by D D Loomis
Wilbur blinked rapidly, a worried look crossing his face. “Yeah, she said she had to go back to the old office to pick up some IRS files. Told me not to go with her, she’d just be a minute.”
I stepped forward. “How long ago was that?”
He looked at his watch again. “Uh–hour and a half ago.”
Just then the other three came through the door, talking and laughing. They quickly shut up when they saw our serious expressions. “What’s up?” Tony asked, concern leaking into his voice.
“It’s Alice. Been out of touch for over an hour,” I said. “She went back to our old office to get some records she’d forgot.” While I was talking, Marty had been fruitlessly trying to raise Alice on the phone.
“Nothin’ yet,” he said. “Maybe she got stuck in traffic or something.” His phone chirped, causing him to jump. “Damn it! Hate that text signal.” He looked at his screen, face turning into stone. “Trouble,” he said, thrusting his cell phone towards me while striding towards the door.
A message had appeared on his screen: “They’re here.”
“Hold it!” I barked at Marty, bringing him to a halt. “We need to go into this with our heads screwed on right, or we’ll all end up dead. She’s probably in hiding.” Reluctantly, he nodded and headed back towards me.
“What’s up?” Nate’s face had gone from concern to fear.
Marty looked at him. “The bad guys are at the old office, and Alice is there as well.”
I pointed at Marty and Tony. “Weapon up. We leave in two minutes.” I turned to Dave and Nate. “You two, secure this place and wait for our call before heading our way. You get any word back from Alice, let us know. Have Wilbur call or text Tony’s phone.”
“What about me?” Wilbur asked, rising to his feet.
“You’re our commo guy. Make sure we can all talk to each other. In fact, did you pick up those ear-piece phones we talked about when you went on your latest shopping spree?”
He dipped into a drawer, coming up with several small devices. “All set. Just put ‘em in your ear, clip this remote mike to your collar and talk. It’s got two channels on it.”
I grabbed three of them and headed for the door, just as Tony and Marty reappeared. “Okay, let’s go. Tony, you drive.”
I had a death grip on the dash as Tony pushed his vehicle over 100 when we entered the freeway. I’d forgotten how he liked to speed at the slightest excuse.
It seemed only moments before we were exiting, five minutes out from our destination. “Marty, text her and say we’re almost there,” I said.
“Right. I-Oh, shit. They found her.”
My stomach did a flip-flop. “ Okay, that means we go in hot. When we get there, you two circle the place and kill any perimeter security. Be careful, though. Might be some innocents out. Still early.”
“Right,” Tony said. “How about you?”
I’ll go in the back way. At my signal, you come up the front way. I’ll distract the bad guys so they’re turned towards me just as you enter.”
Tony slowed to the speed limit when we drove past our objective. “Two SUVs and one guard in the parking lot,” he said. “I’ll park a block south. That way you’ll get a straight shot into the back of the place.”
I checked my pistol, ensuring it was loaded. “Okay with me.”
Within a matter of seconds we were parked and on the sidewalk. I held up my hand. “Hold up while I call Wilbur.”
“I’m here, on channel one,” a tinny voice said in my ear.
“We’re ready to move in,” I said. “Any word?”
Dave’s voice came on line. “We just received a call from Crosby. Said you and I have to be at our old office in 45 minutes, or she’ll kill Alice. God, she’s got a creepy voice!”
“Right, we’re moving in now.” I pointed towards our objective. “Tony, west side; Marty, east. Go.”
We crossed the street at a fast walk, then slowed to a crawl once past the small building between us and the office. I headed to the south wall of our old office, pulling out the key for the back door. Glad I’d remembered to bring the keys with me when we moved out. Seconds later I opened the door a crack. No sound. Opening it wider, I gave a slow look around. Hallway and stairs were empty. Slipping inside I slowly shut the door, mindful of any squeaks or thumps. A near silent drift up the stairs, and into the smallest office was accomplished with only one creak to cause the sweat to start running.
