by James Hunt
“He wouldn’t risk it,” Jim said. “The smartest way for him to get out is to get on a boat and then take a chopper to an island, or head toward the Canadian border where I’m sure he has another safe house or could charter another jet to Asia where the extradition laws aren’t finite.”
“You’re sure about all of this then?” Kerry asked. “About going after him?”
Jim looked at her. “And why wouldn’t we?”
Kerry flushed her cheeks red. “It’s a selfish thought. Never mind.”
Jim suddenly realized what Kerry was thinking. If they didn’t go after Cutters, and he wasn’t caught, then Cutters couldn’t testify that he had incriminated Jim and Kerry, and they would get off scot-free.
“He’d still hunt us down, Kerry,” Jim said. “The best thing we can do now is stop him before he gets away and make sure he remains behind bars.”
“I know,” Kerry said. “Forget I said anything.”
“I don’t blame you, though,” Jim said. “It crossed my mind as well.”
“What other tricks do you think might be up his sleeve?” Kerry asked.
“I don’t know, but he’s not the only one with a rabbit still in his hat,” Jim said.
The SWAT team finally responded to Mullocks’ request to back Jim and Kerry up, but they would be ten minutes behind them.
“He could be gone by then,” Kerry said.
Jim looked to Kerry and saw that she was thinking the same thing he was. If they needed to, then they would go in alone.
Jim turned off all of his lights as they neared the marina, not wanting to draw any attention to himself on their approach. Jim and Kerry both kept their eyes peeled for any movement inside the marina’s perimeter, but there was so much junk surrounding the area that it was difficult to see if anybody had come through.
When they neared the marina’s fence and still didn’t see any sign of Cutters, they began to wonder if they had picked the right spot.
“He could’ve gone anywhere,” Kerry said.
“Yeah, but it would make more sense for him to come here, even though we knew about this place,” Jim said. “The man is too much of an arrogant prick to change his escape plans simply because we might know where he’s going.”
Jim parked the vehicle outside of the fence, and he and Kerry proceeded to enter the marina on foot. They approached with caution, making sure that they weren’t caught off guard in their own ambush against Cutters.
Once on the inside of the marina fence, Jim saw a pair of headlights approach the Marina from the northside. Because they were on the opposite end, it was difficult for Jim to tell who it was, but every fiber in his being told him that it was Cutters.
“He’s here,” Jim said, whispering to Kerry. “Are you ready?”
There was no hesitation or fear on Kerry’s face, simply a determination to rid themselves of the man that wasn’t a problem for just themselves, but the entire city.
“Let’s do this,” Kerry answered.
Jim and Kerry moved quickly through the vacant marina, heading toward the old storage building that was stationed in the center of the property. They paused there for a moment to determine their strategy.
“If they come into the building, we can box them in on either side,” Jim said. “I’ll head to the other end, and you stay here. At the very least, it’ll keep them occupied.”
“And if they don’t enter the building?” Kerry asked.
“We’ll pursue on foot,” Jim answered. “But don’t make a move until I do, all right?”
“Copy,” Kerry answered.
Jim maneuvered himself up to the north side of the building. He moved as quickly and quietly as he could, not wanting to draw attention to himself. When he neared the front of the structure, he paused at the corner and collected his thoughts. He knew that Cutters wouldn’t go down without a fight, so he braced for the inevitable gunfire. He suddenly wished that he had given Jen a call on the way over but then decided he now had something even more important to fight for. A chance to see her again.
A flash of headlights coming from the road turned Jim’s attention to the present. The vehicle eventually parked just outside the storage building, and Jim peered around the corner to see some members of Cutters security team step out and examine the area.
The scan was half-assed, none of them spotting Jim, and then they let Cutters out of the back of the vehicle. The man looked more disheveled than Jim expected, but Cutters probably never believed he would be in this situation. But Jim knew he could use the man’s nervousness and uncertainty to his advantage.
The security team around Cutters had dwindled as well. There were only two men with him instead of the four from the mansion. It appeared that Cutters’ money only provided so much loyalty after all.
Mullocks kept hold of Tim’s hand as he guided the little boy out of Cutters' house and down the driveway. She couldn’t believe the boy was alive, but whatever the reason, she was glad for it. “You’re dad has been looking for you.”
“He has?” Tim looked up Mullocks, still clutching her hand tightly.
Mullocks nodded. “And he’s going to be so happy to see you again.”
Tim smiled, beaming with joy. Whatever Nate’s faults, his son didn’t seem to mind. She hoped the experience wasn’t too traumatic for him, but he looked unharmed. She would make sure one of the paramedic teams took a look at him before they left.
With all of the police units on the scene, the neighborhood was lit up like the Fourth of July. She imagined it was more action than this part of the city was used to dealing with.
“Where is he?” Tim asked, getting antsier as they neared the end of the drive.
“He’s in my car,” Mullocks answered. “It’s parked right over there—”
Mullocks pointed to the patch of grass where her vehicle should have been parked. But all that was in the grass was Bill Fayette, being looked at by some of the officers on scene. The car was gone. She glanced around, looking up and down the street. Nate might have been gone, but she had an idea of where he might be headed.
