Shoot to Kill

by James Kipling

  She gaped at him in shock as he shoved past her and headed towards the front of the building. This wasn’t the man she used to know. The Owen she grew up with was understanding and compassionate. This one was anything but. She wondered what had happened in the past five years that made him change so drastically.

  She had to run to catch up with him as he exited the building. Outside, a young man was arguing with one of the officers. “I live here,” he said fiercely. “I have every right to know what is going on. Is this place even safe for my kids?”

  Hazel motioned for the beat cop to move along, and quickly took his place. “I’m Detective Hanson, how may I help you?”

  “I want to know what is going on and no one will tell me anything.”

  “Sir, it appears there was an assault last night in the building. One woman is dead and another in critical condition.”

  His expression switched from worried indignation to horror. “Who were they?” he gasped.

  “Morgan and Kelly Mathis.”

  She watched as a flood of emotions flitted across his face.

  “Can I get your name, sir?”

  He didn’t seem to hear her, and before she could ask again he turned and disappeared into the crowd. Briefly she considered going after him, but the sight of Owen still glowering at her from beside his car diverted her attention. She’d had about enough of his newfound attitude. “I’ve about had it with that look on your face,” she snapped as she strode towards him. “If you aren’t happy about working with me, fine. I wasn’t exactly dancing with glee over it either, but if we’re going to get anywhere with this case then we have to put personal feelings aside and work together. Just because you’re with the Feds now doesn’t make you the superior officer.”

  “Not once have I ever said I was better than you.”

  “You don’t have to say it. You make it clear with every ugly look and rude remark you send my way. I don’t need your attitude, nor do I deserve it. We both know I know how to do my job.”

  “I’m not arguing that point.” His words were clipped and harsh. She couldn’t understand why he seemed so angry. “Tell me what’s wrong,” she said softly.

  He didn’t respond. Somehow his silence was more irritating than his attitude. She pressed harder. “Look, if this is about what happened, it is in the past. It should be easy for you to forget.”

  “What happened has nothing to do with how I am right now,” he replied tersely. “I’ll meet you at the station tomorrow at eight o’clock.” Quickly he slid into his car and slammed the door, ending the conversation. Hazel wanted to grab his arm and shake it out of him. Something was eating away at him, that much was obvious, but she knew better than to pry. Shrugging in defeat, she turned and headed back towards the building and the case that awaited her. No matter what had happened between her and Owen, they had a job to do, and the sooner they caught the man responsible, the sooner they could part ways and let old feelings go back to being buried.

  “Hey, listen…”

  She looked over her shoulder to see Owen had rolled the window halfway down.

  “I’m sorry, Hazel. There’s just a lot going on now. I can’t deal with you being emotional on top of it all.”

  Way to put it back on me, she grimaced. “Whatever is bothering you has nothing to do with us, that much is obvious, so don’t go throwing it on me like I’m somehow to blame for your rotten attitude.”

  “That’s not what I’m saying at all,” he said coldly.

  “We’re supposed to work together,” she reminded him. “We can’t do that if we’re always fighting each other.”

  “This isn’t a fight. This is you getting involved in my personal life.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said cynically. “I didn’t realize asking what was wrong constituted being nosy about your personal affairs. You do realize that the only reason I ask is because I care. I know you, Owen. I know how you work and how you think, and I know when something is wrong. Never forget that.”

  He rolled the window up without comment and quickly drove away. As she watched the taillights fade into the distance her hand crept up to the necklace she wore. Clutching the ring that dangled on it, she sighed. Her already tough case had just gotten a whole lot tougher.

  When she turned back around she found Brooks standing behind her with his hands in his pockets. He glanced down the road to where Owen’s car had last been, then back at her. “It appears it was a bad idea to bring him along,” he said smugly.

  “Why’s that?”

  “I knew you two had been involved, but I didn’t realize there was still so much baggage between you both.”

  “And how would you know anything about that?”

