Page 50 of Trouble Comes in Threes

His upper lip curled, and his face hardened. “Because my daddy worked for him, and I don’t want nothing to do with my daddy.”

“I thought your father took off when you were eight.”

He tightened his jaw and glared at me. “Just because he ignored me doesn’t mean he didn’t stick around the county.”

“Fair.” But my respect for his father was nil. “Does your father still work for Dermot?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him in three years.”

I didn’t know much about how Dermot ran his organization, only that the county’s crime rate had been at an all-time low. So either Dermot and his crew were super stealthy, or they’d found other sources of income.

“So how’d you know to look for me?” I asked.

“Because when I was a kid, I remember everyone talking about the Lady in Black.” He cast me another disapproving look. “You don’t look very badass.” Then he added, “No offense.”

Neely Kate propped her hands on her hips and pinned him with a dark gaze. “You do know that ‘no offense’ doesn’t mean crap when you actually are being offensive, right?”

“That’s okay,” I said, keeping my gaze on Austin. “I’m a bit out of practice, but I’m hoping the help you need from me won’t require bad-assery.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said in a flat tone. “I need protection.”

“So you need to go to the police,” Neely Kate said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Has anyone found this poor person’s body?”

“It was a man, and they buried him just last night, so I don’t think so.”

“You saw them do it?” I asked.

“Yep, they murdered him in a building, then buried him behind a parking lot.”

Crap. Definitely two murders. Were they related, or was it a coincidence? It didn’t feel coincidental, given there hadn’t been a murder in Fenton County in about six months.

“How was it you saw them kill a man and didn’t get caught?” Neely Kate asked.

“I’ve been sleeping out there, and my car wasn’t in the parking lot. They thought the place was empty.”

“So why are you worried if they didn’t see you?” I asked.

“Because I was stupid and followed them out there and took pictures with my phone. I wasn’t thinkin’, and my flash went off, so I took off running.”

“Why don’t you start at the beginning,” I suggested. “Was anyone else with you?”

“No, I was alone. I’ve been staying out there for the last week or so. I was curled up with my sleeping bag, and I heard banging sounds coming from the front. Then two men were shouting at this guy.”

He paused, and when he didn’t continue, I prodded, “Then what happened?”

“They started beating him up. Kicking and hitting him and shit. He was moaning and crying out, but he wasn’t sayin’ nothin’, and then one of the guys shot ‘im. The other guy was pissed, and I thought his buddy was gonna shoot him, but after he calmed down, he told the guy that he was gonna be the one to dig the hole.”

When he stopped talking, I said, “And then what happened?”

“They loaded him into the back of their truck, drove to the trees behind the parking lot, and buried him back there.”

“And you followed them?” Neely Kate asked in disbelief.

I had to agree with her on this one. We both knew the layout of the place well. There wasn’t any cover in the parking lot. It would have been hard for him to pursue them without being seen. “If you didn’t want to report this to the police, then why would you follow them?”

He lowered his face. “I never said I was smart.”

That I agreed with. I wasn’t buying that it was the complete reason, but I was willing to let it go for the moment to get more information.

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