Matting felt his temper rise, but quickly silenced it. If Dellington and Haim found out about Hawk and Nikki, he was a dead man. “Five million,” he offered William.
William stared at Matting. “Are you offering me a new contract?”
“We will pay you five million dollars to track down Daily and Bates. I will write up the contract as soon as you leave my office and have it ready for you tomorrow morning,” Matting promised. “Sir, you are a professional, and I believe you are the person we need.”
“Bring the contract to Norris's home tonight at midnight,” William ordered Matting. “If you do not show up, I walk. Are we clear?”
“Yes, sir. Midnight, sir,” Matting promised.
“See to it,” William said and walked out of Matting's office. “I'll be at Norris's house waiting for Jack to arrive.”
Matting picked up his cigar again and lit it with a silver lighter. “Daily...Bates...you two were supposed to show up in a nice, neat, little package. Why are you on your way to Florida?” Matting slowly began to pace around his office. “Unless you two are not on your way to Florida, after all...or perhaps only one of you is traveling to Florida in order to confuse me?” Matting ran to the white phone sitting on his desk. “Packard, Daily and Bates still might be on their way to your location. William is on his way over there right now. I told William that Jack had not arrived yet. I want you to stuff Jack in the basement, okay? Make it appear that you are only protecting Norris. I'll be at your location within the next hour.”
Matting slammed down the phone with an angry hand. Thinking as quickly as he could, he picked the phone back up and called Jack's partner, Stan. “This is Matting. You're needed. I want you over at Norris's house within the hour. Stay out of sight.”
“No,” a terrified voice replied, “I'm not involved in this matter anymore, Mr. Matting. I've already betrayed my partner. And I have to live with that. If you threaten my family or me again, I will go to the press. If you leave me alone, I will remain silent, you have my word on that.”
“You will do as I order you,” Matting yelled.
“No,” Stan held his ground even though his voice was shaky. “Mr. Matting, I told Jack to drop the investigation. He refused to listen. I did everything you asked of me. If you continue to threaten me, I will take your name to the press. I know Mr. Dellington and Mr. Haim would find your private affairs incredibly interesting. Goodbye, Mr. Matting.”
Matting slammed the phone down. “Now you get guts,” he fussed. Squeezing his hands together, Matting knew Stan would honor his word and go to the press if he didn't back away. “I'll let you escape, you rat,” Matting grumbled. “You get off lucky, this time.” Yanking open the top right desk drawer, Matting pulled out a Glock 17, stuffed the gun into a black briefcase sitting on the desk, and left the office, cigar in hand. “I'll handle Daily and Bates myself, and then put William in his place. Tonight, I put the game in checkmate,” he whispered in a vicious voice.
11
Sleepy eyed and exhausted, Hawk and Nikki eased into Long Island like two lost soldiers preparing for one last battle. Hawk, behind the wheel, yawned. “I'm going to park about half a mile away from the address. I think the walk in all this rain will help wake us up.”
Nikki yawned. Even though her body was sleepy, her thoughts were wide awake. Watching Hawk slowly drive into a darkening night, she looked out at the traffic, at stores and, eventually, as Hawk aimed the jeep into residential neighborhoods, she examined houses—some jammed up next to each other while others sat in private yards soaked with rain. Being on Long Island made Nikki feel as if she was a sardine shoved into a can with millions of other sardines. Atlanta was bad enough at times, New York felt even worse. No space. No personal room. No privacy. No room to breathe. But, Nikki thought to herself, what seemed suffocating to her was home to other people. People living in war-torn conditions in a dangerous country would find Long Island a breath of fresh air, she knew. “I don't mind walking in the rain,” Nikki answered Hawk.
Hawk stretched his shoulders as he drove through a wet, upscale neighborhood with gorgeous houses that all had perfect landscaping, decorative fencing and driveways made with stone pavers. “What does the GPS say? How much further to the address?”
Nikki raised her cell phone up to her face. The light of the screen cast a soft glow on her exquisite features. Hawk could barely take his eyes off of her. “About a mile...I guess we better find some place to park.” Nikki turned her head and looked at Hawk. “What?”