  Turning back around, she saw Brooks standing there. His hands were in his pockets and he shook his head. “It was a bad idea to bring him, wasn’t it?”

  “Why are you asking me?”

  “I know that you two were involved. Oh, I remember when he had pictures of you in his wallet, even on his cell phone. He told me all about you. But that’s ancient history, and when I got the information on this case, I saw no reason to keep him out of the loop. I had no idea you still had feelings for him. If it gets too personal I will see to it that you are removed.”

  “Remove me?” Hazel’s temper flared. “I don’t think so. I’ve been on this case for over a year. My department is doing everything in its power to get the son of a bitch responsible for this and you think you’re going to throw me off MY case because you can’t put a leash on one of your agent’s temper? You don’t have that authority.”

  “You sure about that?” He stepped up to her, leaning forward in an effort to intimidate her. Hazel was used to his sort. Law enforcement was full of men who resented seeing women invade what they considered their turf, and Brooks was one of them.

  “Bet on it, and back off. You should know I’m not one of those women who are easily intimidated by a man.”

  “No, but you can be put in your place by one. If it were solely up to me, women wouldn’t be allowed in the field. You’re all too emotional, incapable of logic when your feelings get involved.”

  “That’s enough,” her stepfather said loudly, quickly moving towards them. “Brooks, I’m the one that invited you here, and I didn’t do it so you could antagonize my officers.”

  Brooks smirked and slowly began to back away, his smug eyes never leaving Hazel. “Daddy to the rescue,” he said insolently. “Does he solve all your cases for you too?”

  Before she could respond, her stepfather stepped between them and fixed her with a stern look. He might have wanted to say more to Brooks, but he knew to pick his battles and this wasn’t one he could win. Brooks would never change his attitude, and anything he said in Hazel’s defense would only escalate the conflict. Hazel gave her stepfather a slight nod in thanks for breaking things up. For now she would let Brook’s behavior slide, although she knew it was only delaying the inevitable. More and more it was becoming clear this case would be the most stressful one she’d ever dealt with.

  Chapter 2

  Hazel awoke with a start, sitting upright and drenched in her own sweat. Her heart felt as if it would leap from her chest at any second, and her breath came in wrenching heaves. She glanced at the clock to see it was three in the morning. For a moment nausea threatened to overtake her, and she gingerly took a sip of water from the glass she always kept on her bedside table.

  The nightmares had been going on for days, and her sleep suffered as a result. She knew from past experience that there was no use trying to go back to sleep. She’d only waste hours staring at her eyelids. Reluctantly she shoved the covers aside and headed for the bathroom. The face that looked back from the mirror was a mess. Her auburn hair was snarled and wild, and her complexion looked deathly pale. Turning on the cold water, she leaned over the sink to splash some on her face. Her mind refused to settle down these days, and nothing she tried turned its attenti
on away from the case. She already knew it inside-out

  Leaning back against the wall, she slid down it until her butt came to rest against the cold, tiled floor. Nothing she ever did seemed to distract her from the nightmares, though she kept trying. Lately she’d been going on early morning runs. They didn’t seem to do much for her sleep, but her stamina had definitely seen an improvement.

  Pushing herself up from the floor, she went to the dresser and retrieved a pair of athletic pants. Hazel didn’t bother turning on any lights as she made her way through the house. She found her running shoes by the door in the hallway, and quickly got dressed in the dark. The battery on her cell phone was low so she left it on the charger, grabbed her keys and left her apartment.

  Her apartment was nothing like the posh building the Mathis girls had lived in. Both buildings were old, but the similarities stopped there. Whereas Morgan’s building smelled of vanilla and orchids, hers ran closer to cat urine and cheap tobacco. “I hope that’s cat pee,” she mumbled to the empty hall. She hated to think any of the residents had sunk to the level of urinating in the hallway, but it wouldn’t have really surprised her if they had.

  Outside the sky was overcast and gloomy, and a cold breeze greeted her as she set out. Very few people were awake at this time of the morning and she enjoyed the uncharacteristic silence as she picked up speed.

