Til Darkness Falls, page 33
Can’t wait for him, Hayley mouthed back. The captain rounded her desk silently and went out her door. Angela wondered for a second how she was able to walk so quietly, but a quick glance towards her feet revealed that she had removed her Italian heels.
“Hmmm. Okay, Detective, I guess I have to take you at your word. But at the first sign of anyone else but you and your partner, I walk.”
Hayley came back into her office with Matt Roddy in tow. She jerked her thumb toward him and stared at Angela meaningfully. Angela wanted desperately to refuse the tacit order, but she just nodded in acknowledgement. “Sounds good, Gio. My usual partner, the one you saw with me the other day, isn’t around right now, so I’ll be with another colleague. Is that okay? It will still just be the two of us.”
“Yeah, whatever. You pigs all look the same to me, anyway.” Gio guffawed at his own pitiful attempt at a joke. “Meet me in an hour at the abandoned warehouse where you found poor old Tony Conti. Don’t be late, beautiful.”
The three police officers stared at each other after Rivella ended the call.
“So, what do you think, Captain?” Angela asked. “Is he for real?”
Hayley shrugged. “Who knows how that little prick’s twisted excuse for a brain works? But if there’s any chance he’s actually ready to roll over on one of the Milano bigwigs, we can’t just look the other way.”
Angela was less than convinced. “You do realize he’s probably just using us to get rid of his competition within the organization for him.”
The captain nodded. “Agreed. Still, this sniper has to be stopped. If Rivella’s willing to give us something, then we’ll just have to deal with him.” She turned back toward her desk and slipped into her chair. “Roddy, go with her. Macon is tied up for the evening following another lead.”
Angela glanced sideways at Matt. “You up for this, Roddy?”
“Calling me by my real name, Lovell? Guess you’re willing to be civil now that your precious partner has left you hanging, huh?”
Angela rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
“Enough, you two.” Hayley glared darkly at both of them. “I’m not running a fucking pre-school. I want you to check in when you get there and the second you leave. And be careful. I don’t trust Rivella any farther than I can drop kick him.”
Angela suppressed a chuckle. Privately, she thought that would probably be pretty damned far.
“WHAT a dump.”
Angela shook her head, following Matt’s gaze as he stared out of the car window. “You said it.”
The warehouse had once been a bustling center of industry. Now, apparently, it was the place to be to meet with mobsters or to get your head blown off. She shivered at that morbid thought. A glance at her watch told her they only had a few more minutes before the time Rivella had indicated. She waited impatiently while Matt finished calling in their position. Her respect for him ticked up a notch when he notified dispatch to keep any units that might be in the area on alert just in case something bad went down.
“Come on,” she said when he’d signed off. “Either he’ll be here soon or not. I say let’s give him fifteen minutes, and if he doesn’t show, we’re out of here.”
“Fine by me.”
Matt’s tone was just this side of civil. Angela sighed as she opened the passenger’s side door and got out of the car. He’d insisted on driving, saying that he didn’t trust a woman behind the wheel. More interested in focusing on the job at hand than in getting into it with him, she’d let the chauvinistic remark slide rather than show him just how hard she could punch him in the mouth. She just had to get through the next half hour, and then she could gladly put this temporary partnership behind her, hopefully forever.
They both kept their hands near their guns as they approached the main loading door. The structure was a rusted out, double-paneled behemoth that stretched several feet above their heads and half a block in either direction. Fortunately, one of the doors was wide open, so they didn’t have to try and force their way in. The warehouse floor was littered with garbage that had been dropped by vagrants or blown in off of the street, and three dark stains indicated where Conti and his goons had met their makers. The only sound was the crunch of the broken glass that lay everywhere beneath their feet.
Angela coughed as dust went up her nose. “Shit, this place is awful.” She glanced at her watch again. It was two minutes past time. “So, I guess we wait.” She exhaled sharply, expelling the dust and trying to find the patience to see what the next twelve minutes would bring.
“Do you really think he’s going to show?” Matt kept his attention on the warehouse door. “The captain didn’t seem too sure.”
Angela resisted the urge to mock his hero worship. She supposed she couldn’t blame him for being enamored of Preston. Angela could freely admit that the younger woman was stunning. But being beautiful wasn’t a cure for being a raging bitch. Matt really needed to assess his priorities, not that it was any of her business. “He probably won’t. But like the captain said, we have to at least go through the motions.”
“So, is your partner okay?”
Angela turned to look at him. “Why do you ask?”
“He nearly mowed me down as I was coming out of the bathroom the other day. He looked pretty sick.”
“Yeah, he had a stomach bug. He’s alright now, though.” Angela glanced toward the door to give herself a moment to think. She hadn’t realized that Roddy paid that much attention to them. If Brian was really going to try and keep Alrick’s identity a secret, he would need to be extremely careful. She looked toward the front of the warehouse again, but the doorway remained empty as the minutes ticked away. No further conversation passed between them, and after seven more unproductive minutes, she shook her head, deciding it had been long enough. “Hell, he’s not coming. We might as well just leave.”