“C’mon,” Jim said, whispering to himself. “Go inside. Go. Inside.”
If they could get Cutters trapped in the Marina, that would be more than enough time to keep him occupied until back up arrived.
But instead of going into the structure like Jim had hoped, he immediately headed for the sea barrier, or what was left of it.
The marina didn’t have any working docks to speak of, but Cutters looked undeterred as he moved with swift purpose toward the water.
Jim glanced out into the dark patch of the Pacific, looking for any sign of a boat coming to pick him up, but he saw nothing. Perhaps it just wasn’t here yet.
Jim moved as stealthily as he could, but with all of the junk in the area, it was impossible to miss everything, and the hunk of metal that Jim smacked with the tip of his shoe rang like a fire alarm in the still quiet of the night.
The sound caused Cutters and his guards to dash for cover, and they started to sprint back toward their SUV. A gunshot sounded from the south, and Jim knew it had to have been Kerry.
Gunfire continued to be exchanged, and one of the security guards ended up staying back, dealing with Kerry, while Cutters and the other two continued toward the vehicle.
Jim rounded a pile of junk, exposing himself to the guard who had just loaded Cutters into the vehicle. The guard shot first, causing Jim to duck back behind the cover of the junk pile. When Jim peered around the corner again, the guard threw the SUV into reverse.
Jim aimed at the front two tires and fired off six rounds, two of them connecting with the left front tire. The Cadillac swerved as the tire blew out, and as the driver attempted a sharp turn at the marina’s exit to the road, it careened into the fence.
The driver put the SUV back into reverse, and Jim took the opportunity to shoot out the back right tire before his magazine emptied and he was forced to reload.
The driving became ev
en more sporadic, and while they made it back onto the road, it didn’t take long before the driver lost control and was forced off the pavement.
Jim shoved a new magazine into his pistol as he sprinted toward the vehicle. All he could think about was making sure that he stopped Cutters before the man escaped.
The SUV seemed to be completely disabled, judging by the smoke coming out from beneath the hood. The security guard stepped out of the driver's side door, slightly shaken up from the wreck, but he spied Jim and quickly fired a shot in his direction. The aim was terrible, the bullet missing wide, but the guard helped Cutters out of the vehicle, and they dipped into the nearby woods.
Jim entered the woods, staying alert, listening for any sign of movement. He had never been much of a hunter, but his instincts were always on point, and with the jolt of adrenaline from the gunfight, he felt incredibly in tune with his surroundings.
Heavy footfalls sounded up ahead, and Jim squinted to find the backs of two men moving through the thick brush, but their hasty retreat was thwarted by all of the dense foliage.
It had been a mistake for Cutters to sprint into the woods, but Jim knew the man wasn’t thinking straight. Cutters had been untouchable for decades, and now that he felt the walls closing in on him, he had panicked.
Jim fired a warning shot to let them know he was close. He wanted them to continue to panic, and Jim ducked behind a tree as the security guard fired a few random shots behind him. Good, Jim thought, let them waste the bullets.
The cat and mouse game continued for a little while as Cutters and his security guard struggled to move through the thick brush of the forest they had traveled through, and were eventually forced to stop, no longer able to move forward.
Cutters muttered angrily to the security guard, and then the guard shouted back. Jim couldn’t see the altercation, but he heard enough to know that both men were frustrated, and he had his shoulder pressed into the rough bark of a tree when the shouting intensified and then a gunshot ended the argument.
After the woods fell silent again, Jim waited to see who had been the one to survive, but he already had a feeling who had come out on top.
“It’s just you and me out here now, Detective,” Cutters yelled.
Jim slowly peered around the edge of the tree, but he couldn’t find Cutters in the brush. He didn’t know how good of a shot Cutters was, but he knew it was safe to assume he handled weapons before. You didn’t make it to his level without killing people personally.
“I should have killed you both when we first met,” Cutters yelled. “I considered it, you know. But then my better angels prevailed, and I decided to give you and your partner one chance. I should have known better.”
“It’s over, Cutters!” Jim shouted. “You’re not going to make it out of this with your freedom, but you can still come out of it with your life.”
“Still willing to let the justice system do their work, Detective?” Cutters asked. “You don’t think I could weasel my way out of this? How many people do you think I have on my payroll? How many politicians, judges, and lawyers do I have in my pocket? Hell, the information I could use as a bargaining chip would all but guarantee my freedom.”
Jim grimaced. The idea of Cutters going free made his gut sour. But he knew there was some truth to Cutter’s omission. The man must have bribed some very powerful people to have done what he had for so long. There were names he could give, important names, the kind of names that would cause national outrage.
Distracted by Cutters talking, Jim didn’t even hear the security guard approach him from behind. The gunshot Jim had heard had been nothing but a decoy. Thankfully though, it appeared the guard didn’t have any more ammunition of his own, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous.
The guard tackled Jim from behind, flattening both of them to the rocky soil. The big man must have had at least sixty pounds on Jim and a half a foot of height. But the big guy was tired from pushing through all of that brush, and Jim was stronger than he looked.
