so we can discuss what we’ve found.”
“I’m over twenty hours away, Detective. If there is something you need to tell me, then tell me,” I pushed.
“Your father’s business partner, Mr. Perry, committed suicide last week. Upon further investigation, we discovered that he might have been involved with your father’s murder.”
“Mr. Perry? No … that isn’t possible. Mr. Perry loved my parents. He’d never do anything to harm them!” When my father started his real estate company, Mr. Perry was the first person he hired. Over the years, they’d become close friends. We were always doing things with their family, like weekend cookouts, and we even vacationed together. When we were younger, his son Daniel and I were close, but things changed as we got older. His dad sent him away to some prep school for boys, and after that, he wasn’t around as much. We were all like family. There’s no way Mr. Perry was involved.
“I’m afraid the evidence says otherwise, but the investigation is still underway. There are several leads we are looking into, so it’s just a matter of time before we find out who is responsible. Just hang tight and let us do our jobs.”
“Yeah, well, that’s easier said than done,” I groaned.
“How so? Have you run into any trouble since you left?”
“No. We haven’t had any of that kind of trouble. So far, I haven’t noticed anyone following us or even looking for us. Hopefully it will stay that way.”
“If anything changes, call me.”
“Thanks, Detective Brakeman. If something changes, you’ll be the first to know. I’ll be in touch soon to see if you found out anything more about Mr. Perry.”
“Stay safe, Olivia,” he commanded before hanging up the phone.
Knowing I only had a few minutes left of my break, I stayed outside and took a minute to myself to think. I tried to remember my father’s partnership with Mr. Perry and how they worked together—the good and the bad—but no red flags came to my mind. My father had trusted him. So did the rest of my family, and just the thought of him being involved with my parents’ murder sent chills down my spine. As desperate as I was to find out who had been responsible for my parents’ death, I prayed that we all hadn’t been wrong about Mr. Perry.
While most people were just getting up to pour their morning’s first cup of coffee, I was on my bike and on my way to the warehouse. It was colder than I’d expected and the chill in the air clung to me like a wet blanket. Ignoring my freezing balls, I followed Gus’s directions to the clubhouse. As I pulled up to the gate, one of the prospects came rushing towards me, but as soon as he noticed my Satan’s Fury patch, he stopped and motioned me through. I pulled my bike up front, and after I parked, I went inside to look for Gus.
I hadn’t gotten far when Lowball, one of the brothers, approached me. He was young, maybe in his early twenties, but he was a big dude with broad round shoulders like a linebacker and was covered from head to toe with tattoos and piercings. When I told him why I was there, he led me down a long hall to Gus’s office. He knocked, and once Gus answered, Lowball opened the door, letting me know it was okay to step inside.
When I entered the small room, Gus, a muscled-up older man with a long full beard, was sitting behind his desk. He was talking a mile a minute on his cellphone, and without stopping his conversation, he greeted me with a quick chin-lift and then nodded his head towards the chair in front of him. By the time I’d taken my seat, he was off the phone and said, “So, you’re the Clutch that Cotton has been telling me about. You know, I expected you to be bigger.”
I was six-three and two-forty. I laughed and said, “Yeah, well … I’ve missed a few meals while I was out on the road.”
“Glad you made it here alright. Was the apartment okay? You need anything over there?”
“Nah, it’s all good. The place is just right. I appreciate you putting me up.”
Gus was in his late sixties, older than most in his rank, but it was obvious by his thick, burly build that the man was still holding his own. He was tough. There was a hardness