Gabriel by RK Staunton

Author:RK Staunton [Staunton, RK]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance, Order of the Black Knights, mystery
ISBN: 978-1-63533-393-0
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2017-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

ON SATURDAY morning Gabriel’s private cell phone—the burn phone—rang. He recognized Moose’s number and thumbed the answer button. “Shadow,” he answered automatically, although Moose probably knew his real name. In fact he suspected Moose was probably the one who sanitized his discharge papers and created the CV that allowed him to obtain his current employment, but old habits died hard.

“Got the package you sent me,” Moose told him. “Don’t know what you got yourself caught up in, Shadow, but I got to tell you, it ain’t good.”

Gabriel’s heart sank. If Moose said it wasn’t good, that likely meant it was only a couple steps below an international crisis. His gift for understatement was legendary. “What is it?” Gabriel asked.

“Looks like your boy spent most of the night chatting up a gangbanger by the name of Damien Castillo.”

Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief. “A gangbanger. That’s all. Hell, Moose, I thought you were going to tell me I had uncovered a terrorist cell or something. A small-time hood is nothing.”

“Except Castillo ain’t exactly your average street thug,” Moose broke in. “He’s got a rap sheet as long as my arm, and he’s on a watch list for suspected human trafficking. Word is his gang is a subsidiary of MS-13. He’s bad news, and if he’s got your boy, the kid is in way over his head.”

“Shit.” Gabriel sank slowly back into his chair. Though he had suspected it was more than a simple case of a runaway kid—despite what the local LEOs believed—he never suspected it ran so deep. Human trafficking was big business. It fed prostitution rings that were to modern gangs what bootlegging was to the mobsters of the ’20s and ’30s. And MS-13 owned a reputation for being ruthless and violent.

In an instant Gabriel’s body was on high alert. Time was always of the essence in a missing-person case, but Eric’s just became even more so. They had to get him out now, if he was even still alive. Please let him still be alive.

If Eric’s disappearance worried Lucas, finding out his best friend was dead would crush him. Gabriel couldn’t imagine having to relay that news. He was prepared to hunt down and take out anything or anyone who dared hurt Lucas. That thought brought him up short. Again.

“Shadow, you there?” Moore asked, drawing him abruptly out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, I’m here,” Gabriel said. “Just trying to figure out what the fuck to do next. Any idea where they went?”

“Castillo left after a couple hours,” Moose replied. “He and two other males, one Hispanic and one African American, drove off in a dark-colored late-model sedan. Maybe an older-model Caddy.”

“Tell me you got a plate.”

“Sorry, man, no can do. The security cameras aren’t particularly good quality. I can see them get into the car and pull out, but I can’t get enough detail to see the plate.”

“And Eric?”

“The inside cameras show him cleaning up after his shift, and he makes a call to someone on his cell.

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