In Hot Pursuit

by Patrick Doyle

  from them.” Dr. Bailey drew closer to the bodies. He bent down to have a better

  look at them.

  “It looks like a surprise hit to me. Whoever did this was close enough to give them a false sense of security. They didn’t have a chance to reach for their guns, either.” Earnes pointed to the two automatic rifles on the floor not far from where the bodies had fallen.

  “Raybourne didn’t give them a warning or the chance to fight back. He was probably standing over there talking to them, before he turned his gun on them.” Bowles pointed in the direction of the door.

  “It makes sense to me. Looks like the bullets are from the same gun too. There doesn’t seem to be another shooter. He took this one on alone.” Earnes

  bent and retrieved several of the cartridge cases off the floor.

  “This hit goes with Raybourne’s memo. He has been taking his men off one by one. It’s the message he has been sending us, and the people he deals with. He wants us to think that he’s untouchable.” Bowles reached into her bag for a second pair of gloves. She reached for one of the dead men’s hand and inserted one of his fingers into the slot of the digital machine.

  “I have no doubt that Mr. Raybourne was here. His prints are all over the place.”

  Dr. Bailey stooped and peered at the bodies.

  “That’s strange.” She gave Dr. Bailey a baffled look. “Raybourne has always

  been careful about what he does. He never leaves anything behind, including his

  prints.”

  “Do you think he’s getting careless?” Earnes asked her.

  “I doubt it. He wants us to know that he killed these men.”

  “I agree with Agent Bowles, these men were quite familiar with their executioner.” Bailey peered over Bowles’shoulders to read the information that had popped up on the screen. “See how their guns are positioned on the floor—they certainly weren’t expecting Mr. Raybourne to kill them. It came as a complete surprise to them. I suspect these ones, like the rest in the warehouse had no idea that they were dealing with Lucifer himself. This one endured undue tortured.”

  “Looks like Raybourne was trying to get something out of him.” Bowles glanced at the man’s disfigured body.

  “Perhaps he didn’t succeed,” Dr. Bailey told her with an unusual level of optimism.

  “I will like to think that he didn’t.” Bowles reached for the other man’s hand.

  “They both have long criminal records. They have done time at Rikers, and again at Sing Sing for bank robbery, fraud and identity theft, assault and attempted

  murder, among other things. I’m surprised they are even out.”

  “They were perfect choices for Mr. Raybourne—birds of a feather,” Dr. Bailey

  couldn’t resist adding that gibe in. “He probably killed that one first, and beat this

  one to a pulp after. He was shot in the legs and both knees.” Dr. Bailey turned the man over and cut away at his pants for them to see. “There’s no doubt that he was alive for all of it. The bullet to his heart was what did him in.” He pointed to the bullet hole in the man’s chest. “His fingers on this hand are broken.” He held up the dangling fingers for them to see. “So are his nose and eye sockets.” Bailey pointed to the swollen, mangled face. “He was severely pistol whipped.”

  “He obviously had something Raybourne wanted,” Bowles told them.

  “And he decided to beat the shit out of him to get it.” Earnes let out his usual whistle. “The guy is a psychopath, and he is deliberate with what he does.”

  “He must have shot the first man as a warning, to put fear in his partner and to get him to talk.” Bowles offered. “What he was looking for must still be here somewhere.” She glanced around the room.

  “I think he was looking for these.” Hendrick appeared with two large sealed plastic bags in his hands. He handed the bags to Bowles and Earnes.

  Dr. Bailey looked up at them. “They were concealed in a secret compartment

  in the floor in there.” He pointed to the room they had just been in. “It’s puzzling;

  these men were willing to lose their lives than to tell Raybourne where they were

  hiding them. They must have known something that we didn’t.”

  Bowles glanced at the passports in the bag and snickered. “I guessed he wasn’t

  smart enough to look there for them! Do you think Raybourne was after something

  else other than these?”

