Page 57 of Keg's Revelation

“What do you got?” Dad stepped up to the vehicle in president mode.

“Had my people run this property and see what they could dig up. Before we pulled out, they had the information. Mrs. Jenson, the old lady who lived here, had/has a great-grandson they’ve been looking for. Thaddius Jenson.” Chief paused and waited.

“Thaddius Jones runs this crew and goes by T-bone. Are you telling me his real name is Jenson?”

“You get the prize, Wild Bill. It seems if you search for Thaddius Jones, nothing connects him to Mrs. Jenson. He must have cared about the woman; he was really careful not to have her tied to the Widows. Running the property and Mrs. Jenson, the owner, well... Thaddius went into foster care after his mom died from an overdose because Mrs. Jenson was already too old and had medical issues, she had to sign off as his only relative. It looks like he took the last name of Jones from the first foster family he had. He built his life off the last name of Jones when he aged out of the system. Everything: social security number, driver’s license and bank account.” Chief shrugged. “My people are still digging, but that’s what they’ve came up with so far.”

“The paper the grandmother signed, it would have been in the system and tagged Thaddius Jenson. Once in that file, there’d be a list of every foster home he was in, which should have brought up Thaddius Jenson being in the care of the Joneses in the first place. And if nothing was in the file. How did you find the information?” Tram asked, and the Chief stared.

“Because the information was just recently added. The older years are still being put in the computer system. The paper with Mrs. Jenson’s signature was uploaded five days ago. It’s what’s known as different office’s communication breakdowns and people dropping the ball. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen often, but people do get lost in the system.”

“So you think T-Bone is in the building?” I asked, but the Chief didn’t get a chance to respond because his radio went off.

“Chief, we grabbed two Widows going out the back. Building is clear, but we’re going to need animal control out here.”

I barely made out what the officer said because of a dog barking and snarling in the background.

“On my way.”

“Wait, I want to go down to the building. The reason I came over here to check is because a dog showed up at the property on the other side of those woods. It was hurt and looked to have broken free by snapping the rope he was tied up with. My woman’s a vet and thought the wounds the dog sustained were caused by bites. She thought wild animal or even another dog.” The dog suddenly showing up made sense, and even Ry said he heard someone yelling. If they had the dog tied up and it broke free, they could have been yelling for it to come back.

“I don’t see a problem with it. You helped us locate at least two of the Widows. They went underground for a reason, so hopefully, we can get the two to share some information.”

“There are ways to get that, but...”

The Chief chuckled. “Yes, there are. But I’m not sure the higher-ups would go for that. Not the way the media coverage is all over us if we sneeze wrong while making an arrest.”

“We’ll get our bikes and meet you at the building, Chief,” Wild Bill said, and the Chief saluted and drove away.

“Could this have been any more uneventful?” Hawk said, and I shook my head as we started around the house.

“Looking for excitement, VP? Go to work with your woman,” Crank said, and Hawk groaned.

“My luck, Charlie would taser me instead of the skipper. So that would be a big fucking no.”

“I’m going to head to the building since I don’t have to walk to get my bike,” I said and received several fingers as the others kept walking. They’d left the bikes and van pulled off the road in the trees with Latch staying back with them. The prospect had driven the van with Shock and Freak riding with him.

Once I was on my bike, I rode it down to the building. The closer I got, the dog’s barking grew louder. I walked around the building and stopped. They had both men cuffed and sitting on the ground while an officer asked them questions. I couldn’t hear a word being said for the dog inside.

I walked toward the Chief, who was talking with another officer at the tree line. He turned when he heard me approach. “You don’t want to see this shit. I sure could have done without it.”

When I looked in the direction of the woods, I felt my stomach turn over.

“Is that what I think it is?” Moose asked as the others walked up.

I turned so my back was to the woods. “Bait animal corpses. Sick fucking bastards.” I thought of Reagan naming the dog Halo. She’d been on the mark with that name. ‘Cause the dog angels had been watching over him. No doubt he’d escaped from here.

I turned to the Chief. “Have they added dogfighting as a new business venture?” My dad put a hand on my shoulder.

“Keg.”

I looked over my shoulder. “I watched Reagan whisper to a dog, the asswipes over there were more than likely using as bait, and she’d told that dog she’d take care of him. That nothing would hurt him again and her mommy would fix him. So yeah, I’m angry. Angry that lowlife fuckers like them get to live...” I pointed to the two Widows, “...while those animals died for their entertainment and a few damn dollars.”

“Not going to argue with you on that. I got two dogs and a cat at my house. Shit is sickening. But to answer your question on the dogfighting. What my officers got from them is the dog inside belongs to T-bone. He is a fighting dog, but the Widows aren’t running a fighting ring. Seems T-bone has been participating in a few to showcase his dog. The dog has only fought a couple times, but he won his fights.

“What you saw was the bait animals they’ve used the last couple weeks because Satan, the dog’s name, has a fight or should I say did have a fight next week against another dog with no losses. They’ve been keeping him in shape, is the way they put it.”

“Shut up, Satan! You’re giving me a damn headache.”

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