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


Ending of Previous Post:

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."

TODAY'S POST:

ST. LOUIS CHAPTER 21 PART 3

McKenzie walked down the stairs and scanned the kitchen. "I'm glad you fixed a large brunch. Dinner was easy, leftovers." She swallowed. "Ready?"

Logan took her hand. "You sure about this? It's not too late to call it off."

He watched McKenzie take a deep breath before she nodded. "I need to do it for me."

"Let's do it then. I have your back." He opened the front door. "They just finished with the car. You want to drive or me?"

"You. It worked the last time."

Inside the car, a voice sounded. "Just doing a check. Are you both wired?"

"Yes Bill, we're good." McKenzie scrunched her eyebrows together. "This is getting ridiculous. When's the last time you did your own work? A District Attorney has hired help to do this."

"I never had my daughter in danger before."

'Thud!' She slammed back in her seat.

Logan touched her arm. "You okay?"

McKenzie whispered, "Bill never called me his daughter before."

He backed out of the parking slot. "You might be surprised how many people love you?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing." He paused. "Isn't that the convenient station up ahead? Same as last week or do you have a special request?"

"Yes, but I'm hungry for Twizzlers. Please add them to the list. Don't forget the donuts."

Logan's eyes widen as he studied her. "You've got to be kidding." When she didn't answer, he continued, "A lot or a little?"

"Watch the road, and a lot. Twizzlers make me smile."

"Twizzlers, it is." He parked the car. "Hey, Bill, I'm going inside for Twizzlers."

Bill laughed. "I heard. Get the lady her Twizzlers, but don't forget the donuts."

"Are you making fun of me?"

Logan shut the car door, as Bill asked, "Is she displaying that cute pout of hers?"

"Sure is."

"I do not pout."

Both men said at the same time, "Wanna bet?"

Mitch added, "That pout would melt her daddy's heart. It has served her well."

Logan picked up two bags of Twizzlers. That pout works on me too.

"Mitch, when did you join us?" asked McKenzie. "And you're wrong, by the way. Logan, don't forget the chips."

"I'm correct. I watched you prefect it as you grew into a wonderful young lady. I'm here with Bill, but I'm leaving for your place as we speak. Bye."

"I watched her prefect it, too." Bill laughed. "Hey Logan, have you fallen prey to it?"

"I'm staying out of this."

Bill chuckled. "Probably a wise choice."

Logan put three bags in the back seat and got in the car, as McKenzie asked, "Did they have Twizzlers?"

"Yes, I got two bags. Can you wait or do you want them now?"

She licked her lips. "I can wait."

He chuckled. "Are you sure?"

*****
At the Whitmore house, McKenzie checked her phone. "It's exactly seven o'clock, and here comes Mr. Whitmore. I'd love to ask him why he leaves at exactly the same time. Any ideas?"

"Not a one. Unless he's that precise in everything he does. Maybe he's OCD. His wife would know."

"I'll remember to ask her. Hey Bill, we're following him."

"I got you. I forgot to mention, I had a GPS placed on this rental in case we lost you."

"Whatever!" McKenzie thought a moment. "You know if Parks finds out about it, he can hack into it and track us too. He's probably already placed one on it."

"We checked, he did, and we removed it. We'll be sure to disable this one after tonight."

"I guess Parks left nothing to chance." There was silence as they followed Mr. Whitmore. Before long, McKenzie said, "He's going the exact same route to the exact same place."

Logan nodded. "He sure is."

"I'd like to know what the attraction is. There must be a reason he comes here every Thursday at the same time."

Bill joined the conversation, "Don't get any ideas about going in there. It's too dangerous."

"GRRR," responded McKenzie. "I really need to know what he's doing."

Logan tapped the steering wheel. "I have an idea. Bill, are there any young men in plain clothes?"

"Yes, a few." He paused a moment. "Great idea. Mac, we'll send Harris in to observe Whitmore. He can report to you exactly what Whitmore does. Nobody will suspect him. He's a regular looking fellow. I'll make the arrangements."

A few moments later, Bill said, "See the guy entering?" After they both acknowledged it, he continued, "That's Harris."

McKenzie stretched in the seat. "Now we wait and watch. You know I really miss my Super Bee."

Logan reached back and grabbed a sack. "Here's your bag of Twizzlers." He handed it to her. "I know you do. It won't be long before you can retrieve it from Bill's garage. He watched her take a bite of a Twizzler stick. "Now, tell me your idea of a perfect husband."

"But earlier you said you could wait a week or so."

"That was an attempt to convince you to postpone this for a week or so. It didn't work. So now, a deal's a deal. You can't back out. We're here, so talk. I've already given you my qualities of a perfect wife. The agreement was you'd tell me your qualities the next night we pulled surveillance. I've waited almost a week. Start talking."

McKenzie sighed. "Bill, I'm sure you will find this boring."

"I think it'll be interesting. Let me get a cup of coffee before you begin."

"Logan, please..." Her eyes pleaded with him. "Not with Bill listening. I'll do it another time. How about once we're back home? I promise."



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