Page 1 of Under Fire

PROLOGUE

Karl Halifax wanted a brand-new start, and showing up here tonight would be his last chance at getting one.

The plan was simple, and he had no problem carrying it out. Then he could walk away at forty and never look back, and the four-generation legacy ─ the life of a loan shark ─ that he had been born into would be over. Permanently. Even an eight-year prison sentence hadn’t forced him to quit. However, doing time had made him wiser in ways few knew about.

Since his release from Glenworth Penitentiary over ten years ago, he had stayed out of trouble and run a clean operation. He was still a loan shark, but he operated totally differently than before. Going back to prison was not an option at this point in his life, and it was time he changed professions for good.

He deserved that, and Nyla deserved it even more. His heart always filled with love and pride when he thought about the woman who risked it all to love him. She thought their meeting was by chance; he believed it was a blessing in disguise. A fortunate twist of fate.

Nyla Roker not only saw the best in him, but she had helped him to see the best in himself. He recalled that while in prison, someone else had tried and had come pretty damn close. An older inmate whom he had come to highly respect and admire. A man who had been a respected businessman, wealthy entrepreneur, and law-abiding citizen had been charged with a crime that nobody in their right mind would believe he had committed. Sheppard Granger had tried convincing him there was a better life beyond the prison’s walls, A life not connected to the one that had put him in prison.

He and Nyla had plans to marry and move as far away from Tampa as they could. Now more than ever, he was glad he hadn’t told anyone about the property he had purchased years ago in Vassil Glynn, a small coastal town not far from Seattle. Nyla was just as excited about relocating as he was. Together, they would keep growing their wealth honestly and have the family he’d always wanted but never thought he could have.

He brought his car to a stop in front of an abandoned warehouse. What would happen here tonight was a planned operation. He had told Nyla about his late-night meeting but hadn’t disclosed any details about who he was meeting with or why. Only the Feds who set things up knew.

The plan was simple and the instructions clear. Donnie Barcos knew Karl’s past reputation, which, for the Halifax family, had spanned years and years and stretched from Tampa to Mississippi. Word had been deliberately put on the streets that Karl was tired of playing the nice guy, wanted to get his hands dirty again, and wanted to become part of Barcos’ illegal operation.

Barcos had bought into the lie and set up a meeting to go over everything with Karl. Unbeknownst to Barcos, when he did, the Feds, who had been trying to apprehend Barcos for years, would be listening in. Tonight’s mission was to catch Barcos on tape, outlining the depth of his criminal operation and the details of Karl’s role in it. With that ironclad evidence, they would finally be able to put Barcos behind bars for good. It would be a win-win situation. The Feds would have arrested their man, and in exchange, Karl’s past criminal records would be wiped clean.

He touched his chest and felt the wire beneath his shirt. They had even given him a small revolver that was, in all places, in his crotch. A specialized holster made such a thing possible. Just in case Barcos demanded to pat him down, more than likely he would avoid feeling another man’s genital parts. But if Barcos did pat him there, he would only assume that Karl’s junk was quite bigger than most. In other words, that he was blessed to be a very endowed man.

Karl had demanded that Barcos come alone, and the man had agreed. That in itself was unusual, since Barcos never went anywhere without his musclemen. He took in his surroundings. It had been years since he had ventured into this part of Tampa, especially at night. The warehouse stood like a dilapidated fortress beneath the darkened sky and a full moon. A testament to how neglected this area of town was.

In his late teens, he recalled coming to this section of town with his father whenever he needed to collect on an unpaid debt. At the time, this warehouse had been a vibrant cigar factory that employed many and paid decent wages. Not far away, sprawling communities of affordable homes had been built for people to raise families. Now, the houses in the area looked as old and dilapidated as the warehouse.

