Page 173 of Beyond the Badge: Nox

“We should ask if he’s been identified,” Rez said.

Nox spotted someone in a DEA jacket appearing to be in charge of the crime scene.

“Any survivors?” Nox flashed his ID and the agent glanced at it, then stared at him for a little too long.

“You’re part of the Tri-State task force, right?”

“Yeah.”

The agent then said, “I was supposed to be part of the arrest team this morning.”

“You and me both.”

“That would have been a hell of a lot more fun than dealing with this.”

Nox couldn’t argue that.

“Anyway, if there were any survivors, they took off. Everyone we’ve come across so far is far from a survivor. You guys had cameras set up in here, right?”

“We did, but all our surveillance equipment has already been removed. Our team’s headquarters was dismantled since serving the warrants was the only thing left for some of us to do.”

The agent nodded.

“Is the club’s manager under one of these sheets?”

“You talking about Saint?” the agent asked.

Nox nodded. “That’s him.”

The man pressed his lips together and shook his head. “Didn’t find anyone wearing a cut with that road name. He either wasn’t here or was lucky enough to escape when shit went down.”

Fuck.“That’s unfortunate.”

“I’m sure you’re not the only one with that opinion since I heard he was a real piece of work.”

“Piece of shit more like it,” Nox clarified.

“That, too.”

“Anyway, thanks for the info. We’ll get out of your scene. But before we do, do you need us to identify anyone?”

“No, we got it covered. The dancers and customers all had IDs, and those dumbfuck bikers wear their names on their chests. We’ll just cross-reference their road names to their legal names in our database.”

“I’m assuming the members of La Cosa Nostra you found were foot soldiers.”

“Yeah. Just some plebes willing to give up their lives for a bunch of criminal scum. You’d think these guys would know by now, no one’s getting out of the Mafia alive. Hasn’t everyone seen the Sopranos or the Godfather?”

One side of Nox’s mouth pulled up. “Too late for them to watch them now.”

The agent grinned. “A-fucking-men.”

“Thanks for the info.” Nox clasped palms with the agent, then returned to Finn and Rez. They were talking to a member of the medical examiner staff.

He gathered his brothers, and they headed out, but not before Rez asked, “Saint?”

Nox sighed softly. “Sounds like he wasn’t here. If he was, he got lucky.”

“Well, his woman wasn’t,” Finn told Nox. “They found Cookie back in Saint’s office. News flash, she wasn’t taking a nap.”

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