  Dr. Bailey nodded his head in agreement. “I wouldn’t put anything pass a man of Mr. Raybourne’s caliber, Agent Bowles. Let’s hope that he hasn’t acquired anything that would put this country and others at risk. I have heard talks of him trying to acquire Sarin for the Assad’s regime. He clearly goes against every human principle there is. That man does not have a shred of decency in his body.”

  Earnes held up the bag to have a closer look. “These men are a bunch of low life fraudsters. They are vultures. They prey on unsuspecting people. They don’t look like intellects to me. They certainly aren’t MIT graduates with doctorate degrees in chemical engineering. They probably didn’t even finish the fifth grade. Guys like them learn everything they know on the streets or in prison.”

  Bowles gave him a serious look. “Raybourne is capable of just about anything at this point. We shouldn’t put anything pass him.”

  “I know that, Gabb, but we have to look at the big picture here. I think these guys tried to pull a fast one on Raybourne. He got angry at them and did them off. End of story. They must have found another buyer, someone who was willing to pay them more than what Raybourne was offering them, and jumped ship.”

  “If that is actually the case, then we know Raybourne didn’t get what he came

  here for.” Dr. Bailey let out a huge sigh of relief. “I guess we can thank these dead men for that. They held their own and stood up to Mr. Raybourne.”

  “And it cost them their lives,” Bowles added with a huge sigh. She glanced down

  at the dead men and moved around them.

  “He would have killed them anyway, especially if he suspected they were

  double crossing him. We will take these back to the lab, and see if Macy can find anything on them.” Earnes took the two bags and walked to the door.

  “We will be here for a while,” Dr. Bailey said to them. “We still have a lot of grounds to cover here. We can’t afford to miss anything at this point.”

  “Keep us informed if you find anything out of the ordinary,” Bowles told him.

  “I will. Another room down the hall was tossed. There wasn’t much there, but we knew someone was in there looking for something. We know about the passports, but it’s possible that there’s something else. I don’t intent to leave anything to chance, not with a man like Gilles Raybourne.”

  Earnes was the first one out the door. Bowles heard him going down the stairs. He seemed to be in a hurry to get out. It wasn’t like him. Usually, they hanged around to talk to Dr. Bailey and the team.

  “Agent Bowles, can I have a word with you?” Bailey signaled her over.

  “Sure.” She covered the small space between them.

  “I know Director Nilsson has filled you in on what we suspect.” Bailey gave her an uncomfortable look.

  He was waiting for her to broach the subject on Earnes. It was clear he didn’t

  know how to bring up the elephant in the room.

  “He has,” Bowles told him, in a matter of fact voice. She wasn’t in the mood to

  discuss Earnes, especially when he could come back and hear them talking about him. She already felt as if she had betrayed him just by keeping what she knew from him.

  “Just an added word of caution, then—be careful.”

  “Do you think he’s guilty? I mean, it’s Earnes we are talking about here, Dr. Bailey. He is a good agent, and a good friend.”

  “I’m not one to cast suspicion on someone without hard evidence, Agent Bowles, so in this case, yes.
I do think that Agent Earnes is involved in this in some way. He knows more about this investigation than any of the other agents.”

  “Then why hasn’t Director Nilsson taken him off the case? It will seem like the sensible thing to do—I mean considering that he’s under suspicion.”

  “Director Nilsson has thought about that, mainly for your safety, but there isn’t any hard evidence linking Agent Earnes to Mr. Raybourne just yet. That’s why you

  were notified of our suspicions. We wanted you to be aware of what is going on.”

  She looked calmly at Dr. Bailey. “I just can’t believe that Earnes would do

  something so risky. I know him Dr. Bailey. He valued his work as an agent above anything else. He would never allow what Raybourne is offering him to sway his

  good judgment and dedication when it comes to his job.”

