"...we're waiting to hear from the official department spokesperson, but from what we've learned from informed sources outside the hospital..."
Hanna felt a chill race through her. She stood quickly and walked over to the television.
"... there has been a shooting and perhaps a fatality inside this facility."
Hanna turned quickly looking for her phone, trying to control the panic that was rushing through her. She grabbed her cell on her desk and pushed in the contact for Alex's phone. It rang four times before she heard his familiar voice answer, "Hanna?"
"Oh, thank God!" she cried out and then, "Are you all right? What's going on down there?"
Alex seemed confused when he responded. "Where are you?"
"I'm back at my office and watching a television reporter at the hospital. What's going on?"
"They're here already?" he said, again sounding hesitant and confused.
"Alex?"
"Hanna, there's been another shooting."
"That's what I'm seeing here on the news broadcast. What's happened?"
"Everything is under control here," he said, "but..." He hesitated again.
"Alex, what in the world?"
"The shooter came back..." he started. "He came back for me."
Hanna was stunned and couldn't believe what she was hearing. She tried to answer but was distracted by the reporter on the television.
Alex continued, "I'm okay, but this asshole shot and killed the officer who was assigned..."
"The man outside your door?" she jumped in.
"Yes, Stricker. He's dead, Hanna."
"Oh, Alex..."
"He was obviously coming back for me."
"How did you...?"
Alex interrupted, "Hanna, I'm okay. Just a little rattled. I had my gun and I was able to protect myself."
She thought for a moment, thankful that Alex had survived this second attack. "Where is the killer?" she finally said."
"He got away. Half the department's out on the streets trying to track him down."
Hanna turned the television off and hurried back to her desk, reaching for her purse and car keys. "I'm coming back down."
"No!" Alex said quickly. "It's a madhouse down here and there's nothing you can do."
"Alex..."
"Please, Hanna, I'm fine. Just try to get some rest tonight. I hope to be out of here in the morning and..."
She couldn't control her fear and frustration any longer and burst out, "Alex, dammit! You're not going anywhere tomorrow, and I want to be there with you."
She waited for him to reply and could hear a lot of conversation in the background. "Hanna, I really need to go. The Captain is here and we're trying to sort through all this. Please, get some rest and I'll see you in the morning."
She was shaking her head and trying to regain her composure. "Are you going to be safe down there?"
"They have people on every door and access point," he replied. "Hopefully, they'll have him in custody soon."
Before the body count gets any higher, she thought to herself.
"Hanna?" she heard him ask.
"Yes..."
"I've asked for the department to place someone outside your apartment tonight."
"What!"
"I don't want you to get upset," Alex went on, "but I just don't know what this guy is capable of and who else he might be targeting to get at me."
Hanna turned and looked out the window at the dimly lit parking area behind her office and apartment. A chilling sense of dread and fear washed over her. She started walking towards her office door and then down to the front of the building. "Do you really think he'd come after me?" She got to the front of the office and looked out at the street. A Charleston Police cruiser was already parked in front.
"It's just a precaution, Hanna."
"Why is he doing this?"
"Apparently, he doesn't want any witnesses from the bust this morning who can ID him," he said and then paused for a moment. "He's also a crazy bastard..."
She sat on one of the chairs in the reception area, trying to calm herself. "They need to find this maniac, Alex," she said hesitantly.
"They're trying, Hanna. They're trying."
Chapter Thirteen
Caine sat in a back booth of an all-night diner five blocks from the hospital, his fishing cap pulled low over his face as he sipped at a cup of coffee. His senses were alert to any signs of approaching danger. He knew the cops would be crawling the streets looking for him. His gun was secured in a shoulder holster under his shirt.
The waitress came up and refilled his cup. "Get you anything else, hon?"
He smiled up at her and said, "You got any pie left?"
"One slice of blueberry."
They both turned to look outside when a police cruiser raced past with lights on and siren screaming.
"Wonder what's happening now?" she said, shaking her head in disgust.
"Get a little vanilla ice cream on that pie?" Caine asked.
"Sure thing," she said. "Be right back."
He watched her walk away and kept looking out the window for the appearance of any cops. He already had an escape route out the back scoped out. He planned to wait a few more minutes before starting to make his way back to his boat at the docks along the river.
As he waited, he kept thinking about the mess this morning at the bar. He was not one to tolerate loose ends, nor was his employer, Asa D. He cursed himself silently. He'd been working for the mob boss for over ten years off and on. This latest engagement was beginning to spiral out of control. The old man had too many people in his way who needed to be eliminated. Things were getting too hot and he was anxious to get all this behind him and return to his mountain home overlooking the bay on St. Croix. He smiled when he thought about sitting out on the deck next to the pool with his latest tanned young girlfriend.
He had developed his taste for killing when he'd connected with a group of mercenaries operating out of Paris. He found that he was not only good at it as his skills developed, but he also got a strange pleasure in watching people in the final seconds before their deaths. His body count had become his own perverse badge of honor. Eventually, individual jobs began to come his way and he'd been working on his own for years now taking contracts around the world.
