Fatal Mercy by Dan Padavona (freenovel24 .TXT) 📗

a market research analyst for a trading firm in Syracuse. The guy’s also a fitness freak and hangs out at Benson’s Barbells in Kane Grove.”

Raven twisted her lips.

“I’ve been there. Nothing but muscle heads and steroid freaks.”

“Ramos hits the gym every day between five and six o’clock. That’s when the facility is at its busiest, everybody cramming inside and sweating together after the workday.”

“At it’s smelliest too. Okay, when do we start?”

“You start today. If I don’t make up ground on the Bellinger case, we’ll lose his business.”

“Is this just a surveillance mission?”

Chelsey tapped a pen against her lips.

“Stay out of sight and take pictures. Get a sense for his hobbies and who his friends are.”

“And if he’s sleeping around behind Sadie Moreno’s back.”

“Exactly. I’ll get you the address for the trading firm. It’s a forty-minute trip from Wolf Lake.”

“Sounds good. Let me finish this document, and I’ll drive over.”

“Would you prefer I stop by your place and check on your mother while you’re in Syracuse?”

Raven slapped her forehead.

“Oh, shit. You’re right. I’ll never make it home, if I spend the afternoon in Syracuse and Kane Grove. Would you mind?”

“Not at all.”

“Thanks, Chelsey. I owe you one.” Letting out a breath, Raven clicked out of the document and shut off her screen. “It’s hard enough sharing my place with my mother. I can’t believe I almost moved LeVar in. Where would any of us sleep?”

LeVar Hopkins, Chelsey’s brother, abandoned the Harmon Kings, a notorious gang in the city. Chelsey had investigated LeVar for murdering Erika Windrow, a prostitute working for a rival gang. Chelsey still harbored guilt for suspecting an innocent teenager. That LeVar was Raven’s brother only complicated matters.

“What’s going on with LeVar? Last I heard, he was taking classes at the community college and working on his GED.”

“He has one more class this summer.”

“You must be excited for your brother.”

Raven’s eyes lit with pride, and Chelsey spied the warmth in the woman’s smile.

“He was always the smartest member of the family, and by the end of August, he’ll have a high school diploma. After, he intends to stay at the community college and earn credits toward an associate’s degree.”

“Has he decided on a major?”

“Not yet. He’s interested in everything from public relations and marketing to criminal justice.”

Chelsey widened her eyes and tossed the pen on the desk.

“How does he go from the lead enforcer for a Harmon gang to criminal justice? I figured he hated the police.”

“Ever since Deputy Shepherd invited LeVar to live in his guest house, he’s rethought his position on cops.”

Chelsey bit her lip and glanced at her hands. She dated Thomas Shepherd through high school before falling into a deep depression. Chelsey cut Thomas and her friends out of her life and hid inside herself. After years of therapy and medication, she crawled out of her hole and rejoined humanity. While Chelsey traveled the United States, staggering from one dead-end job to the next, Thomas moved from Wolf Lake to Los Angeles and joined the LAPD.

Raven rose from her chair and sat on the edge of Chelsey’s desk.

“Enough with the sad puppy eyes. Why don’t you climb off your high horse and call him? It’s obvious you still have feelings for the man.”

“I don’t have…I mean, I care about Thomas and want to see him succeed. But a relationship? That was twelve years ago. Who dates their high school sweetheart?”

“Lots of people, I bet.”

Chelsey had followed his career through the newspaper and internet. It warmed her heart when her old boyfriend made detective. The feat was no small accomplishment. It was rare for people with Asperger’s syndrome to work in law enforcement. But he’d overcome prejudice and moved up the ladder. During a raid, Thomas was shot in the back when a rival gang ambushed the DEA and LAPD joint task force. Chelsey hadn’t realized Thomas returned to Wolf Lake until she encountered him in a parking lot three months ago.

“Fairytale endings are for Disney movies. Besides, why would he be interested in someone with my baggage?”

“Now you’re feeling sorry for yourself. If you’re looking for pity, you won’t find any here.” Raven rapped her knuckles on Chelsey’s desk. “I’m leaving for Syracuse. When I return, I want the old Chelsey back.”

“You never met the old Chelsey.”

“All right. The one I met last winter.” Raven kissed the top of Chelsey’s head. “And thanks for checking on my mother.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Monday, July 13th

6:10 p.m.

Wolf Lake, shimmering in cerulean perfection, filled Thomas’s windshield as he turned his silver Ford F-150 onto the lake road. He chewed a piece of beef jerky. Aguilar was trying to get Thomas to eat more protein.

He’d spent the day with his fellow deputy, mired in paperwork. The emergency room doctor declared Lincoln Ramsey dead on arrival last night, surmising the man passed in bed at home. Remembering the family’s pain forced him to fold the beef jerky wrapper and stuff it into his pocket. Would it be weeks or months before his own father succumbed? Mason Shepherd would die at home like Lincoln Ramsey, not in some antiseptic hospital room.

By choosing law enforcement over Shepherd Systems, the business which made their family wealthy, Thomas became the black sheep of the family. His father demanded he leave the Nightshade County Sheriff’s Department and take over Shepherd Systems, and neither parent would return his calls until he quit law enforcement.

He was lost in thought when movement in the woods caught his eye. A trail ran from the state park down to the lake. His friend, Darren Holt, held the ranger position at Wolf Lake State Park. Darren had worked for the Syracuse Police Department before choosing a simpler life, managing the forest and ensuring his campers stayed safe.

Thomas slowed the truck and pulled along the shoulder. The shape struggling through the brush looked like a lost dog. He trotted through the field bordering his property and caught the trail fifty feet from the shore before he lost sight of the