Page 30 of Committed

ChapterEleven

Laz pulled his wool cap lower over his eyes as the chilled air whipped around him. He burrowed deeper into his leather jacket despite the awkwardness of having one arm through the sleeve and the other in a sling under the coat.

At least he was warm, but five o’clock in the morning was too damn early to be moving around the city before having at least two cups of coffee. Even so, that didn’t stop him, Parker, and Ashton from skulking through a dark alley. They skirted around potholes, cans, bottles, and trash, trying to avoid waking up the neighbors.

When Ashton called an hour ago with news the car had been found, Laz had just dozed back to sleep after seeing his in-laws and Arielle off. His father-in-law decided they’d leave in the middle of the night to get a head start on traffic. It was hard to let Arielle go, but Journey had been right. Their daughter would be safe, and he wouldn’t have to worry about her while hunting down the people who tried to kill him.

“Shit!” Startled, Laz pulled up short when a stray cat leaped from behind a dented trash can and darted across the alley in front of them.

“Just a cat,” Parker said, speaking the obvious before they continued forward.

Limited lighting guided their way as they traipsed toward the middle of the alley past a few run-down houses and a couple of vacant lots where houses used to stand. The bulbs in most of the streetlamps were blown or shot out, and only one or two garages had motion lights. It was a good thing Parker and Ashton had thought to bring flashlights.

Laz was definitely off his game. Half asleep and in physical pain, while he got dressed, the only thing he’d grabbed before being whisked away by Parker was ID, house keys, and his gun. He had discreetly thrown some clothes in a duffel bag when he’d gotten up to see Arielle off, and he remembered to grab it before leaving the house.

Sleeping at Supreme for a few days would be for the best, but he was sure Journey wouldn’t be happy when she found out he had left. They needed space, and he couldn’t handle any more arguments, not right now. Not when all his focus needed to be on finding those who wanted him dead. Once that was done, he’d figure out what to do about his marriage.

“There it is.” Ashton pointed to a black sedan a few yards away.

As he suspected, the car had been reported stolen the night before the shooting. If Ashton had gotten a tip about the vehicle’s location, that meant the cops would find it soon if they didn’t already know about it. He and the fellas had to do a quick search before they lost their opportunity, and even though there was a possibility they wouldn’t find anything, he had to try.

“Well, Laz, it looks like during the shoot-out you indeed made contact,” Parker said, his small flashlight illuminating the passenger side of the vehicle where there were several bullet holes.

“Good, now tell me there’s a dead body or two inside with one of my bullets lodged right between their eyes,” Laz grumbled and peeked into the vehicle, made easy by three of the windows being rolled down. “It looks like there’s blood on the inside of the door.”

That was a good sign as far as he was concerned. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much, meaning he might’ve wounded one of the guys, but it probably wasn’t a life-threatening injury.

When Laz moved to the back window, he realized Ashton was several feet away. His pinched features sent a wave of unease clawing through Laz.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

Ashton gave his head a slow shake. “Sorry, I had a moment. The last time I searched a car….” His words trailed off, and Laz and Parker looked at each other, recalling that night over a year ago.

Damn. Laz just remembered what he’d said a moment ago about hoping they’d find a couple of dead bodies, and he wanted to kick his own ass.

Ashton was remembering the night a dead body—someone he knew—had been found in the trunk.

“Hey, man,” Parker said. “You can hang back. Laz and I can handle this. Well, I can, at least. Not sure how much good Laz will be with one arm and grimacing every few minutes.”

“Whatever, man,” Laz said. “But Ash, he’s right. We got this.”

“Nah, I’m good.” Ashton approached the car. “We need to do this quick so that you can let Ted know that the vehicle has been found,” he said, referring to the detective on the case, a man they’d both worked with and respected.

For the next few minutes, with gloved hands, they all took a section of the vehicle to search. Laz moved around to the driver’s side since he could only use his right hand. He checked the pocket in the door, under the seat, and between the seat and the center console.

Nothing.

At least nothing worth mentioning like a grocery list, a faded store receipt, and cookie crumbs.

The others made quick work of checking the glove box, center console, between and under the front seats as well as the back. They found no clues to lead them to the people who had stolen the vehicle.

Laz had just closed the back door on the driver’s side of the sedan when an SUV with police lights flashing pulled into the alley.

Dammit.

After he and the guys finished searching the vehicle, he had planned to contact Ted. Looked like that wouldn’t be necessary since the detective stepped out of the truck on the passenger side. He definitely wasn’t happy to see them.

“What the hell?” Ted snapped, looking mainly between Laz and Ashton. “You guys, of all people, know better. I should arrest you for interfering with an active investigation.”

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