Sin City Assassin (The Bill Dix Detective Series Book 3) by C.L. Swinney Page B

room and exited the safe house.
    Blass stood over Marie and watched her. She began to toss and turn while moaning. He gently stroked her side. “It’s okay baby, you did great. Soon, very soon, we’ll have our revenge.”
    Blass had developed a plan to keep Marie in play and lure Dix to him. Once he had Dix, he’d toy with him and make him suffer. When he grew tired of that, he’d slowly kill him. Blass felt this would cement his status in the underworld as the greatest criminal mind in the history of the United States, Canada, and maybe even the whole world.

 
    Chapter 23:
     
    Dix struggled with swallowing all the negativity that surrounded the case. The situation with Petersen, the undercover agent, and the fact his gut told him this ordeal was far from over bothered him tremendously. He sat in a chair with his head hanging low. Dix dialed his old mentor and lifetime friend, Andrew Snead, to see if he had any useful updates.
    On the fourth ring Snead answered. “Yes, who’s this?”
    Dix already felt better just hearing Snead’s comforting southern voice. “It’s me, Bill, how the heck are you?”
    Snead was getting up there in years, almost seventy years old, but he was still full of spunk. “Bill, I already told you, I’m not coming to your retirement party. Why don’t you leave me alone?”
    Dix chuckled. “I know, but it won’t matter now anyway.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “You know what it means. I’m not retiring while this case is on-going,” he replied.
    Snead shook his head and whistled. “You mean to tell me you can’t even get retirement right? Have you made any progress?”
    Dix filled Snead in with all the recent updates and asked him if he thought there was something he was missing.
    “No, sounds like you stirred up quite a bit in a day. Pieces of the puzzle are coming together, but frankly, I think you should protect Petersen, and as soon as the doctors cut him loose, get the hell back home.” Snead sounded grumpy.
    “All right already. I just wanted to hear your grumpy voice to get me motivated again.” Dix laughed.
    Dix had learned much of what he knew as an investigator from Snead, and he admired him immensely. Each time he was in a bind, Snead helped him out of the situation and often gave Dix invaluable information, which led to numerous successful cases over the last twenty years. He was thankful he’d called Snead once again and hoped he’d be able to do so for many more years.
    Dix finished telling Snead the story. “So, that’s about it. Now I’ve got to keep Petersen safe and figure out some type of major criminal operation working between Canada and Las Vegas. It’s got to be big if they’re willing to kill cops to keep it hidden.”
    “Seems people kill cops everyday in the U.S.,” Snead remarked. “Anyway, you know any Royal Canadian Mounted Police? You’re gonna need some boots on the ground up there if this is gonna work.”
    “Not really, that’s why I asked you for help with that.”
    “You did?” asked Snead.
    Dix had known for months that Snead was beginning to forget things. Neither of them wanted to admit he had symptoms of someone with dementia. This was not the time for that discussion, so Dix chose to reiterate his need. “Maybe I forgot to ask. Anyway, check to see if you know anyone in Canada, and see if they would let me call them to talk about this case.”
    Snead began scanning through his enormous list of contacts to see if any were located in Canada. He thought a moment. “Okay. As usual, keep me posted, and I’ll make some phone calls. If I develop any leads, I’ll let you know.”
    “Thanks, buddy. And thanks for always being there for me.”
    Snead wasn’t good with sappy stuff so he hung up instead of replying to Dix.
    Dix checked his phone to see if the connection went dead, and realized he probably was being a little too dramatic with Snead. Man, this case is really getting to me , he thought.
    *******
    Dix sat in his