Sable Quinn Trilogy Boxed Set

by K. J. Dahlen

  One of them came in through the window of the game room while the other one came in through the hall. "Damn it, they both came gunning for Scott. We weren’t expecting that."

  Both men had hooded sweatshirts on and it was hard to see their faces. Keeping mostly to the shadows Sable and Nick watched as they made their way to Scott’s bedroom. They saw one of them bash Curt on the back of the head. They watched as Curt slumped to the floor. The figure paused for a moment and in that second the camera captured his face. But it wasn’t Sam’s face the shot revealed.

  Sable stared at it for a moment and then turned her head to look at Nick.

  Nick swore and their eyes locked. "I’m going to kill that man."

  "Take a number," Sable growled. "We have to find him before he can get back to his parents. If he’s in cahoots with the boys, they are in big trouble. They won’t see it coming from their own son." The face both Nick and Sable had seen on the tape was Greg’s.

  Curt popped up in the doorway announcing the police were there. Sable and Nick joined them in the living room. Two police officers and a detective were inside the house while there were a couple more officers outside. The guard had been covered by a sheet.

  "Mr. Black tells me you knew before hand there was a possibility he would be attacked tonight," Detective Ronnie Brown said.

  "We came here to warn him," Sable admitted.

  "What do you know about the suspect? I believe you called him Sam Reardon."

  "Actually there are two suspects, Sam and his twin brother Shawn," Nick told him.

  "How do you know this information is correct?" Ronnie asked.

  "It came to light as part of another investigation," Nick defended their decision.

  "And what investigation would that be?"

  "You know as well as I do that I can’t give you that information."

  "If you have any information we can use to close any of our cases that would be appreciated," Ronnie informed them.

  "We’ll get together after this is over," Nick promised.

  Ronnie gave him a funny look. "When what is over?"

  "If they succeed, by tomorrow night these two suspects will have murdered an entire family. Their family consists of retired Judge Gabriel Reardon, his wife Emma, their son Greg, and Agent Sable Quinn. Already dead are Gabriel’s grandson Micah, his half brother Richard, and Greg’s wife Jill."

  "How do these two suspects fit into the family?"

  "They are Micah’s sons, Sam and Shawn."

  "Are you sure about your information?"

  "Why?" Nick asked.

  Ronnie reached into his pocket and brought out an evidence envelope. He handed it to Nick.

  Inside the envelope was a notebook. The names of the Reardon family were written on the page and a line was crossed through Jill, Micah, and Richard.

  Nick stared at Ronnie and asked, "What is this?"

  "I found it outside the back door. Apparently one of the suspects dropped it by mistake. I put it in the evidence bag without looking all the way through the book, so when you listed off the names I figured it was part of your investigation, more so than mine."

  Nick ripped the envelope open and pulled the notebook out. Flipping through the journal he found a page with Sable’s home address and Gabriel’s home address written there. Sable’s office address was listed as was Greg’s office address.

  On another page was a list of six men with four names crossed off. Scott’s name was on the paper as was the name Tanner Fricke. He was the man that was missing from the original six.

  On the last page of the notebook was the drawing of a bomb and the word BOOM was colored in. Nick flipped the book over so Sable could see the message.

  "That’s not good."

  "What does it mean?" Ronnie asked as he leaned forward to look at the last page.

  "I have no idea but it doesn’t look good," Sable told him. She checked her watch and found it was almost 5:30 in the morning. Dawn would come soon and so would whatever Sam and Shawn had planned. They still had to intercept Greg before he got to his parents.

  She turned to Nick then Ronnie, "I’m sorry but we have to leave."

  Nick turned to escort Sable to the door when Ronnie called out, "Too bad but you can’t go yet. I still have some questions."

  "We’ll get back to you later; right now we have to go," Nick promised.

  "I’m afraid that’s not good enough. I have questions that need to be answered," Ronnie told them.