“Huh?...oh, I...” Hawk muttered, taken off guard. Blushing, he took his eyes back to the road. “Let's see...where would be a good place to park?”
Nikki smiled. Hawk was sweet. Taking her eyes into the rainy, darkening night, she searched for a good place to park. Hawk came to a stop sign, looked to his left and then to his right, and decided to hang a right. The street led out to a commercial area lined with small shopping strips and gas stations. Hawk spotted a closed garage. Without wasting another second, he swung the jeep into the parking lot of the garage and carefully pulled around to the back of the building. “Will the jeep be safe here?” Nikki asked.
“I'm sure the tires will be lifted by the time we get back,” Hawk assured Nikki. “Okay, so listen to me. If any shooting starts, you stay down. If, by some chance, I get hit, you run straight back here. I'm leaving the keys under the driver's seat.”
“Stop,” Nikki begged Hawk. Wrapping her slender fingers around his wrist, she pleaded with him. “Hawk, you and me, we're both going to walk back to this jeep as winners. And when we come back to this old jeep, we're going to get in, drive straight home, go to my cabin, and sleep for twenty-four hours. When we wake up, I'm going to make a fresh pot of coffee, cook us a delicious breakfast with extra fruit, and we're going to sit at the kitchen table you love so much and rest over a nice, relaxing breakfast. Is that clear, you big lug?”
“Yeah, crystal clear,” Hawk replied softly. Leaning across his seat, he gently kissed her. “Okay, let's go.”
Nikki followed Hawk out of the jeep. Stepping into a light but steady rain, she stared up into a dark sky. Out on the front street, she heard vehicles passing by. Maybe it was exhaustion, but Nikki's mind transformed the passing vehicles into enemy soldiers searching for her with angry German Shepherds barking and growling at the end of rusted chains. “Lord, protect us,” she prayed.
“Amen,” Hawk murmured, taking Nikki's hand. “Okay, navigator, lead the way.”
Nikki nodded her head. Ignoring how the rain could damage her cell phone, Nikki lifted the screen to her face. “This way,” she told Hawk.
Walking back into the residential neighborhood, Nikki and Hawk cautiously moved down a long sidewalk, holding hands, hoping to be seen as a couple taking a romantic walk in the rain. Each time a vehicle passed, Nikki tensed up, expecting each vehicle to be filled with armed men sent to kill Hawk and her. When the vehicle passed, she let out a breath of relief.
Strolling past one house after another, she moved Hawk onto a street lined with two-story homes that were impressive to the eye. Each home sat on a private yard that wasn't large but comfortable enough to have a little privacy. Wet tree limbs dangling from sleepy trees dropped over the yards, casting spooky shadows down onto the ground. Nikki stopped walking. “There,” she whispered to Hawk, pointing at a two story home sitting at the end of the street they were on. The street ended at the house, offering no exit point.
Hawk quickly scanned the European style house. A single light was on downstairs. He couldn’t see any vehicles parked in the driveway; what he did see was a lot of wet trees. “Come on,” he whispered, looking to his left. Nikki followed Hawk into the side yard belonging to the people who lived next to Agent Norris. Hawk jogged swiftly down the side yard until he came to the backyard. A green hedge separated the neighbors from Agent Norris's yard. The hedge ended at a thin wood line. Hawk moved into the wood line and, like a stealthy shadow, followed it until he was directly behind Agent
Norris's house. Kneeling down behind trees, he studied the house. “Rain is starting to pick up. That's good. The sound of the rain will help us and make visibility from inside the house a problem.”
Feeling like a soldier getting ready to make a daring charge onto a machine gun-riddled beach, Nikki drew in a deep breath. She was now soaked from head to toe. Rain dripped from her long hair onto her shoulders. At least the rain had doused her mind with enough water to wake up. “Hawk, look,” Nikki whispered, spotting a black sedan pulling into the front driveway.
“We made it just in time,” Hawk whispered to Nikki. Pulling out his gun, he watched William shut off the headlights and exit the car. Instead of going directly into the house, William looked toward the back yard. “He's coming our way. He'll do a security check before going inside. This is where we act.”
