Blood on Canvas by Tom Fowler

Author:Tom Fowler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Widening Gyre Media

A few hours later, I got a text from Rollins. Got Miguel. He’s safe. When I asked how he’d managed to wrangle an unwilling man into some sort of protection, he offered only a simple response. I’m very persuasive.

I didn’t doubt it. Back at my office—after confirming the grounds were free of people looking to shoot me—I conducted some more research into Juan Manuel’s family. Nothing new jumped out at me. If José Antonio were involved, I couldn’t find anything conclusive to point to him. He was my only suspect by default. I needed to do better.

As I did the previous night, I used the tried and true detective tactic of waiting for people to do stupid things. They rarely disappointed me. Tonight, I tapped into security cameras near La Tolteca. If whoever torched Hacienda and killed Juan Manuel and Sofia got what they wanted from his basement, it made sense they’d move on to their next target.

I watched on my tablet while sitting in my car parked a couple blocks away. About an hour into my vigil, the clock struck eleven, and a couple of miscreants appeared on the screen. I fired up the S4 and drove the remaining distance, parking on a side street. I skulked into the alley behind La Tolteca. Two masked men spray-painted the same curse word I found on the walls of Hacienda. Between them, a gas can sat on the concrete.

I snuck behind the one closer to me as he admired his handiwork. His friend spotted me at the last instant, but before he could shout a warning, I grabbed the vandal in a chokehold. He clutched my arm and fought for leverage. “Stop!” I shouted to the other one, but he scampered down the alley. The guy struggling with me elbowed me in the gut. I’d been too focused on the second criminal to stop him. To avoid it happening again, I seized my quarry’s shoulder and spun him into the wall.

He rebounded off it quickly and led with a few punches. I deflected them all as I tried to get a look at this man in the flagging light of the alley. Despite the warm night, he wore a hoodie, and the mask obscured almost all of his face. Based on the little bits of skin I saw, my best guess put him as Hispanic. I blunted a couple of punches, stepped forward, and elbowed my attacker in the face. It rocked him back a step. I followed with a hard kick in his midsection. This folded him in half, and I dropped him to the alley with a knee to the face.

The guy was down for the count. I pondered what to do with him. I could call the police. This fellow and his partner probably set the fire at Hacienda and may have shot Juan Manuel and Sofia. If so, he’d be disinclined to talk to the police. He’d be working for someone, and if he lawyered up, the BPD would get nothing out of him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.