  "Right now we have work to do of our own. We’ll be in touch later today to answer all of your questions," Nick assured him.

  "What happens if you don’t survive the day?" Ronnie asked.

  Sable turned to look at the police detective. "Then it won’t matter one way or the other."

  Chapter Nine

  As Sable and Nick got into Nick’s car, Sable sighed deeply. "I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I am so tired right now."

  "I know what you mean," Nick told her as he drove down the street.

  "Can you swing past my house so I can shower and change?"

  "Do you think we have time?"

  Sable sighed again. "Probably not but I need to at least change my shirt."

  Nick smiled. "Ok we’ll make a quick stop." A few minutes later Nick pulled up to Sable’s house. "I’ll give you two minutes and not a second more."

  Sable got out and went to her front door. As she disappeared inside Nick checked his rear view mirror. It was very early in the morning so it didn’t surprise him that no one was up yet. He yawned and glanced in his rear view mirror again. He frowned when he saw a young kid on a bike racing away from him.

  Nick snapped his head back to look at Sable’s house just as the entire house whooshed into flames. He tried to get out of the car and get to the front door but the heat and flames were too much. The noise of the flames was deafening as the fire grew bigger. Within seconds the entire house was in flames. The smoke was thick and choking. Nick coughed as he watched the house for any sign of Sable.

  "Sable," Nick screamed. "Where are you, Sable?"

  "I’m right behind you."

  Nick whirled around and to his delight she was standing there, disheveled but alive. Her shirt wasn’t buttoned and she had a dark smudge on her forehead but she was alive. She was staring at what remained of her house.

  Her grabbed her and hugged her. "Oh thank god you’re alright."

  Sable struggled to get loose and gazed at her house. The crackling flames engulfed the wooden structure. The heat from the fire threatened to burn her skin. She couldn’t believe how little time it took to destroy her home. Some of her neighbors were coming out of their houses to see what was going on.

  She turned to Nick, dazed for a moment. "What the hell happened?"

  Nick grabbed his phone and called 911 to report the fire. Then he regarded her carefully. Other than the dark smudge on her forehead she seemed ok. Her shirt was singed and her jeans had soot all over them. Nick noticed blood on her right sleeve and when he pulled the sleeve away, he found a scratch on her arm. "Did you see anything before the explosion?"

  Sable glanced down at her arm and saw the blood. "I don’t know. One minute I was changing my shirt and the next I was knocked off my feet. It happened so quickly I didn’t have time to think. I just dove out the bedroom window. I guess the explosion blew out the glass. I ran between my house and the neighbors out to the street. Then I turned around to find you." Sable paused for a moment to turn her head. She heard the siren of the fire engine coming closer. She turned back to Nick, "Did you see anything?"

  "I thought I saw a young kid race away on a bicycle seconds before the place burst into flames."

  They stood out of the way along with the rest of the neighbors and watched as the firemen did their job, but the house was little more than ashes in a short time. The fire chief came over to talk to Sable as his men began wrapping up.

  "Ma’am, there was very little we could do to save the structure. Wa
s there something inside the house that could have been used as an accelerant?"

  Sable nodded. "Oh, I’m sure there was something. The house was firebombed so please address it as if it were arson," Sable told him.

  The fire chief observed her for a moment then asked, "Are you sure you’re alright? I understand you were inside the structure when the fire was started?"

  "There was a slight explosion before the house erupted in flames. The explosion took out the windows on the back side of the house. I was in my bedroom and barely got out of the window before the fire started."

  "So you think this was arson?"

  "It's definitely arson."

  "Do you have a reason to suspect it was deliberately set?"

  "Yes, I have someone trying their best to see that I die today."

  "I see," the chief said.

  "Oh, I doubt very much that you see anything. Please take my word the explosion and fire were deliberately set," Sable remarked.

  "Sable, if they could do this to you, you don’t suppose they would do it to the Reardon house do you?" Nick suddenly asked.