“Wait, I think I saw something moving outside.” Matt was squinting as he stared out of the dirty panes of glass fronting the warehouse. Angela guessed they had once been windows. She joined him and tried to focus, but visibility was nil.
“Are you sure? I don’t see anything.”
A shock of adrenaline went through her as she heard the shatter of breaking glass.
And then she felt nothing.
THE boom of the second shot faded into the cold night air. Gio grinned as he lowered the rifle. It had been a long time since he’d gotten to use the skills he’d learned as a kid back when his uncle used to take him out to the country to practice targeting birds.
Gio, a real man needs to learn to handle a gun.
Shooting at birds wasn’t nearly as rewarding as offing cops. So what if he’d had to position himself only a dozen yards from the window? It had still been a really sweet kill. The warehouse glass was disgusting, and he’d barely been able to see who he was aiming at. Let’s see that German bastard top that!
Gio was hiding in the shadows cast by the building situated directly across from the warehouse where he’d told the lady detective to meet him. Stupid bitch. Like he’d really have told them anything. It was too bad that her partner hadn’t been there too, but Hayley had given him the okay to take out the guy she was with. He didn’t know why Hayley had such a hard on for her own people, but he wasn’t going to complain. She was one scary broad, and it was that sense of danger that he found so exciting. Well, that and her exceptionally fine ass. Whistling, Gio pulled out his cell phone and dialed.
“9-1-1. What is your emergency?”
“Um, hello? Hello?!” Gio pitched his voice as high as he could manage and pinched his nose closed to make himself sound more nasal.
“Yes. What’s your emergency?”
“Oh my God, I just saw two people get shot!”
“Where are you?”
“I think they might have been cops!”
“Ma’am, please calm down and tell me where you are.”
Gio pulled the phone away from his mouth as he laughed silently. The dispatcher thought he was a chick? That was just perfect.
“Ma’am?”
“Uh, yeah. I was walking past that big warehouse down in the old industrial district. Please hurry!” The phone beeped as he ended the call. “Give that man an Oscar, baby.”
Gio started to break down the rifle to return it to its case. It hadn’t been difficult to get the Arctic Warfare from a black market dealer. The man had even managed to procure the exact ammo that Hayley told him he had to use. He wondered if he’d get a chance to take out the dead woman’s partner. All of that firepower jerking in his hands could easily become addictive. No wonder the German did what he did for a living. It was a hell of a rush. Gio whistled louder as he thought about how he might convince his girlfriend to let him do another one of her guys.
“Heh. Hayley won’t mind.”
“What won’t I mind?”
Gio fumbled the pieces of the rifle he still held as his heart leapt into his throat. He spun around and stared at the woman standing behind him. “Fucking hell, babe! You scared the shit outta me.” He stared at her as she gave him an inscrutable smile.
“Is it done?”
“Yeah. They’re good and dead, just like you asked.” Gio rolled his eyes, annoyed, as he turned his back on her. She could have at least mentioned what a kick ass job he’d done. Grousing and feeling unappreciated, he knelt down to put the last of the rifle pieces in the case.
“Thank you, Gio.”
Ah, he thought, that’s more like it. “Don’t sweat it, gorgeous.” He grinned as he closed the gun case, the latches snapping closed with a snick. “I enjoyed it.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
Gio froze as he felt something hard and cold press into the back of his skull. He started to turn around but hesitated as the object dug painfully into his head. “Hayley?” he said uncertainly. “Babe, what’s going on?”
“Don’t call me ‘babe’, you dumb piece of shit.”
HAYLEY’S eyes were cold as she pulled the trigger, the silencer on the gun muffling the sound into a soft pop. Gio fell face-first onto the concrete, blood pooling rapidly beneath his head. Her gloved hand squeezed around the grip in silent satisfaction before she holstered the gun and backed away from the spreading circle of dark, steaming red. The weapon had been bought anonymously and would be disposed of the same way, along with the Arctic Warfare. She picked up the rifle’s case and swung it over her shoulder. Without a glance at the dead man lying on the ground, she walked across the street to the warehouse.
Just as Gio had promised, Lovell and Roddy were lying motionless near the broken window. The woman’s head was a mess, bits of gray showing amongst the blood and shards of broken skull. Hayley regarded the carnage dispassionately. She’d seen a lot worse during the more violent eras of the past. Roddy’s body didn’t have as much damage, but he was just as dead.
Satisfied, Hayley reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Careful not to step in any gore, she bent over the woman’s body and tucked the note into the collar of her shirt. Even those idiots who worked for her shouldn’t have any trouble finding it. The sound of approaching sirens caught her attention. They had arrived far sooner than she’d expected given the time Gio placed his 9-1-1 call. Apparently, Lovell and Roddy had arranged to have patrol units in the area as backup.
Smart move, but it was too little too late to do them any good.
Standing up, Hayley backed away and took in the scene. “Nice work, detectives. Consider yourselves on permanent vacation.” She spun and headed for the door, leaving the bodies behind as she turned her thoughts toward her next task. The crunch of glass beneath her shoes masked the soft groan that rose from the warehouse floor.
Chapter 14
“YOU have taken everything from me.” The boy’s whisper was harsh with grief, his brown gaze cold with the madness of unbearable pain. “All that you have done, I visit upon you, and you will know my suffering.”
