“You mean the Cavaliers and the Scorpions?”

“Yes,” Jack responded.

“The members of the Scorpions are all tatted up with scorpions on their arms, necks, the back of their hands, and the calves of their legs. They’re a mixed bag, white, black, and Hispanic. They are some badass dudes, from what I read. Happy Village is in the area that used to be their turf. They were forced to move away—and managed to cause quite a bit of trouble before they did. A lot of them are still in jail, but their total membership somehow increased. Serving time in jail is a badge of honor with the gangs.”

“What about the Cavaliers. They badasses too?”

“All gangs are bad, you know that, Jack. But to answer your question, no, not really. I could not confirm this, but it seems that Cosmo somehow, in some way, communicates with them, and they are more or less guardians of Happy Village. We should have talked to Zack Meadows before we came out here to get the lay of the land.”

“I tried calling him three times and left messages. He didn’t return any of my calls. That is not sitting well with me. He didn’t get back to Charles, either. I’d like to know if the guy is a silent partner or one with a voice, or is it Cosmo who calls the shots. I don’t even know if Lizzie knows. My point is that the guy should be jumping all over himself to help us, and he isn’t, is he? Why do you think that is?”

Dennis felt goose bumps race up and down his arms, and it had nothing to do with the chilly temperature in the car. “Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?” There was angst in the young reporter’s tone that set Jack’s teeth on edge because he knew exactly what the young reporter was thinking.

The robotic voice on the navigation system instructed Jack to make a right-hand turn two hundred feet ahead.

“I guess this will take us into Happy Village. Doesn’t look too bad to me so far. It’s been cleaned up quite a bit from the looks of things. Entrances to communities and the like are important. Landscaping will usually do it,” Jack said, just to have something to say.

Dennis laughed. “I can show you some pictures of before and after. The after still has to be finished, and by that I think it means the landscaping. The before is a little hard to swallow. Rusted-out junk cars, greasy-looking mattresses, old appliances along with all the other junk people just dumped to get rid of it. Now it just looks like flat scrubland. Put in a few trees for shade, some flowering bushes, some hedges, grass, along with a few benches, and you have urban development. I think it will look really nice once it’s all finished.”

Jack kept his eyes on the road. “I think it was Ted, but maybe it was Espinosa, who said that all the cosmetic work is being done by volunteers and that’s why it’s taking so long. Not everyone has a green thumb, was the way he put it. And everyone isn’t into gardening, so what gets done gets done and what doesn’t doesn’t.