  "They might if they thought Gabriel and Emma were still there." Sable turned back to the fire chief. "Can you have your arson inspector check out an address?"

  "Why?"

  "Because I have a feeling this won’t be your only fire today. The man that set this fire may also want to destroy another home. The home of Judge Gabriel Reardon."

  "Remember what we found this morning," Nick reminded her. "They may already know that Gabriel and Emma aren’t at home.

  "But that doesn’t mean they know where they are. When we moved Greg, we should have moved his parents as well."

  "Well, we can change that right now," Nick told her. "Let’s go back to the office and regroup."

  "We have to move Gabriel and Emma, quickly and quietly."

  "You can call in the order while I drive," Nick told her as he dug his keys out of his pocket. Twenty minutes later they entered their offices. Max was still there and the stack of papers had doubled since the last time they checked in.

  "What did you find from the pages?" Sable asked. "Are these cases real?"

  "They tell a story of their own. All the cases are very real but they speak of more than one killer. Micah taught his sons well," Max said.

  "They fire bombed my house this morning," Sable told him.

  "They what?" Max was stunned.

  "Not only that, but take a look at who they have working with them." Sable handed Max a disk and waited while he loaded it up on his computer. When Max saw who came through the game room window, he was stunned.

  "Oh my god, please tell me this camera is wrong," Max mumbled as he stared at the face on his computer. "Please tell me I’m not seeing what I think I’m seeing."

  "I wish I could, but the evidence is right there in front of you," Sable told him. She wandered over toward the windows looking out over the city.

  "What are you going to do about this?" Max asked.

  Sable turned and took a step away from the windows just as a shot rang out. The glass behind her shattered and she ducked. Several more shots shattered the windows on either side of where Sable had been standing.

  Max and Nick ducked behind some furniture and waited until the shooting stopped. A few minutes later the silence was almost deafening. Sable uncovered her head and glass dropped all over the floor. Bits of paper floated to the floor from everywhere. The entire office was damaged by the flurry of bullets.

  "Sable, are you hit?" Nick’s voice rang out.

  "I’m okay," she whispered. Clearing her throat she called out again in a louder voice. "I’m ok. Are you and Max ok?"

  Nick glanced at Max and called out, "We’re ok, shook up but ok."

  Sable stood and walked over to Nick and Max. As they regarded the room, Sable commented, "This day just keeps getting better and better."

  Police officers from downstairs rushed up the steps and into the offices with their guns drawn. Nick turned and held his hands up, "Whoa, we’re all ok. The shots came from outside."

  One of the officers knelt beside the desk and reaching in his pocket, pulled out a knife. Working on a bullet hole he extracted the bullet. Looking it over in his hand he glanced up at his captain. "Sir, this is a high powered sniper round with a hollow point. They were made to do the most damage and can go right through Kevlar like a hot knife through butter."

  Captain Ken James stared at Nick, Sable, and Max. "I think you three are very lucky to be alive right now. Whoever was shooting at you missed."

  "They didn’t miss," Sable told him.

  Captain James frowned. "What do you mean they didn’t miss? You are all still alive aren’t you?"

  "They aren’t trying to kill us, not yet. They want to shake us into showing them where their real targets are," Sable informed the captain.

  "Who are their real targets?"

  "Their real targets are Gabriel and Emma Reardon," Sable told him.

  "Who are 'they'?"

  Nick turned to the captain and asked, "Can you get a team of your men over to the Reardon house? Tell them to be careful, the house may be wired to blow up. All we need is confirmation someone tampered with it. We believe the house is meant to be firebombed."

  "I don’t suppose you’re going to share why you think the house is going to blow up?"

  Nick turned his head. "I don’t have time right now. We have to get to our witnesses and make sure they are still alive."

  Max grabbed his gun and followed Nick and Sable. "I’m coming with you guys this time."