“Ready?” I breathed, receiving two clicks in reply.
The door was already open into the room. I laid down and peered around the edge. Four men gathered around the entrance to the larger conference room, listening intently to a gravelly voice–Crosby–as she gave orders. A minute later they headed for the stairs, muttering among themselves. Good. Didn’t see anything larger than a pistol among them.
Just as the third one started down the stairs I stood, whispering “Go.” I burst from the room and darted into the conference room. Crosby was rising, mouth open in a shout. I put a bullet in her right knee, spun and fired four quick shots at the stairs, causing the startled men to duck back. Sudden firing from the bottom of the stairs gave me time to dash over to Alice who was tied to one of the chairs. Unlimbering my knife, I quickly cut her hands free.
Crosby lunged up, pawing at the table with a bubbling screech of rage. I struck down with my knife and pinned her right hand to the table. A fusillade of shots had me diving back to Alice, pulling her to the floor even while she tried to free her bound legs from the chair.
One of the men raced towards us. A quick low-crawl to the side of the conference room entrance and I tripped him as he entered. We scrambled to our feet at the same time, him without the gun. I lunged forward with a stiffened hand, which he blocked. Holding my arm, he spun me around and out of the room. I tripped over a chair and crashed to the floor. He snatched up the chair and flung it at me, giving him time to draw a knife. I desperately rolled away, banging against a wall as he advanced.
A large hand grabbed his face from the rear and he disappeared, a sharp crack sounding when his neck broke. Marty’s grinning face appeared. “Always layin’ around on the job.” He helped me up, quickly sobering. Where’s Alice?”
A loud shrieking came from the conference room, with cuss words mingled in. I pointed. “Over there.”
We entered, brought up short by the spectacle of a woman swearing at the top of her voice while whaling on what looked like a sack of potatoes-until you looked closer and saw the blood and gore.
“Holy shit!” Marty darted forward and enclosed Alice in a hug. He gently turned her around and began kissing her, silencing the curses and screams. Within seconds she collapsed into his arms, sobbing.
Reluctantly I approached Crosby, who was lying face-up on the table, an occasional groan the only sign she was breathing. Her right hand was still pinned to the table, and I wrenched the knife free, swallowing bile as I did so-I could see daylight through the hole in her hand. Alice must have pulled on her arm a time or two, worsening the damage from the knife. Her remaining eye was swollen closed. The rest of her face was mishappen, looking as if she’d repeatedly run into a wall. God, hope Alice didn’t go full Amazon with anyone in the office!
It was when I tried to pull Marianne’s lower half onto the table that the worst damage showed. The knee I’d put a bullet in was turned almost completely around, and flopped when I managed to get both legs onto the table. Now I did want to barf. After I’d slowed or stopped the bleeding in both her knee and hand, I stood back to give her an overall look. That was a mistake, since I wasn’t able to make it further than a step towards the door before vomiting.
Tony entered the room, grinning at Marty and Alice cuddling in one corner as they continued their kissing and whispers of endearment. “Hey, get a room you two. You’re embarrassing me.” He spotted me kneeling on the other side of t
he table, and rushed over, concern darkening his face. “You okay, man? I…” He looked up, eyes widening when he saw Crosby. “Damn! She alive?”
I managed to pull myself up, wiping my chin. “Yeah, at least I heard her moan a couple times while I got her on the table.”
He looked at Alice, and back to me. “She do all that?”
A chuckle escaped me. “Most of it. I slowed her down with a gunshot to the knee. Then while we were busy with the rest of ‘em, Alice got loose and did the rest. I managed to finally stop her before she killed her.”
A rush of noise and a flood of uniforms burst from the stairway. “Police! Hands where we can see ‘em.”
By the time things were sorted out, Al came huffing up the stairs. “Damnit, how’d you guys get word Crosby and her minions had arrived?”
“One of our people got caught when they came back here,” Tony said, stepping forward.
