Renegade Mountain, Colorado
The buzzer sounded, and the door for cellblock four swung open. Luca Saxon watched the prisoner shuffle into the room, jingling chains from the shackles that held him here. Six weeks until his trial, and already Alden Jenkins didn’t look anything like the man who had tried to destroy Rowan “Hammer” Wallace’s family just four short months ago.
“I’ll be right outside,” the corrections officer said.
Luca nodded. “Thanks.”
Jenkins settled into the chair like it was the seat behind the mayor’s desk—the one from which he’d run the city of Renegade, Colorado, for years. At least, that’s who he’d been on the surface. Underneath, he was responsible for multiple murders and a massive land grab, all for the mineral rights to build his personal criminal enterprise.
Jenkins lifted his chin and stared down Luca. “You don’t look like my lawyer.”
“He’s busy trying to figure out how to defend you when the evidence is clear.” Luca adjusted the sleeve of his thick black shirt, the one with pearl buttons, over his smartwatch. “That and the fact there’s more I believe you’ve done that no one knows about.”
“So you came to gloat?”
“You think I care about you enough for that?” Luca asked. “Hammer has moved on. He and Sierra got married just before Christmas. Maybe you haven’t heard that they’re expecting now. Their second baby together. Huck is so excited to have a little brother or sister to teach how to rope and ride.”
But of course, Alden didn’t care about that. His connection to the family had only been about getting his hands on their land.
A tendon flexed in Alden’s jaw. “Just tell me what you want.”
“You’re facing some big charges.” Luca whistled. “Then there’s the whole mayoral race going on, and your deputy mayor telling everyone who will listen that he always knew you were corrupt. The whole campaign—on both sides—is about undoing what you did to this city.”
“Why do you care? You aren’t even from here.”
Luca had wondered that himself. For about the first ten minutes after he and Hammer arrived in Renegade last fall. After that, he’d decided to put down roots here and make a life for himself.
He’d helped Hammer fight against the thugs stealing land from people. Sabotaging equipment, poisoning cattle, even arranging “accidents” to take care of anyone who got too close to the truth. Crimes Jenkins would go down for.
Meanwhile, Ralph Rousseau, who’d been named in all the evidence Sierra’s grandfather had collected, was claiming he’d been framed and talking deals with the cops.
Luca needed the truth. Would this man give it to him?
Alden Jenkins stared at him from across the table. Probably trying to figure out which way to play this.
Alden had not only targeted landowners whose property he wanted for himself but also taken his frustration out on teenage Hammer with his fists. Helping his best friend save Sierra and Huck from Jenkins hadn’t just been the right thing to do; it had been the best use of Luca’s skills. All that military training in action, saving good people who should have someone around to stand up for them but didn’t.
“Maybe I don’t care about Renegade.” Luca shrugged. “But it’s somewhere to be. Good as anywhere, I figure.”
Alden didn’t need to know that Luca had decided to stay, or that he’d spent the last few months since Sierra and Hammer reunited working this case. Finally getting his private investigator license and digging in with the people in Renegade, working to uncover the corruption of this “shadow syndicate,” whoever they were.
But the whole thing was proving more than frustrating. He and Detective Michael Martinelli, who he’d been working closely with on the investigation, just couldn’t seem to get traction beyond what they already knew about this shadowy syndicate operating in Renegade.
Far as they could tell, Jenkins and Rousseau had both been working for the syndicate. Problem was, none of the evidence they had linked back to anyone else but them. Just Rocky Mountain Land Development—Rousseau’s company—and the conglomerate Meridian Holdings, which put Jenkins in the mix, thanks to his legitimate business interests in both companies.
Whoever was in charge had taken pains to hide their identity.
Alden’s eyes flared. “If you don’t care about Renegade, then get lost. This city doesn’t need people like you in it.”
“People who don’t care?” Luca fired back. “Because clearly you cared so much that you wanted it all for yourself.” Before Alden could argue with him, Luca said, “We know what’s really going on in this city.”
After his kidnapping a few months ago, Ralph Rousseau had told them that there was more to the crime world in Renegade than anyone realized. It had been enough to convince Luca to look for power players in Renegade. Ralph had been kidnapped and shot, but why? Detective Martinelli wasn’t convinced the syndicate had ordered it, so Luca had a hunch he was here to play.
“We know about the Shadow Syndicate.” Luca watched for Alden’s reaction.
Another clench of his jaw.
“The DA could find you somewhere cushy to spend your sentence. Somewhere out of the syndicate’s reach.”