Framed Shadows: Shadows Landing #6 Page 11

  “Someone already is. We have FBI agents lined up along the road to follow them. Tibbie and Peter are in the courtyard. Let’s go let them in. I need to talk to Peter.”

  13

  Paxton hurried to the back door with Tinsley right behind him. He pushed open the door and found Peter and Tibbie sitting at the small table, laughing.

  “Oh, that was so much fun! I have more wigs than Dolly Parton. It was fun to pull them out again. The seventies, you know? All wigs, all the time. Maybe I’ll bring them back into fashion.”

  “You were excellent, Miss Tibbie. The FBI thanks you for your assistance,” Peter told her. “Now, let me introduce you to my art crimes agent, Paxton Kendry. Paxton, this is Mrs. Elijah Cummings, or Miss Tibbie to those lucky enough to call her a friend.”

  Paxton shook her hand and gave her a wink. “I’m happy to have you as part of my team. You didn’t even bat an eye at dealing with criminals.”

  “Bah, they’re nothing. You should come to the Arts Endowment Silent Auction if you want to see real action. No matter how hard criminal organizations try, they’ll never be tougher than society matrons at a silent auction.”

  Paxton laughed. That wasn’t true, was it? He’d make sure to ask Miss Tibbie later. She looked like she had great stories to tell, but right now he had a break in the case and he needed to follow that lead.

  “I know who they are,” Paxton said and everyone went quiet. “It’s been nagging at me since I saw the first video footage of Maurice. He looks really familiar, but now that I saw Murray, I know. They’re from Atlanta. They’re from the gang I was undercover with. I recognized the partial tattoo that was showing. They are brothers but their last name isn’t Smith, it’s Spiller,” Paxton told Peter.

  “Did they recognize you?” Peter asked, all business now.

  Paxton shook his head. “When I was undercover I had a big, thick beard that covered most of my face, long, shoulder-length hair, and I wore colored contacts. I went by a different name and was covered in temporary tattoos that looked so real I was surprised they eventually washed off.”

  Peter frowned. “I don’t like coincidences.”

  Miss Tibbie shook her head and clucked. “As if it were a coincidence while at the fundraiser last week that Tex Thomas left to use the restroom thirty seconds after Titty Roberts did . . . excuse me, Kitty Roberts. Those two have been foolin’ around for six months and still think no one knows. Well, what they don’t know is Tex’s wife and Kitty’s husband are filing divorce papers at the same time on Monday. Coincidence? Ha! There are no coincidences. So, tell us about that gang you were with. Why would they want to sell stolen art?”

  “I don’t know,” Paxton admitted. “There was never any mention of art when I was undercover with them. They ran drugs and guns.”

  “Could they be payment for drugs and guns with other gangs?” Tinsley asked. “Maurice said they have some buyers already lined up.”

  “Could be. What about money laundering?” Paxton asked.

  Peter nodded. “That could work. They have Tinsley sell the art. She takes the dirty money, and when she wires it from her escrow account, it gets cleaned. I already looked at the account they had Tinsley deposit the money into. It’s a front. The company sells artwork. The address is a one-room desk rental space in an office building. Not an art studio, but a respectable address if you have no reason to dig. The money is still sitting there, too. It hasn’t moved yet and no one has asked for a withdrawal. Tell me what you know about Maurice and Murray.”

  Paxton closed his eyes and thought back through all the FBI files he had on the gang. “Curtis Engle is the leader of the Myriad. I never had enough to take him down, but I was getting close. Maurice and Murray were street lackeys. They sold heroin laced with fentanyl on the street. They must have been moved up in the organization.

  “The night I was shot, I was closing in on Engle. He had a meeting that he said would change the gang forever. He handpicked the members to go with him and I wasn’t on the list so I followed them to an abandoned warehouse. That’s when things went to hell. I was spotted by one of them. I called for backup when the alarm was sounded. My team was supposed to move in, but they didn’t. My coms had gone down without me knowing it so I walked in with no backup. Engle waved off the meeting before I could see who it was with and the gang converged on me. It was like the shootout at the O.K. Corral. I took most of the members down with me, including the second-in-command and half the security team before taking three shots to the chest. The brothers were probably moved up after that.” Paxton didn’t like remembering that night—the shouts, the gunfire, the fear he was going to die.

