Sor (Voodoo Guardians #29)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The team knew that Beck wouldn’t be on-base. He wouldn’t be allowed, considering his history. After doing some research, Hiro and AJ were able to confirm that Joshua Beck had indeed been in the Air Force and, after an incident with the colonel’s daughter, was politely asked to leave.

According to records, sealed, of course, the colonel’s seventeen-year-old daughter met Beck in the PX while shopping one Saturday. He invited her to take a ride in his new Mustang, and she gladly accepted.

What happened after that seems like the tagline for a movie. Speeding through backroads, they were chased by local sheriff’s deputies for nearly an hour. When they finally pulled over, the car was searched, finding two televisions, stereo equipment, five guns, and more than a million dollars in fraudulent gift cards.

All of that alone would have been enough to put him in jail. But when the good colonel’s daughter admitted that they’d also stopped at a local motel and had sex, his biggest fears came to life. Although Beck could have and should have been jailed, the colonel was more concerned about his daughter’s reputation than her health, so he silenced it all.

Seventeen, pregnant, and regretting ever going to the PX that day, Beck was given a pass for his indiscretions but would need to marry the girl. Fortunately for him, she lost the child in the first trimester, and he was literally off the hook while she battled depression and loneliness.

“Well, he just sounds like a helluva guy,” frowned Frank.

“He’s the guy always looking for a deal,” said Sor. “He always wanted something for free, something extra. I didn’t know the whole story of why he exited the service, but it all makes sense to me. He looks younger than he is, which probably attracts teenage girls.”

“That’s his condo,” nodded Ben toward the attractive red-brick building. “Nice. Looks like he’s doing just fine. That’s probably a million-dollar condo. I don’t see a car, but there’s a garage attached.”

Sor stepped out first, hoping that Beck might recognize him. He knocked on the door several times but didn’t hear anything or see anything. Ben looked in the window of the garage and didn’t see a car.

“You looking for Josh?” asked a man next door.

“Yeah. We served together. Just thought I’d say hi to him,” said Sor.

“Well, if you find him, let him know two other guys were looking for him as well, and they didn’t look as nice as you. They, and I quote, want their fucking money.”

“I see,” said Sor. “Well, Josh always likes to push the limits, doesn’t he?”

“Push the limits? Dude, if you’re a friend of his, don’t come around here. I have a nineteen-year-old daughter, and I’d like to keep her off the pole, if you know what I mean.”

“No, we don’t know what you mean,” frowned Frank.

“Are you a good friend?” he asked.

“Nope.”

“Alright. The guy recruits girls to strip down at the strip joint Baby Dolls. Mostly high school seniors, barely legal, if that. My stepdaughter is nineteen, and he tried to get her to go with him to the club to see how much money she could make. She’s a good kid, goes to the junior college studying nursing. I wanted to kill him over that stunt. Told him if he so much as looked at her again, I’d put a bullet between his eyes.”

“Can’t say that I blame you at all,” said Frank. “Any clue where he might be?”

“Well, the kids are out of school this week for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I’d check the mall or, better yet, that high-end strip mall with all the luxury shops down off Fifth. Dude likes his fancy shit. I don’t know how he does it, but he gets girls and grown-ass women to buy him all kinds of stuff.”

“Luxury items? Like leathergoods?” asked Frank.

“Yeah, you know the fancy handbag brands? He gets them to buy him something for his ‘mother’ or even a man-bag for himself, and then he turns around and sells the shit for a profit. He’s a creep. I’ve called the police a number of times, but they come out and say he hasn’t done anything illegal. Yet.”

“Yet is the key word,” said Sor. “Thanks for your help. We’ll see if we can’t talk some sense into him.”

“If you ask me,” said the neighbor as he opened his truck door, “he’ll only listen when there’s a baseball bat involved.” He slammed the truck door and left.

“That’s what I had in mind,” smirked Frank.

They decided that the most likely place they would find him would be the upscale outdoor mall. Every store with an Italian, French, or British logo was in this mall. Young women and their mothers strolled through the stores, arms laden with huge packages, pushing their credit card limits to their heights.

“Do you know how much that fucking bag costs?” whispered Ben, nodding toward a woman and her daughter. The woman had an orange leather bag hanging from her arm. The two narrow strips that held the clasp closed were hanging loose, not even in place.

“I have no clue,” said Sor. “I couldn’t even tell you what color Nell’s purse is.”

“That bag is twenty grand,” he told them.

“Twenty… What the fuck?” muttered Frank. “How is that possibly twenty grand? There’s not even enough leather there to make a pair of shoes.”

“Don’t ask me,” said Ben. “I’m still wearing the same belt I wore in the Army.”

“Do you see him anywhere?” asked Sor.

“We have to think like his twisted brain,” said Frank. “If he’s here trying to get to unhappy housewives and their daughters, then we need to think like him. He wouldn’t stand outside the fancy kitchen and cookware stores. He wouldn’t stand near anything for men.”