Just then Crosby was brought out of the conference room on a stretcher, blood still leaking from her hand and corner of her mouth. The shocked look on Al’s face was mirrored by several of the police who were still in the room.
I gestured at Alice, still held protectively by Marty. “Our receptionist came over here to pick up some records she’d forgotten, and ran into Crosby’s gang. When Crosby threatened to kill her she got mad, and beat her up.”
Al had started shaking his head halfway through my story. He turned towards the agent next to him. “You reported the arrival of the two SUVs, but not her. Why?”
Alice half-raised her hand. “Not their fault. I came in the back way hoping no one’d notice me.”
Al swung back to me with a disgusted look. “I’d run all of you in on general principles, but one of your employees, a Wilbur Carlyle, sent me a message on my phone. Had a recording of Marianne calling you, saying she’d kill your secretary if y’didn’t show up in an allotted time.”
“That’s Office Manager, if you don’t mind,” growled Alice with a thunderous look.
I tried to keep from grinning at the discomfort Al suddenly seemed to be experiencing. “Sorry, Al. She’s touchy about the word secretary. Is it all right if she and Marty head on out? She’s been through a lot.”
He reluctantly nodded. “Fine. But I’ll be over tomorrow to talk more about this. And don’t mess with anything, this is a crime scene.”He turned and stalked away, closely followed by the other agent. Two others were just stringing up tape across the opening of the conference room.
I watched them go, unanswered questions of my own arising. Hm. Al didn’t seem like a low-level administrative assistant. Time to look into what he really was. I swung back to Marty and Alice. “Why don’t the two of you head on out? Tony and I can finish here.”
Tony waited until they had disappeared down the stairs, and turned to me. “Al seems a bit different today. More like a bossman, if you ask me.”
“My thoughts exactly,” I said. “Hope you don’t mind my sending the lovebirds on ahead. Thought they might appreciate some time alone.”
“Good idea. They’ll probably be kicking us out of here in a minute too, since we’re in the middle of a crime scene.”
I waved at the two busily working in the conference room. “I’ll leave an extra set of keys on the desk up front here. Make sure and lock up when you leave, will you? We’re outta here.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Nate was the last to straggle in to our get-together the next morning. “Sorry, forgot to set my alarm.”
Marty grinned at him. “From the bags under your eyes it must’ve been a long night at the watering holes, too.”
I surveyed everyone gathered at the conference table. “Thought we’d better have a meeting before the FBI show up. They’re due in an hour. Let’s check each other’s story and make sure we don’t trip ourselves up.” I pointed at Alice. “You first, if you don’t mind.”
Alice leaned tiredly on the table. “Sorry, ever’body. Didn’t mean to cause this to happen by going out yesterday without a partner.” She glanced at Wilbur, who still had a guilty look on his face. “It’s not Wilbur’s fault, I kinda bullied him into letting me go alone. I was being arrogant, thinking I didn’t need anyone to guard my back.”
I shrugged. “Water under the bridge. How about giving us a rundown as to what happened, up until you were captured.”
“Sure. After leaving here, I parked on the back street behind the old office and went through the rear entrance. Didn’t want to advertise, just in case someone was watching.”
Wilbur looked puzzled. “What rear entrance?”
“Sorry ‘bout that,” I said. “I forgot to show it to you during our walk-through of the place when you first started with us.”
Alice resumed her story. “Once I was in the file room, I heard Crosby’s bunch comin’ up the stairs. Got behind one of the file cabinets and texted Marty. When they opened the door, I managed to send another text and stuff my phone behind the closest cabinet before they drug me out.” She lifted her hands and shrugged. “That’s about it, except that bitch has the world’s worst breath.”
The doorbell rang. I sighed in resignation when Al entered. “Even though we swept this place for bugs, I swear you can hear every word we say.”
Once Al had joined us at the table and had a cup of coffee in hand, he gave us an inquiring look. “Okay, what’d I miss?”
I gave him a once-over. Today he was dressed to the nines; dark blue suit that actually fit him. “Alice was telling us how she was captured, that’s far as we’d gotten.”
