“I understand. I’m looking forward to it, actually. It’ll give me the opportunity to make penance. They said no one would get hurt. But they lied about that.”
“Where did you think it was going to end?”
“I…I guess I never really thought about that.”
“Well, it’s a little late now.”
“Is it too late for me, Donna?”
Lassiter turned to look at her former partner.
“There’s nothing I can do for you.”
“I was just trying to get what was mine.”
“Nobody’s entitled to shit, Marty.”
“Been pounding the pavement for next to nothing all my life. Protecting the public. Hell, the public’s not worth putting my ass on the line for.”
“Well, you won’t have to worry about that anymore.”
The next instant, the long-range shot hit Martin directly in the chest, blowing a chunk of the woman out through her back. Blood and splintered bone smacked against the window of the transport truck.
Green screamed, but it died in his throat as the next round went through his head, taking a large piece of his brain with it.
“Shooter!” screamed Lassiter, pointing her gun in the direction from where the bullets had come. She managed to fire several shots.
The next bullets slammed into Lassiter and two others, dropping them all to the ground.
Chapter 69
THE PHONE RANG.
But it was Decker’s phone, not the one left by the kidnappers.
He looked down at the number on the screen and swore.
He put the phone in speaker mode and barked, “I tried calling you.”
Kemper said, “I’m sorry, Decker. I was tied up. And this is turning into a real catastrophe.”
“Look, I can’t talk right now, I’ve—”
“Decker, haven’t you heard?”
“Heard what?” Decker thought she was referring to Amber and Zoe being taken, but he didn’t see how that was possible.
“We’ve got two dead that we know of.”
Decker tensed. Amber and Zoe? It can’t be.
“Who are you talking about?” he said between clenched teeth.
“An ambush while Martin and Green were being transported to jail.”
“They’re dead?”
“Yes. And Lassiter and two others were wounded and are in the hospital.”
“So, an inside job?”
“Appears to be. They knew where and when they were coming out of the building.”
“We’ve got other problems too.”
“Come again?”
Decker explained what had happened to the cop out front and the disappearance of Jamison’s family.
“Damn!” exclaimed Kemper. “I want these bastards so bad I can taste it.”
“All I care about is getting Amber and Zoe back safe.”
“Are there any clues to who might have taken them? Or where they might have gone?”
“No. I was waiting for them to call me when you phoned.”
“You think they were taken as a bargaining chip?”
“Yes. Otherwise they would have just killed them like they did the cop out front.”
“So what do you think they’ll ask for?”
“I’m sure they’ll tell me,” he said grimly.
“I’m going to get a BOLO out on them.”
“Okay,” said Decker absently.
“You don’t think it’ll do any good?”
“I think they’re too smart to be tripped up by that.”
“It was a big risk killing a cop and then kidnapping two people.”
“If they had unfinished business and needed the leverage that hostages give them they’d take that risk.”
“But they cleared out the drug stash, and they killed the only witnesses we had. We have no case against them.”
“That may not matter to them.”
“What else would matter to them?” retorted Kemper.
“Like I said, unfinished business.”
“Such as?”
“If I knew that I wouldn’t be sitting here waiting for them to call,” snapped Decker.
“Okay, okay, but we need to come up with a plan.”
“That’s hard to do, since we don’t know what they’re going to throw at us.”
“But once they make contact, you have to loop me in. Then we can go after them in a coordinated effort.”
“You need to let me play it out the best way I see fit.”
“What precisely does that mean?” said Kemper warily.
“That means I’m going to do all I can to make sure this doesn’t go sideways and two innocent people end up dead.”
Jamison shuddered next to him and looked down at the floor.
“Decker, I don’t know if I can do that,” said Kemper. “I have people to answer to.”
“So do I. Their names are Amber and Zoe. And if you don’t want to do it my way, I’ll just have to do this solo.”
“You are putting me in an impossible situation,” complained Kemper.
“This is an impossible situation.”
Kemper calmed and said, “I guess I don’t have much choice. But I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Decker clicked off and stared down at his phone.
Jamison said, “Do you?”
“Do I what?” he asked quietly.
“Know what you’re doing?”
“I’ll be able to answer that after they call me.”
“We can’t lose Amber and Zoe.”
“We won’t.”
“You can’t be sure of that,” she exclaimed.
“No, I can’t,” he conceded.
“Then what are you telling me?” she demanded.
“I promised Zoe that I wouldn’t let the bad guys get you. And now I’m promising you that I’m not going to let them hurt Zoe, or your sister.”
Jamison pulled out her gun and looked at it. “Oh, we’re going to get them back safe, Decker. And then we’re going to nail every one of these assholes right to the wall.”
Chapter 70
THE CALL CAME at midnight.
Before Decker could answer it, Jamison had snatched the phone away.
“I want to hear Amber and Zoe’s voice, right now,” she said into the phone.
