Page 17

With the tech team trying to find the real Mr. Hugo, teams were sent out to find the other stills in the bayous. It wasn’t all that hard. Ask a few church ladies, knock on a few doors, check in with the locals, and even turn over a few rocks with wildlife and fisheries, law enforcement, and local hospitals.

“Gaspar, what’s up, brother?” smiled an older man, walking into the office.

“Vishon Moreau. I thought you were dead,” smirked Gaspar.

“Brother, there are days that I damn sure feel dead. Which reminds me. Why aren’t you dead? I’m eight years younger than you.”

“Good livin’, Vishon, and Mama’s good cookin’,” he said with a twang. “What can we do for you?”

“Well, y’all know I’m still workin’ with wildlife and fisheries, givin’ tickets to boys fishin’ in the wrong spots, killin’ too many gators out of season, all the usual.”

“We sure appreciate what you do, brother.”

“I know, and I appreciate what y’all do. Which is why I’m here. Ran across two stills this morning, and my sister said that your mama told the church ladies to call you if they saw anything.”

“Where are they?” asked Nine.

“Damn. You’re still alive? I’m really feeling like shit now,” he smirked. Nine just laughed. “One of ‘em is at Bayou Saint Francis. It’s way back in them swamps. They can’t be gettin’ more than fifteen or twenty regulars. It would be an easy one to shut down.”

“I’ll send Rafe and Baptiste.”

“They still annoyin’ you?” smirked Vishon.

“You know my brothers too well,” laughed Gaspar. “Where’s the other one?”

“That’s the thing. It’s just a few hundred feet from your property line.”

“What?” he frowned, standing from his chair. Nine looked at the man, Ian and Ghost standing as well.

“Yes, sir. You remember where that old shipwreck was? The one that was half outta the water all these years and finally got destroyed.”

“I know which one you’re speaking of,” nodded Gaspar. In fact, it was the very wreck that led them to Marcel.

“Ain’t but a quarter mile from that. Hidden up in them trees. I wouldn’t have noticed except for seein’ smoke. I thought someone was burning a fire illegally. One of the folks in them nice little houses there said they’d seen lots of boats comin’ and goin’ and thought it might be y’all buildin’ somethin’. I thought I’d stop and say hello and see if you was startin’ fires. It was a fire alright.”

“Did you see anyone?” asked Nine.

“That’s just it. It’s why I didn’t approach them myself. Musta been a dozen men up in there, and they weren’t dressed for fishin’, huntin’, or for drinking moonshine. They was all in dress pants and them fancy short-sleeved shirts with the horses on the chest.” Gaspar grinned at their old friend, nodding.

“We’ll got take a look, Vishon. If you see any more like these, don’t approach them,” said Gaspar.

“One more thing, Gaspar. Them boys got themselves a big old set-up. Got a track out there.”

“A track? Racing cars?” he asked.

“Nope. They runnin’ dogs, and them dogs don’t look like they volunteered.”

“Dogs?” growled someone. Vishon jumped, shaking his head.

“That damn boy is gonna kill me one day. Tell him to stop scaring folks, Gaspar,” he said, turning to see Trak’s face. He was angry, but he also knew that he wasn’t angry at him. He was angry at the men running dogs.

“They’re running dogs?” asked Trak.

“Yep. Got a long track up into the woods with four lanes. Looks like they poke them dogs to get ‘em to go and have ‘em chasin’ somethin’. From what I could see the dogs don’t get to eat unless they win.”

Trak turned to leave them, and Gaspar called out to him.

“Trak, wait! Shit. We gotta go, Vishon.”

“Yeah, I think you do,” he smirked.

“Trak!” yelled Nine as Ian, Ghost, and Gaspar followed the man out of the building. “Trak, for fuck’s sake, slow down!”

“Why? Have you not been keeping up with your PT?”

“Trak, don’t make me shoot you. I like your wife too much to do that,” said Nine. Trak stopped and turned toward the four men.

“Did you not hear the man? They are abusing the dogs.”

“Yes. And we will stop it, but we’re going to stop it in the right way. We know that piece of land better than just about anyone. Let’s get our own dogs, no gators,” said Nine, “just our own dogs, and then we’ll tear that place apart.”

Trak stood still for a moment, staring at the four men he considered his closest friends. Running toward them was Sniff with Goliath and Beast. They turned, staring at the giant animals and then back at Trak.

“You already texted him?” smirked Ghost.

“Of course I did. I’m not stupid.”

“I never said you were stupid,” said Nine with exasperation. “We just didn’t want you running in there with guns blazing. We need to get something out of these men.”

“We’re wasting time,” said Trak, taking the leads for the two dogs. “We’ll meet you on the boat.”

They watched as he jogged toward the docks with the dogs keeping pace with him. Nine just stared at his friend, running as if he were still a twenty-one-year-old Delta operative.

“Maybe we should catch up with him before he takes off without us,” said Ian.

“Yeah,” nodded Nine. “Keep an eye on him. Wherever he is, Alvin is never far behind, and we need to prevent that alligator from eating any more witnesses.”

“You can tell him that,” laughed Ghost. “I damn sure won’t.”