“Well fucking pick it up already!” Sam yelled.
The sharpness of his voice brought her out of the trance she had been in. Cautiously, she reached out and picked it up. The number was one she didn’t recognize. She waited another beat and then answered it.
“Yes?” she said tentatively.
“I guess when you pay for amateur services you shouldn’t be surprised by the results.” Ronald was thrilled when the phone was answered. That meant they were both nearby. They still had a chance to put an end to it.
“Who is this?” she asked indigently. Her stomach was doing flip-flops as she began to realize who the voice belonged to.
“Hope you weren’t too attached to your boss, little lady,” Ronald said, almost laughing.
“Hey, go fuck yourself!” she said breezily.
“He’s certainly not going to make Man of the Year. Leastways not in his condition,” he said to her as he pulled up the messaging program on his phone.
“Anyone ever tell you, you’re a Hessian carrying apparatus full of excrement?” Jenny seethed into the phone. She knew this had to be Jacobs. The fact that he was calling settled the argument as to whether or not he was dead.
“You even know what that is?” he asked. Then he attached the picture of what Pete Silas had looked like the last time he had seen him. And then he hit ‘send’.
“I know you’re going to regret it.”
“Hey, if your phone gets texts while you’re talking, you should check it.”
She paused, then pulled the phone from her ear and saw that she had a new text. She opened it up and saw one of the most gruesome sights she had ever seen. Pete was sitting naked in a chair that he had been duct taped to. She saw the bruises on his chest and stomach. Pete’s head had been pulled back, exposing his neck. She could see where someone had crushed his larynx and windpipe. But the really horrible image was seeing his legs splayed apart. The animal had taped his penis to his leg. Blood was running from both his testicles and his penis.
“You’re a fucking cretin!” she yelled down the phone.
“Wow, that was really weak all things considered. You see your boss’s nut sack nailed to a chair and that’s all you got? Hey, I sent you another one just in case the details in the first picture weren’t enough,” Ronald laughed.
She checked again and saw that she had another text. She hesitated and then opened it up. Jenny blanched and then felt the bile rise into her throat. She nearly dropped the phone as she tried to keep herself from throwing up. Sam watched as she almost doubled over. He moved to help her, but she waved him off.
“Next time we meet I will castrate you and then feed your nuts into a wood chipper,” she said. Her words were biting and full of venom.
“Next time…? Does this mean you’ve been staring longingly through a long lens?”
“I’m going to find that pretty wife of yours and after I get done turning her out, we’ll see who has the last laugh.”
“I got a better idea, how about I come on out to Whitewater and we’ll see who gets turned out?”
Jenny froze and looked across the pickup at Sam. She mouthed, ‘He knows where we are!’
Sam moved quickly across the garage and back into the house. He crouched low to stay below the windows and one-by-one he turned off all the lights. Then he carefully looked outside. Everything looked normal but if they were really out there, he doubted he’d see Ronald or the ex-cop. Sam retreated back into the garage and shook his head at Jenny. She took the phone away from her ear and cupped it with her hand. She said, “We’re sitting ducks. Get the long gun out and get ready. I’ll cover you.”
Shaking his head, he said quietly, “It will take too long getting the door open.”
“Not if you just drive straight through it.”
“That’s gonna fuck up the front end.”
She put the phone up to her ear and said, “Nice try, but if you knew where we were you’d be here by now.”
“I’ve got time for you, but right now I’m just going to kill your boss and then…”
She didn’t hear the rest of it because she disconnected the call.
“Sam, give me the NVGs. I’ll go out the back and come around. I’ll cover you when you come out. When you’re clear of the house, slow down just enough for me to get in the back.”
“He could be out there right now. This is crazy!”
“I doubt they’re outside. He’s more likely to have set up where he can see the house. We’ll take the road that leads into the desert, then cut back onto the highway.”
He nodded. ‘Makes more sense than driving straight at them,’ he thought. “Text me when you’re in place.”
“Give me a minute. Meantime, get ready.”
Sam reached into the back of the truck and pulled out the AR-15 and handed it to her. “It’s loaded and ready to go.”
She took it and without another word, she hustled back into the house and out the back. She hoped she was right, ‘cos otherwise they both would be dead very soon.
***
“You’re quite the pickup artist,” I said mockingly.
“If we’re lucky, I just pushed them hard enough to leave.”
“They turned out the lights so at least we know their inside,” I said as I put the night glasses back up to my eyes.
“Yea, that’s…” Ronald started to say. Just then, the garage door exploded in front of us. A yellow four-wheel drive pickup flew outside, slowed down and then made a hard left turn, driving around the back of the house and then disappearing out of sight.
“Didn’t see that coming,” Ronald said dryly.
“So your plan’s… not fully formed, is that what you’re saying?”
“Hey, you’re the cop here not me. I’m just a simple Human Resource Manager trying to make a buck.”
We both looked at each other and then laughed at the stupidity of what had just happened.
“Well, I guess we’re on plan B now,” Ronald said.