“What's your plan?” Nikki whispered, watching William walk into the back yard, pause, study the back of the house, and then focus on the wood line.
“I can take this guy from outside without letting anyone inside know,” Hawk whispered back. “Stay here, and don't move.”
“Hawk...I...okay,” Nikki whispered, fear coloring her voice. “Please be careful.”
“I will,” Hawk promised and quickly kissed Nikki.
Using the rain to drown out the sound of his footsteps, Hawk dropped back into the wood line, and on swift legs that now felt like the legs of a strong teenager, he maneuvered his way to the far side of the house, hunched down behind a tree, and waited. “Okay pal, it's time to feel the heat,” Hawk whispered as he watched William staring into the wood line. The man was obviously a pro, Hawk knew, keeping enough distance from the wood line to allow himself time to draw his gun, if need be. But Hawk could tell by the man's body language that he didn't believe anyone was lurking in the wood line.
“Clear,” William spoke into the rain in a confident voice. But then he heard a twig snap. The sound came from Hawk's direction. Slowly pulling out his gun, William cast his eyes into the wet, dark wood line. With caution, he walked across the back yard, through grass that needed to be mowed, and stopped at the edge of the house. Nikki watched William move away from her position. Not sure what Hawk was going to do, all she could do was wait and watch. “Don't be a fool, whoever you are,” William spoke through the rain. Only the sound of the falling rain answered back. Shaking his head, William lowered his gun, replaced it in his jacket pocket, and began walking up the far side of the house.
Hawk exploded out of the shadows like a vicious lion. With one single punch, he struck William in the face. Taken off guard, William stumbled backward, tripped over his legs, and tumbled down onto the ground. Hawk didn't waste a second. He pounced on William, pressing his left knee into the man's back while twisting William’s left arm behind his back. “This is how we're gonna do this,” Hawk murmured to William in a dangerous growl, “I'm gonna slap some handcuffs on you, and you're gonna play nice.”
“You're a dead man,” William promised Hawk. “I know who you are, Detective Daily. You just signed your death warrant.”
“Yeah, play a song I've never heard before,” Hawk replied. “Stand up.”
William, understanding that Hawk had the upper hand, did as ordered. His only chance to kill Hawk was to take the man off guard if and when the opportunity arose. Surely, William thought, watching Hawk use his left hand to pull a pair of handcuffs from his front pocket, he could outsmart and defeat a stupid street cop. After all, he was trained in martial arts, whereas his captor seemed to prefer simple brute force to intelligent battle styles. “I only want Jack, Detective. If you leave now, I will forget this incident.”
Hawk tossed the handcuffs at William while keeping the gun in his right hand at the ready. “Put them—”
William threw out his right hand, slapped the handcuffs out of the air with lightning fast hands, and before Hawk could react, brought his left hand down across Hawk's right wrist, knocking the gun free. Before Hawk could react, William conducted a low spin kick and knocked Hawk off his feet. Hawk hit the ground hard. William had his gun out before Hawk could blink an eye. “Get up,” he ordered Hawk.
Hawk shook his head, dazed, wondering how William had gotten the best of him. “Sure...yeah,” Hawk said. Crawling to his feet, he looked up at William. “Who are you?”
“Who I am is not your concern, Detective Daily. As I mentioned, my only concern is Jack. It would have been wiser for you to stay away. Now, you will die along with your friend.”
“Jack is no friend,” Hawk said as the rain poured down his face. “He betrayed me. I'm here for answers and to bring the guilty to justice.”
“Your noble cause will not save you,” William assured Hawk, ignoring the thin stream of blood oozing from his nose. “Detective Daily, when will you ever learn that the guys in white never win? All around the world, men with money control what people think, eat, believe, and feel. For every battle you may win, they win wars. I should know. I was once like you; I believed in the noble cause until my country betrayed me.”
Hawk had to keep William talking. “Yeah, your sob story breaks my heart, pal.”
