nbsp; He parked his car one street over as he’d done that first night. He put his night-vision goggles around his neck. No one was in sight. He locked the car and darted through several yards. There were a number of fences to scale before he reached the tree in question. He’d done a lot of tree climbing in his youth. This one was easy.
When he reached midway and was well hidden by leaves, he phoned Cy.
“Where are you?”
“In the tree looking at the back of the house. Have the guys put up the sign?”
“About an hour ago.”
“Good. I take it there’s been no other movement.”
“Not yet.”
“In that case, I’m going to join you. Leave the back door open. I’ll be there in two minutes.” He disconnected and started down the tree. One more fence to climb and he’d be there.
When he crept in through the back door, it felt like home.
Cy was waiting for him in the kitchen.
Kit smiled. “Good to see you, bud.”
“Likewise. Guess who else is here?”
Kit couldn’t imagine.
“Vic.”
“You’re kidding—”
“Nope. After you gave me the tip from Juanita about Alonzo hiding out at the billiards place, I went over there to investigate. One of the girls who works at the front as cashier is terrified of him and hopes we get him. She said he always has two thugs with him and carries an AR-15. They operate like a gang and drive around in an old hearse.
“When Vic heard that, he volunteered to help us on this stakeout. There’s a bulletproof vest for you on the chair there. Needless to say the boss wants this killer caught.”
Good old TJ.
Kit put on the vest, then walked through the house feeling a ton heavier. He found Vic in Natalie’s bedroom watching the windows through his night-vision goggles. They talked shop for a few minutes before Kit returned to the kitchen.
Cy eyed him. “What’s your gut telling you, Kit?”
“The way Juanita explained it, I figure it’s going to go down gangster style. She says Alonzo’s a raging bull and he’s got nothing to lose at this point. I have no doubt he’ll blast his way in.
“The only problem is, I don’t know how long we’re going to have to wait. Juanita felt it would happen right away because he’s desperate to settle his gambling debts. I hate tying up Vic when this isn’t even his case.”
“He insisted, and the boss knows we work well together. He’ll send other guys to relieve us tomorrow if it looks like we’ll have to be here longer.”
Kit nodded and pulled out his weapon. “Which door do you want to guard?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“I’ll take the front and you cover the back. We’ll trade off.” Kit had a hunch they’d charge the front of the house and shoot the door off its hinges. Of course, anything was possible. He placed himself to the side of the glass so he could see the whole front yard.
His father had gotten into a situation like this. But the shootout had taken his life. Kit wasn’t ready for that to happen yet. Tonight he’d found a new reason for wanting to live life to its fullest. Natalie may not have said all the words he wanted to hear, but he knew how she felt about him.
Go get him, cowboy.
Those were magic words. They’d freed him from the fear that she couldn’t handle what he did for a living. During all the years since he and Janie had broken up, he’d been afraid to fall in love. He couldn’t go through that again, only to be told that his career was getting in the way of total fulfillment.
Kit had seen how hard it had been on Luckey. The poor guy had suffered when his wife had said goodbye. To be told that you had to find a different way to make a living after a year of marriage would have been devastating. Luckey was doing better, but he was as gun shy about falling in love again as Kit had been.