“And what’s plan B?” I asked dryly.
“You tell me. You’re the one who catches crooks for a living.”
“Rickets,” I deadpanned.
Chapter 33
Sam drove across the desert like the bogeyman was behind them. The truck lurched and bumped, knocking Jenny back and forth in the back. She tried desperately to stay upright and in place while keeping the automatic trained behind them but when she almost got ejected from the back of the pickup, she dropped the gun and hung on for dear life. She cried out and even beat her fist on the rear window to no avail.
A half hour later, he slowed down to make a hard right turn back towards the blacktop. When he did, Sam heard and felt the rear window vibrate. He looked in the back and saw that Jenny was nearly hysterical. Her blond hair, which normally was combed neatly or pulled back in a ponytail or a bun, was now wild and sticking up at odd angles. Her face appeared to be streaked with dust or grease, he couldn’t tell for sure. He slowed the truck to a stop and looked back at her. He could tell she was both scared and pissed at the same time. Sam grimaced and waited silently for what was about to happen.
“You… Ah… OK?” he asked hesitantly.
“You fuck! No, I’m not OK! You know how many times I was almost bounced out of this rolling redneck shit-can?”
“Sorry,” he said sheepishly.
“Jesus, you’ve got the brains of an earthworm! Fuck, I almost died. Lucky I didn’t shoot you… or myself for that matter.” She let go of the roll bar and slumped in the back, totally spent. She started to rub her face but stopped when she felt something grimy and sticky. Jenny looked at her hands in the dark and wondered what was on them. Then grimaced when she thought about what her face must look like. She took a minute to examine the rest of herself. Her face flushed with anger when she saw how disheveled her clothes were. Thank god no one but Sam could see her now. She stood up and moved to the back of the truck.
Sam climbed out of the cab and walked around to the back
to open the tailgate. He held out his hands to help her get out, but she slapped them away as she gingerly climbed down.
“Let me get some wet wipes,” he said.
“Never mind that, get me some clothes I can change into first, then get the wet wipes and a towel, asshole.”
Sam did as he was asked to do without saying another word. He had seen her like this before and while they were partners and sometimes more than that, he also knew she might come uncorked enough to kill him on the spot. He watched her carefully to make sure she wasn’t armed when he handed Jenny her things.
He wandered back to the cab while she cleaned herself up in the cool night air. When she had made herself presentable, she walked over to the driver’s side. “Pretty sure I lost my phone. See if it’s in the back,” she ordered. Sam nodded, climbed into the back and searched for the device.
After a few minutes, he found it under a duffle bag near the back. “Found it.”
“Bring it here.”
He jumped down and walked back over to the driver’s side of the cab, then leaned in to hand it to her. “Who are you calling?”
“The man himself.”
“What will you tell him?”
“Pete’s dead and that psycho is probably coming for him next. See where he’s at and then meet him there. I want to be there when Jacobs shows up,” she said vehemently.
“Speaking of which, where do you think he was?”
“Close by but who knows, he could have been sitting outside the big man’s house.”
“If that’s the case, then Washington is as good as dead right now.”
“Finding out,” she said as she dialed the phone.
Fritz was in the middle of packing when he heard his cell phone ring. He stopped, walked over to the nightstand and picked it up. The number wasn’t one he recognized, but it was a local number and he hoped that it might still be Pete. He answered it curtly. “This better be you, Pete.”
“No sir, it’s not,” said an unfamiliar female voice.
“Who is this and how’d you get this number?”
“Sir, this is agent Waters. I’m the woman Pete introduced you to yesterday in your office.”
“Where’s Pete and how do I know you’re the woman he introduced me to?”
She told him what he had been wearing at the time and then told him in detail what had been said. When she was finished, she asked, “Satisfied?”
“At the moment, but you didn’t answer my first question, where’s your boss? I’ve been trying to reach him all afternoon and all night.”
“He’s dead,” she said flatly.
“Dead… how… no that’s… are you sure?”
“Yes sir, I’m sure. Jacobs tortured and then killed him.”
Fritz’s knees felt weak. He reached out for the bed and sat down, “You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m positive,” she said weakly.
“Where are you now?”
“Sir, right now you need to be worried about your safety. Are you still at your residence?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and then rubbed his temples. “At the moment, but I just told my security detail I wanted to spend the night in the cabin.”
“That’s a good idea. You need to leave right now. Jacobs could be outside right now or else he will be shortly. Leave now. Don’t wait, just leave. My partner Sam and I will meet you there. In the meantime, I need you to send an email to security that I’m now in charge.”
“Why you and not Burt Jenkins?”
“Because Jenkins is on the clean side. When I contact certain members of your detail, they need to know not to argue with me.”
“I’ll make it from the car. How long till you meet us?”
“Soon as I’m sure we’re clean ourselves.”
“How many men can you get at this hour?”
“Maybe a half a dozen, we’re a little thin at the moment.”
“What about the two out front?”
“If our guys aren’t there when you get there, have them escort you up. When our people arrive, you can cut them loose.”