He took a swallow of the overly-hot coffee without a flicker. “Mind going over it again?”
Twenty minutes passed before we finished. Al cast an admiring look around the table.
“Damn, you guys are well-organized. I smell an ops team that stayed together from the military.”
Tony chuckled, shaking his head. “You don’t have anyone fooled, Al. That information was in the files you guys have on us.”
He shrugged. “That may be, but it’s still true.” He shifted his weight around. “I got a report from the hospital. Marianne’s knee joint is destroyed, according to the doctor. Her hand got torn up pretty good, too. Probably be months before she regains even limited use of it. But the worst looking was the face.” He shuddered. “She was already ugly, but now it goes beyond even that. Both cheekbones were broken, several teeth knocked out, broken jaw; I could go on, but you get the idea.”
“I hope you’re not looking for sympathy from us,” I said. “Our only regret is she didn’t die.”
“Which brings me to my final point.” He shifted again, not quite comfortable. “I’m personally sorry I didn’t let you finish the job on Marianne. Afraid I have to hold you to your promise about not killing her, though. We need to try her in a court of law.” He gave each of us a look while he spoke, to underline his words.
Alice grudgingly nodded. “Yeah, I see your point. Don’t like it one bit, but we did promise.”
He leaned forward. “You going to uphold that promise?”
I looked around the table, then at him. “Yes. We agreed to not kill her. But like I said before, if she gets out of jail for any reason, you can’t hold us to that promise.”
He relaxed with a smile. “That’s good enough for me. If you don’t have any questions for me, I think we’re done here.”
I waited until we heard the front door close, and shook my head. “Unless we want to incur the wrath of the FBI, our hands are tied. Until now we’ve been able to use their services. Hate to think what they’d do to us if we pissed them off.”
Tony chuckled humorlessly, running hands through his dark hair. “Wouldn’t want them to dig too deeply at the moment. They could tie us up in court for quite awhile for what they know we’ve done, even without solid proof.”
Alice snorted. “You’re probably right. Still, I’m highly
pissed Crosby’s not dead.”
Wilbur’s hand went up, a nervous look on his face. “Mister Baker?”
I shook my head, giving him a smile. “You don’t need to raise your hand, Wilbur. We’re all equal at this table. And like I told you before, call me Francis.”
“Er-right, Francis. Would we be breaking our promise to the FBI if it was someone else that killed Crosby, without anything tying us to it?”
I straightened, noting the underlying excitement in his voice. “No, not if we didn’t strongly suggest it or tell ‘em to kill her.”
“I’ve put together a list of crooks that Crosby’s cheated or double-crossed over the years while she was moving up the ladder. Some are still pretty big ducks in their pond, if you get my meaning.”
Marty raised his eyebrows. “So what?”
Wilbur shifted nervously around. “So, if someone told those guys which hospital she was in and the fact that she didn’t have any hirelings around at the moment, you think they’d be interested? Especially if we sent them some of the information Crosby had been keeping on each of them in her private files. And, maybe, that she was planning on turning state’s evidence with all that material?”
I nodded enthusiastically. “If someone had that information, I’d tell them to send it ASAP, before she’s able to set up some kind of defenses for herself. And no, I don’t think we could be held legally accountable if one of those scumbags happened to kill her.”
Wilbur nodded and punched a key on his laptop. “Done.”
* * *
We settled down in our new offices over the next two days. The negotiations for switching our physical location permanently were moving along nicely, since they’d found out the Seattle property was worth more than our present digs. I’d called Lenora an hour before, and still felt bummed out. She didn’t sound her normal self at all.
My cell phone rang, startling me out of the funk I was sinking into. “This is Francis.”
“Hi, Francis, this is Mike. Where were you last night?”
I almost dropped the phone. “Huh? Uh—we all went to dinner, then came back here. Been camping out in our new place until things got settled concerning Crosby and Franks. What’s up?”