  “How did you get out of there?” Tinsley asked quietly.

  “In a body bag. My team only moved in once the shooting started, but they were blocks away, waiting for my signal. The last thing I remember was Engle standing above me. He said, “It’s a good thing you’re dead or I’d kill you myself.” Then he took off running when my team appeared. My boss was there and said I was dead loudly enough that anyone nearby would hear him. I was put in a body bag and loaded into an ambulance in case Engle was watching. The doctors managed to save me. A week later, my boss retired and moved to a beach house in Central America. He told me in the hospital right before he caught the plane out of town that he and his wife had been saving for decades. Then he handed me my transfer papers as his last act as my boss.” Paxton still felt the punch in the gut at being handed the transfer. He was the number two man in the office, and instead of his team being there to support him, they’d abandoned him.

  Peter crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes in thought. “You said once you thought something was off. I shoved it aside, but you’re right. I’ve led my fair share of raids and that’s not how it was done. The timing of your boss retiring is also interesting. I was going to see if someone from your team could look into Maurice and Murray, but I don’t think so. I want to keep this away from them.”

  “Someone has their hand in the money pot,” Miss Tibbie said with a nod as if it were a done thing.

  Paxton had to smile at seeing this elegant old lady talking about drugs and gangs. “I think you’re right, Miss Tibbie.”

  “I don’t know anything about this, but I have a confession,” Tinsley said as she played nervously with her fingers. “My cousin looked into you. He said your report was filled with citations for insubordination. You weren’t listening to your superior. Do you think that’s the reason for the transfer when in reality it had nothing to do with the night you were shot?”

  Paxton felt so surprised he almost fell from the chair. “You looked into me?”

  “My cousin did. I told him not to, but you can’t tell Ryker anything.”

  “We know about that. The new head of the department, Mark Trevino, had it changed,” Peter told them. “There’re no disciplinary actions in his original record. Instead, there are plenty of commendations. Luckily, I had printed it off when Paxton transferred to my office. We thought Mark was the issue, but was your old boss in on it, too?”

  “Of course he was,” Tibbie said with a roll of her eyes. “The man left the country a week after Paxton was shot. And you call yourselves agents. David Thrumble was a donor to the Historical Society with us. He just took off for Ecuador one day after he sold his company, a company the buyer didn’t know the IRS was investigating for tens of millions in unpaid taxes. He even left his wife, Mary Lewis, at their home wondering what was going on when it was seized by the IRS. She had no idea he’d emptied their bank accounts, not paid taxes, and skipped town. Bless her heart. You,” Miss Tibbie said, pointing to Paxton, “are Mary Lewis.”

  Damn. He was.

  “It was all a setup. But why?” Peter asked.

  “I swear you two wouldn’t last one second in Charleston society,” Miss Tibbie said as she rolled her eyes. Again. “You’re the sacrificial lamb. The question is who hung you out to dry so they could advance?”

  “Mark T
revino,” Peter and Paxton said at the same time.

  It was weird feeling relieved, but that’s what Paxton felt. Relief. It all made sense now.

  “You know, Mark didn’t realize you were still an agent,” Peter told him.

  “He didn’t?” Paxton asked.

  Peter shook his head. “He thought you were on medical leave.”

  “Wait, I don’t understand. Why would this Mark guy offer you up to Engle?” Tinsley asked, stopping Paxton from asking more questions.

  “Mark never plays by the rules. I always thought Engle had to have an inside man on the team. There were too many times I got so close to busting Engle but when I tried to nail down the evidence, all of a sudden, it was gone. Now it makes sense. Engle was meeting someone big that night. I had just cut Mark out of the case. Instead, I was reporting to my boss, and my boss only. I have no doubt my boss had been saving for that retirement house, but he was only fifty-three. There’s no way he’d saved enough while putting two kids through college. Mark had to have paid him off. Keep Mark in the loop and he’d make sure my boss could retire early. My coms were cut on purpose. I bet Mark did it and then tipped Engle off that I was there as proof of his loyalty. Engle would kill me and Mark would be in.”

