believe you have been trying to reach me,” the male voice on the other end of the line said. “How is Justus doing?”
Rafferty’s mind raced for a moment trying to put voice to memory recollection and then when he said Justus’ name it clicked. “Dan?”
“The one and only.”
Rafferty scooted to the edge of the bed and let his legs drop to the floor. “Man, it is good to hear from you. I have so many questions, but not as many as I’m sure she will. I never thought we’d hear from you after I talked to your supervisor.”
“Yeah. He doesn’t know I’m calling. And he’d prefer that I didn’t reach out.” Dan took a breath. “I’ve been looking into this incident with For All almost getting stolen at the groomers. The man who was arrested posted bail. His name is Drake Minchin. He’s a new player to the area with Warshafsky. That triggered a flag with the FBI because I’ve been following the case. The same law firm that’s representing Nuchols and partyis also representing him. I believe the law firm works for Leland Warshafsky.”
“Do you have proof?” he asked him.
“Nothing concrete. Just from what I’ve observed, but court documents and bail receipts will show a connection, I’m sure.”
“Unless bail was paid in cash,” Rafferty said playing devil’s advocate.
“There is that possibility,” Dan admitted. “But I am also getting phone records for the attorney handling the case and hopefully there won’t be a burner phone number on there for the calls correlating with the arrests and the bail postings.”
