Jack Davis Mystery - 01 - Shakedown Read Online Free PDF Page A

power?”
    “It’s got power. There’s a utility box on the side of the house. We were going to turn the power off, go in with night vision in case the shooter decided to stick around. No reason to make us easy targets. But somebody had already turned the power off.”
    I nodded, understanding the tactical dilemma. “The shooter cut the power and killed them in the dark. Probably wore night-vision goggles, too. Means he can see you as easily as you can see him. If he stuck around.”
    “I think the shooter knew.” Troy said.
    “Knew what?”
    “About the surveillance camera in the ceiling fan.”
    “Based on what?” I asked.
    “It fits. Gives him a reason to cut the power.”
    “Maybe. Go see if anyone else is home. But go easy. No good guys die tonight.”
    I didn’t want to discuss Troy’s theory until I knew more about what had happened, especially if Troy was right. There was only one way the killer could have known about the camera in the ceiling fan. He had to have a source inside my investigation or, worse, he had to be someone on my team.
    Flushing out a bad agent was one of the hardest things to do, especially in the middle of a case that was taking every waking hour. Besides, the odds were heavily against the leak coming from my squad or anyone else at the Bureau. Not that they were all saints. It just rarely happened.
    I had begun making a list of plausible theories on my way to the scene, ignoring the pressure rising in my chest and throat. I knew that it would continue to build until the shaking started, releasing the tension like opening a relief valve. I pulled over a block from the scene, cut the engine, and let it happen, my eyes closed, bracing myself against the steering wheel as if I’d been punched in the gut.
    The shakes tapered off and I started the car, focusing again on the gunshots I’d heard. The obvious explanation was that the shootings were drug related, that the killer worked for a competitor, or unhappy business partner, of Marcellus Pearson—maybe even the supplier I was after.
    That option faded as I considered Troy’s suggestion of a leak. I ran through mental pictures of my agents, unable to imagine any of them selling out. Troy pulled double duty, working the SWAT team and my squad. All I had to do was look at him. There was no artifice, just dedication, even if it was more to his career than to the squad. Jim Day, Lani Hay-wood, and Ammara Iverson were so loyal they almost apologized for taking their paychecks.
    Colby Hudson, my daughter’s boyfriend, was the last member of the team, the only one I hadn’t recruited for the squad. He was the lone holdover from the team my predecessor had assembled. All agents rotated through different assignments—organized crime, antiterror, and the rest. Colby had managed to stay on the drug squad, making a career working undercover. His newest best friend was Javy Ordonez, Marcellus’s number-one competitor for control of the neighborhood crack market. Colby looked the part, hair long and face scruffy. I trusted him with everything except my daughter.
    One of Marcellus’s corner kids named Tony Phillips had been shot in a drive-by a few days ago. Maybe one of Javy’s people had done it. Maybe tonight’s shootings were the next round in a gang war. I needed to talk with Colby, who was the one member of my squad who wouldn’t be at the crime scene. Wearing a jacket with FBI printed on the back was not the secret of success for an undercover agent.
    I found no weaknesses, no reason for suspicion, in my team. If there was a leak, it had to have come from outside the Bureau. That would be even harder to track down.
    I silently recited the list of possible sources, including the cops who had tipped Marcellus about my phony search warrant, the utility company, the federal judge who issued the surveillance order, the judge’s law clerk who did the research that convinced the judge he could issue the order, and the judge’s secretary