  Tibbie nodded and Paxton sat back in his chair and let out a long, slow breath.

  “But what does this all have to do with stolen art? And why are they in Shadows Landing?” Tinsley asked.

  “That’s what we need to find out.” Paxton didn’t like where his mind was going. Pieces were clicking into place and they all pointed back to Mark Trevino.

  14

  “There’s our screamer,” Ridge called out as Tinsley and Paxton walked into the bar for dinner.

  Tinsley stumbled over her own feet as she shot a horrified look at Paxton. “You told my brother?” she hissed as Paxton reached out to steady her. The proud smile on his face made her want to roll her eyes.

  “As much as I’d love for you to praise my sexual prowess publicly, I believe Ridge is talking about the alligator and me.”

  Tinsley snorted and slapped her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

  “Who’s screaming?” Peter asked, and Tinsley smothered another laugh.

  “You will be later,” Paxton whispered as he held out a chair for her.

  Peter joined them at the table. “Sorry to interrupt dinner and the rightful merciless teasing Paxton is about to receive, but I need to talk to him.”

  “Do you have an address?” Paxton asked as he turned away from the table.

  Tinsley leaned back in her chair to eavesdrop, but then the door opened and Granger and Kord entered. They took one look at Paxton and slapped both hands on their cheeks and screamed.

  Ridge and Tinsley’s family lost it. They were cracking up and tossing out jokes as the lawmen joined the table.

  “At least they aren’t telling you to break up with him,” Edie said from where she sat next to Tinsley. “It also shows he can take some ribbing. If he couldn’t, your family would run him out of town faster than grass goes through a goose.”

  “Ignore them,” Savannah said from across the table. She leaned forward so they could hear each other better. “How are things going between you two?”

  Tinsley smile was automatic and the women shared a look that said they knew exactly what that smile meant.

  “That well, huh?” Darcy asked with a wink.

  Harper handed out drinks before sitting down next to Ellery. “Don’t worry, you’re not the only one. Gavin threatened Dare, too.”

  “He did?” Ellery asked. “My sweet Gavin?”

  “Um, you should know better than anyone that Gavin is not sweet and kind when someone he loves is in danger,” Harper said before taking a sip of her drink.

  Tinsley looked over her shoulder and saw that the men were gathered behind them now. They were leaning forward, their heads bent down as they tried to talk quietly. “Paxton! If you’re talking about the case, you do it here with all of us.”

  Tinsley saw all the women’s eyes zero in on their husbands. If looks could kill, they’d be dead. The men shuffled their feet and all returned to the table.

  “Peter told us the address Maurice and Murray returned to. It’s the Myriad’s headquarters in Atlanta,” Paxton told her before having to explain who the Myriad were to the rest of the table.

  “I read an article on how gangs are expanding,” Ryker told the table. “They work together across state lines. Like a local chapter to a national organization.”

  “The Myriad have expanded into Charleston recently,” Peter said.

  Tinsley watched as Paxton nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised by it. Gangs have changed over the years,” Paxton explained. “There’re the low-level street gangs who distribute the drugs or weapons. Then there’re wholesale gangs where the street gangs get their supplies. At the top of the pyramid is the supplier. The street gangs have a loose relationship with the national organization and use it to work together and get supplies across state lines. What I saw in Atlanta were outside gangs trying to get a foothold in the city. I’d expect the same is happening here as well. A gang from L.A. or Chicago may want to expand and Charleston, Atlanta, and Nashville are all prime places for expansion.”

  “Not only that, but in Charleston we’re seeing local gangs reaching out to the larger national ones,” Peter added. “The locals want the infrastructure they can supply. The ability to get better deals on drugs and weapons from the suppliers and backup if they need it in a fight against another gang.”

  “The question is, was Myriad moving into Charleston before I got transferred here and they had no idea I was here until I asked to be transferred, or have they been here longer?” Paxton asked.

