by Philip Cox
Will looked around, at Dan and the gun, at Ackerman who was just standing by the door, leering at him. There was no way Will could make a run for it.
‘But then you know that also, don’t you, Will?’ Dan laughed again. ‘Remember that night when we were in college and got caught in that snowstorm driving back from Vermont? I bet you never told Chrissy about that.’
Will’s eyes flashed to Ackerman and back to Dan. ‘We were just kids then.’
‘Don’t worry; I haven’t told her either.’
Another thought crossed Will’s mind. ‘This marijuana you’ve been distributing. To teens. Does that include…?’
Dan shook his head. ‘Am I crazy? No, not Clyde.’
‘That wasn’t what I was asking.’
‘Surely you remember the smell of it? Smelt it on Jake? Are his eyes bloodshot? Is he very tired, or paranoid, or ravenously hungry?’
‘No more than any other teenager.’
‘Well, then; no.’
‘Does Chrissy know about the drugs? What about Jia?’
‘Neither of them knows. Now, time’s moving on, and it’ll be getting light soon. I’ll tell you what’s going to happen, Will. The cops will arrive soon. They’re going to find the place ransacked, and they’re going to find you, lying down beside May’s desk, in a pool of your own blood. How brave of you, Will: you died while valiantly trying to fight off the intruders.’ He turned to Ackerman. ‘How does that sound, Walt?’
For the first time Ackerman spoke. ‘Sounds good to me, Mr Kelly.’
‘Mr Kelly?’ asked Will.
Dan laughed. ‘That’s who runs Bronx Estates. Daniel Kelly Gleave. Can’t be too careful.’ He turned back to Ackerman. ‘Yes, that sounds a good plan.’
Will had an uneasy feeling. ‘But that means…’
‘Yes, it does,’ said Dan as he aimed the gun.
FIFTY
It was probably Ackerman who first noticed the police appear in the doorway: maybe Dan was too fixated on Will; maybe it was his experience in dealing with law enforcement. In the split second before Dan caught sight of Detective Roberts and two uniformed officers, he started to make a dash for the other door, having no idea where it lead.
Dan was momentarily distracted by Ackerman’s sudden movement, then Roberts registered with him.
‘NYPD. Freeze. Drop the weapon,’ Roberts called out, pointing her own directly at Dan.
Dan froze, still pointing the gun in Will’s direction. He then let the weapon point at the floor, still with his finger on the trigger.
‘Drop. The. Weapon,’ she repeated.
Still covering Dan, Roberts moved closer. Ackerman was headed for the rear door, but this meant passing by the chair where Will was positioned. Will had up till now been transfixed at the sight of the barrel of Dan’s gun, but now that had dropped. He launched himself at Ackerman, both men crashing to the floor in the corner of the room.
In reality, Will was no match for the younger man, who had soon got himself out from underneath, pushing Will out of the way.
‘Leave him to me, Mr Carter,’ he heard one of the patrolmen call out. Will remained where he was, on the floor for a moment as the officer stepped over his legs, covering Ackerman, who by now was standing up in the corner, hands on his head. He got up from the floor, brushing his legs down, and sat back on the seat, turning to Dan.
His former best friend had now dropped to the floor, and was kneeling with his hands on his head. Roberts had kicked his gun out of reach and one of the uniformed officers was already emptying and bagging it. Now she was frisking and cuffing him; the patrolman doing the same for Ackerman.
‘You piece of crap,’ Will spat at Dan. ‘To think, after all these years...’
Dan said nothing; just gave Will one stare and turned away.
‘He was the man in charge; he was the one who gave the orders,’ Ackerman began crying out as the officer half led, half dragged him out, telling him to shut up.
Roberts turned to Ackerman. ‘Oh, we knew you were the loyal type, Walter. Take him down to the car,’ she said to one of the uniformed officers.
Will remained where he was as he watched the other uniform help Dan to his feet and take him to join Ackerman downstairs. ‘How you doing, Mr Carter?’ the officer asked.
Will sat up. ‘I’m fine, thanks. Just a little confused… not sure what to make of everything. How did you…?’
‘How did we get here?’ Roberts asked. ‘Your wife called us.’
‘My wife?’
‘U-huh. Called us and said you’d just left to come down here, and that she was concerned that your partner Mr Gleave might be planning something nasty for you. Which he was.’
‘She told you what?’
‘Not much really, as time was short, but that Gleave was carrying out some illegal trading - I can guess what in - using your company as cover, and that you had found out. And that it was connected to the DiMucci killing.’
‘So you came over,’ Will said, standing up and brushing his clothes down. ‘You got here just in time.’
‘That we did. Mr Carter: we’re taking them in to be charged. You’ll need to stand as a witness, you realise that?’
Will nodded. ‘Yes, that’s no problem. That other guy - he was one of the men at the mall?’
Roberts nodded. ‘That’s right.’
‘What about the other one?’
‘He’s still in hospital. Fell three or four floors onto the sidewalk trying to get away from us. I’m not sure what’s going to happen there. It depends if and by how much he recovers. He hurt his head.’
Will nodded absentmindedly. ‘I see. What kind of sentence will he get?’
‘It’s too early to say at this time. It depends on what charges the DA decides to make. But at a guess, I’d say your friend’s looking at fifteen to twenty at least.’
