Chapter 1
Greg hastened his steps as he approached the rendezvous point he was given. His contact, Fernando, was waiting for him. Greg had used Fernando’s intel a few times over the years, though it had become more frequent since his regular informant, Billy, flipped on him.
Fernando had grown up here and knew just about everyone and everything. If he didn’t, he knew where to find info. Greg didn’t know what Fernando did for a living nor did he care. The man always came through with intel and quickly; that was all that was important.
“Fernando,” Greg said in greeting.
Fernando nodded back, leaning against the side of a brick building. They were on the industrial side of town and away from prying ears.
Fernando was a large man, just shy of his own six-foot frame. His arms were muscular from manual labor and covered in tattoos. He had long black hair that was always pulled into a ponytail.
“You said it was urgent,” Greg prodded when Fernando didn’t say anything else.
Fernando looked around as if making sure they were truly alone. The man was paranoid by nature. Greg supposed in his line of work, one had to be.
“It’s about those people turning up in the desert over the past few weeks.”
Over the past few weeks, bodies had been showing up in the middle of the desert. Reports were coming back as heart attacks. Police didn’t know what to make of it; autopsies didn’t show signs of drugs.
There had been a mix of locals and tourists found, but no one could find a connection between them. They were all middle-aged, healthy people. A mix of men and women. Police didn’t seem to be in a hurry to stop this from happening to others.
“What about them?” Greg wasn’t a snipping guy, but Fernando could take his time getting to the point sometimes. He’d been looking into these deaths for weeks and wasn’t getting anywhere.
Greg knew there was a connection, he just hadn’t found it yet. Hopefully, Fernando could finally clue him into the right direction to look.
Greg had been making soft inquiries to his local contacts to see if anyone had heard something, but so far, no one knew anything. This was the first time someone had.
“I have a contact in the morgue. He got me a copy of the report from the last one brought in. Same MO. Young, heart attack. But this time they had a bag on them with a pill inside.”
Fernando glanced around again before pulling something out of his front pocket. Greg stiffened out of reflex, not knowing if Fernando was going to try and attack or not. He held up a small clear bag with a devil logo on the top. One tiny blue pill rested inside at the bottom of the bag.
“What is that?”
“What’s killing these people. A new street drug. Highly addictive and obviously lethal in high quantity.”
“Why isn’t it showing up on the autopsy reports? Everything said about the deaths is heart attack. Are you sure?”
Fernando gave him a droll look. “Do you think I would call you out here if I wasn’t sure?”
He just had to be certain. “Fair enough, do you know anything about who’s selling?”
“No, but there’s someone who does.” Fernando turned his head to the side and called out, “Kenny.”
Greg turned when a man appeared out of the shadows. He appeared young, couldn’t be more than twenty-one. He approached them slowly as if he were afraid Fernando or Greg would attack him.
Greg didn’t know what to think of this new development. He was used to meeting his contact and leaving. Now someone else was being added. He didn’t sense a threat from the kid, but that didn’t mean anything. It was the most unsuspecting looking that you had to watch out for.
“Kenny, tell Greg here what you told me.”
“I…I saw the last girl be…before she died,” he stammered, his gaze cast down to his feet. “She was at the club I work at.”
“What club is that?” Greg asked calmly when he really wanted to shake the kid for answers, but that wasn’t going to help him. If anything, it would scare the kid more.
“Club Domenico.”
Greg didn’t recognize the name.
“It’s a club just north of the strip,” Fernando supplied. “She approached two men as if she knew they’d be there. They gave her the bag. A short time later, she started convulsing on the floor. The same men took her away.”