  “I’ll have to ask Agent Whitlock with gangs.”

  “You are being transferred?” Ridge asked.

  Peter shook his head and answered for Paxton. “When Agent Mark Trevino in Atlanta got the transfer request, he didn’t know Paxton was still an agent. After he got the request, he went in and changed Paxton’s record and then denied the request,” Peter explained. “Those disciplinary actions now in his file—they’re not real. They never happened. I have Paxton’s real file if you need to see it.” Peter aimed that at Ryker and Ridge.

  Ridge had the grace to look a little embarrassed. Ryker didn’t bat an eye. “You can send me a copy. Thank you.”

  “Ryker!” Tinsley yelled at her cousin.

  “I look after my family. Get over it.”

  “Why don’t we get this over with now,” Paxton said. “What do you want to know?”

  “Everything from whether you ate paste in preschool to the results of your last blood test,” Ryker said calmly but with steel in his voice.

  “I didn’t eat paste,” Paxton began, “although I did like the smell of Play-Doh. I graduated from high school with honors. I graduated from college magnum cum laude. I respect my elders and am close to my grandmother. I don’t kick puppies or hit women. I’d love a dog at some point. I don’t have a green thumb. I can cook enough to impress a date, but not well enough to impress her over time. I haven’t dated anyone in a while because I was undercover. I flirted with the women around the gang but never dated them. I bought and sold drugs, but only with prior superior approval. I also think Tinsley is amazing and you all underestimate her strength. There, does that answer enough for you, Ryker?”

  Ryker narrowed his eyes.

  “Should we talk about you now?” Paxton asked. “I have my own file with your name on it. Should we start that night when you were a senior and—”

  Tinsley reached out and grabbed Paxton’s arm. “Don’t.” It was all she said but it was enough. Paxton saw the concern in her eyes before turning back to a now rigid Ryker. “Unlike you, I’m an open book. Ask anything you want.”

  “I have a question,” Ridge said, breaking up the staring contest that had developed between Paxton and Ryker. Tinsley didn’t know whether to be relieve
d or worried.

  “Have things changed between you and my sister from the last time we talked?” Ridge asked.

  Well, crap. This wasn’t going to end well. Tinsley braced for Ridge to leap across the table.

  “Yes. We’re together now. That’s all I’ll tell you. If Tinsley wants to tell you more, she can. I defer to her on how much privacy she wishes to maintain.” Paxton looked over at her and smiled. His hand reached for her thigh and he gave it a little squeeze. “I will say I realize I’m one lucky man.”

  Tinsley sighed along with the rest of the women at the table.

  “Is the interrogation finished? I do have a case that needs to be solved.” Paxton looked around the table. Ridge and Ryker grumbled but didn’t ask anything else.

  “So, there’s no one on the FBI task force you can talk to?” Peter asked.

  Paxton shook his head before making a funny face at baby Chase.

  “What about local law enforcement?” Granger asked. “Every city has a Street Crimes Unit. Atlanta probably has a huge one.”

  “I never worked with them. It would be hard to know who to trust, but it’s a decent place to start,” Paxton said.

  “Tinsley?” Granger said, turning toward her. “Could you ask your family in Kentucky if they know anyone we could trust there?”

  “How would they know?” Paxton asked.

  Tinsley smiled as she thought of them. “They know everyone. My uncles run a military and law enforcement training facility. They’re all former military and law enforcement, including FBI. I also have several cousins in law enforcement.”

  “Then ask them. Let’s see if I can get a local contact. Maybe I can have them pay off an informant for information. That’s how we get most of our tips,” Paxton told her.

  “You know,” Granger said, “you’re known in Atlanta, but we’re not,” he said, motioning toward himself and Kord. “We don’t have jurisdiction, but we don’t need it to pay off some informants.”

  “I could help,” Dare said. “After all, ATF does go after firearms and most gangs are involved in weapons dealings. I could see if my ATF buddies in Atlanta have any information on Myriad or if they have heard any rumblings about corrupt FBI agents.”