“Who is this?”
“Alex Jamison with the FBI, and the seriously pissed-off sister and aunt of the people you kidnapped. Put them on the phone. Now!”
“You’re making demands?” the person said.
“No, I’m making one demand. Put them on the phone.”
There were a few moments of silence.
“Alex?”
It was Amber. She sounded exactly as she should: terrified.
“Are you okay, Am? Have they hurt you?”
“No, they haven’t.”
“And Zoe?”
“She’s right here with me. She’s okay too, just scared.”
Jamison turned to Decker and mouthed, “They’re okay.”
Amber continued, “Only I don’t know what they—”
The other person came back on. “Okay, you’ve heard them. Now hear me. You want them back, you will do exactly as I say.”
Jamison handed the phone to Decker.
“I’m listening,” said Decker. “What do you want in exchange for them?”
“We want Fred Ross.”
“I don’t know if I can make that happen.”
“You better hope you can. Or else the next time you see the woman and the kid, they’ll be corpses.”
“Where and when?”
The man gave Decker the location and time. “You bring anybody with you, they’re dead.”
“And you’re just going to let us walk out with Amber and Zoe?”
“You bring us Ross, we have no reason to harm any of you. We just want the old man.”
“I didn’t think Ted was that fond of his father.”
“Just bring him! One minute lat
e, they’re dead.”
Decker put down the phone.
“What do they want?” Jamison asked.
“They want an exchange.”
“An exchange? What does that mean?”
“Fred Ross for Amber and Zoe.”
“Why would they want Fred Ross?”
“Probably because he can testify against them.”
“But he’s in jail!”
“Then we need to get him out of jail.”
“How?”
Decker was already on his phone.
Kemper answered on the first ring.
“They want Fred Ross in exchange for Amber and Zoe.”
“Okay.”
“You’ll need to arrange for Ross to be released into our custody.”
“I can make that happen. Where and when do they want to meet?”
Decker told her and added, “The guy said if we bring anybody, Amber and Zoe are dead.”
“Decker, you’re not that naïve. You go there without any backup, you’re all dead.”
“Which is why you’re going to get there before us. You got a chopper available?”
“Yes.”
“Then I suggest you fill it up with agents and get in position. When the crap hits the fan, it’s going to get hairy for everyone.”
“This is what we do for a living, Decker. See you on the other side.”
Decker clicked off and looked at Jamison.
She said, “They said not to bring anyone.”
“I know what they said. But they’re not going to let me just walk away with Amber and Zoe.”
Jamison looked up at him angrily. “You?! Do you really think I’d let you march in there alone? Where you go, I go.”
Decker’s ringing phone interrupted this discussion.
He recognized the number and answered it.
Cindi Riley barked, “What the hell is going on?”
“With what?” he said. “And why are you calling so late?”
“Because you’re my last chance for John.”
Decker said, “What about him?”
“He finally let me pay his bail. But they still wouldn’t release him.”
“Why not?”
“Because they said Detective Lassiter had to sign off on it,” she said.
“That doesn’t make sense. But she’s in the hospital. She was shot.”
“No, she’s not in the hospital.”
Decker tensed. “What do you mean?”
“I mean they told me at the police station that she was in the hospital, so I called over there to talk to her. I was going to bring the paperwork there.”
“And what did they tell you?”
“That she checked herself out,” she said.
“Checked herself out?” said an incredulous Decker. “She was shot, how could she check herself out?”
“I don’t know. But that’s what they said.”
“Have you tried calling her cell?”
“About a dozen times. No answer. What does this mean, Decker?”
He didn’t answer her right away. “It means that we’ll meet you at the jail in about ten minutes.”
Chapter 71
FRED ROSS LOOKED up at Decker with a malicious grin.
“Figured I might see you again, fat boy.”
An officer had wheeled Ross down the hall and into the lobby of the police station, where Decker, Jamison, and Riley met him.
Decker ignored this and looked at the duty officer. “We also need to pick up John Baron. His bail’s been paid.”
The duty officer said, “We can’t release him until Detective Lassiter signs off.”
“Detective Lassiter has gone AWOL.”
“That doesn’t matter—” began the officer.
Decker slammed his fist down on the counter. “I’ll tell you what matters.” He pointed to Riley. “She paid the bail set by the judge. You have the paperwork in hand. Lassiter doesn’t have to sign off on shit. So unless you want a big-ass lawsuit against this town that’ll drain the little money it has left, you better go get John Baron right now.” He held up his phone. “And if you don’t, a team of FBI agents will be here in about ten minutes and they’re going to arrest you and everybody else in this fucking place.”
The duty officer stiffened like Decker had just clocked him.
Someone behind them said, “Hey, Agent Decker.”
Decker turned to see Officer Curry standing there.
“I take it you’ve got a problem?” said Curry.