  And then she stopped. Something didn’t feel right. It felt as if she was being watched. Coldly she let her training kick in, quickly scanning her surroundings for anything out of the ordinary as she kept her ears alert for unusual sounds. Her search turned up nothing. As far as she could tell she was the only person on the street. You’re just paranoid after working all these cases, she told herself, but the thought did little to reassure her. Uneasily she resumed her run, but she couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that something was seriously wrong.

  §

  Lenny took a long drag off a joint and blew a smoke ring towards the dirty ceiling. He lay draped across a loveseat, one leg hooked over an arm rest and his head resting on the other. To anyone watching, he appeared lost in ganja land and oblivious to his surroundings, but they would have been wrong. He’d learned a long time ago that the best way to learn things was to keep his mouth shut and his ears open, and right now his ears were hearing all sorts of interesting information.

  “Ray wasted another bitch last night,” one man smirked as he shuffled the deck of cards. “I can’t believe Ciervo is okay with that.”

  “He is, because he knows Ray won’t get caught,” another man replied. He took a swig of his beer before continuing. “No matter what, he’s the best at what he does. Ciervo isn’t going to waste talent like that over some worthless bitches.”

  Lenny had intended to stay quiet, but this was the first he’d heard about Ray and he decided to risk speaking up. “Ray? Have I met him?”

  “Probably not since you’re kinda new around here.” The man with the beer leaned back in his chair and fixed Lenny with an avid gaze. It reminded Lenny of a boy he used to know who lived to tell ghost stories. “Ray’s a hit man, been working for us since he was just fifteen years old, so that ought to tell you how cold-blooded he is. Story is that his mama was a real bitch to him, abusive and shit. When she died he was all alone, so Ciervo took him in and raised him like his own kid. Came to find out little Ray was smart as a whip, so Ciervo put him to work. Now we’re about to teach his son the tricks of the trade. Thing is,” the man leaned forward conspiratorially, “Ray has this nasty habit of killing bitches for fun. Now ordinarily that would cause a problem in the family, but since he always makes sure to clean up after himself, Ciervo looks the other way.”

  “Hey, we all got our bad habits,” Lenny said smoothly, taking another hit and staring at the ceiling as the card players laughed loudly and returned to their game. The more he learned about the players in Ciervo’s organization, the more they sickened him. If it hadn’t been for the mellow calm the weed afforded him, he doubted he could have reacted so nonchalantly to the news of Ray’s little hobby.

  His cohorts viewed him as an easygoing pothead with a few useful skills. If they ever discovered the truth, all the weed in the world wouldn’t be enough to save him. At the request of his stepfather, Nate had been undercover for the past five months, gathering information and evidence that would eventually put Cecily Ciervo behind bars for good. His dark looks had made it easy enough to pass him off as just another Italian goon, and with his paid-for connections and forged criminal history, they’d accepted him as one of their own without reserve.

  As he sent another smoke ring towards the ceiling, a beautiful young woman with long black hair and light golden eyes walked in. She was Ciervo’s only sister and the only one of the family with a good head on her shoulders. She desperately wanted out of the family, but so far there had been no way for her to do so. Instead, she contented herself with feeding Nate information that would help him with his case.

  Smiling seductively, she took a seat beside him on the loveseat and slipped her hand over his. His body stiffened slightly as he realized she’d slipped a flash drive into his palm. Without missing a beat, she leaned over him, letting her long hair cascade sensually over his chest, and moved her lips to his neck. As she reached his ear, she whispered, “Cecily knows who you are.”

  She moved her lips down his neck to his chest, then pulled away with a throaty laugh. She pulled him to her as she stood up.

  “Come with me,” she said seductively.

  “Arianna, when you get tired of that pothead I’ll be right here waiting,” one of the men playing poker leered as they passed by the table.