‘I had no idea. I’ve known him for years, since we were at school.’
‘Mr Carter, in my experience, you never really know a person. Never one hundred percent. No matter how close you are or for how long you’ve known them.’
‘Yeah, that’s true. He said his wife had no idea.’
‘I take it you know his wife?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘Now there’s one lady who might need a friendly face right now.’
‘Of course; I hadn’t thought. I’ll call my wife and ask her to go round.’
‘That would be good of her, yes.’
‘What about my wife, by the way?’
‘In terms of her association with Gleave?’
‘Yes. He told me she didn’t know about the drugs.’ He paused. ‘They’d been sleeping together.’
‘As far as I can see, there’s no evidence to suggest that she was involved, either as a perpetrator or an accomplice. Unlike that maid up at the hotel.’
‘I’d forgotten about her.’
‘And as it’s not against the law to have an affair, I can’t see any charges looming. What happens next as far as that’s concerned is up to you.’
Will slowly nodded his head. He took out his phone. ‘I’ll call her now.’
‘Good. I’m going to take these two to be charged. I can’t see them getting bail, to be honest. You’ll need to come in as soon as you can, like this morning, to make a formal statement.’
‘I will,’ Will said, ‘once I’ve called my wife and dealt with matters here. By the way, where’s your partner?’
‘Alvarez? Oh, he’s on his way in. He lives in Jersey. My place is only three blocks away from the station. I’ll be sure to tell him he missed all the fun. See you later, Mr Carter.’
With that, she left Will alone in the office, to dial Chrissy, and then decide what to tell Eddie and May.
*****
It was almost an hour later and daylight when Will parked his silver Hyundai outside his house. He had phoned Chrissy, who said she would call Jia and go see her when the kids were at school. Then he had rung Eddie and May and told
them about Dan, and to take the day off. C & G Real Estates would be closed today.
Will slammed the Santa Fe door shut and stood in the street, unwashed and dishevelled and with a full day’s growth on his face. He looked up at his house: their bedroom window faced out front and he could see Chrissy in the window, staring out. Not staring at him, just gazing out of the window.
From the street below, he was too far away to see the two tears trickling down her face.
THE END
ALSO BY PHILIP COX
AFTER THE RAIN
Young, wealthy, handsome - Adam Williams is sitting in a bar in a small town in Florida.
Nobody has seen him since.
With the local police unable to trace Adam, his brother Craig and a workmate, Ben Rook, fly out to find him.
However, nothing could have prepared them for the bizarre cat-and-mouse game into which they are drawn as they seek to pick up Adam’s trail and discover what happened to him that night.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FZ0RAI
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005FZ0RAI
DARK EYES OF LONDON
When Tom Raymond receives a call from his ex-wife asking to meet him, he is both surprised and intrigued – maybe she wants a reconciliation?
However, his world is turned upside down when she falls under a tube train on her way to meet him.
Refusing to accept that Lisa jumped, Tom sets out to investigate what happened to her that evening.
Soon, he finds he must get to the truth before some very dangerous people get to him…
www.amazon.com/dp/B007JMWBM2
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007JMWBM2
SHE’S NOT COMING HOME
EVERY MORNING
At 8.30 Ruth Gibbons kisses her husband and son goodbye, and goes to work.
EVERY EVENING
At 5pm she finishes work, texts her husband leaving now, and begins her walk home.
EVERY NIGHT
At 5.40 she arrives home, kisses her husband and son, and has dinner with her family
EXCEPT TONIGHT
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009US94U0
www.amazon.com/dp/B009US94U0
DON’T GO OUT IN THE DARK
A WET AUTUMN NIGHT
Newspaper reporter Jack Richardson lends his coat and car to a friend
AN ACCIDENT
Within thirty minutes, Jack’s car lies in flames
The crash seems suspicious, and Jack wonders if it was an accident, or murder.
But if it was murder,
Who was the intended victim?
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LG005GM
www.amazon.com/dp/B00LG005GM
INTRODUCING SAM LEROY…
SOMETHING TO DIE FOR
Los Angeles, late September, and the hot Santa Ana winds are blowing, covering the city with a thin layer of dust from the Mojave and Sonoran deserts.
That night, there are three mysterious, unexplained deaths.
The official view is that they are all unrelated. The deceaseds had no connection, and all died in different parts of the city.
However, Police Detective Sam Leroy has other ideas, and begins to widen the investigation.
But he meets resistance from the most unexpected quarter, and when his life and that of his loved ones are threatened, he faces a choice: back off, or do what he knows he must do…
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FNMWI28
www.amazon.com/dp/B00FNMWI28
SAM LEROY RETURNS IN…
WRONG TIME TO DIE
‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much blood.’
Los Angeles, California
When LAPD Detective Sam Leroy is called to a murder scene, even he is taken aback by the ferocity and savagery of the crime.
Furthermore, there seems to be no motive, which means no obvious suspects.
Believing the two victims themselves hold the key to their own murder, Leroy begins his investigations there, and before long the trail leads him to the island of Catalina, where a terrible secret has remained undiscovered for almost thirty years…
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VPKN4TI
www.amazon.com/dp/B00VPKN4TI