Page 35 of Rescued Faith

“Are you at the restaurant fire they just paged out?” Bryce asked.

“Yeah. One casualty. They cleared out the rest of the strip mall.”

“So why do you need me?”

“It’s a known hangout for the Honduran gang, the one that came up in the task force meeting.”

Oh. “So they think this has to do with our case?”

“I’ll fill you in when you get here. Bring Collins with you.”

Izan and Bryce quickly said goodbye to the kids and threw everything back on the truck before they headed to the scene of the fire.

It was a busy area of town, the strip housing a variety of stores. The other crews were still fighting the fire when they arrived, multiple trucks and hoses clogging the parking lot. The front display windows of the restaurant were busted, the glassdoor covered in black soot and ash. Thankfully, the restaurant was on the end, but the small nutrition store right next to it had probably suffered damage.

Bryce walked up to Allen Frees. “What do we know? More explosions?”

“Kind of. Molotov cocktails through the front window started the fire. There was also a hail of gunfire according to witnesses. A black Camaro in a drive-by shooting.”

“That’s the same car that tried to take out Penny and me the other day. Anyone hit?”

“The restaurant hadn’t opened yet, so only the cook and some employees were in the building. But one of the hostesses was setting tables and died on the scene.”

“So now we have a casualty.” Izan frowned.

“Not only that, but the way the witnesses described the gunfire made it sound like automatic weapons. Look at the brass in the parking lot.”

Empty casings scattered on the ground glinted in the sun.

“You thinking they had those Glock clips like Penny talked about?” Bryce asked.

“These are nine millimeter casings. It’s a reasonable explanation.”

Bryce tensed. “You think this is a gang war now?”

“Not sure, but we better get Penny and the others down here.”

So much for trying to keep her off his mind.

ELEVEN

All Penny had to do was find Emma, solve this case, and not get involved personally. As she studied the mug shots on the board, she paced the conference room. She’d finished her energy drink hours ago. The caffeine must be wearing off. The stale air forced into the room through the vents helped a little to keep her from nodding off, but she could use some more pain killers.

Or better yet, a break in this case. Tony stroked his chin as he studied the same board.

Officer Anthony Thomas was the kind of guy she’d have gone out with…before Bryce. He was fun. Flirtatious. Handsome, no doubt. The clean-cut kind of handsome, always clean-shaven and well-dressed. Polished even. So different from Bryce’s rugged version of the word, with his perpetually scruffy jawline and worn jeans.

But working with someone like Tony was safe, and she’d take that any day over sitting in the conference room with Bryce, his presence and beachy scent filling the space.

They looked over the mug photos again.

“So these are the main players with the Honduran gang?” she asked him.

“Yup. We’ve got Beto Cordez here trying to run the show. He’s been here since he was a kid, and his dad transported migrant workers and drugs here illegally. Dad is now in prison. We haven’t got enough to put Beto there yet. Beto relies on Parker and Guillermo here to keep his dealers and thugs in line.” Anthony tapped their respective pictures.

“And the Puerto Rican gang?”

“Relatively new. Moved up here after Hurricane Maria caused all that chaos in 2017. Most of the islanders are law-abiding citizens and stay clean. But Hernando Fuentes seems bent on defying that trend and giving the Hondurans a run for their money.”

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