Colt looked at Emily, who was noticeably staring at her husband, and then patted her on the leg to comfort her and as if to say, “I’m sorry honey. …” “I was angry at Berto for double-crossing Gamboni. I was mad at him for killing Gamboni, and I was pretty upset at him for shooting at me.” Emily gasped and Colt again comforted her with a pat on the leg. She knew none of the details, and now as she and Hanna sat and listened, they were all too real for her. She slowly took Colt’s hand and held it.
“So, you being an emotional man, Colt, you can understand why I finally got frustrated and tried to have you killed as well. I like your style, Colt, and that’s why I’m here now: to offer you a job.”
“Offer me a job?”
“Well, I don’t know any of Gamboni’s contacts, and he changed the place where his shipments were coming in. I need someone to help me put this all together and to help me keep those shipments of guns coming through.”
“I don’t know any of that stuff. Gamboni was the only one who had contact with those people. He would have been the only one to know who to get in touch with. But why in the hell would I work for you, Archer? You’ve got my family at gunpoint in our own home.”
“I understand that this is a bit hard to deal with. Honestly, I don’t want to be here in your home, in front of your family and having this conversation with your wife and daughter in the room. But the fact is … word on the street is … you’ve recently lost your position as Gamboni’s hit man. I could use a guy like you, Colt. What do you say?”
“I say let’s go somewhere else to talk. Let my family go, and you and I will talk about it.”
“You’re right, Colt. This is not the setting to ask for your help, and it shows bad karma on my part. Let’s go to a more suitable place and talk things over.” Archer stood up and motioned for Young and the other man to join him. Colt leaned over and kissed his wife and daughter good-bye. “I’ll be okay, honey. I don’t want this to happen in our house.”
“You better come back to me, Mr. Leonard Marcell!” Emily answered, and then pressed her lips to his as a tear rolled down her cheek. He knew she was trying to be strong for him, but he could see the fear in her eyes, and feel it in her kiss. Colt stood up, and the four men walked to the door with him in the lead. He never took his eyes off his family as he thought he had said good-bye for the last time.
Chapter 33
Rick continued driving until he was almost to his house. He felt the rapid vibration of his cell phone inside his pocket tickle his chest. He pulled it out and looked at the screen. It was Agent Woburn’s number. “This is Wise,” he answered.
“Detective, this is Agent Woburn. I just found out that Young and the other man were spotted by a video camera at a convenience store about three hours ago.”
“Okay. Where were they, Agent Woburn? Did you ever get an I.D. on the other guy?”
“Robert Beauchamp. He is a small-time nobody. But that’s not the worst news. They are in Dallas … and they weren’t alone, Detective.”
“Holy shit … I was right. They are after Marcell. Who was with them, Agent Woburn?”
“Archer was with them—he was driving. That son of a bitch went down there and helped them escape. Now he’s going to help Young kill Marcell.”
“Agent Woburn, I am hard pressed to believe that Archer isn’t the leader of this band of marauders. His demeanor at the police garage was careful; he’s always careful. Now I know he had just arrived back from dropping those son of a bitches off and then drove to see T and myself at the garage. He wasn’t worried about anything. He even told me he was going to check on Marcell. I still think he wants me to go over there.”
“So what do we do now, Detective? The FBI knows he is with Young and Beauchamp, so anything he does now will just worsen the charges. Unless that is covered up too by whoever is helping him in the FBI. Why would he want you to go there if the intention is to kill Marcell?”
“I don’t think he is worried about criminal charges anymore. I think he is more concerned with who he can take out before he is killed. People like Young and Archer are not your typical thinkers. They believe in their games and in their cause. They’ll get crazy if they need to. But it’s them being calculating and manipulating that I am more concerned with.”
“I know, Detective. I’ve been through the schools as well. But we have to stop him or he’ll kill Marcell and God knows who else. I can’t trust anyone here at the FBI anymore. I’ll meet you anywhere you want and we’ll go and stop them. Is there anyone you can trust to help us?”
“Yes … I’ll get them and meet you at the federal building in an hour. Let’s just hope it’s not too late.”
“Let’s meet somewhere closer to there. I don’t want the wrong person seeing us together, Detective.”
“Agreed then. Let’s meet at the convenience store at North Richland hills and the I-20 exit in about forty-five minutes.” Rick looked at his watch.
“Okay. I’ll see you then,” Woburn said as she gathered her things. She hung up the phone, and made her way to the parking garage and then into her car. She wasn’t followed, and the only people who had even looked at her were a couple of secretaries and a guard.
Rick hung up the phone by pressing the red “end” button, but he didn’t close it. He moved his hand down to the police console in the car and pressed a button, turning on the red and blue lights, and then turned the siren to “welp.” The fast ear splitting sound rang out and the cars began to move out of his way immediately. He then dialed T-Bone’s number and waited as it rang. The phone answered after a few rings, and a woman’s voice was heard. She was out of breath and panting heavily. “Hello …”
“Hello, is T there? This is Rick.”
