Shoot to Kill

by James Kipling

  “Hazel, you know as much as I do how the FBI operates.”

  She looked at him puzzled at first. “Who are they? Some special task group?”

  “That is something I don’t even know. I have no choice but to let them stay here. And as far as everyone is concerned, they are here to help. I can assure you that you don’t want to look into this, Hazel.”

  “I don’t give a damn,” she said as she left the office. She was going to continue doing this investigation but on her own. She refused to allow anyone else to know what was going on. First she was going to speak with Logan Peters and see what he could tell her. Then she was going back to an old suspect who was previously ruled out. She knew he was innocent, but he could give her information she didn’t have before.

  Chapter 5

  Slipping out of the station undetected was simple enough. Owen was busy speaking to Brooks and she wasn’t allowed to know a damn thing. She disliked men like Brooks. He preferred that women had children and stood over a stove all day. She took her stepfather’s car and began driving to Logan Peter’s apartment. It was the same building the Mathis sisters had lived in.

  It did not take her long at all to arrive there. Walking up the steps, she was at the door and knocked. A sad-looking young man pulled the door open. “Logan Peters?” she said, flashing her badge.

  “Yes. What would you like to know?”

  “I would like to know about Morgan.”

  He nodded and allowed her entry. It was decorated nicely, but despite the money his family had, he did not dress like it. “What would you like to know about Morgan?”

  “Anything you can tell me would help,” she said, sitting down at the kitchen table.

  He walked to the fridge and pulled out water. Handing her one, he sat down across from her. “Morgan is a good person who everyone loved. She was smart and a good judge of character. She was not one of those girls who would let something like this happen to her.”

  “Who do you think she would trust enough to open the door?”

  “Any of her friends, but that doesn’t help you. Look, I watch the news. I know there have been other women who were killed too. Those other women look a lot like her. I will be honest with you – I know her security code and I know how to get in. I am the only person other than Morgan and Kelly who knew the code.”

  “I don’t think you had anything to do with this. Morgan fought her attacker and you have no cuts or bruises on your body to indicate you had anything to do with it. Now, could you look at these women and tell me if you know any of them?”

  He shook his head. “I have seen their pictures on the news, but I don’t know them personally. I am sorry that I couldn’t be of more help.”

  She nodded. “Do you have any security cameras?”

  “We do, but everything from the past week has been erased. None of the guys who have access to that room have a clue as to how it happened. So if you would like to talk to them, I can give you a list of names.”

  “That would be fine.”

  Logan got up and handed her a piece of paper. She just had to say one last thing before leaving. “I have to admit, you’re not what I expected. I had envisioned Armani and Rolex, but you seem like a regular guy.”

  “I don’t need expensive clothes or accessories. Just because you have something doesn’t mean you have to go ahead and show it. A lot of people seem to forget that.”

  Nodding, she left and began walking downstairs. Someone called out her name. Turning, she saw it was Mr. Hues from yesterday.

  “Detective, I remember more about how the killer looked.”

  “Is it possible for you to come to the station with me and sit with a sketch artist?”

  “Yes,” he said. “Could you wait for me until I tell my wife?”

  “Of course,” Hazel said to him. “I’ll wait right here for you.”

  Mr. Hues returned to his apartment and then they walked out together to her car. He was silent during the drive, but she knew something was eating away at him. “Are things fine with you?”

  “Oh yeah, everything is great. I was just thinking about my grandkids. They’re still spooked. I don’t think my daughter will let them come back and visit me. It is depressing really, but what can you do?”

  “I am sorry to hear that,” Hazel said soothingly.

  “Do you have any children?”

  “No. I don’t ever plan on being a mother.”

  “Why is that? Being a parent is amazing,” he began. “I remember my little girl growing up. She was so smart. It was difficult as she got older. I never wanted to let my little girl grow up.”

  Hazel nodded as she began reflecting on what could have been. But they’d arrived at the station, breaking her train of thought. Owen was standing outside and appeared to be waiting for something.

  As she got out of the car, his eyebrows raised as he walked over towards her. “Where did you go?”

  “I went to go speak with Logan Peters. Mr. Hues wanted to come down to the station and sit down with a sketch artist. He remembered more about the attacker.”

  She tried to walk past him, but he grasped her upper arm and pulled her back to him. “You had no right to go behind my back on this one.”

  Looking into his eyes, she glared at him in disgust. “I work better on my own. I don’t need to have a babysitter during this process.”

  Mr. Hues remained silent as he walked into the station. She knew he had more to say. She knocked on her stepfather’s door to see Percy speaking with him. “Sir,” she said. “Mr. Hues has more information for us.”

  Her stepfather nodded. “Go with Percy now,” he said. “We’ve found out some more things, too.”

  Hazel watched him give them both a look and she understood immediately. Percy gestured for her to follow him. “Dad did some digging. The people we are dealing with aren’t in any system. Including Owen. There is an article stating he is dead.”

  “Why are you two snooping around?”