“I don't expect you to understand,” William told Hawk. “It's time to die, Detective Daily.” William drew in a deep breath, aimed his gun at Hawk's chest, and prepared to fire. With his back turned toward the house, he didn't notice a shadow creeping up on him on legs that even a sniper would admire. Barefoot and determined, carrying a sturdy stick in her hand, Nikki crept up on William. “Hey you.”
“What?” William asked, shocked. Spinning around, he saw Nikki swing the stick at his head. The last thing William remembered was seeing an angry woman tell him no one points a gun at her big lug.
“Man,” Hawk said, letting out a breath of relief, “you pack quite a wallop.”
Nikki dropped the stick in her hand and ran to Hawk. “Are you okay?” she began to cry.
“I'm fine,” Hawk promised, taking Nikki into his arms. Looking up into the rain, he thanked the Lord that he was alive. “Okay, Nikki, we have to move. Get his gun.”
Nikki picked William’s gun up off the wet ground while Hawk dragged William into the wood line and handcuffed the man's hands together around a tree. “Hawk,” Nikki whispered, spotting movement out on the front sidewalk.
Hawk pulled Nikki behind a tree. Together, they watched Matting pull into the front driveway in a black BMW. Matting exited it, studied the black sedan, and then walked up to the front walk carrying a black briefcase, and then vanished from sight. “Now what?” Nikki asked.
“Him,” Hawk nodded at William. “He's going to give us some answers.”
12
William woke up to someone slapping his cheeks. Opening his eyes, he saw two blurry faces staring at him through a wet, thick darkness. “Who...”
“Be quiet,” Hawk ordered William.
William shook his head. Pain erupted. “My head,” he moaned. When he tried to move his arms and hands, he realized that he could not. “What is this?” he asked in a groggy voice.
“You're handcuffed to a tree, smart guy,” Hawk explained.
Nikki studied William's face. If she had passed the man in the grocery store, she would have considered him to be a nice, intelligent man in his mid-fifties who probably sold insurance for a living; but the man was a trained killer. “We need answers.”
William remained silent until he felt his mind become fully operational. Focusing on Nikki, he remembered the angry face of the woman who had knocked him unconscious with a stick. “A woman's scorn...” he whispered. Realizing he was defeated, William lowered his head. “Jack was once my partner. He betrayed me, the same way he betrayed you,” he told Hawk.
“What's going on? Please, talk to us,” Nikki asked William, kneeling down in front of him as pouring rain streamed down her face. “You're going to prison, and you know that. The only chance you have now at revenge is to help Detective Daily and myself.”
“I suppose so,” William agreed, staring in
to Nikki's wet face. “Such a lovely woman.”
“Talk,” Hawk told William.
William drew in a deep breath. “Dellington and Haim import people to work for them; I am sure you two are aware of this. What you are not aware of is people from the Middle East are now being imported; Dellington and Haim themselves are not aware of this. Agent Norris, Jack, and Matting are the ones importing the people in from the Middle East. They have devised themselves a little plan to destroy Dellington and Haim with the hopes of placing themselves on easy street.”
“Go on,” Hawk told William.
“Bombs,” William said in a simple voice. “Matting is going to have his Middle Eastern slaves begin planting bombs at every construction site. They intend to kill innocent illegal immigrants from Central America while destroying billions in unfinished construction.”
“And the media will have no choice but to report on the people who might be killed, exposing Dellington and Haim,” Nikki whispered.
“Intelligent woman,” William told Nikki. “However, once Matting's plan is in place, he is going to give Dellington and Haim an option. Relinquish all power to him or face prison for life. After all, the people he's importing from the Middle East will surely claim they were working for Dellington and Haim instead of Matting, isn't that correct?”
“Yes,” Nikki nodded her head, fully understanding Matting's plan.
“I still don't understand why Jack involved me?” Hawk said, confused.
“Because,” William told Hawk, “Jack's duty was to eliminate Greg Packard and find a replacement for him. Packard found out and set up a plan to kill Jack. Agent Norris and Matting became aware. Together, with Jack, they set Packard up. They filmed the entire shooting. But then something happened.”
Maple Hills Mystery Box Set Page 6