They all looked around, hoping to see a glimpse of him somewhere.

“There,” said Sor, nodding toward the store over Ben’s shoulder. It was draped in the store’s logo, made to look like a leather suitcase.

“Seems a bit over the top,” frowned Frank.

“Yep. But that’s him talking to those two women.” Sor walked toward him, Beck’s back to him so he couldn’t see him coming. When he stood directly behind him, Frank and Ben behind the two women, Beck looked up.

“Hey, buddy, do you mind? I’m having a conversation with these two lovely ladies.”

“Actually, I do mind,” said Frank.

“This guy your boyfriend or husband?” frowned Beck.

“I wish,” smirked the woman. “No. Listen, you’re cute, but no thanks. Come on, Chelsea.” She pulled her daughter away from the men, walking away.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? I was working those women.”

“Yeah, that’s what you do, isn’t it, Beck?” said Sor. The man froze, then slowly turned around, staring at Sor.

“I’ll be damned. Mark Teller. I thought you were dead.”

“Not yet.”

“Well, it shouldn’t be long,” he smirked.

“Oh, you mean the big plan that DeWitt has for me?” Beck’s smile disappeared, his frown more than evident, as was his nervousness. “Obviously, the two of you weren’t very succinct in your plans. You got Marshall, but here I am still standing.”

“What do you want?” frowned Beck. Frank noticed his feet turning slightly, and just as he tried to bolt away from them, he gripped his neck, squeezing so hard that his face turned a pretty shade of purple.

“Don’t make me run, you asshole,” growled Frank. “I don’t have my good running shoes on.” He lessened his grip so Beck could breathe, and he nodded.

“Where is DeWitt?” asked Sor.

“I don’t know. He called and asked for a few favors but didn’t tell me where he was,” said Beck.

“How did he expect you to deliver the favors if you didn’t know where he was?” asked Ben.

“Who the fuck are you guys?” snapped Beck.

“My apologies, these are my friends,” smirked Sor. “Ben and Frank Robicheaux.” Beck’s face paled, and he looked around the mall as if trying to find a way out.

“Oh, fuck,” he muttered. “Listen. I don’t want any trouble with you guys. I’m just trying to make a buck here. I wasn’t hurting anyone.”

“No? Looks to me like you were trying to scam that woman and her daughter. And don’t get me started on what you did to the colonel’s daughter.”

“How the fuck did you know that?” he whispered.

“I know a lot more, Beck. What are you doing for DeWitt? What favors does he want?” asked Sor.

“Mostly information.”

“About what?” asked Ben.

“Where him and Marshall were,” he frowned, pointing to Sor. “Marshall was easy. He never suspected anyone was watching him. You were harder. I haven’t been able to find you, and I guess I know why now.”

“Yeah, I guess you do. You set Marshall up. You got him killed,” said Sor. Beck knew enough to not answer the other man.

“Dude, you’re fucked,” said Frank. “Where is DeWitt?”

“I don’t know. I swear, I don’t. He was in Cambodia for a while trying to help a bunch of people there overthrow their government. I couldn’t figure out why. It’s not exactly like DeWitt is civic-minded. Dude doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself. Then he calls yesterday and says he needs to make money fast.”

“What did you tell him?” asked Sor.

“Nothing. I can help him make a few grand fast, but not millions. Hell, hundreds of millions is what he wanted. I asked him if he were in town.”

“What did he say?”

“Obviously, no. He owes me money and hasn’t paid me for anything yet.”

“What did he owe you money for?” asked Frank.

This time, Beck knew he was in deep shit. He tried to turn and run, but Frank had him by the back of the neck, pulling him back and slamming him into the ground. His head bounced off the concrete walkway, and all Beck could see were swirling images of angry men.

“I asked you not to run, you asshole,” growled Frank. “What did he owe you money for?”

“Weapons, okay. Weapons! Rocket launchers, grenade launchers, lots of shit.”

“Lots of shit? Where the fuck did you get it?” asked Sor. “You know what, never mind. Let’s go, asshole. We’re going to have a conversation with base command.”

“We can’t thank you guys enough,” said base command. “Those weapons had to have been stolen recently because we did a weapons check just five days ago. Another was scheduled for tomorrow, so we would have found it but wouldn’t have known who had them.”

“Don’t you have cameras?” asked Sor.

“Yes, of course, we do, but we’ve been having rolling power outages, and I suspect this man had something to do with that.”

“I’m sure he did,” said Frank. “Well, he’s in your hands now. Don’t lose him.”

Back in their vehicle headed home, Frank drove as Ben sat in the back, Sor in the passenger seat. No one said a word until Frank broke the silence.

“Anyone hungry?”

“I could eat,” said Ben. Sor only shook his head, laughing at the two men.

“Yeah. Sure. I could eat.”