When he got the call a bust was coming down this morning, he knew he could just slip out the back and avoid any confrontation, but the thought of taking out a few more of the bastards was just too good to pass up. He was upset that he wasn't able to take them all, but sometimes you need to cut your losses and clean up later. That's why he had tracked the one surviving cop to the hospital. He'd have to regroup on that one and he already had a plan for the other.
His contact on the Dark Web had provided detailed dossiers on both of them.
The waitress set the pie and ice cream down in front of him. "Enjoy".
"Thanks... Mary," he said, looking up at the name card on her peach-colored uniform.
He'd wait a few more minutes before taking back roads and alleys to the waterfront and his boat at the marina.
Chapter Fourteen
Alex woke with a start. He was sweating and he must have yelled out because a nurse and the new cop assigned outside his door came quickly into his hospital room.
"You okay, Lieutenant?" the cop asked.
Alex took a moment to clear his head. Fading images from a dream were still flashing in his brain. He saw the cold metal hole on the end of the silencer held by the assassin named Caine aimed straight at his face. He saw the body of his partner, Lonnie, falling in a heap across the kitchen, blood already pooling on the floor from the gunshot wounds he had just taken.
In the dream, Alex could still remember the helpless feeling of being knocked over by the door as Caine came out to confront them and then falling to the floor and watching his gun slide away out of reach. He had felt helpless, weighted down as if unable to move. His screams as C
aine aimed the weapon back at him were silent in the dream. He couldn't seem to cry out to help Lonnie.
He tried to push that all away and looked up at the cop standing by the bed. "What...I'm sorry."
"Just checking," the cop said. "You cried out."
The nurse was checking the monitor next to his bed and then the IV bags on the rack.
The cop's nameplate read Mcquire.
Alex finally said, "I'm fine, thanks. Just dreaming, I guess."
"Helluva thing with Stricker last night," Officer McGuire said.
Alex looked at the young man for a moment and fought off the wave of guilt that was sweeping over him. "Yeah, helluva thing."
An hour later, his cell phone vibrated on the stand next to the bed. The caller ID read, Hanna. "Hey, good morning," he said, trying to sound more cheerful than he really felt. He looked out through the blinds on the window and saw a soft red glow in the clouds from the rising sun.
"You feeling any better?" he heard her ask.
"Got a little sleep."
"Good," Hanna replied. "There's still a cop car out front here at my apartment. Is that really still necessary?"
"I'm not sure what happened overnight, other than the new cop they've got outside my room here hadn't heard any updates about catching this guy."
"I'm going to take some coffee out, if that's okay," she said.
"I'm sure they'll appreciate it."
"The Captain will be back in a few minutes with the investigation team and an Internal Affairs person, I'm sure."
"Internal Affairs?"
"There will be an investigation into the whole incident. I haven't provided my official statement yet."
Hanna said, "I can tell you've got some serious doubt and guilt about this whole thing. I'm sure you did everything you could..."
"Hanna," he cut in quickly, a hint of irritation clear in his voice, "I wish I could say I had a clear conscious on how this all came down, but it was not good. I should have..."
"Alex, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened, but I know you're one of the best at what you do and..."
"We need to talk about this later," he said abruptly.
There was no response on the other end of the call, and he waited a moment, too, mad at himself for losing his cool with her.
"Hanna, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to sort this all out in my mind. It's going to take a little time."
"Of course," she said.
"Look, the IA team is here. I need to go."
"I'll be down to see you later this morning."
"Please go be with Ginny," he protested. "I'm going to get over there this afternoon, one way or the other."
When Hanna reluctantly signed off on their call, Alex pressed the call button for a nurse. When she came in, he said, "Can you crank up the dial on those meds? My neck is killing me. We need to take the edge off a little."
"Let me check with the doctor."
Alex hesitated, then said, "No really, that's okay." He didn't want to give the doctor any further excuse for not letting him out of here.
The Internal Affairs team included two men and a woman who Alex knew from the Department but had no real relationship with. They were all business and had taken two hours to walk him through his account of yesterday's events and then the attack the previous night from the killer named Caine. He had decided to share everything he could remember, including the loss of his weapon and inability to protect the flank of his fallen partner. He told them everything about the return attack the previous night and the shots fired in trying to protect himself from the assassin.
After they left, he had an uneasy feeling about the whole situation. He was sure there would be more interrogations and questions before they were through. They didn't seem to react one way or the other about his accounts of both episodes but did continue to press him on how the killer may have been tipped off to their attempted arrest. He could provide no logical explanation.
His police captain, Guinness, had come in toward the end of the interview and had finally pressed the team to finish up so that Alex could get some rest.
It was early afternoon when he touched the call button for the nurse again. His neck was on fire and the meds weren't making a dent in the pain. He wasn't going to ask for more, but rather to have her disconnect the IV tubes to let him get out of the hospital.
