AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Time to go to work.
CHAPTER 33
TEN HOURS LATER, I’m riding shotgun in Carlos’s F-150, leading a caravan of local, state, and federal authorities down the highway toward Parker Longbaugh’s residence. We’ve got everything—a K9 unit, explosives experts, you name it. Even my lieutenant, Ty Abrams, and Carlos’s captain, Roger Lightwood, have come along.
A similar team is heading toward Ellis Kilpatrick’s and Harvey Curry’s houses.
It’s amazing how quickly things moved once we got Lieutenant Abrams involved. He locked up search warrants while the team already working on the XYZ case shifted their focus based on the information we gave them.
“Nervous?” Carlos asks, as he drives past the grain elevator down the road from Parker’s.
“Hell, yes,” I say.
Serving a search warrant is always a high-anxiety time. You usually know who did the crime. You just need to find the evidence to prove it. In Parker’s case, I feel more nervous than usual.
“However this goes,” Carlos says, all business for the moment, “I want you to know I appreciate you going along with me on this. I came to you for help, and you had my back.”
We roll in, followed by the rest of the caravan. The Longbaughs’ driveway overflows with police vehicles, and most of them have to park on the grass.
Josie comes out on the porch, utterly confused. The little girl, Etta, hides behind her mom’s legs, looking terrified.
I wish I didn’t have to do this myself, but I approach Josie with the warrant in my hand.
“Where’s Parker?” I ask.
She ignores my question and asks her own. “What’s this about, Rory?”
“We have a warrant to search your property,” I say, holding out the paper. “We’re going to confiscate any evidence we find.”
“Evidence of what?”
Before I get a chance to answer, I hear a commotion behind me. Over the heads of the agents and officers crowding the yard, I see Parker’s Bronco circling around the other cars to find a place to park in the yard. Leo is in the back seat, Parker in the front.
My old friend bursts out of the door and storms into the crowd.
“What in the hell is going on?”
When he sees me, he stomps over and glares at me with burning eyes. I want to wilt under the glare, but I make myself hold his gaze.
“We have a warrant to search your property,” I say.
“What for?”
My throat constricts, and I can’t answer. Suddenly, this doesn’t seem like a good idea at all.
“We have reason to believe,” I say, but then I hesitate. “I mean, we need to check and make sure you’re not one of the XYZ Bandits.”
“The XY-what?”
“Robbers responsible for a number of crimes in Texas,” I explain.
Parker lets out a breath and takes a step back, coming upon a realization. He looks stunned.
And hurt.
“You were spying on me?” he says, his voice full of injury. “That’s why you came to my house? You think I committed some kind of crime?”
Seeing his reaction, I want to rewind the clock and take back what I said to Lieutenant Abrams. I wish we weren’t here right now.
