Page 23

Having a beer with friends was the perfect way to unwind after the three days I’d had hunting down a target in New Mexico. Hart Laramie’s intel had been right, that’s where the guy had run to, but after he landed in the middle of nowhere, he went off the grid, and it was nothing but old-fashioned detective work and determination to hunt him down.

We’d been hired by a scared businessman who’d had multiple death threats aimed at his daughter. It was Hart who’d figured out who was behind the threats, they were an extremist organization operating in the southwest. The first break in the case was when one of Roan’s old sources supplied a name. Hart verified the man was a member of the group, and it was my job to get some info and hand him over to the authorities.

He'd been paying in cash to the crappiest motels I’d ever seen. They made the Lee-Hy motel in Jasper Creek look like the Ritz Carlton. He ran out of cash and ended up dumping his piece-of-shit truck by the side of the road five miles from the junkyard where I found him. He was sleeping in the backseat of an old Cadillac, and he didn’t hear me coming. He didn’t wake up until I reached through the window and grabbed the gun out of the waistband of his jeans.

It took me twenty minutes of strong persuasion to get him to give me other names of men in his organization. The first time he gave me names after five minutes, I called Hart and had him run them. They were bogus. After fifteen more minutes of tender loving care and twirling around a thick chain that I’d found lying around, I finally had him spilling three names that Hart said were viable. I zip-tied him, threw him back into the Cadillac, and got the hell out of there.

I was nice, I didn’t wait the four hours it took for me to drive to Albuquerque to call in his whereabouts. I called him in after two hours on the road. When I finally made it to Jasper Creek, Simon and Roan told me to meet them and some of the other guys over at Maverick’s Bar and Grill, and I was happy to oblige. I’d come to love the atmosphere here. It wasn’t like some of the rough and tumble places I’d visited during my year and a half of wandering, but not too stuck up either. It had that feel of welcome. Hell, all of Jasper Creek did.

“You really left him in the backseat of the car?” Roan asked.

“Of course he did,” Jase answered for me.

“I was in such a good mood after he gave me three good leads that when he said he needed to take a piss, I let him try before hog-tying him.”

“What do you mean, try?” Simon finally joined the conversation. I heard real curiosity in his voice.

I chuckled. “Said with me giving him a time limit, he couldn’t whizz.”

“For real?” Jase’s eyes were wide.

“For real,” I nodded.

“As soon as I hogtied him and got him in the backseat, he started begging me to untie him so he could try again.

“Did you?” Roan asked.

“It was a moot point. He started peeing all over himself before I could do anything. It was part of the reason I called the authorities sooner than I was planning.”

Everyone laughed.

“I like it,” Jase chuckled.

I looked around. “The pool table is empty, let’s go play.”

“I’ll take you on,” Roan volunteered.

“You up for another smackdown?” Jase asked in disbelief.

“What are you talking about? That last time was a fluke. I’m putting down twenty that says I beat Graham by two balls.”

“I’ll take that bet,” I said as I reached into my wallet and set down the twenty on the side of the pool table. This would be like shooting fish in a barrel. “You go ahead and rack and break,” I offered.

Roan grinned. “Don’t mind if I do.”

He sank a solid. Then he lined up what should have been an easy shot for another solid, but he hit the ball off-center.

“My turn.” I kept my tone even. No need to gloat. At least not yet.

I sank three stripes in a row by the time Hart Laramie sauntered over to watch. “Who’s winning?”

“Graham,” Jase answered. “He’s stripes.”

I got my next shot lined up. It was a bank shot, but I thought I should still be able to make it.

“Hmm,” Hart muttered. “He’s probably riding high since he finally got a date with Joy.”

I missed the striped ball by a mile, then I shot Hart a dark look.