Tracking Shadows (Shadows of Justice 4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

sentiment, though she blinked rapidly as if the dim lights of the bar were suddenly too bright.
    Which meant she was likely seeing just what Trina wanted her to see: a young woman standing in the sunshine holding a bucket of pure white, refined sugar. It couldn't be how the real mule delivered the product, but Trina just needed the chef to follow the prompt.
    "April? Is that you? What'd you do to your hair?" The chef gripped Trina's arm. "Forget it. Thank God you're here." Her head swiveled from side to side. "I'm nearly out," she whispered.
    At last a lead! Trina smiled to herself, pleased her instincts paid off this time. Grateful for the name, she gently wrapped up the conversation and, parting ways with the chef, she headed back to her suite to plan a trap for the sugar toting April.

Chapter Four
     
    Ben Trumble was eliminating brain cells at a blistering pace while Micky watched, in stealth mode, from a gloomy corner of the bar. It astounded him how the government justified public intoxication over personal intoxication. A man could get hammered in a bar, but he wasn't allowed to have the same quantity of alcohol in his personal possession. Micky dealt in alcohol and liquor when he needed to, but he preferred the more manageable products. The higher frequency of smaller deals, combined with the more reliable clientele had served him and his team well through the years.
    Fortunately, no one understood quite how he ran things, and very few people knew precisely who ran things. It was just part of the business, living with a target on his back. The major players in Chicago's underworld shared a grudging respect for one another. Usually. Attempting a power play was one thing, but assassination was permanent.
    The thought brought him crashing back to the situation in front of him. Turning the kid away from the Reverend would require careful handling. He'd have to find the right catalyst, the thing the kid needed most, and deliver it.
    Deciding to start with the physical benefits, he'd called in an old friend. The right backup for this situation was worth the favor he'd owe her. Once Ben sobered up, they could work on business options. Money would factor, as would security, but Micky was ready to lay odds Ben would respond best to a simple show of respect. And a new neighborhood.
    Micky's old friend Leigh walked in, looking nothing like the battered, broken caffeine mule she'd been six months ago. He chalked up the healthy glow and confidence to her new man, Cleveland, and the street kids they'd recently adopted. She was the poster child for the power of family, he thought as Leigh deftly ushered the unsteady Ben out of the bar and into the car waiting at the curb.
    Micky smiled. So she'd learned to drive the 1957 Chevy behemoth Cleveland called a classic. As good a testament to her new-found bravery as coming out this way to do him a favor.
    With Ben safe, and by default ensuring his own safety, Micky made his way out of the neighborhood  before the streets clogged with people looking for the darker diversions offered by the Reverend's various establishments.
    Taking his time, enjoying the anonymity of the stealth suit, he strolled through town, eventually reaching one of the private entrances to his warehouse. Sneaking up to his apartment, he shed the stealth suit and secured Ben's gun before he alerted security that he'd returned.
    "I'm back, Jim," he said when the head of security picked up. "Anything I need to know?"
    "All clear, boss. Even your guests are checked out."
    "That's fine." He knew Jaden would settle up with him later, though he regretted not making time to speak with the supposedly telekinetic guy in the infirmary. That conversation might have proven profitable on several levels if Mr. Mind Power had been receptive. "All the girls are home?"
    "And the product too. Keeping things quiet as ordered."
    "Good."
    He disconnected to deal with the light flashing on the computer he kept off his primary business