Animal Instinct by Rosenfelt, David (novels for students TXT) 📕

able to tell for sure without getting too close. That doesn’t matter to us either way.

Once he is finished with these rounds, Rico heads back to an apartment building, where he presumably lives. He spends only about ten minutes there, so Marcus assumes he is picking up more merchandise for the rest of the night.

By ten thirty he is back in his spot at the parking lot; at that hour he has the place pretty much to himself. He clearly sees people by appointment since two purchasers are never there at once. He runs a fairly efficient operation.

Two men follow Rico around all night. They are obviously bodyguards, but they manage to stay out of the way, while clearly remaining ready to intervene if Rico has any problems.

Rico is about to have some problems.

Marcus and Laurie are going to neutralize the two bodyguards and prevent Rico’s customers from keeping their appointments. He seems to see people every fifteen minutes, so there shouldn’t be that many customers to deter. The bigger issue will be the bodyguards, though Marcus specializes in big issues. In this case it’s overkill; Laurie could probably handle it on her own.

Simon and I will have a chat with Rico. Andy and Laurie again said that I should not be a part of this, but I am not listening this time. It’s my decision because it’s my ass on the line. They disagree, but respect my right to make the call.

Simon is along because he majored in drug detection at the K-9 Academy, with a minor in scaring drug dealers. This job will be right up his alley.

We pull up in separate cars. Simon and I park one block east of the lot, and Marcus and Laurie park one block west. Laurie texts, “Ready?” I respond, “Let’s do it.” She must have seen the most recent customer leave, so we know the coast is relatively clear.

We get out of our respective cars and walk toward the entrance to the outdoor lot, which is where the two bodyguards are stationed. Simon and I get there first, when Laurie and Marcus are still about twenty feet away. “Hey, where you going?” one of the bodyguards asks.

“To talk to Rico.” Then I point to the approaching Marcus. “He said it was not a problem, that you guys would be cool with it.”

Now they turn to Marcus and Laurie. “And who the hell are you?”

I think I see the second bodyguard reach for something in his pocket, but it is way too late. Marcus uses two punches to knock them both out cold, which I believe comes out to an average of one punch per bodyguard. I don’t have time to check my math on that because I want to keep my appointment with Rico.

“Chuck, you good? What’s going on?” Rico has obviously heard some commotion, probably the sound of his bodyguards hitting the cement.

He’s in our sight line, so I say to Simon, “Hold.” It is the command for Simon to keep the prey, in this case Rico, under control.

Even in the dim light, I can see the panic in Rico’s eyes as a snarling Simon comes toward him. He starts to reach into his pocket, probably for a weapon, but I already have my gun trained on him and I yell, “Freeze, you piece of shit.” I don’t know Rico, but by definition I consider anyone who would attempt to shoot Simon to be a piece of shit.

Rico is smart enough to obey my command, as well as my next one, which is to slowly and carefully take the gun out and place it on the ground. The entire time he has his eye on Simon, who is now in pointing mode, meaning he has detected drugs.

What Rico doesn’t know is that if I shoot him, I’ll be digging my own legal grave. Killing people while out on bail is considered a major no-no in this jurisdiction.

“What’s this about?” Rico says. “Whatever, we can work it out, you know?”

“Talk to me about Lisa Yates and Gerald Kline.”

“Who are they?”

“They bought drugs from you, and you had them killed. I am the guy you framed for Kline’s murder after you had someone slit his throat.”

“You got the wrong guy. Don’t know them.”

“You paid Jake Gardener to do it. We killed Gardener. You think we’ll hesitate to kill you? Simon…”

Simon growls at Rico for effect. When Simon gets like this, even I’m scared of him, and he sleeps in my bed at night.

“Come on, I swear. I don’t know any of these people. And any work needs to be done, I do it myself. I don’t hire nobody.”

“You’re trying my patience, Rico. And you’re pissing Simon off.”

“You want money? You want merchandise?” Rico is starting to panic. “I’ll give you whatever you want, but I don’t know those people.”

I take out my cell phone and call Laurie, who answers on the first ring. “Call them in,” I say.

“Okay.”

We’ve planned it so that Laurie’s friends in drug enforcement are waiting for her call. Within minutes they are on the scene, and after searching Rico and finding the drugs, they place him and his two friends under arrest.

I explain that we were walking Simon in the neighborhood, and he became aware of drugs in the area, from his time on the force in drug interdiction. The bodyguards tried to attack Laurie and Marcus, but they managed to fight them off. All of that constitutes the probable cause for the agents to have searched Rico, and what they come up with will put him on the sidelines for a long time.

It’s a decent outcome, but not the one we wanted.

“I hate to say it, but I believed him.”

We are back at Andy and Laurie’s house to debrief about the evening.

“He would have said anything to save his ass; Simon had him scared to death. But he wouldn’t cop to having killed Lisa and Kline because I don’t think he knew what the hell I