“That why you got all these guns?”
“They’re all legal, Sheriff. Got the papers on ’em just like a breeder would have on a prized show pig.”
Eddy looked at Roan. “Are any of my men dead?”
“Not yet.”
“Let’s hope it stays that way. Now”—his gaze swung back to Santiago—“why’re you raiding my place?”
Santiago handed him the warrant. “Got a tip you and Vince were running drugs out of this shop.”
“But did you findproof?” Eddy smiled. “You’re definitely going to need more than the word of some druggy’s bitter wife trying to put blame everywhere but at her husband’s feet.”
Santi frowned. “Why would you think that’s where we got our information?”
“That bitch has been blaming me for months. I okayed Vince giving her loser husband a job.I’mthe one that puts food in her kids’ mouths, but she wants to come after me as if I’m the bad influence.” Eddy laughed. “She’s blaming the wrong man Stillwater, and so are you. Look around. What crimes you see happening in our fine establishment? None.” He sneered. “You better enjoy this job while you have it ’cause it won’t be for much longer.”
“What do you see?” Santiago asked Roan.
“Table was in the center of the room. Scuff marks on the floor, faint.” She pointed. “But they’re there.”
Santiago stooped down. The concrete showed spider-web thin grooves that moved in the direction of where the table was currently.
Eddy snorted. “This is a garage, shit’s moved around on a daily basis, honey.”
“Sit in the corner,” Santiago told Eddy.
He and Roan walked over and grabbed opposite ends of the table carrying it back to the spot it had been moved from.
Santiago stepped on top of the table and looked up.
“Why do I have a feeling you’re going to jail tonight?” Roan asked Eddy.
“Cause you’re as good at reading body language as you are at tracking,” Santiago replied. Eddy was tense as a snake about to strike now.
Santiago pushed up on an acoustic tile, but met resistance. Putting more muscle into it, he shoved again and the tile broke. Fat baggies of pills and wrapped bricks of a powdered substance fell from above.
“Lawyer,” was the only thing Eddy said. Vince might run the garage, but it seemed Eddy was the one who ran this particular arm of the business.
Peters entered the room, frowning in confusion. “What the hell’s going on in here?”
“Keep out of this room, Peters, and have McIntyre bring my kit. Roan, secure the camera footage then get out there and do a full sweep of the property.”
“You’re making a dangerous choice, Stillwater. It takes a special kind of stupid to escalate this situation in the way you’re planning.”
Santiago looked at the drugs that had fallen on the table and floor. There was more up there, he was certain. This drug ring was bigger than just something local. There was a major player supplying this kind of product.
Santiago hopped off the table and looked at Peters. He didn’t fully know who all he was going to war with, but what hewassure of, now more than ever, was that some of his enemies were already on his side of the battle line.
CHAPTER 14
It was nearly midnight,and Santiago was dragging ass, he was so tired. They’d pulled roughly three million dollars’ worth of product out of that damn garage. They’d located the area on the property some of the drugs were made in. Vince might own the garage, but Eddy seemed to manage the more lucrative business. Still, there was no way Eddy and his boys were more than middle management. This big of a haul was coming from people with deep pockets and a more organized distribution network than Eddy could ever dream of handling with the three brain cells in his head.
Santiago determined he would put in a call to the DEA tomorrow.
Sitting in his cruiser, Santiago wanted answers to all his questions, but damn if he was going to get them tonight.
Thinking about the other thing he needed to get to, he groaned and knocked the back of his head against the headrest.