  “It’s understandable that you have a close attachment to Agent Earnes, Agent

  Bowles—after all, the two of you work very closely together, but sadly, at this point, he’s our main suspect. He’s the one we are looking at.”

  Bailey turned back to the dead bodies. Bowles shook her head and walked out the door.

  Earnes was standing next to his van when she got outside. He was still holding the bags with the passports inside them in his hands. She couldn’t understand why he hadn’t secured them in the van already. He knew the drill. And she knew he wasn’t waiting for her to do it. Those passports were evidence—evidence that they couldn’t afford to lose. She gave Earnes a disapproving look as she walked towards him.

  “I will take those,” she told him, and reached for the bags.

  “I thought I was taking them back to the lab.” He protested mildly.

  “Yeah, but I know a faster route. We need Macy to start working on them right

  away.”

  Earnes shrugged his shoulders and hand over the bags.

  “You are the boss.” He gave her a sarcastic grin.

  She went around the back of the SUV with the bags and locked them inside the trunk.

  Earnes was still standing by the side of his Bronco when she came around the

  driver’s side of the SUV and got in. He had a doleful look on his unshaven face.

  “See you back there,” she told him casually, peering out of the window at him. “The roads are treacherous—be careful.”

  “Yeah, sure,” he told her, and reached into his side pocket for the pack of Marlboro he kept there. He stuck one between his thin lips and waited for her to drive away.

  She glanced up at him again. She thought he had given up smoking. He had told her that he was trying to quit. He must be under tremendous stress to start smoking again. And he knew it wasn’t protocol to smoke on the job, especially at a crime scene. She decided not to say anything to him. Instead, she waved him off and drove away, relieved that they didn’t have to make the trip back in the same car. It would have been uncomfortable, especially for her.

  Earnes climbed into his Bronco. He sat there for a minute thinking, the unlit cigarette dangling carelessly from his lips. He watched the black SUV took off down the deserted street and turned the corner. And when he was certain it was completely out of sight, he reached into the glove compartment for the burner phone. He took the package and held it in his left hand, gazing uncertainly at it. He wished he didn’t have to do this, but he had no other choice. There was no other way.

  It was either them or him—he had more to lose. He had made the decision

  earlier this morning, after lying awake for most of the night, twisting and turning. He

  ripped the phone out of the plastic wrapping and punched in the numbers he had memorized days ago. The man who had approached him had made him look at the number once. He had barely got a glimpse at the paper the man had shoved into his face, before he had withdrew it and shoved it back into his pocket. He had warned him not to write it down anywhere.

  He spoke to the person on the other line for exactly sixty seconds, feeding the man the information he had demanded. He snapped the phone shut after, and tossed it on the seat next to him. He would discard it on the drive back. He took a very deep breath, and put his head back against the seat. He felt sick to the stomach. That was harder than he thought. He hadn’t thought it would affect him this much until he had made the call.

  He leaned over and reached for the door as a bout of nausea washed over his tired body. He poked his head out and puked in the snow. Hardly anything came up, and the very act hurt his throat. He hadn’t eaten a full meal since yesterday. He

  had been surviving on cups of black coffee and stale donuts. He wiped his mouth

  with the back of his hand, and reached for the whiskey bottle he kept under the

  front seat.

  He unscrewed the bottle and took two swigs from it, coughing slightly as the

  strong liquor stung his sore throat going down. He replaced the bottle under the seat, and reached for the burner phone, giving it a very uncomfortable and guilty look as he tucked it into his shirt pocket and drove away.

  Dr. Bailey kept the high powered SkyHawk binoculars on the Bronco until it turned the corner. He had seen everything. But he was too far away to pick up any sound. Whatever Earnes had said into the phone would remain a mystery to them. He nodded his head in frustration, lowered the binoculars back onto his chest, and withdrew from the shadows.