“GODDAMN waste of time.”
Brian gritted his teeth as he walked toward his unmarked car. The wild goose chase the captain had sent him on had turned out to be just that. He’d hit practically every club in the party district, but no one knew anything about an anonymous tipster. He didn’t know if the caller had really seen something and had been taken out by the people who’d hired Alrick, or whether the person had been too high to remember that he’d contacted the police. Or maybe he’d never existed in the first place.
After the tenth club had turned out to be a bust, Brian decided to call it a night. He had far more important things to do besides chasing after a phantom, such as going to see Alrick and figuring out where things stood between them. He was anxious and nervous all at the same time, hoping they could find some way out of this mess they were in and terrified of what would happen if they did.
Brian knew that if he simply let Alrick walk, he’d be endangering his own future. He might be making a huge mistake, but he wouldn’t know for certain unless he talked to the other man face to face. He was just getting into his car when his cell phone rang.
“Brian, it’s Brad. Angela’s been shot. Brian? Brian!”
Brad called his name several times when he didn’t respond, but he couldn’t have if he’d wanted to. The other detective’s abrupt statement hit him like a punch to the gut. The world seemed to tilt, and his stomach flipped as though the ground had suddenly fallen out from under him. The sudden sense of vertigo was so intense he had to grab hold of the armrest on his door to keep from falling over into the passenger’s seat. Sweat broke out over his entire body, drenching his shirt as his heart hammered painfully in his chest.
“Where is she?” he finally managed, his voice so raspy he could barely understand himself. “Brad, where is she?” He started the engine and peeled out of his parking spot, not even sure where he was going. He hit the switch for the siren out of habit more than conscious thought.
“She’s at that warehouse where Tony Conti and his crew were hit. She and Matt Roddy were both shot.”
“Matt Roddy? Why was he there?” Brian asked the question without really thinking about what he was saying. He was operating on automatic as he turned his car in the direction of the warehouse. Holding his phone in a tight grip, he struggled to keep control of the car with one hand as it fishtailed after he took a turn far too quickly.
“The captain sent them out on a job together after you left. I don’t know what for. I’m already down here. I’ll keep an eye out for you.”
Brian ended the call and blindly tossed his phone into the seat next to him. He couldn’t look at the empty spot where Angela sat on those rare occasions she let him drive. She should be there at his side like she always was. Growling, he slammed his hand against the wheel. His partner had needed him, and he wasn’t there.
Brian, Angela’s been shot.
That one sentence kept echoing through his head as he drove like a madman through the streets of the city.
Angela’s been shot.
He shook his head, rejecting Brad’s words as he tried to focus on nothing but the road in front of him. If he could just get to the place where his partner was, everything would be okay. It had to be okay.
“Damn it!” His throat ached as fear clawed at him. “Please be okay,” he whispered.
The rest of the drive to the industrial district passed in a blur. He was pretty certain he’d almost caused several accidents, but he didn’t give a shit. If people didn’t stop and make way when they heard an emergency vehicle coming through, it was their own damn fault. There were already one unmarked and two marked cars sitting outside of the warehouse when he arrived. Three patrolmen were standing by the door, ostensibly to keep the scene secure, not that there was anyone else around. The place was a ghost town.
Brian scrambled out of his car with his badge already in his hand. He held it up and hurried past the patrolmen without a word. A large figured appeared in front of him just as he went through the rusted door.
“Brian, hold up a minute, man.”
“Brad, get out of my way.”
The other man was built like an out-of-shape linebacker. The breadth of his shoulders blocked Brian’s view of whatever was going on behind him. A large hand landed on his shoulder, holding him in place.
“Just, wait a sec. It’s pretty grisly. You might want to prepare yourself.”
Brian looked up at him. “How is she?” His stomach knotted as he read the answer in the other man’s face.
“She’s gone, man. I’m so sorry.”
Brian moved so quickly that Brad didn’t have time to react. He slid past the larger man and homed in on the place where another patrolman and Brad’s partner, Phil Stanley, were standing over two figures lying on the ground. They were gathered around the rightmost body. Phil’s fingers were pressed to the man’s neck.
“Matt’s still alive,” Phil shouted toward his partner. “Where the fuck is that ambulance?”
Brian ignored them, his gaze fixed on the smaller form. She was lying completely still, drying blood matting her hair and speckled over her suit jacket. She was face up, but the hole in her head was so large it had made a complete mess of her features. Brian fell to his knees and emptied his stomach onto the grimy floor.
A dozen images rushed through his head in an instant. Years worth of memories, of pizza nights and school sports games, of moments of shared camaraderie and moments of shared terror. Everything she had been to her husband and her children, everything she had been to him, gone in an instant.
He couldn’t make sense of the buzzing in his head. The realization that she was dead was too much for him to process all at once. He told himself it was a joke, just some sick prank that someone was playing on him. He stared at his partner’s still figure, half expecting her to get up and laugh at him for being such an easy mark. It had to be some sort of crazy Halloween makeup she was wearing. How else could he explain the fact that her beloved face had all but disappeared?