He’d always loved Tampa and remembered when his father uprooted his family from Tampa to Mississippi to further expand the ‘family business’ when Karl was in his junior year of high school. After leaving Glenworth Penitentiary, Karl returned to Mississippi for a few years, but returned to Tampa to reestablish the family business there; however, in a different way. He had tried but failed to convince his Mississippi family that violence was not the way. Now the majority of them were dead or serving time.

Karl continued to study his surroundings. At two in the morning, everything looked deserted. No traffic, no noise, and no people. Even the homeless thought this area too risky. And he couldn’t rightly blame them for thinking that way. This part of town was a blight on the city, which didn’t mind ignoring its existence.

As Karl made his way toward what used to be the warehouse entrance, he stayed cautious, his gaze sweeping every nook, cranny, and shadow. Nor did he miss the rooftop and every shattered window. Donnie Barcos was not a man to be trusted. Just because he said he would come alone didn’t mean he would. In the criminal arena the man played in, trust had to be earned, and Barcos didn’t trust him any more than Karl trusted him. That’s the reason Special Agent Murray had given him that small revolver. Just in case Barcos tried some kind of funny business, he wanted Karl to protect himself. He appreciated that.

“You’re on time, Halifax. I like that.”

Karl tried to keep his heartbeat to remain steady. There wasn’t another car parked nearby, so he hadn’t been sure Barcos was here or not. Now he knew that he was somewhere in the shadows. Only when the man lit a cigarette did he see him. They’d met a time or two before in passing, never exchanging more than a nod. They didn’t run in the same circles. Barcos was a heavy hitter when it came to criminal activities. No wonder the Feds wanted to lock him away for good.

“That’s the only way I roll. If you’re late, you might miss something, and I don’t want to miss a thing,” Karl said with a little more bravado than he actually felt. Suddenly, something about tonight didn’t feel right. However, for his and Nyla’s future, he had to see it through. She deserved more than marrying a man with a criminal past.

He heard the man’s chuckle. “I like that, too. I think we’re going to work well together. Come on inside, so we can talk.”

The inside looked just as bad as the outside. Thanks to the full moon’s position in the sky, and several streetlights shining through a few shattered windows, Karl saw trash and debris littering the floor, along with broken glass.

“Need to pat you down for your safety as well as my own. Just so you know, I’ve covered my ass meeting with you here tonight.”

In other words, Barcos was letting him know if this meeting wasn’t on the up and up, Karl was a dead man. Word on the street was that nobody was crazy enough to betray Donnie Barcos and live. Agent Murray knew this and planned ahead. A government plane was ready to fly him and Nyla to Vassic Glynn within hours, where they would live the rest of their lives in peace. However, in case things didn’t go the way they were supposed to tonight, he had told Nyla that if she hadn’t heard from him by tomorrow morning at seven, to put their emergency plan into action. He hadn’t told her any more than that. Then he had made love to her and whispered how much he loved her before she had dozed off to sleep.

“Fine, and you can search me all you want. You won’t find anything. I’m clean.”

Barcos nodded and was about to walk toward him when his phone rang. Barcos pulled it out of his pocket, glanced at it, frowned, clicked on it, and barked. “What the hell do you want?”

Karl knew the call was about him when a cold look suddenly appeared in Barcos’ eyes as he stared at him. Barcos clicked off the phone and shouted, “You set me up, you bastard!”

Karl appreciated his reflexes. Seeing the glint of steel that Barcos suddenly pulled from a hidden side pocket of his jacket, Karl quickly reached beneath the waistband of his loose-fitting pants to his crotch and retrieved the revolver from the holster. His survival instincts took over, and the moment Barcos took aim, Karl pulled the trigger.

***

The ringing of the phone woke Sheppard Granger. Easing up in bed, he glanced at the clock and saw it was close to four in the morning. His biological sons had a particular ringtone. So did those he considered surrogate sons. It was none of them, so who would be calling at this hour? Reaching for the phone, he saw the name flash on the screen. Karl Halifax. Why would Karl be contacting him at this hour?

His wife, Carson, eased up in bed beside him. “Who’s calling, Sheppard?”