“Yeah, Rick, hang on a second and I’ll get him.”
After only a moment Rick heard, “What’s up, Bubba?”
“Hey, man. I need your help and I need it now. I’m on my way back to your house to pick you up,” he shouted over the car’s siren.
“Damn, Rick … Is everything all right?”
“No, T. I’m coming to pick you up. Archer is the one who helped Young and the other guy escape. They’re here in Dallas, and I’m afraid they are on their way to kill Marcell.”
“Man … you just left me. How the hell do you know all that?” T-Bone said, making noises as he dressed.
“Agent Woburn told me. I talked to her, and then we realized that Archer was the leader of this shit. It all just made sense after he was at the garage waiting for us.”
“Rick?”
“Yeah?”
“We are definitely going to have to work on our communication,” T-Bone joked.
Rick chuckled and then explained, “Archer didn’t care that Young had escaped. He came by just to make sure we hadn’t said anything to the captain about him being dirty. When he left and told us he was going to check on Marcell, that got me to thinking about the message he was sending to us. When we told him we were suspended, he didn’t act surprised. Then also the fact that he was waiting on us at the car … Just another reason for me to believe that he has someone in our department working with him and telling him what we are doing.”
“Man … I am glad I am your friend. You are way too fast to get anything over on. All right; I’ll grab a couple of guns and I’m ready.”
“Okay. I’m almost there; see ya in a few minutes.” Rick hung up the phone.
He pulled up a couple of minutes later and T-Bone jumped in carrying a black duffel bag. As he climbed in, he tossed the bag into the backseat. After buckling his seat belt, he turned and retrieved the bag.
He unzipped it and pulled out a black, Mossberg pump shotgun and a pistol. He handed the pistol to Rick and then retrieved another set of guns from the bag as well. He laid the guns in the seat beside him and again reached into the bag. “I only have o
ne vest … Wanna flip for it?”
Rick watched as his partner pulled out the arsenal. It made Rick happy to have weapons to use if they were going to need them. “No … You go ahead and use the vest. I am damn glad I picked you up. I didn’t know what the hell I was going to do if they started shooting at us.”
“Throw rocks at them?” T-Bone giggled as he loaded the second shotgun.
“I don’t know how bad this is gonna be, Bubba … but Woburn is meeting us at the exit. She’ll go in with us, and maybe we can take them down without too much of a fight.”
“Why the hell doesn’t she sound the dinner bell and get the FBI’s agents over there to help us? And what did Cap say when you told him?”
“She doesn’t know how deep all of this goes in the FBI. She said there have been too many mistakes made for there not to be someone else involved. And I haven’t called Captain Dickie or anyone else. We are suspended, and by the time they get anyone to the house, it’ll be too late … if it isn’t already too late.”
“Dammit! What the hell have we gotten ourselves into now, Rick?”
“I don’t know, Bubba, but I hope to see you on the other side of it,” Rick said as he stuck his hand out to bump knuckles with his friend. The two hit their fists as they drove up to see Agent Woburn’s car at the convenience store’s parking lot. They pulled in next to hers and then exited the car. T-Bone slid the heavy bulletproof vest over his shoulders and attached the two Velcro straps together, securing the vest.
Agent Woburn exited her car and watched as Rick didn’t put his on. “Are you not wearing a vest, Detective Wise?”
“I don’t have one. Mine is at home in my duty bag. I left it there when we took our trip yesterday.”
“I think I have an extra one here in my trunk,” she said as she walked to her trunk and opened it. She took one vest out and then searched to find another one for Rick. She handed him the first vest and pulled another one out, and the two put them on.
Rick was trying to work it all out in his head as he secured the straps on the vest. “So I guess we’ll sneak in and try to surprise them?”
“That’s my thought as well,” Woburn answered. The three climbed into Rick and T-Bone’s car and then drove to the address of Leonard Marcell. Rick had looked it up on the police computer in their cruiser about a week ago and was going to check it out to see what Young was so pissed at the guy for. He had never gone to the address, but it was easily retrieved from the history button on his computer. He knew the areas of Dallas well and this area even more so than some others. He had been a patrol officer for five years before becoming a detective. This was his old stomping ground, and he felt at home on these familiar streets.
The three made their way to the street that Marcell lived on and then searched for any sign of Young, Archer, or anything that looked out of the ordinary. They spotted a car parked on the street in front of Marcell’s house and parked on a side street, out of view of the house. They climbed out quietly and made their way to the house. Rick and Woburn went to the back and quietly climbed the fence into the yard. T-Bone walked around to the side of the garage and then squatted down to wait for all hell to break loose.
Rick snuck up to the window in the kitchen and carefully peeked in to see what was going on. He could see a small girl, a woman, and then a very large man sitting on the couch. The big man was talking to someone, but he couldn’t see them for the wall between the rooms. He looked at Woburn and whispered, “I can see a family in there. The man is talking to someone. It may be Archer or Young, but I can’t see either of them. There is a wall there, and the family is all I can see.”
