In the early 1970's Detective Marc Anthony Bryant is responsible for the investigation of all deaths in his suburban Dallas department. The discovery of two Dallas men, tied up and shot gangland-style in his town puts him on the trail of a veteran organized crime figure who has a love for pit dog fighting and a penchant for using car bombs against his enemies. Bryant must hide Lynne, the widow of one of the slain men, while he learns all he can from her about the old Dallas gangster. Lynne is a beautiful young hippy girl who looks like she is straight out of central casting and draws Bryant into a world of jewel thieves and pit dog fighters. EXCERPT
"His name is Gipson Tuttle. Everyone calls him "Gip." I'll give you his number and address, but you can't tell him where I am. He asked me yesterday and I told him that I was on my way out of town to move back with my parents in Ohio. He knows Ran Donovan. He doesn't like Ran, but they have a lot of the same friends. I like Gip, but I don't trust him."
"Is one of the dogs he picked up the puppy that was stolen by Otto Sack?" The question caught Lynne off guard and she quickly turned and faced me.
"Where did you hear that?"
"Look, Lynne, I probably know a hell of a lot more than you think I do. Were you there when Rick tied up Sack and his wife and tortured them for hours?"
"You make it sound worse than it was," she shot back, angry now. "Of course I was there. Where else could I go? I just tried to stay away from them. I finally left, went to a movie. I hoped it would all be over when I got back, but they were still there."
"Who was doing the torturing with Rick?" She stayed silent for a while, staring out of the window at the passing landscape. Finally, she turned toward me.
"It was Terry Ryan. Look, Sad and his wife got what they deserved. They weren't tortured. Rick just threatened them, gave them a good scare. They stole that puppy from Rick. He paid over two thousand for it. Terry threatened to rape Sad's wife, but he didn't. Rick wouldn't let him do that. He just convinced Sad that he would. Maybe he slapped Sad in the face a few times, but it wasn't like torture. Sad finally admitted that he took it and promised to take them to it. He had it hidden in an abandoned shack near his house. When Rick got the puppy back, he let them go. That's all there was to it."
"What did Ran Donovan think about all of that? I hear that Sad is Ran's cousin or something. Is that why Rick and Terry were both killed, do you think?"
"I don't think so. I don't know." Lynne turned and began staring out of the window. After a moment of silence, she said; "Rick told me that Ran was cool with it. He told Rick that if it had been his dog, he would have put a bullet in Sad and his wife, both. But...I don't know. You never know about Ran Donovan. Maybe he had second thoughts."
Eventually we pulled into the gravel driveway of the old wooden house. It looked almost in as bad a shape as Maurice Cox's barn. I noticed three short metal culverts or "tin-horns" in front that had been cut in half and apparently served as shelters for the dogs. There were empty chains in front of each that were affixed to metal stakes in the ground. As we approached, we saw that the front door was standing open. I told Lynne to go back to the car, lock herself in, and if I didn't come out in a few minutes, to get on the radio and call for help.