Homicide! (Parker & Knight Book 2) Read Online Free

killing a man who owed him money. Dos was about Nico’s height, but weighed a sinewy one-forty.
    “So what’s up?” Dos said.
    “I need a job done up in Washington Township.”
    “Which Washington, there’s like five or six towns with that name, right?”
    “Yeah, but this is the one off of I-95,”
    “Oh yeah, I know it, lot of new shit being built up there, ain’t there?”
    “Yeah, but it’s an old bar I care about, a place called Taggart’s .”
    “So what’s the job?”
    “I need to cause some damage to the place, you know, bust up the bar, harass some customers and staff, shit like that, but not too violent.”
    “You want to give the owners grief, I got you. I’ll send a few of the members up there, even if they get caught they won’t say shit, but when do you need it done?”
    “Tomorrow is good, say around three, after the lunch crowd.”
    “It’ll be history by four o’clock,”
    “Cool, how much?”
    Dos thought that over, and said. “Two large, plus two bills for expenses, but I’ll send four guys,”
    “Expenses?”
    “Gas for the car and baseball bats and ski masks to do the job,” Dos explained.
    Nico laughed, and then, beneath the table, he handed over an envelope with two-thousand dollars in it. He had guessed right about the fee, but hadn’t factored in Dos ’s greed and business savvy. Along with the envelope, he handed over two-hundred from his wallet. It was all being paid for by his employer anyway, so what did he care? And anyway, he would tell him it cost even more and turn a profit in the bargain.
    “The next time I visit Uno in the can I’ll tell him that the gang’s in good hands. Expenses? You’re a trip, Dos .”
    Dos smiled. “It’s all about the green, brother,”
    Nico sent him a fist bump, and then got up and left the bar.
    ***
    T he following afternoon, Jo and Parker were staking out Taggart’s while waiting for Nico to show. Jo was actually working undercover as a bartender, a job she had done while in college. Parker was outside in the lot, sitting in the Chevy, deep in the shadows cast by an old elm tree.
    Both he and Jo had mug shots of Nico that were taken when he was arrested for breaking & entering three months earlier. Parker’s photo sat on his dashboard, while Jo’s sat on a shelf under the bar. Nico was exonerated of the B&E charge, but was suspected of being involved in other home break-ins, and possibly auto thefts.
    They had also wired Patrick Taggart’s office with a camera and a microphone. If Nico threatened Taggart or tried to extort him, it would be captured on video.
    They had tried tracking Nico down but came up empty. What they didn’t know is that Nico had no address of his own, but rather, he lived at different times with one or the other of the mothers of his three children. Nico paid the bills of all three women and so came and went as he pleased.
    ***
    N ear three o’clock, the bar grew quiet, and Heather Jones approached Jo to talk.
    “I’ve been watching you, you’re a good bartender.”
    Jo smiled. “Thanks, I did it for years and I always liked it.”
    Heather lowered her voice.
    “Can I ask you something, what’s your partner like? He seems... I don’t know, sad, I guess. Has he lost someone recently?”
    Jo stared at her, surprised by her perceptiveness.
    “No one died, but he just got divorced,”
    “Oh, and does he have kids?”
    “No, no kids, but you know, you really should be asking him these questions. He’s right outside in the car.”
    “I didn’t know if I should; I mean he is working.”
    Jo grinned. “Trust me; he’d love to have you visit.”
    Heather smiled back and then called to one of the other waitresses.
    “I’m going on break.”
    ***
    P arker saw Heather approaching and was thankful that he had just sucked on a breath mint. In the shorts and revealing shirt of her waitress uniform Heather was especially enticing, and Parker felt his pulse race.
    She is so damn beautiful,
    Without