Page 24 of Reed

“Okay?” I ask, crossing my arms. If this report popped up when we ran Dennis’s name, I’m not going to like the rest of this story.

Jessie comes in the door with Max and a young man following him. Nick doesn’t pay them any attention as he returns to his story. “The body was later identified as Dennis,” he says, pulling out a chair.

“When was the body found?” I ask, standing up to pace because I have to do something.

“Two days ago,” Gabe says. I forgot he was in the room because he has been silent the whole time since his initial greeting.

“How is that possible?” Max asks, which tells me he has been fully informed about everything.

“Do we have any of the crime scene photos?” The young guy asks.

“Who are you?” I ask, not trusting anyone I don’t know.

Max looks between me and the unnamed guy. “This is Ash. Ash Ricci.”

Without stopping to think, I pull out the gun that is always with me. Nick, Gabe, and Jessie do the same. “Tell me why thefuck there is a Ricci family member here in my office? While you’re at it give me one good reason not to blow his fucking head off,” I say through gritted teeth. I take a step forward; my hands never shake, and the gun stays pointed straight at Ash’s chest.

Max steps in front of Ash, and I laugh because he is sorely mistaken if he thinks I won’t put a bullet in him as well. I would kill anyone to protect Ali, even if that person is her own fucking brother. I notice Ash’s hand grab Max’s waist, and I swear I see it trembling. “Because he is going to help us find Demon and has been helping me to take down his Uncle. The Don of the Ricci family,” Max says, laying a hand over Ash’s. “And if you so much as look at him wrong again, I will bury you so far in the ground that the earth's core will light your body on fire.”

“He’s helping you take down his family?” Jessie asks, sounding as confused as me.

“Yes, I am. I hate what they stand for, and they hate me as well. So what other choice do I have?” Ash sounds terrified. I lower my gun and motion for the guys to do the same.

“So why do you need crime scene photos?” I ask. I walk toward the bar cart and grab six glasses and the whiskey bottle.

“Because I think I know who killed Dennis. And if I’m correct in my theory, we need to get to work fast before he leaves town taking your answers with him,” Ash says, no longer hiding behind Max. I motion for everyone to sit down and pour each of us a shot.

Nick pulls up the crime scene photos, and Ash spends thirty minutes looking over every little detail until he finds what he is looking for. “There,” he says, pointing at a picture. “Can you zoom in on the bottom of his left foot, toward the heel?”

Nick does what Ash asks. I stand up, along with Ash, and move closer to the TV. “What are we looking at?” I ask.

“Give me one second to clear the image up,” Nick says, hitting a couple more keys, and the image starts to become clearer.

“What the fuck is that?” Jessie asks.

“That is his calling card. It’s how whoever hired him knows the job is done, and he gets paid,” Ash says, crossing his arms, looking like he solved world hunger.

“Who?” Max asks behind us.

“Demon,” Ash says, pointing to the small carving of a D with devil horns. It’s so small that most people would overlook it, but since he knew what he was looking for, Ash noticed it. “Now we just hope he hasn’t left town.” Ash turns around and pulls out his own laptop.

“What do we do in the meantime?” Gabe asks me.

“We go talk to our friend Blaze,” I say. Turning my attention to Max, I say, “When you find something, call us.” He nods as Nick, Gabe, Jessie, and I walk out the door.

Finding Blaze wasn’t hard to do since Gabe put a tracking device on his car. Getting him to leave the bar was a little trickier, but we pulled out all the stops to do this. Jessie called up the girl he had been fucking and asked her if she was up to helping us out. We waited outside the bar in Jessie’s truck as she went in, working her magic. We didn’t have time to wire her up so we could hear what was being said, but Carla could handle herself if she got into a tight spot. So we aren't worried about her.

Fifteen minutes later, Carla and Blaze stumble out of the bar. Blaze’s hands are trying to feel her up under her skirt. He pushes her against the side of the bar, and with his attention solely on her, we make our move. I wrap my arms around his throat as Nick and Gabe grab his arms to keep him from fighting us. Jessie gets Carla away from the action. Blaze struggles but is out quickly as I restrict his airflow. We make quick work of binding his hands behind his back and gagging the fucker. Jessie is back in time to help us throw him in the back seat, and we take off toward Jessie’s house. We will have to use his basement since Aliis at my house and I don’t want her to see this side of my life. Not right now.

Jessie used the same builders therefore his basement is identical to mine. Once Blaze is chained up, we all pick our weapons. This time, I choose a serrated knife, needing to get my hands bloody, not only for Ali but for Tara, my half-sister. Stopping in front of the door, we all hear the chains rattling and muffled shouts coming from inside. I smile at the boys and kick open the door. What can I say? Sometimes, I have a bit of a flair for the dramatic.

“Well, well, well, look what we have here? A little fuck boy that doesn’t know how to keep his hands off things that don’t belong to him,” Jessie says, crossing the room to pull the gag out of Blaze's mouth.

“Fuck you! I didn’t know that whore belonged to someone. She came onto me. Walking around basically showing off everything. She was asking for it,” Blaze says, spitting toward Jessie. Blaze's brown eyes shine with tears despite trying to act tough.

Jessie smiles before punching Blaze. The sound of Blaze's cheekbone breaking is covered up by the scream that tears from his throat. “Don’t ever call her a whore again. She happens to be a nice lady.”

“Enough. You aren’t here because of what happened earlier. You are here because we want to know who hired you to watch Ali yesterday and who the fuck is behind the rape and murder of Tara Pope,” I snarl, pushing Jessie out of the way and sinking my knife into Blaze's thigh.

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