It's early Thursday afternoon. McKenzie and Logan have known each other 9 days. LOL


Ending of Previous Post:

Closing his eyes, Bill took a deep breath, released it, and then lifted his coffee cup to get a drink, but it was empty.

Logan got up and refilled it. "Try this."

Bill took a long drink. "Thank you." He paused and then touched her hand. "Mac, please."

"You're like family to me. You've been in my life since my earliest memories. You and Joanie have been the uncle and aunt I never had." She got up and hugged him. "But you know me. I can't quit. I need to follow this through. If I quit now, it'll haunt me the rest of my life. Please help me follow this through." She kissed his cheek. "Please."

Bill, again, looked at Logan for help.

Logan nodded. "I'll do my best to keep her safe. I promise. She's grown on me, too." McKenzie gave him a questioning gaze, and then he added, "A discussion for another time."

Bill emptied his coffee cup with one long swig. Reluctantly he said, "I'm in." He placed a phone call. "Mitch will be here in a few minutes.

Logan stood. "Then I'd better make more coffee."

TODAY'S POST:

ST. LOUIS CHAPTER 21 PART 2

Within an hour, Mitch sat at the table with them. He first attempted to convince McKenzie to reconsider working on Megan's case.

Finally, McKenzie said, "Do any of you actually believe if I quit this case everything will be forgotten and my life will go back to normal?" She stared into each person's eyes, before continuing, "Of course not. For whatever reason, Parks believes I know something that I don't know. That will only change, when we figure out what he's afraid I know."

Logan's hands surrounded his cup. "She's right, you know?" After both Bill and Mitch nodded, he continued, "Now, how are we going to keep her safe?" He stood. "I've had too much coffee." He grabbed a water bottle from the refrigerator. "Anybody else want one?"

McKenzie nodded. "I'll take one."

Bill sighed. "I guess I might as well go along with it. I want to go on record that I disagree." He took a deep breath. "Okay, before you get in your car, I want your car searched for bombs or any tampering, and not by you. Do you understand?"

She saluted him. "Yes, Sir."

He shook his head. "Mack should have taken you across his knee more often."

Logan grinned. "Do you really think that would have made a difference?"

Mitch chuckled. "I don't. How about you, Bill?"

Frowning Bill continued, "No, but that's beside the point." He sipped coffee while he thought. "When you're away tonight, two men will be inside your home, one down here and one upstairs."

"Arlo and Edger can take care of the inside. Strangers don't need to be in my house. How do we know they don't work for Parks? They could plant more bugs."

Mitch wrote down a note. "I got this. I'll hand pick the men. Hell, I'll do it myself."

Bill looked at each person sitting at the table. "I like that idea. Anybody have any ideas for tonight's actual surveillance?"

"Logan and I can handle it. We did before," offered McKenzie.

Bill's hand hit the table with a thud. "That's not going to happen. I will NOT allow you two to be sitting ducks in some dark alley."

Logan nodded. "I've been in some tight situations before and can handle it. If it was only me, I'd do it," his eyes met McKenzie's, "I won't risk your safety. We need to come up with a better plan." He shook his head. "The risk-matrix is too high."

McKenzie's lips formed a pout.

Logan shook his head. That cute pout won't work this time. You're too important to me. I bet you had your dad wrapped around his little finger, probably his entire hand.

"All I can come up with is to make sure there's a large and visible police presence."

McKenzie tilted her head. "Bill, really? The idea of surveillance to watch without the mark knowing you're there. With a large and visible police presence the mark will know we're watching. You know that."

"Okay, maybe not the best idea I've ever had, but it's all I can come with right now."

Logan stood. "I'm not used to sitting this long." He walked around with all eyes on him. "Mac, do you think Whitmore will go to the same gentlemen's club in East St. Louis?" After she answered, he continued, "We can have some men stationed at Whitmore's home while we wait for him and then we can have some men in place at the club. We can have some unmarked cars follow us to the spot. They can then hang around or leave. Anybody, who enters that area, will have one of those unannounced searches, maybe searching for drunk drivers or something like that. Police do it off-and-on so nobody will question it."

Mitch patted Logan on the back. "Great idea. Mac, agree?"

"I'll agree with that. The problem will be pulling it off without Parks knowing about it in advance."

Bill looked at his ringing phone. "It can wait. I think we can come up with enough honest cops to do it. I can pull some investigators from my office to fill in some spots."

McKenzie tapped the table. "There's a couple more issues that need to be looked into. Has anybody checked for security cameras around the Tin Roof on the night Jose got shot? Has that fallen through the cracks? What were the results of the crime scene at Donny's house? The burner phone we found at Buder Park, did its number match any on Megan's call record? I need to interview Donny's neighbor, Joshua Davis."

Bill wrote all her questions down. "We will find out. All of those are good questions. You already should have had answers."

As Bill and Mitch prepared to leave, McKenzie said, "We'll make one stop before we go to Whitmore's house. We need to get snacks for surveillance." She pointed to Logan. "He's really into junk food." She laughed.

Logan put his arm around her. "One of us is, that's for sure."


Characters:

McKenzie 'Mac' Morgan a 27 year old private investigator
Major Logan Nelson 34 years old and an active duty soldier
Arlo McKenzie's black and tan dachshund
Megan Nelson Logan's younger sister - murdered
The Lou local name for St. Louis
Simon Knight and Sheila Logan's former Army buddy and a Lab technician. Sheila's his wife.
Fan name for the St. Louis Cardinals - a major league
baseball team.
Yadi What Cardinal fans call Tadier Molina - Cardinal's all-star catcher.
Edger McKenzie's black and tan rottweiler
John Benson Man who murdered McKenzie's parents
Bill Abbot A D.A and McKenzie's God-Father; he was a high-
school friend of McKenzie's father. Joanie is his wife.
Jose Lopez his wife is Lucy Chicago Police Department undercover police
department.
Kate Hartford Megan Nelson's friend they taught middle school
together.
Donny Carlton A man Megan Nelson dated.
Mitch Gardner St. Louis Police Department detective who has
partnered with McKenzie's dad.
Ivan Smart A bad guy
Peter and Nancy Nelson Logan's parents
Sidney Parks works for the St. Louis Police Detective with the drug unit.
Mack and Helen Morgan McKenzie's parents - both deceased
Gus Piper McKenzie's abusive grandfather - deceased
Austin Bryant an old boyfriend - McKenzie broke up with him because he's a jerk.
Joshua Davis so far a nobody, but is a neighbor to Donny Carlton
Mark Young an acquaintance of McKenzie, a state trooper, and will become important much later in the novel