"You need to speak to the doctor," the nurse had scolded, then left the room.
Hanna had come by earlier before leaving to spend more time with Ginny Smith and the children. He apologized for being short with her earlier on the phone.
A few minutes later, one of the young doctors who had been treating him came into the room. He didn't wait for Alex to speak. "I strongly discourage you from getting out of this bed for at least another day or two. You need to let that wound heal. You've got internal stitches holding your neck together that are very susceptible to pulling apart."
"Doc, I'm getting out of here, with your permission or not, so you might as well get the nurse to unhook me before I pull these damn needles out myself."
The Uber car pulled up to the street in front of the Smith house. Alex sat in back, trying to push aside the pain in his neck and the uncertainty and guilt he was feeling in having to see the widow of his friend and partner. He didn't see Hanna's car and concluded she must have gone back to her office.
He walked up the steps onto the porch and rang the doorbell, his heart pounding in his chest. He felt light-headed and occasional bouts of nausea kept washing over him. He reached out for the brick wall of the porch to support himself. He stepped back when the door opened. Lonnie and Ginny's youngest son, Charlie, stood at the door.
"Uncle Alex?" the little boy said quietly.
"Hey, Charlie. Can I come in?" He pulled open the door and then knelt in front of one of his five godsons. "How you doing, big man?" Alex asked.
The boy shook his head and looked down. Alex pulled him close and hugged him. "I'm sorry about your dad, Charlie. I wish..." he said and then couldn't continue. He looked up as Ginny came into the room. He squeezed the boy tight then stood and took Ginny Smith in his arms. They both started crying and neither spoke, holding each other.
Finally, Alex pushed back and said, "Whatever you need..."
"Alex, please..." They watched as her son ran into the other room to join the others.
Alex wanted to tell her that none of this should have happened, that if he'd done his job, her husband would still be alive. Ashamed, he couldn't bring himself to make the confession.
Ginny broke his thoughts and quietly said, "I know you loved Lonnie as much as we did."
He nodded, wiping at his tears. "I promise you, I will get this guy."
"I know you will," she answered. "I heard he came after you again last night."
He nodded.
"Another officer killed?"
"Right," he answered, tentatively.
"Who is this monster, Alex?"
He was feeling faint again. "Can we sit for a minute?"
She led him over to a couch and sat beside him. "I can't believe they let you out of the hospital already."
"They didn't."
"I should have known," she said and then managed a slight smile.
Alex took one of her hands in his. "We think this Caine fellow is working for Asa Dellahousaye, the mob boss. There's a gambling bill pending in the state legislature that the man will likely profit from handsomely. People opposed to the bill have started dying and disappearing."
Ginny was shaking her head, trying to understand why her husband had died.
"We'll get these guys, Ginny."
"You first need to rest and get well. I don't want to be losing you, too."
"You saw Hanna this morning?"
"She's been a blessing, Alex."
He thought about the chaos he kept bringing into people's lives. Hanna had dealt with so much in her own life and since they'd been together, h
e'd only brought on another layer of turmoil and danger.
"Alex?"
Ginny startled him back to the present. "What can I do to help... with the boys, anything?"
"We're managing," she said, tears welling up in her eyes again.
Alex pulled her close and she rested her head on his shoulder.
He wanted to tell her this was all a terrible mistake, that her husband should still be with her and the kids, that their lives shouldn't have been upended by his failure to do his job. He wanted to come clean with her but then he knew he was only trying to manage his own guilt and his admissions would do nothing to help with Ginny Smith's grief.
She pulled back and wiped the tears from her face. "None of this seems real yet. It's like I'm in this fog that won't clear, and I know he's really gone, but I can't bring myself to accept it yet."
Alex took a deep breath, trying with all his will to be strong for this woman, to help her through the loss. He had never felt more helpless.
Chapter Fifteen
Hanna was sitting behind her desk and disconnected the call she'd been on with Alex's police captain. He was looking for Alex who had abruptly left the hospital even though the doctors had advised him to stay at least another day. She was certain he would be going first to the Smith house to be with Ginny and she had told the captain that.
She knew Alex would leave, but she was more than worried about his wound and overall condition to be back out on the street. On impulse, she called his number. It rang several times before going to a mailbox that was full and wouldn't allow her to leave a message. They had planned to meet for dinner if he was able to leave the hospital. Apparently, he was feeling strong enough.
Molly came in and put a file on her desk. "Here's what I could find in South Carolina law on underage abortion laws."
"Did you find any more detail on this Judicial Bypass exception?"
"Very specific requirements and conditions... you'll see."
"Okay, thank you," Hanna said, starting to look through the documents Molly had printed out.
"Hanna, I know it's not my business, but are you really thinking about helping this girl do this without her parents knowing?"
DEATH ON THE NEW MOON (A Troubled Waters Suspense Thriller Book 6) Page 6