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“Yea, but if the tables had been turned, technically, Carl could have been accused of rape. She’s lucky he didn’t file charges against her,” said Angel.
“Listen, they’re all good kids,” said Gabe. “Good adults. Tori and I have loved being aunt and uncle to everyone, now great-aunt and great-uncle. It’s been a good life.”
“A great life,” nodded Gaspar with a smile.
“Thanks to your Mama and Pops,” said Nine. “I mean, we would have all had a good life if we hadn’t moved here, but moving to Belle Fleur, brother, that was the catalyst for everything. I remember being here that Christmas before we moved and thinking, I wish we could all be together all the time.”
“You made a wish?” asked Gabe.
“On a fucking shooting star,” smirked Nine.
“Hey, you don’t think…” started Miller.
“Don’t say it. Don’t even fucking say it.”
“Not saying it doesn’t make it any less real,” said Whiskey. “I’m gonna head out to Halo Island and see how Teddy and Sven are doing. By the way, kick-ass job by Ryan and Doug to make those blocks work. Fucking things scare the shit out of me.”
“Why?”
“Because I spelled outshit,and it repeated it! They went back and deleted all the curse words. We wouldn’t want anyone coming back at us for that little error. Fucking amazing, brothers.” He waved over his shoulder as he walked out the door.
“Still a lot to do,” said Gaspar. “Let’s get busy.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Hey, Gaspar? The sheriff is coming up the road. Wants to speak with you and Nine,” said Code.
“Everything okay?”
“I don’t know. He just said he wanted to speak to the two of you.”
“Show him into the conference room, will ‘ya?” Code nodded, walking out of the offices to meet with the sheriff. They’d been through at least ten since moving to Belle Fleur and were fortunate that not one of them questioned their involvement in local things.
“Morning,” said Nine. “What can we do for you?”
“I thought you boys might like to know that Tolbert wasn’t the head of that operation. We found him in his cell last night, hanging from the bars.”
“Damn.”
“Yep. Problem is, the bars ain’t high enough to hang from. Someone strangled him, then tied him to the bars. Cameras didn’t catch a damn thing. We questioned all the boys about Couvillion’s potential involvement, but they all said the same thing. He wasn’t smart enough to figure out what Tolbert was doing and didn’t give a damn. He just wanted out from under the fishing boats.”
“And Pops got him out,” frowned Gaspar.
“Yep. But I think we’re all glad he’s gone. Someone else was moving that merchandise,” said the sheriff. “I think y’all are gonna have a very pissed-off enemy. Just thought you’d wanna know.”
“Great. Just what we need,” said Gaspar. “Any other storage unit robberies? Smash and grabs at the high-end stores?”
“Nothing yet, but it’s possible it will happen. I’ve got all my men out there working, but I gotta tell ‘ya, we’re stretched thin this time of year. The rest of them boys at juvie? Most were livin’ on the streets. No parents, no homes, nothing. They’ll be in juvie for a while, but we’re gonna try to find a place for them.”
“I know y’all are stretched thin,” said Gaspar, nodding at the other man. “We’ll try to keep an eye out as well. Maybe send up a few drones to see if anything is going on.”
“One lead I do have comes from one of the boys. He said that a man on a motorcycle came to see Tolbert a few times. Said he was big, bald, lots of tattoos. He wasn’t wearing a leather with any emblems, which I think is strange. He never spoke to him but said Tolbert always stood up right away when he got there and looked nervous.”
“Maybe this guy killed Tolbert,” said Nine.
“Or Tolbert knew he was coming for him,” said the sheriff. “Either way, it’s the only lead you have. Maybe the boys in the shop could do a few patrols. See what comes up.” Nine nodded, looking at Gaspar.
“Any word on the street about new gangs? New clubs that have come into town?”