  She led him through the house to the bedroom, quickly shutting the door behind her as she dropped the seductive act. “You have to get out of here now,” she whispered urgently as she pushed him towards the window. “They’re on their way and they’ll be here any minute. That flash drive contains enough evidence to convict my brother five times over. Now go!”

  “What about you?”

  “Don’t worry about me, I know what to do. GO!”

  He didn’t wait any longer. Prying the window open, he slipped out and shimmied down the fire escape as fast as he could, dropping the last ten feet to the pavement. Once down he broke into a run. It was two miles to the nearest safe location. Lenny’s weed habit over the past five months hadn’t done him any favors in the lung department, but he was still capable of running the distance, and thanks to Arianna he had what he needed. His only question now was,” how on earth did Ciervo find out he was a cop?

  §

  Despite the sense of being watched that followed her all morning, Hazel’s run went off without a hitch. Back home she’d headed straight for the shower. Despite the cold morning air, she had still managed to work up quite a sweat. Now, standing under the showerhead with the warm water beating down on her, she let the steam envelop her as the water rinsed the sweat from her body. She knew it was going to be one of those days. The bad dreams and lack of sleep were bad enough, but the thought of having to deal with Owen and his dour mood AND Brook’s self-important, misogynistic blather made her want to call in sick and crawl back under her covers. She could already feel the beginnings of a migraine starting up.

  Stepping out of the shower, she grabbed a towel and quickly dried off. The hot shower still hadn’t managed to knock the chill from her bones, and she shivered slightly as she got dressed. The bags under her eyes were impossible not to notice, and her cheeks now bordered on gaunt. Her appetite had vanished about the time the nightmares had started, and the results were clearly visible on her face.

  As she toweled off her hair, she heard someone pounding on her front door. Her skin prickled as she ran silently on the balls of her feet into the living room, grabbing her pistol from the desk as she ran past. Peering through a carefully-shifted slat in the blinds, she checked the porch to see who was beating on her door so early in the morning. It was Nate. Without hesitati
on she flung open the door and let him in. She knew his undercover assignment wasn’t finished yet and for him to come to her place, something had to have gone wrong, and she knew without asking what it was.

  “Nate!” she gasped as she shut the door behind him and quickly locked it. “Are you ok? What happened?”

  It took him a moment to gather his composure. “My cover was blown. I don’t know how, or by who, but the sister of the one I was after gave me the heads up.” He ran his fingers through his hair and paced the living room. “I don’t get it. My alias was perfect! No hiccups, no problems, it was smooth sailing, until all of the sudden it wasn’t. Hazel, I don’t know what is going on but you were the first person I thought to go to.”

  “You haven’t talked to anyone else?”

  “Haven’t had time. I slipped out of a window there and ran straight here. I couldn’t call anyone in my department,” he added. “I didn’t have my cell when I left, and I wasn’t going to waste time trying to find a working phone booth.” He stopped pacing and leaned against the wall. “I need to get back to the station.”

  “No problem,” she said, trying to remain calm. She’d always viewed her older brother as somewhat invincible. It was unnerving to see him so rattled. “I’ll call Dad and let him know what’s up, ok?”

  He nodded and she quickly dialed their stepdad’s number.

  “That’s weird,” she said, staring at the phone. “I don’t have any service.” That didn’t make any sense. There was a tower less than half a mile away from her apartment. Confused, she looked at Nate. He quickly averted his eyes but not fast enough to keep her from seeing the naked fear in them. “I need to use your restroom,” he said quietly before slipping away down the hall.

  Hazel held her phone up and moved around the room, but it still showed no service. “What the heck?” She headed down the hall to the bathroom and knocked on the door. “Nate, let’s just go. I can’t get any service but I can drive you to the station.” When he didn’t respond, she knocked again, then tried the door only to find it was locked. “Nate, open the door!” she pleaded. Finally she took a step back and gave a powerful kick. The interior door shattered and flew open, and she quickly realized Nate had slipped out the window and down the fire escape. Before she could look out the window, she heard screaming coming from the hallway.