Unholy Shepherd by Robert Christian (rooftoppers txt) 📕

crescendo. He and Layton had worked out his act: first he’d play on the emotions of a father, then he’d bring the thunder.

“That deal you did for the county building,” he continued. “We took a hard look at the numbers. Over a hundred fifty grand for work that should cost no more than thirty? Awfully suspicious. And then there’s the seventy-five thousand dollar payoff to Sandra to go along with it. Tell me how it is, Tom. You got in bed with some shady businessmen, laundered money for them, and then decided that, hey, why not get yourself and Sandra some profit, too? Problem is, when you steal from these people, they tend to retaliate in violent ways. Your son is dead because of what you did!” Manny felt a pang of guilt for coming down so hard as the man buried his head in his hands.

“My wife, Kristin, has a brother, Darren,” Tom finally began. “He owns a construction business outside St. Louis and about a year ago, he got into some financial trouble and was going to lose his company. One of the drug cartels came to him and offered to invest, and in exchange they used his business to help in their money laundering. He came to me when I put the Glenbrook buildings on the market and told me that he would pay above list price for it. I knew what he—they—wanted it for, but it was a cash deal, quick close. All we had to do was agree to the work they wanted to do and get the county treasurer to go along with the billing.

“It wasn’t easy to convince her, but when the bank began foreclosure procedure, one of their lenders called me for a valuation of the property. I knew that was my in, so I got him to let me know how much she needed in order to keep her house. I promised her the money in exchange for going along with the plan. I filtered the money out of the project up front. I wasn’t thinking, though. I figured the bosses would never notice it since they make so much, but they did, right away. I panicked and made a deal. I said I’d pay them back double what I took. I figured I could do it within two months. But, we didn’t make our sales goals and I was short.

“Darren was the go-between. He told me that I had to either give them my brokerage, or something bad would happen to me. Darren begged me to give up my company to them, but I couldn’t do something like that to my employees. I told him to tell them I’d pay quadruple, and they’d have their money in sixty days. He told me guys like this don’t mess around, that I was being stupid, and to punish both of us, they might make him do something. But, I paid the money on time, and I never heard anything from them since. I thought that was it. And now . . .”

Tom’s voice wavered, and he bit into his clenched fist, stifling a whimper. No father deserved what Lowes had been through, but he reminded himself that it was of the man’s own making. And now he had a suspect.

“I’m going to have someone come in,” he told Lowes, standing up from the table, “and have you make a written statement. And we’ll need your brother-in-law’s address.” Manny strode out of the room. It was a terrible story that he had just confirmed, and he couldn’t help but feel for all involved. However, he was about as satisfied as he could be.

“What do you think?” Agent Layton said as Manny came into view.

“Sad,” he replied. “But it does tie everything up nicely. If Darren was forced to kill those kids by the cartel, it would fit the evidence.”

“How so?”

“The vomit at the first crime scene. He got queasy cutting up and burning his nephew and puked. He wasn’t emotionally connected to the second victim, so he wasn’t affected as much. I’d also bet that he was given the blueprint of how to carry out the hits. Cartels are mostly made up of Latinos, and most Latinos are Catholic. They’d know the Bible as well as anyone, they’d just pervert the written word and use the bloody parts as a message. What do you think?”

“I think it all fits,” the agent affirmed. “We’ll track down the brother-in-law and bring him in. He’ll talk.”

“Maybe you’ll get to put another dent into the St. Louis cartel.”

“It would be a nice silver lining, and as much of a win as we can hope for in all of this. Nice work, Benitez. We’ll take it from here, but you’ll feature prominently in our report just like I promised. You can head on home.” Layton slapped him on the shoulder and smiled.

Manny nodded and headed in the opposite direction, handing his file to the deputy standing along the wall. He blew out a deep breath of relief. He may not get to complete the arrest of the man responsible, but he had been a key component in the investigation. And that was enough for him.

Wasn’t it?

Manny walked through the waiting room on the way out the door. As he went, he saw Tom and Kristin Lowes in the corner. He couldn’t hear what was being said, but Tom was doing the pleading and his wife was crying and pushing him in the chest. She must not have known what was actually going on until now. Manny shook his head and pushed open the door.

Tom Lowes was right. Two boys were dead, but these murders were going to destroy so many more lives.

THIRTY-ONE

Manny came back with a giant pizza in his hands and a giant smile on his face. He was as genuinely excited as Maureen had seen him in a week. He told her all about his interview with Tom Lowes, and how they had