  Nick drove over to the house they had placed Greg in. When they walked up to the front door, they noticed the door was slightly ajar. Drawing their weapons Nick and Max lead the way. They found the guard lying on the kitchen floor. Sable stayed behind with him while Nick and Max searched the rest of the house. When they came back, Sable glanced up at them shaking her head. "They murdered him."

  "There’s no sign of Greg either," Max said.

  "Yeah and we all know why, don’t we?" Sable commented.

  "We should get over to where Gabriel and Emma are to check on them," Max suggested.

  Nick’s cell phone rang. When he stepped away for a moment to answer the call, he came back a few minutes later with a scowl on his face. Looking at Sable he told them, "The little bastards torched the Reardon house. The call was the fire chief. He’d sent his arson team over to the Reardon’s when they finished at your place this morning and as soon as they got there the house just exploded. They were able to get a small sample of the accelerant but the house is gone."

  "Damn," Sable swore. "We can’t lead them to where Gabriel and Emma are staying."

  "I agree but I don’t think they should stay where they are either."

  "Let’s bring them back to the office. They can come up through the basement, and we’ll move our offices into an inside room with no windows. At least for now until the windows can be repaired," Sable suggested. "Maybe if they can’t see us, they can’t get close enough to us to complete their plans."

  "Ok, let’s get the team moving. We have to go back and clean up the mess we left anyway," Nick agreed. "Sam warned the day would be a long one, so we have to be prepared for anything."

  "I don’t know what more they can do. They’ve firebombed both my house and the Reardon home, plus shot out the windows of our office. What’s next?"

  Sable was about to turn to leave when her phone began to ring. She glanced at Nick and Max before she answered the call. "Hello."

  "Well, hello there, sister of mine. How is your day going?" Sam asked.

  "You’ve made it an interesting one so far but you’ve missed your mark on three occasions. What’s the deal with that?"

  "Maybe I missed on purpose. Did you ever think of that?" Sam taunted her.

  "My question would be why you missed, if you did miss, that is." Sable replied.

  "Maybe I have something more in mind for you."

  "You or Shawn?" />
  Sam laughed. "So you know about my brother too. My you have been a busy girl. I like the fact that you’re curious about us. What else do you think you know?"

  "Yeah, I know about the pair of you. You might be interested in how I found out there was more than one of you."

  Sam snorted. "It was right there on my birth certificate, if you had bothered to look." Sam’s voice sounded disgusted.

  "Yeah, well, everyone missed that. We were too stunned to know you even existed to really read the paper."

  "Ok, I’ll bite, how did you know about Shawn?"

  "Your mother told me about you and Shawn."

  "That’s a lie, my mother died sixteen years ago," Sam hotly denied.

  "No, Sam, she didn’t. She died yesterday."

  "You are lying to me now," Sam told her. "But that’s ok. I understand now what you’re trying to do."

  "What do you think I’m doing?"

  "You’re trying to distract me. Shawn thought you might try. You won’t succeed."

  Sable chuckled. "Distract you from your plans for me and the Reardon family. Now why didn’t I think of that? Damn I’m screwed now. You found out what I’m up to. Now I’ll have to think of something else to do today."

  "Sarcasm suits you, bitch," Sam told her. "But it won’t work. We’re too clever for that. You can’t distract us from carrying out our father’s plans. But don’t worry; your time on this earth is shorter than you think. You won’t be in suspense much longer. Soon you’ll know everything and it will all make sense."

  Sable took a deep breath. "I don’t give a damn about Micah’s plans. He was deluded and nothing more than a cold blooded killer. I know you can’t see that but it is the truth. He enjoyed murdering people for no real reason. I told you the truth about your mother. She was strangled yesterday at the Kensington Hotel right here in Chicago. She called to warn me that you and Shawn were coming after me. She also told me you were hiding in the woods behind the Reardon house the day Micah died."

  "My father had a reason for killing. Rule number one, never kill without a reason. He had a reason for each and every person he took out. He was very strict about his rules."

  "You mean there was more than one?" Sable asked.