  There was no way they would be able to trace the call. The phone was most likely a disposable one. Earnes would be smart enough to use one. He stepped back in the room, walked over to his bag in the corner, and took out his phone from one of the side pockets. He placed a call directly to Director Nilsson’s private line.

  Chapter 5

  There was no doubt in her mind that the white Sedan was following her. The car had been keeping a decent distance behind the SUV since she pulled away from the house. She was definitely in its sight. She had noticed the car when she had come out of the house, and had been standing in the driveway talking to Earnes, but she hadn’t given it a second thought. The car had been parked a couple houses down. She didn’t think it had anything to do with them at the time. They were in a busy residential street. The driver could have been waiting for someone.

  She took a quick glance in the rear view mirror. The driver was smart enough to keep a comfortable distance between them, but she was certain she was his target. She had been in the game long enough to know when was being pursued by another driver. She adjusted the rear view mirror and glanced at the Sedan again. She couldn’t see the driver’s face clearly to get a good description of him. She had no idea if he was Caucasian, Hispanic, African American or Asian, or whatever. His head was buried in the black oversized hooded jacket he was wearing.

  She had counted three other people in the car with him—one in the passenger

  seat next to him, and two at the back, sitting on either side of each other. They were

  up close to the door as if they were waiting for some sort of action or to leap from the car at any given time. She pressed the camera on the dash board and took a picture of the license plated. She waited to see what would pop up on the screen. The info appeared, and she slowed down to read it.

  The car had been reported stolen more than a week ago. She was surprised the police hadn’t caught them by now. She guessed the car was a low priority. She would call it in later and let the local cops deal with it. But first she wanted to find out if those men were really after her, and what they wanted, although, she already had an idea. They must have had eyes on her the moment she came out of the house. She couldn’t understand why they hadn’t taken the passports from Earnes. He had the bags in his hand long enough for them to have swiped them from him. Well, she would get to the bottom of this—once and for all.

  She stepped on the gas and sped up. She made a right on Wyoming, and drove to the end of the street, her eyes going back and forth in the mirror to see if the car was still following her. The Sedan had turned on to the next
street and disappeared. Bastards! She pounded her hand on the steering wheel, and pulled over to the side of the narrow street, allowing the other cars to pass her. She waited there for about five minutes, hoping the Sedan would drive by, and she would get a better look at the men inside.

  The car didn’t appear. Maybe they had a change of heart about pursuing her, or

  they hadn’t been following her after all. She let out a disappointed sigh, and placed the gun on the seat beside her. They were probably a group of low-lives hoping to steal another car. She would call in the stolen car when she got back on the main road. She was sure the cops would be happy she had done their job for them!

  She turned onto the next street and headed north. She wondered if Earnes had left. He was probably halfway back by now. She had thought about giving him a call when she drove away, but had decided against it. She had all day to talk to him. She was just about to make a left, when the white Sedan came out of nowhere and almost clip her as she merged into the slow traffic. She swung to the right, and ended up in the outer lane. The car sped up, almost tailgating her again. She gripped the steering wheel with her right hand and reached over for the gun with her left. She was one of a few people who could shoot with both hands. And she never missed.

  She had no doubt now that they were definitely after her. And they were most likely armed as well. She had to get out of traffic before they decided to start shooting at her. She didn’t want innocent civilians to get caught in the cross fire. She zipped into the next street ahead, and kept going. They weren’t far behind. They were in hot pursue! Luckily, there weren’t any cars on the road, and she decided to take a shot at them.

  She waited for them to catch up to her. She slowed down, put the SUV in

  reverse and backed up quickly on them, pushing the Sedan back, and into the ditch at

  the side. It was a surprised hit, and she watched as the driver struggled to get control of the car as it almost toppled over on its side. She sprang into action before they could rebound and reach for their guns. She lowered the glass on her side, just enough to get her hand out the bullet proof window, and she fired into the car, aiming directly for the driver and the passenger at the front with him. She heard smashing glass and swearing, and she pulled away right after.