Hero At Large. Robyn Amos

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СКАЧАТЬ he looking for me?” It was clear that TK had been avoiding him. That could only mean trouble.

      Franco sobered, finally realizing that Gray wasn’t as thrilled with the news as he’d expected. “I don’t know, but he knows we’re all working here with you. So, you gonna cut him a piece of the action, or not?”

      “We’ll see. If you run into him again, tell him I want to talk to him.”

      Franco nodded. “I’m going on my break. Later.”

      After Franco left, Gray swore under his breath. It wasn’t hard to imagine what was going through TK’s mind right now. He’d always had grandiose dreams about the money and power they were all going to have, but he’d never been able to make it happen. He was sloppy and he’d kept getting caught. Once TK had started going in and out of prison, the gang had fallen apart. Now it seemed Gray had stepped into his shoes and taken over his dreams—and he was succeeding.

      Gray knew TK wouldn’t appreciate having to be cut in on his old territory. When Gray came back to L.A., he’d heard TK was up on murder charges, tied up in a trial that should have dragged on for months. Gray hadn’t expected to have to deal with TK at all.

      Back in the day, Gray and TK had never agreed on anything. If TK did want a piece of their operation, it wouldn’t be long before he tried to run things again. Gray couldn’t let that happen. There were too many other forces at work here.

      Still, he couldn’t quite leave TK out in the cold. His men wouldn’t understand. It didn’t even matter that their old gang no longer existed in its original form. They would always be bound together by the old codes and traditions.

      Dealing with TK was going to be tricky. Now that he was out of prison, he’d expect things to go back to the way they were when they were all banging. It would be useless to try to convince him that those days were over.

      After all, everyone knew that the only way out of a gang was to die out.

      Chapter 3

      Gray awoke the next morning to the persistent ringing of his doorbell. Cursing as he dragged on his jeans, he hopped to the door and shouted, “Who is it?”

      “Overnight Express.”

      Gray rolled his eyes and jerked the door open.

      On the surface, nothing seemed out of the ordinary about the dark-haired package carrier dressed in the standard polo-shirt-and-shorts uniform. The man narrowed his green eyes, squinting at the envelope in his hand. “I’ve got a delivery here for Kee…Keesh—”

      Gray snatched the envelope out of his hands. “Shut up and get in here.” Glaring at his partner and longtime friend Seth Greene, he tugged on the thread unsealing the letter. “I don’t suppose you could have waited until a decent hour?”

      Seth made himself at home on Gray’s sofa, propping his feet on the coffee table. “Ten o’clock is a decent hour for most people.”

      “Maybe, but you know I had to work at the club until three last night.”

      “Anything interesting happen?” Seth rested a throw pillow behind his head.

      Gray dropped the envelope without looking at the contents, shoving Seth’s feet down from the coffee table. Oh, yeah, something very interesting happened. Unfortunately, it had nothing to do with his assignment.

      There was no point in telling Seth about Rennie, though she’d been on his mind constantly since he’d laid eyes on her last night. It didn’t matter, because he wouldn’t be seeing her again.

      “Actually, there is something that you should probably check into. TK, the guy who ran the gang I used to hang with, has turned up. I haven’t seen him myself, but it’s only a matter of time.”

      “What’s his story?” Seth propped his feet back on the table. “He heard you were back in town and wants in on the action?”

      Gray shook his head. “I’m not sure yet what he wants. But it’s a safe bet that he’s not going to like the fact that I’m sort of in control now.”

      “So you think he’s going to make trouble? Maybe even try to take over,” Seth concluded.

      “No doubt.” Gray propped himself on the arm of the sofa.

      “I’ll see what I can get on him.”

      “That shouldn’t be too difficult. He was just up on murder charges. I don’t know the details, but the witness has apparently disappeared. It’s a safe bet that you’ll find TK behind it.”

      “Got it. In the meantime—” Seth picked up the envelope he’d brought Gray “—here’s the list of names you need. These are all the major players. Seems things are going well. Your name is spinning in all the right circles. The word on the street is that you’re the man to see if you want to get into the drugs and weapons game in L.A.”

      “Gee, wouldn’t Mom be proud.”

      Seth scowled at him. “What’s gotten into you?”

      “Nothing.” Gray took the paperwork and shoved Seth’s feet off the table one final time. “I’ll look over these names just as soon as you leave.”

      Seth stood and Gray followed him to the door. “Who are you kidding, Gray? You’re not getting ready to get to work on anything but a mattress and a pillow.”

      Gray clapped Seth on the back, partially as a friendly gesture of farewell and partially to urge him to the door faster. “Where in the secret spy handbook does it say that a good agent is sleep deprived?”

      Seth grinned. “Right under the paragraph where it says all uniforms worn in the line of duty will be itchy and at least one size too small.” He tugged irritably at his collar.

      After Seth left, Gray considered going back to sleep, but he was entirely too restless to relax. He went into his bedroom and spread the contents of the envelope across his desk. There were pictures and bios of all the major drug lords in L.A. Several of them, Gray had already had dealings with.

      Eventually, the connections Gray was making would lead him to SPEAR’s nemesis. They’d been tracking him for some time and were making slow but steady progress. They knew the traitor was going by the name Simon. Other agents had connected him to both the Brotherhood of Blood, a hate group in Idaho, and to terrorists in the Middle East. Most recently, a SPEAR operative encountered Simon in the flesh, giving them a face to go with the name.

      Gray’s mission wasn’t simple, but he hoped to dispose of Simon once and for all. He couldn’t let Jonah down.

      Jonah was the head of SPEAR and had been for as long as anyone could remember. Only no one had ever gotten the chance to look Jonah in the eye. To most SPEAR agents, he was a voice and a reputation.

      But when he gave orders, no one dared question them.

      Now that Gray had made a name for himself in the L.A. drug trade, it wouldn’t be long before Simon came to him.

      Gray pulled out his laptop and connected it to a secured cable modem. He logged onto СКАЧАТЬ