Fritz blew out his breath. “OK.”
“See you there and Mr. Washington, if you see anything that doesn’t seem right, have your detail hightail it until they find a safe location.”
Fritz’s voice was low and mean. “Ms. Waters, if you see Jacobs, you finish it, understood? No waiting or heroics – just kill him and move on.”
“Count on it,” she said before she disconnected the call. Jenny looked at the phone for a minute and thought about the call and everything they had said. She was a little surprised he hadn’t wanted to stay put and maybe have the police waiting for Jacobs and Walker. She thought about calling him back and bringing it up, but then put the phone down and looked over at Sam. “Head for the cabin.”
He nodded as his eyes shifted over to look at her. Jenny’s face was tight; her body was tense. He could see her carrying the weight of the last few hours on her shoulders. He started to speak and then changed his mind.
“What?” she asked him.
Shrugging, he said, “Nothing, just was wondering why he’s running and not staying put.”
“I wondered the same thing.”
“We could call in an anonymous tip. You know, maybe Jacobs shows up and gets busted. Then all this ends without any more killing.”
“Pretty sure he’s not ready to give up on the killing part.”
“He tell you that?”
“His exact words were to kill Jacobs on sight.
“Jesus! He said that?”
She nodded but didn’t speak. Jenny checked her phone and then put it down. “Yeah Sam, he said that,” she scoffed.
“Never thought I’d see the day when a guy like that would order a hit over the phone.”
She leaned her head back against the headrest and sighed. “Can’t believe that piece of shit killed Pete.”
“Guess that’s what happens when you taunt a troll like Jacobs.”
“Let it go, I’m tired of talking about it,” Jenny said dejectedly.
“Did Pete ever tell you why the man has a hate on for this guy?”
Jenny sat up and looked over at Sam. Her eyes were far off in the distance as she thought about it. “Not really. I mean, I asked him once and the only thing he would say was it was a family matter.”
“So what, he fucked his ole lady?”
“For Christ’s sake Sam, why does everything come down to fucking with you?”
He shrugged, “Just asking. I mean, a family matter? What’s that mean?”
“Well, when we catch up to him you can ask!” she barked.
Sam clucked his tongue off the roof of his mouth. “Yeah, I might just do that.”
Chapter 34
Ronald drove us back toward his safe house. Both of us hadn’t said much on the way back. His safe house was located on the eastern edge of town, in a rundown neighborhood that had seen better days. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. The shirt that he had given me to wear was beginning to bunch up around my chest.
“Hey, before you go much further, we have to stop and get me something that fits.”
“Probably not the best idea at the moment.”
“Ronald, I’m not going to go out on some clandestine half-baked idea wearing clothes my kids could wear!”
“Yeah about that… you given any thought to what you will do now?” he asked with a smirk.
“About what? These clothes? I just told you, we’re going to get me something that fits!”
“No, about your kids.”
I stopped squirming and looked at him. “Ah, shit!” I said as I blew out my breath dejectedly. “No, I haven’t given it any thought. I suppose I should call Jess and see how she and Thomas and Cassandra are doing. But…” I let the thought trail off. “I don’t know. Lori’s dead…”
“Sorry, shouldn’t have asked. Guess now’s not the time to dwell on the future… or the past.”
“We need to k
now where those two hitters are going and where Fritz Washington is located.”
“It’s getting late. How ‘bout we run over to the five and dime and see about getting clothes there?”
“Now? Probably closed.”
“In the morning, I’m calling a guy who can maybe help us find our wayward souls. Finding his house should be easy enough. Get a few hours of rest and then later we’ll go out and look around to see what’s what.”
“Tell me again how all this went down? I’m still a little fuzzy about it.”
“The guy that gave you your goose egg told me.”
I shook my head. “Ronald, you owe me an explanation. All of it now! No skipped details, no glossing over the facts. Everything from the time you killed this guy’s son, till now.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I guess you deserve to know.”
It took him the better part of an hour to go through the whole thing and when he was finished, all I could do was to look at him in disbelief.
“Who are you? How much of this does my sister know?”
He shrugged again as we pulled into the driveway and he hit the garage door opener. “Bits and pieces.”
“Are you going to tell her?”
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“If we’re alive or not.”
“You’re amazing.”
He grinned. “I keep telling you that.”
“Knock it off, Ronald. I should just turn you over to the Feds and let them throw you into a deep dark hole, you know that?”
He put the car in park and looked over at me. His face had taken on an ugly cast and his eyes had turned into black pools of evil. “I’m going to say this one time and if you bring it up again, you won’t like what happens. I’m not the bogeyman who haunts your dreams. I was a kid who never really had the moral capacity you pride yourself on. I have a talent that our government and others took advantage of. I’m not going to sit here and justify why I did things that you scoff at, nor am I going to apologize for what I am. You and I, Walt, are not so dissimilar. You hide behind the law and a badge to justify your shitty behavior. I am at least honest enough with myself to know who I am and what I am.”
On The Devil's Side of Heaven Page 32