“Are you sure this is the right house?”
“Well, the woman and little girl are scared shitless, so I’d say this is it. I’m going to go around to the side of the house and see if I can see who they’re talking to. You stay here and cover the back door. If you hear gunshots, just stay here. We don’t want them getting away.”
“Okay … I’ll stay here then,” Woburn agreed and then watched Rick walk around to the side of the house. He climbed the fence again and disappeared. Rick went to the next set of windows and peered in, but it was a study and the door was closed. He tried the window, but it was locked. He continued to the next set of windows and looked in slowly. He could clearly see Archer stand up and then begin walking out of view. He watched Young and a smaller man follow suit.
He assumed they were headed for the front door and ran quietly to see. He snuck out by the curb and bent down by a large bush for cover. Rick snuck around to the other edge of the bush and got T-Bone’s attention. He raised three fingers, put them down, and then raised one finger and placed it back to his side. The two had used these hand signals before, and it had worked well. Three fingers first meant that there were three bad guys. The second set of numbers would mean how many good guys there were.
This let T-Bone know that there was one friendly and three enemies. T-Bone acknowledged his gesture and watched the door. Rick pointed to the back of the house and then made a gesture telling him to bring Woburn and come back to the front of the house. T-Bone complied and shortly after, Woburn and T-Bone poked their heads out from the side of the house again.
After a short while the door opened and Colt stepped out. T-Bone and Woburn looked at Rick and he shook his head. The three men who followed were the bad guys. After they had walked out, they closed the door behind them. Once the woman and little girl were out of danger, Rick decided to make his move. He let them get a few feet from Archer’s car and then shouted as he stood up. “Freeze … Police!”
Archer turned and pointed the gun at Rick. He squeezed the trigger and a shot rang out. Rick ducked for cover and watched as Archer slumped over from the damage the bullet from Woburn’s gun had caused. Young hurriedly picked up the gun that was now lying on the ground, and grabbed Colt by the neck. He held tightly as Colt struggled and pointed the gun at his temple. “I’ll kill him if anyone else moves,” he said and spun around several times to make sure no one was behind him for too long at a time.
Rick watched as the big man kept looking at the door to make sure his family was safe. “What is it that you want, Young?” he called.
“Freedom! I want to get out of here and be left alone. And I’m taking Colt with me. If you follow, I swear … he’ll die!” The noises from the gunshots were causing the neighbors to come outside, but after seeing the scene they run back in for cover. Rick watched as Young forced Colt to the garage … “Open it!” he said, choking the big man while looking at Rick and the others.
“I can open it with my keys. Let me grab them from my pocket,” Colt answered with a rasp in his voice from Young’s grip.
“Very slowly … get your keys and then open the garage door,” Young demanded, and watched everyone cautiously. Colt slowly placed his hand into his pocket and removed the key ring with only three keys on it. He pressed the button and the garage door jerked and began to open.
The garage door finished opening and Colt was then dragged inside followed by Robert. Colt pressed the button on the keys to unlock the doors. Young kept the gun on Colt as he sat in the driver’s seat and then pulled Colt in as well. Young dragged his own lanky frame over the console and then into the passenger seat but never released the grip on Colt’s head. Young told Colt, “Close the car door and buckle your seat belt.”
Colt complied and was soon strapped in. “Start the car and back out very slowly. Don’t do anything stupid, Colt. I swear to you that I’ll cut your family into tiny pieces and deliver them to everyone who is important to you.” Colt again did as he was told by the gunman. He started the car and they backed out slowly. He made his way out of the garage to see the three cops watching and pointing their guns at Young.
“Stop here for a minute. … Roll your window down a little bit and wait,” he ordered. Young watched the window come down and
then Rick came closer. Young looked into Rick’s eyes and said, “Don’t follow us and I’ll let him go after I am safe.”
“Young … you know the drill. I can’t let you leave with him and not follow. I’ll have to follow you and you’ll eventually get caught or killed—whichever comes first,” Rick explained. He never took his weapon off Young’s head.
“I am sorry it had to come to this, Detective. We’ll be seeing ya!”
“Yes, you will, Mr. Young … Yes, you will,” Rick poked sarcastically at the gunman as he watched them back out of the driveway and into the street. Young forced the gun hard against Colt’s head and whispered, “Now show me what this piece of shit can do and get us out of here.”
Colt gunned the powerful V-8 engine and they soon disappeared around the corner. Rick and the others ran to their car and climbed in. They gave chase to the BMW but lost them after only a short distance as they called in the incident to dispatch. “Three four three … Ten seventeen … Officer needs assistance at the corner of Barrow and Venice. Vehicle will be a late-model BMW, dark blue in color and occupied three times … One friendly is the operator and the other two are perps. Officer observed friendly being kidnapped at gunpoint … All respond.” The police radio was filled with chatter after the message was delivered to dispatch, and soon there were two Dallas police cruisers joining the unmarked Crown Victoria. Rick and the others continued in their search for Young, Colt, and the BMW.
The Usher Page 21