“My problem is bail has been paid, the paperwork has been filed, and this guy won’t release the prisoner because Detective Lassiter won’t sign off on it. But Detective Lassiter, who was supposedly shot today, has checked herself out of the hospital and conveniently disappeared.”
Curry glanced at the duty officer and then back at Decker.
“I’ll go get Baron for you right now.”
“But Detective Lassiter—” the duty officer began.
“Shut the hell up, Bobby,” said Curry. He turned and walked off.
A minute later he was back with Baron.
Decker said, “I appreciate the assist.”
“No problem. I’m getting sick of all the crap happening in this place,” said Curry. He put his hand on his gun and glared over at the duty officer before returning his gaze to Decker.
“How about I stay here and make sure that no one gets a heads-up about anything you might be planning?”
“I would appreciate that even more,” said Decker. He looked at the rack of shotguns behind the duty counter. “And while you’re doling out favors, you mind if I borrow one of those shotguns? It might come in handy.”
“No problem.” Curry looked at Bobby, the duty officer. “Give it to him.”
“I can’t—”
Curry drew his pistol. “Now!”
Bobby unlocked the rack, took out a shotgun and a box of shells, and handed them to Decker.
“Good luck, Decker,” said Curry.
“Thanks.”
Decker handed the gun and shells to Jamison and wheeled Ross out to their SUV. He and Baron lifted the old man into the backseat and Decker stowed the wheelchair in the rear cargo area.
They climbed into the truck, with Decker in the driver’s seat.
“What in the hell is going on?” said Baron.
“A lot,” replied Decker. He pulled out his phone.
“Who are you calling?” asked Jamison.
“Nobody. I’m doing some fast research.”
“On what?”
“Australia.”
He scrolled through screen pages for a few minutes.
“Decker, we’re going to be late for the exchange!” snapped Jamison.
“No we’re not.”
He read through the screens for another few minutes and then he sent off a lengthy text. Only then did he put the phone away and start the truck.
“Find what you needed?” asked Jamison.
He nodded. “Yeah, I found pretty much everything.”
* * *
They drove fast and were soon out of the downtown area.
From the backseat Fred Ross said, “Wait a minute. This isn’t—”
He clamped his mouth shut.
“This isn’t the way to the exchange?” said Decker. “I thought you might have known about that since this conspiracy reaches all the way into the police department. But you’re right, it’s not the way to the exchange. I’d rather go where the real action is.”
“What are you talking about?” said Jamison in a worried tone.
“Trust me, Alex, I know what I’m doing.”
“Well, I don’t trust easily,” interjected Baron.
Decker said, “If I were you, I wouldn’t either. In fact, I’m not sure I’d trust anybody in this damn town.”
They began the climb up the winding road leading to the top of the hill where the Baron mansion was located.
Baron looked around, puzzled, and said, “Why are
we going to my house?”
“Because I want you to meet the people who tried their best to send you to death row.”
Chapter 72
DECKER STOPPED THE truck before they got to the front drive leading to the mansion. He cut the engine and looked around.
“What are we going to do now?” Jamison said.
His phone dinged and Decker took a few moments to read it. It was the answer to the text he had sent previously.
“Finish this, I hope,” he said to Jamison.
“But what about the exchange for Amber and Zoe?” she exclaimed. “We’ve got to get them back.”
“We will, because they’re here, Alex.”
“Here! But the exchange spot is over four hours away.”
“Which is what they wanted us to think.” He looked at Fred Ross. “Right?”
Ross eyed Decker darkly. “You got no idea who you’re dealing with, fatso.”
“Yeah, so everybody keeps telling me.”
They climbed out of the truck. Decker went to the rear cargo area and took out the collapsible wheelchair and set it up.
Baron said, “Decker, we can just leave this creep here. He can’t go anywhere.”
“No, we need him. But we have to take an obvious precaution.” He took out a roll of duct tape from a toolkit in the back and, despite the old man trying to stop him, taped Ross’s mouth shut. Next, he put the struggling Ross in the wheelchair, and then bound his forearms to the arms of the wheelchair.
He took out the shotgun and shells from the front seat and handed them to Baron. “I assume you know how to use it?” he said.
Baron expertly loaded in five shells and looked up. “Lord-of-the-Manor 101 stuff.”
Decker took control of the wheelchair. As they reached the asphalt in the front court of the house he picked up his speed but then stopped.
They had reached the potting shed. On one side of it was a huge mound of dirt and the door to the shed was open.
“What the hell is going on?” exclaimed Baron. “Who dug that up? And why is the door open?”
“They were obviously looking for the treasure here,” said Decker. “Hold on.” He left them and crossed over to the potting shed. Using his cell phone flashlight, he climbed down into the hole. They saw his light flashing around for about a minute before he emerged. Next, he went into the shed. Less than a minute later he came back out and rejoined them.
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