  They both froze. Owen stood behind them with his arms folded over his chest. Hazel stepped in front of Percy and looked at him, shaking her head. “Part of working together means knowing everything about the other person. You look good for a dead person.”

  “You wouldn’t understand any of this, Hazel.”

  “Try me,” she snapped. “We all grew up together and deserve to know the truth about what is going on.”

  “We are here to catch a killer, same as you. Now you should go ahead and stop questioning what and who we are and just go with what we’re doing.”

  “The police department can force you out of here,” she said. “We don’t need to tell you a damn thing. Now if you want our cooperation, I am asking for yours. You don’t get to keep secrets.”

  “And you don’t get to leave and question people without me being there.”

  “You seemed very busy when I left. I wasn’t going to wait for you to finish your conversation with Brooks. This case is all about time. We know this guy didn’t get enough time with his last victim and he will have that urge to kill again, and soon. I won’t let someone else die on my watch.”

  “You have no idea what is going on.”

  “Then enlighten me. I don’t like being in the dark. It’s very annoying. I wish you would go ahead and just come out and say what you’re hiding.”

  He was silent and Hazel nodded. “That is exactly what I thought. I’ll figure this out on my own. I don’t need some shadow organization attempting to control what happens and when.”

  She and Percy pushed past him. Owen stood there in silence. If only she knew what was truly going on. Keeping her in the dark was ensuring her safety – or at least that was what Brooks was attempting to engrave in his head. He walked past Hazel, punching the wall. She needed to know.

  Sitting at her desk now, he could see how angry she was. She wasn’t very nice when she was angry. She was looking through papers and he saw that she had key
s in her hand.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To talk to someone who could give me information.”

  “And who is that?”

  She stood up and shook her head. “You know so much about this case as it is. You should know who I am going to be seeing.” She tried to push past him, but he wouldn’t let her. “May I tag along?”

  He knew her answer, but was hoping she would change her mind. “You know what?” she said. “No. You know so much already. Go ahead and just tell me something I don’t know.”

  “I will if you let me go with you.”

  He watched as her brow furrowed. She was thinking about it, which was a good sign for him. Finally she nodded and he followed behind her. He was anxious. If Brooks knew what he was about to do, he could lose everything, but she needed to know.

  §

  As they sat at a red light, Hazel knew he had something to say to her. He just wasn’t sure how to say any of it. “You know why Nate was sent in after Cecily Ciervo?”

  “He is a sick bastard who has killed three families, but there is no connection.”

  “There is a connection, but only a few people know about it. Benjamin Reynolds, Harvey Smith, and Charles Harper were family men, there is no denying it. But they were also part of an organization in the government called Bloodstone. They stopped domestic threats and the Italians are one of those threats at the moment. The Ciervo family has a cache of weapons that could start a war in New York. However, they don’t intend on starting a war. They are selling those weapons on the black market, and a lot of those guns are being used to start gang wars. The entire reason Bloodstone was created was to stop gang wars and crime. They intended to get drugs, prostitutes and guns off the streets.”

  “How would the Italians know who they are?”

  “Well,” he said simply, “there is someone in Bloodstone, or maybe even higher up who is working with the Italians. As to who it is, I wouldn’t know. But that is why we are here. When Nate was sent in, he had no idea what was going on because a lot of people don’t know, period. The Italians are very angry people and that is why we came in.”

  “What are you then?”

  “We are called Sweepers. We take out any threat before it can escalate. The reason we said we wanted to help with The Slitter case was because we know that this guy is with the Italians. As to who he is, we have no idea. We do know, though, that he is associated with them.”

  “How would you know something like that?”

  “There are other unsolved cases like this one. They are all of men though – not women, but he has been killing for a good 13 years. All of these cases are on the east coast and the only way they are connected is by how they die and the torture they endure before they are killed.”

  “How come Brooks doesn’t want us knowing about any of this?”

  “There are several reasons. The biggest reason is because very few people know about us – you know? The only people who are meant to know about this type of stuff are the people who are asked to join. The reason they made an article of my death is so no one would go looking for me. They didn’t change anything about me personally. Brooks realizes now that he should have, but he is using this as his way to gain your trust.”

  “Is that the only reason he has you here?”

  “Yes. Don’t take this information and go telling the world. I only told you because you deserve to know the answers.”

  The rest of the car ride was in silence. Hazel was beginning to wonder what else was happening in the world that no one knew about. She disliked being left in the dark and being blind to things. Everyone deserves to know the truth. People deserve that much.

  As they drove through the city, she looked in the side view mirror and noticed a truck that appeared to be following them. Something set off an alarm in her head but she shook off that feeling. She was sure it was nothing. She was just paranoid and everything was fine. A ton of people drove navy blue trucks. Part of her wanted to express concern, but she decided it was best to keep her mouth shut.

