The Silver Lake Murder by Gregg Matthews (read novel full txt) 📗

The Devil’s Den is where Luke has a lot of meetings and functions. Most people who live around the lake with dogs go to Kevin for training. Most people who live around the lake go to Sun Luck and Lakeview Lounge for food and drinks. Now they will go to Rivers Tattoo shop for ink.”

The three men walk down the dirt road over to the building in the back.

“The building next to the storefronts in the back, off to the side, is owned by Luke as well. It is a big old barn. Inside the barn downstairs is called The Punchbowl. Luke has a few different operations running. There is Moonshine and a Microbrewery for beer. And there are the drug operations: cocaine, crystal meth, marijuana, and pharmaceutical pills. Everything gets the stamp of the Jackal. He hires the cheap labor from Lu Xu to run this operation as well.” Lester says.

The three men stand off to the side and watch the barn operate for a while. There are several older pickup trucks, green with white lettering. The trucks are parked in front of the barn. He reads the writing on the driver’s side door, Lakeview Lounge Delivery. Blake notices below the writing there is the symbol again, the crude outline drawing of a Jackal. The back of the pickup trucks all have canvas tarps; the tarps are tied down, covering the goods being delivered.

“The incoming pickup trucks pull into the barn one at a time. The trucks are loaded with the moonshine, beer, and whatever else the customer ordered. The driver pulls a tarp over the back before he goes out for delivery. The trucks idle in place, waiting for the local police to change shifts. Luke is friends with certain policemen and pays them not to pull the trucks over. The trucks are pulling in and out of the barn all day and into the night.” Lester says.

The three men watch as a van full of Chinese men pulls up to the side of the barn. Ten to fifteen men get out of the van. The men all light cigarettes at the same time and stand off to the side, waiting for their work shift to start. The van picks up the same amount of Chinese men on the other side of the barn and quickly drives off.

“We need to find out if Luke is the one responsible for killing your sister.” Blake says.

“I know, Blake,” Billy says to the ground.

Blake’s mind is running wild with the possibilities of what may happen. How he is going to have to turn Silver Lake and Luke’s operation upside-down to find out who killed Cindy. He knows he has to dig deeper.

He is going to have to go to Little Rock Island. The need to find the truth is overwhelming. The locals standing around the bonfire on Little Rock Island know

everything happening in and around Silver Lake. He needs a little more help from Lester.

“Lester, can you help me tomorrow?” Blake asks.

“Depends on what you need help with,” Lester says smartly.

“Me, Billy, and you are going on a little trip tomorrow at 5:00 p.m.,” Blake says.

“Yes, I’m in. I want to find out who killed Cindy as bad as you guys. She was a friend of mine for a long time here. I will do whatever I can to help,” Lester says.

“OK, I have to get back to the shop now. Thanks for your help, see you tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. sharp. Come on, Billy, let’s get back to work.”

“Where are we going tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Blake?” Billy whines.

“Little Rock Island!” Blake says intently.

Watching Lester walk deeper into the barn, he and Billy fade back to Rivers Tattoo Shop. He quickly sets up his workstation and gets ready to work on his next customer. Blake is hoping for a good day tomorrow. Going to the island where the local’s hangout will hopefully shed some light on what happened to Cindy. Also, maybe someone has seen Rose.

CHAPTER 7

The next day, Blake looks up from his drawing table inside the tattoo shop. He heard the bell over the front door ring. He watches as a young woman walks in the front door and looks towards him. She is his first customer of the day. She is wearing tan work boots, cutoff jeans, a wide black belt, a green T-shirt with white letters spelling out LakeviewLounge. She has a long sleeve flannel shirt tied around her waist. She flips her sunglasses to the top of her head. He wonders if she is here for more than a tattoo. He pulls his hair back into a ponytail, hoping she is going to need him to do some work. He walks over to her and introduces himself.

“Blake,” Blake says, extending his right hand.

“Tracy,” Tracy says, shaking his hand.

“What can I do for you, Tracy?”

“I want this memorial tattoo; it’s for my friend who recently passed away.”

He reads the piece of paper and sees the name Cindy Flynn in the middle of the page. The memorial tattoo is a heart with angel wings on the sides. Cindy Flynn’s name is in the middle of the heart. Silver Lake Forever is written under the heart. He is taken back by the memorial tattoo. His emotions are being set off one at a time. He doesn’t want to lose his temper and scare Tracy off, so he keeps it together. He takes the drawing from Tracy and goes over to the drawing table to create the stencil to be used to apply the tattoo. He directs Tracy over to the massage table. Watching her as she walks over to the table to wait for him to finish the stencil.

“Are you from the Silver Lake area, Tracy?”

“No, I’ve been here a couple of years. I grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts. I have a job at the Lakeview Lounge, and I rent a room in one of the cottages down by the lake. How about you, Blake?”

“I grew up here.