Inked Babies (Inked Brotherhood 6)

“It was many years ago, man.” Rafe sounds tired. “Who knows if the neighbor who reported it is even alive anymore? If he or she would repeat that report? If it was even true. If Ms. Evans isn’t confusing things. It means fucking nothing. We’ve got nothing.”

“We need to find the guy.”

“And what? Arrest him?”

“Fuck.” I rub the top of my head. “And if Zane files a report anyway? We could tell them about this Tyrell boy who vanished, too.”

“We could.” He doesn’t sound convinced.

Something Ms. Evans said is nagging at me. “Kenneth used to bring another guy over. His lover? His accomplice? Why didn’t we know about him before?”

“I told you there was another guy,” Zane says from the doorway and I flinch. He looks like hell warmed over, and still he looks better than he did in the car on the drive back from Wausau. “He wasn’t always there.”

Asher is right beside him, and clearly trying to hide the fact he’s hovering. “Who was he?”

“I don’t remember him so well.” Zane walks into the living room and takes a seat on the sofa. “His name was Emerett.”

“First name, surname?”

He shrugs. “No fucking clue. That’s what Ken called him. I think… I think he was there when Ken burned my back.”

Cursing, I turn my back to him, trying to get my anger under control before I start kicking at the furniture. “Motherfucker.”

“Anything else you remember about this Emerett?”

“Nada. Not even his face.” Zane is glaring at the far wall when I turn back around, his dark eyes blazing in his white face. “Can’t say I fucking miss him.”

I grab my laptop from where I left it by the door and put it in front of Zane. “Z-man, need you to look through the pictures, see if you recognize any of them.” I open the folder and show him the pics I downloaded. “These guys live in the wider Madison area and are named Kenneth Shaw.”

“All these? The fuck.” Zane’s hand shakes as he starts passing them.

“I know. One of them could be the fucking son of a bitch, so take a good long look, man.”

We sit around, brooding. Tessa calls to tell me they’re on their way back. I let out a breath after we disconnect, staring at my phone. Adrenaline is pumping through my system, and it has nowhere to go. We’re sitting here, unable to do a thing, not knowing which way to go.

“Can’t we find this Kenneth with his license plate?” Tyler mutters.

“We don’t have the whole plate,” I remind him. “Only three numbers. It’s not enough for the databases.”

“So we go back to Walmart and keep watch. Sooner or later he’ll go back, right?”

“Who the hell knows? He might.”

“Dylan.” I glance around to where Zane’s face is illuminated by the laptop screen. “He’s not in here.”

Fuck. My stomach drops. “You damn sure, man?”

“What do you think?” His mouth twists. “I just don’t recognize these faces.”

I walk over to him, take the laptop from his hands. “What about… this one?” The guy lives not far from the Walmart Supercenter, where Zane thought he saw his car. He’s sporting a dark beard and hair.

“Nope. Sorry, fucker.”

“Nothing to be sorry for.” I mock-punch Zan

e’s shoulder, force a grin on my face, and slam the laptop shut, trying to think of alternatives. “The pictures aren’t correctly matched half the time anyway, but it was worth a shot.”

I’d been holding out hope, though, dammit.