  Twenty minutes later, they were at Keith William’s building. He had switched to a different apartment shortly after the investigation started. He had been the one to call the police when he found Ella Summer’s body – victim number three. He was emotionally distressed and went into a panic attack. Initially, he was a suspect because Ella had broken off her relationship with him. He’d gone to get the last of his belongings when he found her body. Ella Summers had been several weeks pregnant when she was killed.

  His building was similar to hers in the respect that it was old and smelled bad. They went up to his floor and knocked on the door. He seemed surprised to see them when he opened the door. “Detective Hanson,” he said, allowing her inside. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  “Do you work with Dr. Mathis?” she asked.

  “No. I work with Dr. Osborne but he works in the same office. I started working with them in May of last year. What is going on?”

  She pulled out a photograph of Morgan. “Do you recognize her?”

  “Yes. She and her sister were always in the office until a few months ago. What’s happened to them?”

  “Morgan,” she said pointing to the photo, “was murdered. Kelly interrupted and was attacked. They are both Dr. Mathis’ daughters. The other women were also patients at the office. Can you think of anyone who works there that would want to hurt these women?”

  He shook his head. “There are only a few men working there, but none of them would want to hurt these women. But, there is a girl named Arianna. She looks a lot like these girls. She goes to the office and she sees Dr. Mathis often. She is always bruised up like she’s getting beaten.”

  “Do you know her last name?”

  “It begins with a “C” but I don’t know.”

  “Thank you,” Hazel said quickly and left. She knew she had to go down to Dr. Mathis’ office.

  “Where do you think you’re going now?”

  “To go talk to Dr. Mathis and see who this Arianna girl is. She could be in danger.”

  Owen gently pushed her against the wall. “Arianna Ciervo is the danger.”

  Chapter 6

  At the office, Hazel saw her mother speaking with Percy. She seemed aggravated and Hazel knew she was attempting to get information. Her mother was smart and stubborn. She could get anything she wanted.

  Hazel walked towards them. “Could you please tell me what is going on?” her mother said to her. “Your brother said he cannot tell me.”

  “I am not at liberty to tell you either, Mom. This is something only Dad can tell.”

  “Does this have to do with Nate?”

  Their silence told the answer. They watched as their mother began sobbing and shook her head. “Is he okay?”

  Again the silence told her everything she needed to know. She sat down and began crying more. There was very little that they could do. Brooks appeared and looked livid. She wondered what had happened to make him look even more of an ass.

  “Hanson and Jones, I want you in my office right now!”

  Hazel followed his orders but could not respect this man. Regardless of anything he had ever gone through, people like him were the reason women worked their asses off so they could prove they can do anything a man could.

  He paced around angrily before he finally spoke. “We have a woman here and she wants to speak only to Hanson. She claims she knows Nate.”

  “Then let me talk to her.”

  “It could be a ruse.”

  “No,” she growled. “This is not a ruse. If one of their own came in here, they won’t be using a ruse. Let me talk to her.”

  He shook his head. “You aren’t trained to handle this situation.”

  “Then why are you telling me this ... to rub it in my face? This is my family, not yours. I will do anything and everything it takes to ensure they are safe.”

  “Don’t screw this up
then,” he said, leaving.

  She was escorted to a room and opened the door. Sitting there was a gorgeous young woman. She was badly bruised and her nose appeared to have been broken on several different occasions. “I am Detective Hazel Hanson,” she said. “Who are you?”

  “Arianna Ciervo. I am here to tell you where your brother is.”

  “Why would a Ciervo come forward?”

  “If you knew what they did to me, you’d step forward as well. I will also testify against my family.”

  Hazel sat down, looking at her in wonder. She finally understood all of it. What was the only reason a woman would finally step forward and put her family away? “How far along are you?”

  “Four months,” she said. “You already know who the father is.”

  Hazel was silent for a long while. This woman was carrying her brother’s child. “Where is my brother?”

  “He is over near the waterfront. It used to be an old factory but it shut down a while ago. It is very large, but I cannot tell you what area exactly. I do know that it is heavily guarded with roughly thirty people. If you want your brother, you will have to kill a lot of people to get to him. You should go tonight. My father and brother are there now.”

  Hazel walked to the door. A question went through her head and she finally asked, “Who is the man killing all of these people?”

  “He is a man everyone calls Ray, but I don’t know the rest of his name.”

  As Hazel walked out, Owen was standing there. Brooks was speaking to him. “You know what you’re doing. Go and bring him back home. Hanson, you go home.”

  “I want Arianna to come with me. She’ll be safe in my custody.”

  “She is actually going with me,” a young woman said. She had silky blond hair and wore a tight shirt. She spoke with a southern accent. Hazel saw the way Owen looked at her. “I’m Detective Braggs.”

  “Why should she go with you instead of me?”

  “I am trained to take care of people like her,” she said simply.

  Hazel rolled her eyes. She hated these people and how they crossed the line to do whatever they deemed right. “Look, I know you think you’re more ‘qualified’ than I am, but I have been working in this station since I was twenty. I know this city better than you. If anyone should be protecting her, it is me.”