Sons of a Brutality by Daniel Jeudy

Author:Daniel Jeudy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby

Twenty-Nine

Jed stopped for lunch at an old-school diner in San Fernando on the drive back from Simi Valley. They thought it might be a good idea to run through the details of Harry Bath’s testimony before meeting the lieutenant. Neither of them had eaten breakfast, and the roadside café seemed a popular spot judging by the number of cars parked outside. Addison’s cheeseburger came off the grill full of flavor, and the cherry pie had taken him back to Christmas dinner at his grandparents’ farmhouse. He even ordered a second cup of joe to wash the food down while they squared away Jed’s notes. When Addison arrived at his desk in the afternoon, he was confident their instincts had been right all along.

It took five minutes to authenticate Harry Bath’s information when they ran the boys’ names through their system. Andrew King and Luke Green were both reported AWOL by their parole officers in 1994. Then after a quick-fire investigation, it was presumed they had either fallen victim to a shady past or just skipped town altogether. The recorded details were somewhat nebulous—probably because the investigating officers quickly lost interest in locating them and moved on to more critical cases.

“We should probably go speak to the boss,” Addison suggested offhandedly.

Jed jumped up out of his chair like a jack-in-the-box.

“Are you feeling okay, kid?”

“I don’t usually look forward to a meeting with Collins, but today is strangely different. For some reason, I find myself all fuzzy about being in the man’s presence.”

Addison chuckled to himself while they began making their way across the room, ignoring a couple of detectives who attempted to wave them over. When they arrived at the lieutenant’s office, he knocked three times before walking through the door.

Collins made it clear he was in no mood for shooting the shit, so Addison cut to the chase by providing a rundown of their meeting at Simi Valley. He included all the relevant details, except for the piece about the two missing youths. When he finished, Addison leaned back in his chair with a powerful sense of resolution.

“This dark priest believes that your group exists then,” Collins conceded wearily. “And what did he say their name was again?”

“In Paucis,” Jed replied. “It’s Latin and translates as The Few, but as Mowbray said already, Harry Bath also told us how they had changed their name at some point.”

Collins massaged both his temples as color mounted on his forehead.

“And he’s provided you the name of a woman whose cousin is supposed to know people on the inside?” he queried effusively.

“Indeed, he did.”

Addison decided to hold back the details of the two missing youths because he wanted to drop it into Collins’s lap at the ultimate moment. Too much initial information often complicated matters that should otherwise be straightforward. Part of him may have just been waiting for the man to suggest their evidence was circumspect.

Collins drummed his fingers on the desk with an ornery expression.

“How do you suggest I present this development to the captain?” he queried warily.

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