The fight between the two men was a sloppy brawl, and Jim kept finding himself on the receiving end of several stiff right hooks that landed either on the side of his head or his shoulder. The blows were softened by the fact that the man’s knuckles slid right off, slick with sweat and blood from the wreck, but it still hurt enough to disorient Jim after the contact.
Eventually, though, Jim managed to bring his arm around the security guard’s neck in a strong chokehold, and he put the man to sleep.
The security guard offered a few final blows to Jim’s side before his body went still. Jim released the big man and rolled him to his side. Jim was exhausted from the effort, but he knew he was close to the finish line. He searched for his weapon, the fight had caused him to drop it, and when he finally located the pistol, it was already in Cutters’ hands.
“You mother fucker,” Cutters said.
Cutters’ face was twisted in anger and pain. His clothes were disheveled, and there were several cuts along his face that looked like a mixture from the wreck and the brush he had pushed through with the security guard.
Jim was in a bad spot. Cutters were too far away for him to make a move for the gun before Cutters could squeeze the trigger. It was all Jim could do to keep the man talking so he would stay alive.
“You kill me, and whatever deal you’re hoping for is over,” Jim said. “You can’t get away with killing cops.”
“You sure about that?” Cutters asked, and then he laughed and shook his head. “You don’t have a clue as to what I’m capable of, or what is possible, or what I’ve done!” Spittle flew from his lips as he spoke. “All you can think about is one case at a time. You don’t understand the bigger picture.”
“I understand that taking the loved ones of people who would dare to stand against you is illegal,” Jim said. “And that’s all I need to understand.”
Cutters grimaced again, but he remained where he was. “You might be right in saying that I’m going to be arrested for what I’ve done. But I’m not going to be arrested without first killing you and then walking back and killing that fucking partner of yours.”
Jim had stared down the barrel of a gun before. But that didn’t lessen the fear. Never before in his life had he so much to lose. Never before did he have so much to live for, and now everything was about to be taken away from him in the worst way possible.
“You’ll never get the chance to hurt her,” Jim said. “You’ll never get the chance to hurt anyone ever again.”
“Ha, maybe you’re right,” Cutters said. “Doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you.”
The first time Jim had stared down the barrel of a gun, he had shut his eyes, not wanting to see the bullet coming. Now, he stared Cutters down, even though his heart was pounding a mile a minute and his breathing was shallow and quick. If he was going to meet his end here in the small patch of thick brush along the coast, then he was going to accept it with his eyes wide open.
Jim saw the moment that Cutters wanted to pull the trigger. He even heard the gunshot that followed. What he didn’t feel was any pain; then, he saw the look of anguish on Cutters’ face, followed by surprise. And then Jim saw the bloodstain spreading over the cloth of Cutters’ shirt. It ballooned a brilliant crimson, and then Cutters collapsed to the ground where he lay motionless.
Jim spun around and saw Nate breathing heavily, the gun still in his hand with his arm outstretched, aiming at where Cutters had stood. The same look of surprise was on Nate’s face as it had been on cutters.
“No,” Jim said, whispering to himself.
Nate was red-faced and looked like he had been crying. “I had to do it. He was going to kill you. And he killed my boy.”
Jim was at a loss for words, but he stood and walked over to his friend very carefully. “Just lower the weapon, Nate. Just hand it over, okay?”
Nate stared at the weapon as though he didn’t even realize he was holding it, but then he slowly handed Jim the weapon and leaned aga
inst a nearby tree as he slid to the ground.
“I failed him,” Nate said.
Jim shook his head. “Your son’s alive.”
Nate looked at Jim and frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Tim was at the house with everyone else,” Jim answered. “He’s alive, Nate.”
Nate was in disbelief at the news, and he shook his head, remaining in denial until he cried. By the time Nate calmed down, the SWAT team had arrived, and Jim knew that while Nate's son’s life had been saved, Nate had just condemned himself.
Jim remained with his friend in the woods, keeping his hand on Nate’s shoulder as the father sobbed with relief over the news of his son, not yet quite understanding the consequences of what he had just done.
The darkness of the forest was bathed in the red and blue lights of ambulances and other police cars that had been called to the scene. Jim was suddenly reminded of the same scene fifteen years ago when he and Nate had rushed into the woods after killing their foster father in self-defense. And once again, it had been Nate who saved Jim. Now it would be up to Jim to make sure he did anything he could to save his friend in return.
25
One Week Later
Jim pulled up to the airfield in his rusted Mazda Protégé and parked in the small lot outside the airstrip. The place looked like it hadn’t been used in years, but the plane he’d been told would be there was waiting for its two passengers.
“Well, this is it.” Jim glanced at the rearview mirror and saw Nate and Tim in the backseat. Tim was snuggled up next to his father’s side, and Nate was staring out at the plane.
“Right,” Nate said and then put on a smile for his son as he looked at Tim. “Ready, buddy?”
Tim nodded, and the three of them exited the vehicle. Jim popped the trunk, and they grabbed their luggage. They packed only what they could carry, not that they had much, to begin with.